Kenshin Oshima: making money out of money

For seven years, Kenshin Oshima had a very good job at the firm Mitsui and Co. But, at the age of 29, he did something very rare for a Japanese manager in his position – he resigned.

Oshima earned a good salary at Mitsui, but he wanted to make a lot of money, and to be very rich he needed to have his own company. He couldn’t afford to start a company immediately, but during his years at Mitsui he spent very little money, and saved as much as he could. In 1978 he invested his money, $236,500 in total, in his new company, Shohkoh Fund and Co. Shohkoh Fund specialized in lending money to businesses, but in small sums. This decision was a risk, as money-lending by private companies was not a respectable job in Japan at that time. His first client was a firm in Tokyo, which paid back the money that it owed at an interest rate of 24%.

But his idea was good: his profits rose by 25% a year, and reached $38.5 million in 1992. At that time he owned 80% of Shohkoh, and his shares in the company were worth $997 million. His strategy for the company was still the same: he specialized in small loans (a typical client borrowed only $40,000) and he personally examined the references of every new client.

In 2002 the company changed its name to SFCG CO.LTD and it is still engaged in money-lending in Japan. Its main areas of business include loans to businesses and discounting bills. It is also noted for the fact that it has many foreign shareholders. In 2007Oshima was the 23 richest person in Japan and was worth $1.2 billion. Oshima has written the best-seller called "A Billionaire's Textbook".

Text 6.

The growing world of commerce

Every time you watch TV, listen to the radio, work on the computer, travel on a bus, or buy something in a shop, you are taking part in the world of commerce.

Hundreds of years ago families worked for themselves: they looked after animals and grew food. But as people started to live together in towns and cities, they began to do different jobs. For example, one person made and sold bread, another person made and sold clothes, and so on. Today there are hundreds of different kinds of jobs. People work, earn money and spend money.

In the modern world, large companies do business in every country, and the y make a lot of money. Some of the largest companies are oil companies like BP and Exxon Mobil, and car companies like Ford. These companies can make more than 100 billion dollars a year. They have a lot of power. Some people are worried that large companies have become more powerful than governments.

The value of world trade is growing fast. Information technology and the Internet have changed the world of commerce. These changes are still happening, and nobody is sure where they will take us. But one thing is clear – the world of commerce will grow.

Text 7.

E-commerce in Russia

As more and more retailers enter the world of on-line shopping, consumer demand for more innovative business structures are growing.

Russia’s e-commerce sector is fairly young compared to other markets, largely due to poor infrastructure and delivery services and a distrust of modern payment methods.

But now that some 40 percent of the country’s adult population is regularly using the Internet, on-line shopping is becoming a lifestyle for an increasing number of people.

“Russia’s e-commerce market is steadily developing due to higher broadband Internet penetration and an underdeveloped retail market in the regions,” said Peter Prabhu, an independent consultant for e-commerce ventures in Russia.

On-line food shopping is becoming increasingly popular in big Russian cities. For example, “Eco Food Moscow” links customers through its Facebook site to farms in the Moscow region, from which they can order food boxes of fresh meat, milk, cheese and vegetables from local farms. Goods can be pre-ordered in advance online or purchased on the spot.

Some companies offer free pick-ups of deliveries from their stores across the city, or deliveries straight to the home for a small fee.

Research conducted by Citibank and Google suggests that Russia’s e-commerce industry is booming. Russians spent about 600 billion rubles ($20billion) on on-line shopping in 2011 and the figure is forecast to increase by 200-300 billion rubles every next year.

“The main barriers to growth in the e-commerce market are delivery inefficiencies and the unpopularity of on-line payment methods,” said e-commerce consultant Prabhu. “Once these barriers are broken down, we will see higher growth”.

НЕМЕЦКИЙ ЯЗЫК

Контрольные работы

Контрольные работы относятся к обязательным контрольным точкам, предусмотренным программой по иностранному языку для экономичес­ких вузов.

Основной грамматический материал немецкого языка распределен по контрольным работам равномерно, по мере нарастания сложностей. Тематически, лексически и грамматически материал контрольных ра­бот связан с учебным аудиторным материалом, что позволяет в комп­лексе обучать студентов устной речи.

Контрольные работы выполняются письменно и при положительной их оценке защищаются устно во время сессии.

В третьем семестре выполняется контрольная работа № 3.

Требования к выполнению контрольной работы

1. Контрольная работа высылается не позднее, чем за месяц до сессии.

2. Если имеется несколько вариантов перевода данного предложения, то все возможные варианты следует дать в скобках.

3. Задания должны быть выполнены в той последовательности, в ко­торой они даны в контрольной работе.

4. Перед началом выполнения контрольной работы необходимо повторить указанный грамматический материал данной работы.

Справочная учебная литература

При выполнении работы может быть использован любой грамматический справочник по немецкому языку, любой учебник и учебное пособие по немецкому языку: словари немецко-русские и русско-немецкие, учеб­ные лекции по грамматике.

В качестве базовых учебников используются.

Wolfgang Hieber. Lernziel Deutsch (Deutsch als Fremdsprache), Grundstufen l und 2, Max Hueber Verlag, 1993.

T. V.Kullkova u.a. Deutsch für Geschäftsleute; ч. l, Москва. Высшая школа. 1989.

Задания на 3-ий семестр из учебника «Немецкий язык» под общей редакцией Монаховой Г.Н., Екатеринбург, 2005

I. Тексты для самостоятельного чтения – 10 тыс. печатных знаков

с составлением рукописного словаря по каждому тексту

1. стр. 74-75

2. стр. 75-80

3.стр. 80-81

4. стр. 82-83

5. стр. 89

II. Темы для устного высказывания „Mahlzeiten“ стр. 20-22, „Einkäufe“ стр.24-25