Sample Paper R BEC H.pdf

PA RT ONE

Questions 1 – 8

Basic activities such as catering, cleaning and

security were often the first to be contracted out

as both the private and public sectors yielded to

the 1990s’ philosophy of concentrating on core

activities. As a result of outsourcing, many

canteens have lost their institutional atmosphere

and resemble high-street retail outlets, boosting

both the range of products and facilities for

workers and the MSSs’ turnover. Profits from the

growing UK outsourcing market are helping the

biggest catering MSSs to expand overseas as the

industry develops a global dimension.

There are signs that the spread of contracting out

to MSSs is impacting on the way OWOs are run,

generating a need for high-level staff who will be

skilled at negotiating and handling relationships

with partner organisations rather than simply

giving internal directions. Meanwhile, many

MSSs face new employment and recruitment

issues as their workforces often consist of staff

inherited from dozens of organisations in both

the public and private sectors.

• Look at the statements below and at the five extracts from an article on the opposite page about

organisations which outsource (OWOs). These are organisations which give contracts for some

of their activities to be run by managed service suppliers (MSSs).

• Which article ( A , B , C , D or E ) does each statement 1 – 8 refer to?

• or each statement 1 – 8 , mark one letter ( A , B , C , D or E ) on your Answer Sheet.

• ou will need to use some of these letters more than once.

• There is an example at the beginning, ( 0 ).

Example:

There are signs that some MSSs are moving into foreign markets.

ABCDE

Estimates of the scope and value of managed

service supplying vary according to the

definitions used of what activities are included or

excluded in calculations. Although some MSSs

are large – for example, the Alfis Group is, with

200,000 employees, one of the ten biggest

private sector employers in Europe – they enjoy

little of the public name recognition of the

OWOs for whom they work. At the same time, in

fields such as IT and research, OWOs now

outsource not only non-core activities but also

those where they believe specialist MSSs can

bring additional expertise.

The growth in outsourcing has coincided – and

may continue to coincide – with increasing

interest in the concept of the virtual organisation

– one which chooses to outsource almost

everything so that it can concentrate on handling

relationships with its clients. However, a recent

report warns that the notion of virtual

organisations must be balanced against the

negative possibility of ‘hollow’ organisations,

left with only a ‘fragile shell remaining’. The

report also expresses concern that some large

MSSs have ‘gradually taken control of

significant parts of public sector activities’,

changing the basis on which the success or

otherwise of those activities is assessed.

1 There is a risk that outsourcing too many operations could weaken an OWO.

2 OWOs are finding that they need to adapt their management methods as a result of the

increased outsourcing they commission.

3 There are different ways of assessing the total financial worth of outsourced business.

4 There may be improvements for an OWO’s staff when it outsources services.

5 Despite their success in business terms, MSSs may not be high profile.

6 OWOs may not have consistent policies with regard to MSSs.

7 It is theoretically possible for the majority of an OWO’s activities to be contracted to MSSs.

8 Outsourcing is affecting the way performance is measured in some areas of business.

The growth of outsourcing means that a number

of MSSs are finding themselves drawn into the

established managerial thinking of their OWOs

to a point where their reputation becomes

dependent on the OWO’s performance – in both

positive and negative ways. This and other

consequences of growth are generating calls

from MSSs for both the private sector and

governments to think more strategically about

their relationship with MSSs, rather than on a

disjointed contract-by-contract basis.

Turn Over

PA RT TWO

Questions 9 – 14

Example:

ABCD E F G H

• Read this text taken from an article about how companies’ decision-making can go wrong.

• Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.

• or each gap 9 – 14 , mark one letter ( A – H ) on your Answer Sheet.

• Do not use any letter more than once.

• There is an example at the beginning, ( 0 ).

A It would be far better, though, if dissidents

in the organisation raised their doubts

beforehand, and were listened to.

E One solution is to set targets for a project

and to agree in advance to abandon it if

these are not met.

B They want to be recognised as having

changed the company in a way that history

will remember.

F After all, people who persistently point to

potential pitfalls are seen as negative and

disloyal.

Bad business decisions are

easy to make

C This is not to argue that companies should

never attempt anything brave or risky.

G But they often rely only on those parts of it

that support their case.

D Too much money has been spent and too

many reputations are at stake to think

about stopping at this stage.

H Coupled with this, they insist that the

failure was someone else’s fault.

Those who make disastrous business decisions

generally exhibit two characteristic types of

behaviour. First they make a selective

interpretation of the evidence when deciding to go

ahead with a project. (0) ... H ... .

How do such bad decisions come about?

One reason is that the people in control are

determined to make their mark by doing

something dramatic. (9) ......... . Once the leader

has decided to put his or her name to a project,

many in the organisation believe it politic to

support it too, whatever their private doubts.

(10) ........ . These doubters know that such a

perception will cloud their future careers. The

desire to agree with the boss is typical of

committees, with group members often taking

collective decisions that they would not have taken

individually. They look around the table, see their

colleagues nodding in agreement and suppress

their own doubts. If all these intelligent people

believe this is the right thing to do, they think to

themselves, perhaps it is. It rarely occurs to

committee members that all their colleagues have

made the same dubious calculation.

Responsible managers usually ask to see the

evidence before reaching a decision. (11) ........ .

Even those who consider all the evidence, good

and bad, fail to take account of the fact that expert

predictions are often wrong. The reason for this is

that feedback is only effective if it is received

quickly and often; and senior executives rarely

become the experts they claim to be, because they

make too few big decisions to learn much from

them. So when it becomes clear that disaster

looms, many executives insist on pressing ahead

regardless. (12) ........ . The repercussions of doing

so can be daunting.

So what can be done to prevent companies

making bad decisions? (13) ........ . Another is to

delegate the decision on whether or not to continue

to people who are not in the thick of the decision-

making, such as the non-executive directors.

(14) ........ . But they shouldn’t expect any

gratitude: people who have made huge mistakes

are not going to say ‘Thank you, we should have

paid attention to you in the first place.’

Turn Over

PA RT THREE

Questions 15 – 20

15 What criticism does the writer make of managers in the first paragraph?

• Read the following extract from an article about incompetent employees, and the questions on

the opposite page.

• or each question 15 – 20 , mark one letter ( A , B , C or D ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer

you choose.

A They lose interest in the issue of incompetent employees.

B They fail to take a firm line with inefficient employees.

C They have little idea of what is really required of their staff.

D They often make bad decisions when choosing new staff.

16 What is the effect of the first of the methods suggested for dealing with incompetent staff?

Every organisation has its share

of employees-from-hell: the lazy,

deluded, hypochondriac under-

performers. They are difficult to

manage and miserable to

work with. Their productivity is

low and their ability to poison

staff morale high. They are,

alas, always well-entrenched

and management-resistant.

Interestingly, their numbers in

any organisation have more to

do with management’s refusal to

deal with the situation than with

poor selection. That is, their

existence in the organisation is

nearly always due to a long line

of weak managers who have

declined to tackle the problem.

part of town, or to another town,

or even to another country. A

clever variant of this tactic is

to herd all the incompetent

employees into one part of the

company that is then sold off or

privatised.

approach. This insists that one

still shows the low score but,

rather than attempting to explain

it, one describes what needs to

be done differently to achieve a

higher score. The emphasis is on

the future not the past; on a clear

description of the desirable

behaviour, not the incompetent

behaviour. The touchy or

sensitive employee normally

responds to this reasonably well.

Nevertheless, there are those

who cannot, or will not, respond

to good management. They may

be unable to do the job due to

not having the ability to learn

ever-changing tasks fast enough.

They may be distracted by

problems at home or more likely

they have been managed very

poorly in the past.

A It has only a short-term effect on the problem.

B It means that better workers will not have to work so hard.

C It makes good workers aware that problems are being dealt with.

D It sends a negative message to those who do their job well.

17 In both the second and third ineffective methods of dealing with incompetent employees, the

managers’ aim is to

There is a third approach which

is to promote the incompetent.

This sounds bizarre and

exceedingly stupid but is not

infrequently adopted. The idea is

that, although these posts are

quite senior and well-paid, the

actual jobs are fairly pointless

ones in which incompetent

people can hide without doing

any serious damage. The

employee is thus confirmed

in his or her delusions of

competence.

A have all of the incompetent staff working in the same part of the company.

B improve the attitude of the incompetent staff to work by giving them promotion.

C put the incompetent staff in a situation where they can do as little harm as possible.

D make the work so unattractive that the incompetent staff want to leave.

18 The writer says in the fifth paragraph that employees who are given a low mark on their

appraisal form will

Traditionally, there are three

classic ineffective ways of

dealing with the incompetent.

The first is to ignore the

problem, hoping that it will go

away. Rather than confront

laziness or serious absenteeism,

the manager gives the employee

less work to do. This inevitably

leads to frustration on the part of

the good hardworking staff who

see the problem employee

getting away with it.

A demand a detailed explanation of what they have done wrong.

B claim that special circumstances have had an effect on their work.

C deny that their work has been in any way unsatisfactory.

D argue that they find the work they have had to do frustrating.

All three of these strategies are

the result of not dealing with the

problem early on. Many

managers find dealing with

incompetence very difficult. The

scenario that all managers

hate is as follows: show a

subordinate a low mark on their

appraisal form. The employee

first wants the behaviour

defined; then wants an example

of when this behaviour occurred;

then argues about how this

incident occurred and how

typical it was. The net result is a

row about the past and

frustration on the part of both.

There is really only a very

limited number of things that

can be done with the really

incompetent. Buy them out,

which may be the best solution

for all concerned; raise the game

by making sure they are given

ever higher but reachable

targets. A final strategy is to

insist that they have an annual

psychological test where a

disinterested outside consultant

does a motivation analysis and

has the power to recommend

that they be let go – not

encouraged to go to another

part of the organisation, but into

the bracing waters of the job

market.

19 In the sixth paragraph the writer says that when talking to an incompetent employee a manager

should

A make no reference to the most recent appraisal mark.

B compare the work of the employee with that of more efficient workers.

C make clear what will happen if performance does not approve.

D explain to the employee how he or she can gain a better appraisal mark.

The second approach, which has

traditionally been the most

favoured, is to pass them on.

There is usually a part of any

business where people believe

the poor performer can do no

damage. Alternatively, poor

performers can be moved to

another branch in the dreariest

20 What does the writer suggest as a way to deal with incompetent employees who fail to respond

even to a problem-solving approach?

A different and more successful

method is the problem-solving

A Set them targets which it would be impossible to attain.

B Give them a test designed to identify their strengths.

C Pay them a sum of money to leave the company.

D Get an outside consultant to find them another job.

Turn Over

PA RT FOUR

Questions 21 – 30

Example:

A stared

B seen

C inspected

D glanced

• Read the article below about life coaching – regular meetings between a business person and a

neutral consultant to discuss work-related problems.

• Choose the correct word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.

• or each question 21 – 30 , mark one letter ( A , B , C or D ) on your Answer Sheet.

• There is an example at the beginning, ( 0 ).

ABC D

A solution

B answer

C key

D secret

A patient

B resigned

C tolerant

D contented

Why I Found A Life Coach

A found out

B came across

C ran into

D met with

Anyone who has ever (0) D through a self-improvement book

has probably learned that such books do not hold the (21) .......

of personal happiness. Having read too many of them without

success, I was (22) ....... to staying vaguely dissatisfied for the

rest of my life. But when I (23) ....... a newspaper article about

a new kind of consultant, called a life coach, I became curious,

and decided to learn more.

I was looking for a more personal way to (24) ....... my life:

I’d achieved my material goals before (25) ....... the support of

a coach, but professional challenges, long hours and not having

someone neutral to talk to were putting my work and

relationships at (26) ....... . I realised I needed to learn how to

deal with problems before they occurred.

My life coach is very good at asking me (27) ....... questions

which help me to discover what I’m dissatisfied with in my life,

and to understand who I am. It’s good to have someone you can

trust and respect to (28) ....... things over with.

I sometimes pick topics in (29) ....... of our discussions, such

as situations at work, or conflicts between me and colleagues,

though I don’t always (30) ....... an agenda. And I know that

everything I say to my coach is in the strictest confidence. I’m far

better at tackling difficult situations now, and best of all, I feel

much more at ease with my life.

A evaluate

B account

C estimate

D reckon

A appointing

B signing

C registering

D enlisting

A danger

B hazard

C risk

D peril

A examining

B probing

C exploring

D investigating

A talk

B discuss

C say

D tell

A preparation

B readiness

C precaution

D anticipation

A set

B put

C place

D hold

Turn Over

PA RT FIVE

Questions 31 – 40

PA RT SIX

Questions 41 – 52

• Read the article below about working abroad.

• or each question 31 – 40 , write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.

• There is an example at the beginning, ( 0 ).

• Read the text below about writing good covering letters.

• In most of the lines 41 – 52 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or

does not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.

• If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet

• If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your

answer sheet.

• The exercise begins with two examples, ( 0 ) and ( 00 ).

Example

0 I T

WORKING ABROAD

An increasing number of people are finding (0) ......

necessary to spend at least part of their working life abroad.

An international career used to be something people opted

into from choice, but (31) ...... many it has now become a

requirement of staying in work. You do not have to be

working in a huge multi-national corporation to find (32) ......

being asked to work abroad. Companies that not so (33) ......

years ago reserved foreign travel for directors, are now

sending middle managers and even new recruits on projects

overseas.

Examples

0 C O R R E C T

00 Y O U

DON’T GET “FILED IN THE BIN”

The characteristics of international travel will vary widely. For

some people it will mean that they will occasionally have to

spend a (34) ...... days in a foreign city, while for others it will

mean that they will constantly be moving from (35) ......

country to another until they eventually lose touch with

(36) ...... original national identity.

When you’re applying for a job, what can you do to ensure that your

covering letter doesn’t just get ‘filed’ in the rubbish bin? Firstly, you

always remember that the purpose of a covering letter is there to

complement for your CV. This means it should flesh out and explain

clearly through any points that the CV alone doesn’t deal with and that

The growing demand for people with the skills and

experience to work in cross-national contexts places a

premium on those who have developed the skills to enable

them to rise to that challenge. (37) ...... is needed is flexibility

and adaptability, both of (38) ...... arise from a state of mind

rather than from innate ability. Teamworking skills are also

important and (39) ...... is the ability to communicate

effectively, especially (40) ...... long distances, via new

communications technologies, such as videoconferencing

and teleconferencing.

therefore might otherwise be missed out by prospective employers.

For example, if you’re looking to change in industries, then your letter

ought to explain them why you want to make the move, what your

motivation is, and what you hope to achieve. If your CV shows that you

don't hold a relevant qualification that the job ad has specified it (say,

a university degree or a vocational diploma), so you’ll need to explain

why you should still be considered. It’s not easy, and often writing the

letter can take twice as long as writing your CV. But because to some

An international career requires a variety of skills. The time to

begin preparing for such a career is now.

extent that is how it should be: a CV is a formal, with structured document

that simply imparts information, whereas a letter is your chance to make an

impression.

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