Asianeconomieswillcontinuetoexpandrapidlyinthenexttwoyearsonthebackofforeigninvestments,exportsanddomesticdemand,butwillnotbefreeofworries,accordingtoarecentsecuritiescompanyeconomicreport.Massiveinfrastructurespending,thebenefitsofpastinvestmentsandderegulationandgrowingregionaltradewillpushalongregionalgrowth.
ThereporttippedChina’sgrossdomesticproducttogrowby9.5percentin1996and10.5percentin1997,andHongKong’stogrowby4.3and5.0percent.Singapore’srealGDPwasforecasttogrowby7.6and7.4percent,Malaysia’sby8.6and8.1percent,Thailand’sby8.8and8.4percent,Indonesia’sby7.3and7.1percentandPhilippines’by5.6and5.8percent.
“However,allisnotrosy,”cautionedthereport,whichlistedoverheatingastheregion’sbiggestchallengeintheshorttermandskilled-laborshortagesinthelongrun.
Itcitedstrainsfromrapidgrowththathadbeguntostretchcurrentaccountdeficitsandspurinflationinsomeregionaleconomies,whichcouldpreventtheircentralbanksfromloweringinterestrates.
“Thisimpliesthateconomicvulnerabilitytounexpectedshockswillremainhigh,”thereportsaid,forecastingafurthertighteningofmonetarypolicyincountriessuchasthePhilippinesandMalaysia,andnosignificanteasinginThailand,IndonesiaandChina.
CrosbySecuritiesalsocitedmassivenewinvestmentprogramsgeneratedbydemandsoninfrastructuresuchaspower,telecommunicationsandtransportwhichhadfuelledover-heating.
ItsaidAsiawouldalsofaceabiggerchallengefromnewlyderegulatingeconomiesinEasternEuropewhichofferedlowercostsandbetter-educatedworkerstoforeigninvestors.
Asia’smainforeigninvestorsshould,however,continuetoexpandtheirpresenceintheregion,thesecuritieshousesaid,notingnewtrendsofintra-Asianinvestment.
Singaporeisshiftingitslowervalue-addeddiscdriveandelectronicsindustrytoMalaysia,whichinturnismovingsomeofitsgarment-makingandconsumerelectronicsmanufacturingtoIndonesiaandThailand.Thailand,MalaysiaandSingaporeareincreasinglyinvestinginVietNam,MyanmarandLaos.
“Asiawillbenefitfromthistrendinseveralways,”thereportsaid.
()1Asiaeconomywillcontinuetogrowbecauseof_____________.
A.foreigninvestmentB.demandsinAsiancountries.
C.exportD.alloftheabove
()2Inthenext2years,thehighesteconomicgrowthwillappearin____________.
A.SingaporeB.Thailand
C.HongKongD.China
()3Yearslater,theprobleminAsianeconomymaybe_________________.
A.toolittleinvestmentB.toomuchinvestment
C.notenoughqualifiedlaborsD.monetaryinstability
()4Accordingtothisreport,economicchangesinEastEuropeare___________.
A.harmfulB.challenging
C.helpfulD.useless
()5ThereportisabouttheprospectofAsianeconomy.
A.optimisticB.pessimistic
C.moreoptimisticthanpessimisticD.morepessimisticthanoptimistic
TheImportanceofGoodCommunications
Effectivecommunicationisessentialforallorganizations.Itlinkstheactivitiesofthevariouspartsoftheorganizationandensuresthateveryoneisworkingtowardsacommongoal.Itisalsoextremelyimportantformotivatingemployees.Staffneedtoknowhowtheyaregettingon,whattheyaredoingrightandinwhichareastheycouldimprove.Workingalonecanbeextremelydifficultanditismucheasierifsomeonetakesaninterestandprovidessupport.Employeesneedtounderstandwhytheirjobisimportantandhowitcontributestotheoverallsuccessofthefirm.Personalcommunicationshouldalsoincludetargetsetting.Peopleusuallyrespondwelltogoals,providedtheseareagreedbetweenthemanagerandsubordinateandnotimposed.
However,firmsoftenhavecommunicationproblemsthatcanunderminetheirperformance.Inmanycases,theseproblemsoccurbecausemessagesarepassedoninaninappropriateway.Thereare,ofcourse,severalwaysofconveyinginformationtoothersintheorganizationwhichincludespeakingtothemdirectly,e-mailing,telephoningorsendingamemo.Themostappropriatemethoddependsonwhatexactlyitisyouarecommunicating.Forexample,anythingthatisparticularlysensitiveorconfidential,suchasanemployee'sappraisal,shouldbedoneface-to-face.
Oneofthemainproblemsforseniorexecutivesisthattheydonothavethetimeorresourcesneededtocommunicateeffectively.Inlargecompanies,forexample,itisimpossibleforseniormanagerstomeetanddiscussprogresswitheachemployeeindividually.Obviouslythistaskcanbedelegatedbutatthecostofcreatingagapbetweenseniormanagementandstaff.Asaresult,managersareoftenforcedtouseothermethodsofcommunication,likememosornotes,eveniftheyknowthesearenotnecessarilythemostsuitablemeansofpassingonmessages.
Theuseoftechnology,suchase-mail,mobilephonesandnetworksystems,isspeedingupcommunicationimmensely.However,thisdoesnotmeanthatmoreinvestmentintechnologyautomaticallyprovesbeneficial:systemscanbecomeoutdatedoremployeesmaylackappropriatetraining.Therearemanycommunicationstoolsnowavailablebutafirmcannotaffordallofthem.Evenifitcould,itdoesnotactuallyneedthemall.Thepotentialgainsmustbeweighedupagainstthecosts,andfirmsshouldrealizethatmorecommunicationdoesnotnecessarilymeanbettercommunication."
Asthenumberofpeopleinvolvedinanorganizationincrease,theuseofwrittencommunicationrisesevenfaster.Insteadofaquickconversationtosortsomethingoutnumerousmessagescanbepassedbackwardsandforwards.Thiscanleadtoatremendousamountofpaperworkandisoftenlesseffectivethanface-to-facecommunication.Whenyouareactuallytalkingtosomeoneyoucandiscussthingsuntilyouarehappythattheyhaveunderstoodandfeedbackisimmediate.Withwrittenmessages,however,youareneverquitesurehowitwillbereceivedwhatyouthinkyouhavesaidandwhattheotherpersonthinksyouhavesaidcanbeverydifferent.
Theamountofwritteninformationgeneratedinlargeorganizationstodaycanleadtocommunicationoverload.Somuchinformationisgatheredthatitgetsinthewayofmakingdecisions.Takealookattheaveragemanager'sdeskandyouwillseetheproblem--itisoftencoveredwithletters,reportsandmemos.Thisoverloadcanleadtoinefficiencies.Forexample,managersmaynotbeabletofindtheinformationtheywantwhentheyneedit.Communicationisalsobecomingmoredifficultwiththechangesoccurringinemploymentpatterns.Withmorepeopleworkingpart-timeandworkingathome,managingcommunicationisbecomingincreasinglycomplex.
1.InthefirstparagraphthewriterrecommendsthatcommunicationwithstaffshouldincludeA.somefeedbackontheirjobperformance.
B.anexplanationofhowcompanytargetshavebeenset.
C.informationonpromotionprospectswithinthecompany.
D.anindicationofwhichdutiestheycanexpectassistancewith.areastheycouldimprove
2.Accordingtothewriter,thebestwayofachievingeffectivecommunicationistoA.adaptthemessagetosuitaparticularaudience.
B.makethecontentofmessagesbriefanddirect.
C.selectthemostsuitablemeansofconveyingaparticularmessage.
D.ensurethatinformationistargetedattheappropriategroupofpeople.
3.Whatdoesthewritersayaboutthecommunicationoptionsavailabletoseniormanagers?A.Sendingmemostostaffisoneofthemostefficientmethods.
B.Itisimportanttofindthetimetodiscusscertainmatterswithstaff.
C.Theyshouldincreasetherangeofoptionsthattheyuse.
D.Gettingjuniormanagerstotalktostaffcancreatedifferentproblems.
4.Whatadviceisgivenaboutthecommunicationtoolsmadeavailablebytechnology?A.Aimtolimitstaffuseofcertaincommunicationtools.
B.Evaluatethemintermsoftheexpenditureinvolved.
C.Selectthemonthebasisofthefacilitiestheyoffer.
D.Encouragemorestafftoattendtrainingcoursesintheiruse.
5.Accordingtothewriter,aproblemwithwrittencommunicationisthatA.themessagecanbeinterpreteddifferentlytowhatwasintended.
B.itcanbeeasyforpeopletoignorethecontentsofawrittenmessage.
C.mostpeoplearemorecomfortablewithface-to-facecommunication.
D.itispossibleforcorrespondencetogetlostwithinalargeorganization.
6.Accordingtothearticle,whatistheeffectofreceivinglargeamountsofwritteninformation?A.Itiscounter-productive."
B.Itcausesconflictinacompany.
C.Itleadstochangesinworkpatterns.
D.Itmakesthemainpointsmoredifficulttoidentify.