Innovative difficulties 1

Level of difficulty ***

Before you read

Finding a new use for something that already exists is a great idea. Can you think of everyday objects which were originally developed using technology for use in space?

Reading

Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions

In the bag

If you want to be a hero, an engineer once told Steve Gleich, then solve the banana bag problem in Costa Rica. What, asked Mr Gleich, a researcher at DuPont, the US science group, was the banana bag problem?

The engineer pulled a bag from his drawer. Costa Rica used millions of them to cover bunches of bananas, he said. The bags were used as miniature hothouses to ripen the bananas while protecting them during transport. Imagine the work involved in removing them from every bunch and the financial and environmental cost of disposing of them.

Mr Gleich had the answer: Biomax, a material that naturally decomposes. The Du Pont researchers who developed Biomax had first thought of using it for disposable nappies*. Nothing had come of that. Why not banana bags that would disintegrate as the fruit ripened?

Del Monte's Costa Rican banana operation was interested - but then the country manager had an unrelated disagreement with his head office and refused to take any more bags. More than a decade after DuPont first came up with Biomax, it has yet to find a use for it.

Michael Skapinker

From the Financial Times

*Nappies are worn by babies. AmE: diapers

1. True or false?

a)The article is about finding a use for Biomax, a material developed by DuPont.

b)Biomax remains in the same state for many years.

c) It had been planned to use Biomax to make nappies, but this did not happen.

d) Biomax was used to make special bags for bananas.

e) The bags were not a success for technical reasons.

f) DuPont has found many other uses for Biomax.

2. Choose the correct alternative.

a) A hero is someone that people

i) dislike a lot.

ii) admire a lot.

b) A bunch of bananas is a group of them joined together. You can also talk about a bunch of

i) oranges,

ii) grapes.

c) Something miniature is

i) very big.

ii) very small.

d) Hothouses are used to

i) ripen fruit,

ii) store fruit.

e) If fruit ripens, it is

i) ready to eat.

ii) not ready to eat.

f) If a material decomposes it

i) remains the same.

ii) decays and may eventually disappear.

g) If a product is disposable, it is designed to be

i) thrown away,

ii) kept and reused.

h) If a material disintegrates, it

i) stays in one piece,

ii) breaks into smaller pieces.

Over to you

You are the boss of a company where a regional manager is against an innovative product that you are trying to introduce on to the market. What would you do and why?

§ fire the manager

§ try to persuade the manager that the product will be a big success

§ find ways of selling the product that do not involve the manager in question

Unit 13 Great Ideas

Innovative difficulties 2.

Level of difficulty **

Before you read

What does your organisation or institution do to encourage new ideas?

Reading

Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

Getting ideas across

Why can't companies produce more innovative ideas? Because the structure of large organisations is against innovation, and they are too conservative. New

ideas also often threaten the profits of existing products and services.

Now, two books* have examined the problems of innovation in large organisations and what companies can do to develop their employees’ ideas. There are some depressing stories. Being innovative can damage your career. Of the leaders of 12 innovation projects studied, four resigned from their companies, two threatened to resign and two were dismissed.

Several innovators felt they would be poorly rewarded if they succeeded and criticised if they failed. “The origin of a successful breakthrough project is often forgotten,” one innovator warned, “but a research and development effort that fails is never forgotten.” Many innovators are technically minded and find it difficult to explain their ideas in business terms. Many do not even see the business benefits of their ideas until these are pointed out to them.

Michael Skapinker

From the Financial Times

* Richard Leifer et al.: Radical Innovation, Harvard Business School Press, 2001 Michael Schrage: Serious Play, Harvard Business School Press, 1999

1. Number the paragraph summaries in the correct order. Two of the summaries are not used.

a) A lot of people with new ideas are more interested in technology than in business.

b) If you succeed with a new project, you don't benefit and your success is not remembered. If you fail, you are criticised and your failure is not forgotten.

c) Examples of innovations in the car industry are listed.

d) The structure of many organisations does not help innovation.

e) Two books give some interesting innovation stories.

f) Innovation in many companies is completely impossible.

2 Match the words 1-8 to their meanings a)-h).

1. innovative

2. conserve

3. threat

4. examination

5. depression

6. damage

7. resignation

8. dismissal

a) when you look at something closely

b) when someone feels sad and hopeless

c) when someone decides to leave their job

d) keep things as they are

e) when a company tells someone to leave their job

f) producing new ideas

g) harm caused to something
h) danger

Now find words from the first two paragraphs of the article related grammatically to the words 1-8. For example:

innovative- - innovation

Over to you

Is it true that failures in innovation are remembered and that successes are forgotten? Can you think of examples?

Unit 14 Marketing

Beyond advertising.

Level of difficulty **

Before you read

What laws are there in your country relating to cigarette advertising? Do you agree with these laws?

Reading

Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

Reaching the smokers

Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro, the world's best-selling packaged product, spends more than $2 billion a year on advertising. “We have to be creative in reaching out to our adult consumers,” says Kati Otto, manager of media affairs at Philip Morris USA.

The company's “Marlboro Ranch” parties, often held in bars in big cities, have become a common part of American nightlife. They are heavily advertised. Competitions at these 15 parties send winners to a five-day ranch holiday in “Marlboro Country”, mountainous western states such as Montana and Arizona.

Guests also take home various prizes: cameras, sunglasses, jackets and bags - all in Marlboro colours. “The Marlboro Ranch parties increase brand value, and reinforce loyalty to the brand,” Ms Otto says. “It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and people often come back as loyal Marlboro smokers.”

“This kind of advertising is almost on a one-to-one basis,” according to David Adelman, a tobacco analyst for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. “People often smoke the cigarettes their friends smoke. It is very hard to get people to try a new brand because it is about loyalty, image and taste.”

By Rebecca Knight

From the Financial Times

1. Imagine that each paragraph in the article has a heading. Choose the best heading for each paragraph from the list below and number them in the correct order.

a) Why promotions such as ranch parties are necessary in cigarette advertising

b) Philip Morris's advertising budget and philosophy Marlboro Ranch parties - competitions for five-day
c) ranch holidays

d) Marlboro Ranch parties - other prizes

2. Match 1-6 with a)-f) to form expressions from the article.

1. reach out to a) parties

2. hold b) loyality

3. take home c) consumers

4. reinforce d) a new force

5. smoke e) prizes

6. try f) cigarettes

Over to you

What events with consumer participation would you organise to promote these products?