Business English Certificate (BEC) Higher Level C1 / Reading / Part 1
PART ONE
Questions 1 – 8
Look at the statements below and at the five extracts from an article about organisations which outsource (OWOs) – those 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?
For each sentence 1 – 8, mark one letter A, B, C, D or E on your Answer Sheet.
You will need to use some of these letters more than once.
[start-answers-block type=2]
1. There is a risk that outsourcing too many operations could weaken an OWO.
[answer="A#B#C#D#*E"]
2. OWOs are finding that they need to adapt their management methods as a result of the increased outsourcing they commission.
[answer="A#B#C#*D#E"]
3. There are different ways of assessing the total financial worth of outsourced business.
[answer="A#*B#C#D#E"]
4. There may be improvements for an OWO’s staff when it outsources services.
[answer="*A#B#C#D#E"]
5. Despite their success in business terms, MSSs may not be high profile.
[answer="A#*B#C#D#E"]
6. OWO's may not have consistent policies with regard to MSSs.
[answer="A#B#*C#D#E"]
7. It’s possible for the majority of an OWO’s activities to be contracted to MSSs.
[answer="A#B#C#D#*E"]
8. Outsourcing is affecting the way performance is measured in some areas of business.
[answer="A#B#C#D#*E"]
[end-answers-block]
A 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.
B 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.
C 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 OWOs 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 relationships with MSSs, rather than on a disjointed contract-by-contract basis.
D 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, MSSs face unique employment and recruitment issues – the workforces of large OWOs contracted services consist of staff inherited from dozens of organisations in both the public and private sectors.
E 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.