Practice of Company Outsourcing - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From IELTS Recent Actual Test 3 Academic Listening Test 3 · Part 4 · Questions 31–40
Audio
Questions
Questions 31–40 Note Completion
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Case study - TCP Technologies:
• Manager: Manjeet Khanna
• Main target: to create a 31 environment
Grading for staff:
• Every month grades are published on an 32
• The cultural openness increased the quantity of incoming contracted opportunities.
• The cultural openness improved the level of 33 of the company.
• The increased rate of staff satisfaction has led to growth of 32% in the 34
Recent interview:
• A company is not one entity comprised of components, but a living organism composed of cells.
• Manjeet’s motto is 35
Benefits of management style:
• The rate of staff turnover has been reduced.
• A 36 can be from any other company.
• Grades are not used for 37
Features of managing style:
• Personally, the manager wrote emails to respond to the complaints.
• The complaint form known as a 38 has access to all employees online.
• The manager can receive any complaints concerning air conditioning, food quality and 39 entitlement.
• A 40 on the anonymous complaint was introduced in the new system.
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q31 | democratic | That is to say that he found it important to develop a democratic environment | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says the company manager felt it was important to build an environment that is democratic. Answer Explanation: The answer "democratic" means a workplace where every employee has a chance to share their ideas and voice their opinions about how the company works. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "democratic" because the speaker explains that Manjeet Khanna's philosophy was to allow every staff member to contribute their ideas. The text uses the word "democratic" to define this specific type of work environment. |
| Q32 | internal website | Every month Khanna publishes the grades on an internal website where staff can access not only their own grades, but also compare it to others | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that every month, the manager puts employee scores on a private company website so that workers can look at their own scores and see the scores of their coworkers. Answer Explanation: The answer is the private online platform where the company puts the monthly scores of its employees. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is supported by the part of the talk where the speaker mentions that the manager, Khanna, shares employee performance scores every month on a specific digital site. This site allows everyone in the company to see their own results and see how they compare to their coworkers, all from their computers. |
| Q33 | transparency | This cultural openness has not only increased the quantity of incoming contracted opportunities by 7%, but has also benefitted the company itself significantly. A level of transparency now exists that had not before been apparent | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that by being open to different cultures, the company didn't just get more work; it also improved internally. A new 'level of transparency' (a situation where things are easy to see and understand) was created because of this change. Answer Explanation: The answer 'transparency' refers to the state of being open and clear about how a business operates, so that information is not hidden. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'transparency' because the transcript explicitly states that the company's 'cultural openness' resulted in a 'level of transparency' that was not there before. In the context of the lecture, this means that the diverse environment made the internal workings of the company more visible and honest. The matching words in the transcript confirm that this was an improvement for the company itself. |
| Q34 | company's income / income | According to questionnaires carried out recently, these newly introduced measures have significantly increased the rate of staff satisfaction, which has subsequently led to an increase of 32% in the company’s income | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript states that surveys showed workers were happier because of new rules. This happiness caused the company to earn 32% more money (income) than it did before. Answer Explanation: The answer is the money a business earns. When the employees felt better about their jobs, the company's earnings grew by 32%. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "income" because the speaker uses this word to describe the financial growth of the business. The transcript links the higher happiness of the workers (staff satisfaction) directly to a 32% rise in the money the company makes. Keywords to notice are "increase," "32%," and "income." |
| Q35 | employee first / employe first | I suggest that the motto by which your management operates will be 'employee first' | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript shows that the manager thinks the most important rule for running a business is to prioritize the workers. Answer Explanation: The answer is the short phrase or slogan that Manjeet Khanna suggests for leading a company. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is found in the section of the transcript where the manager, Manjeet Khanna, is being interviewed about his business methods. He mentions that the 'motto'—which is a short sentence or phrase used to express a goal or belief—used by management should be 'employee first'. This directly completes the note in the summary. |
| Q36 | solution | A lot of these improvements came from the realisation that the solution does not have to be produced internally, but can come from any other company | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript states that many of the company's positive changes happened because they understood that the answer to a problem can be found outside their own business. Answer Explanation: The answer 'solution' refers to a way to solve a problem or an answer to a difficulty. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is supported by the part of the transcript that discusses how the company grew. It explains that the managers realized that a fix or answer to a problem (a solution) does not always have to be created inside the company; it can come from an external source or another business. |
| Q37 | promotion | The fact that this measuring system is solely produced for staff members and inaccessible by management means that it cannot be used as a judging criterion for promotion | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that since management (the bosses) cannot see the grades, the grades are not used as a standard to decide on job advancements. Answer Explanation: The answer "promotion" means moving up to a higher or more important position in a company. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "promotion" because the transcript states that the grading system's results are private and not seen by the managers. Because the bosses cannot see the grades, they do not use those scores as a way to decide which employees should get a better job role. The phrase "judging criterion for promotion" in the text confirms that these grades are separate from the process of getting a higher job title. |
| Q38 | ticket | The complaint form, dubbed by Khanna as a ticket, eradicates the middleman, is easily accessible to all employees online and has an interface that can be instinctively navigated | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript shows that the manager named the complaint form a 'ticket' and made it available online so that all workers can use it easily. Answer Explanation: The answer 'ticket' is the name given to the online form that employees use to report problems or share complaints. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'ticket' because the transcript mentions that the manager, Manjeet Khanna, called the new online complaint system a 'ticket'. This system allows employees to communicate directly with him. The word 'dubbed' means that someone was given a specific name or title, which in this case refers to the form. |
| Q39 | vacation | Entitlement to vacation is also a popular issue discussed through this forum | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that having the right to take a holiday, known as 'vacation,' is a very common topic that employees talk about using the company's communication system. Answer Explanation: The answer 'vacation' refers to the set period of time when an employee is allowed to be away from work for rest or a holiday. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'vacation' because the transcript describes an online system used for staff complaints. It specifically mentions three common topics talked about by the workers: air conditioning, food quality, and the right (or entitlement) to take time off. The notes group these items together, leading to the word 'vacation' as the specific type of entitlement mentioned. |
| Q40 | ban | In the past, anonymous complaints had been at the root of much confusion and caused many wasted work hours, so the new system has put a ban on this form of complaint | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that complaints without names caused confusion and wasted time, so a new rule was made to stop people from sending them. Answer Explanation: The answer "ban" means a rule that stops people from doing something or says that something is not allowed. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is "ban" because the manager decided that staff should no longer be able to send complaints without their names. The text mentions that anonymous complaints caused many problems in the past, so the new system created a rule to stop them. |
Transcript
Welcome class to your very first lecture in this series on Business in the Modern World conducted by myself, Dr Toby Bennett. Today we will be looking into the practice of company outsourcing, using TCP Technologies as a case study. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this practice, I will give you a summative definition: company outsourcing involves the contracting of various business activities by one company to another. This practice will sometimes occur from a western company to a party based in a third world country, the rationale being to make significant financial savings on lower international labour rates and to potentially increase quality.
Now, our case study for today is TCP Technologies – a party located in India that receives outsourced tasks from western companies. The manager of TCP Technologies is a man called Manjeet Khanna who has personally developed a series of aims and philosophies by which the company is expected to operate. He claims that the most important of these philosophies is to create a workplace where each individual member has the opportunity to contribute their opinion to the operations of the company. That is to say that he found it important to develop a democratic environment.
As a means of ensuring quality from every individual at TCP Technologies, a grading system has been developed that encourages an ethos of hard work and recognises accomplishment. This grading of individuals is based upon a series of factors such as turnover, hours worked and efficiency. Every month Khanna publishes the grades on an internal website where staff can access not only their own grades, but also compare it to others. A spirit of playful competitiveness has developed through this method, which has resulted in increased efficiency and turnover across the company.
Khanna also saw it as essential to develop a culturally diverse group of employees as a means of presenting a multi-faceted image that would appeal to a host of potential employees from across the globe. This cultural openness has not only increased the quantity of incoming contracted opportunities by 7%, but has also benefitted the company itself significantly. A level of transparency now exists that had not before been apparent. According to questionnaires carried out recently, these newly introduced measures have significantly increased the rate of staff satisfaction, which has subsequently led to an increase of 32% in the company’s income.
These figures are truly admirable and serve as a testament to the measures that Khanna has introduced to the workplace at TCP Technologies. In a recent interview published by the Economist, he declared, 'The figures speak for themselves – my system works!' When asked if he had any advice for companies on methods they could employ to streamline workflow and increase turnover, he replied, “It's simple, really. A company must see itself not as one entity comprised of nameless components, but instead as a living organism composed of cells, each one essential to the functioning of the whole. I suggest that the motto by which your management operates will be 'employee first'."
Many benefits have been reaped from the aforementioned changes in management style, such as a significant decrease in staff turnover. This improvement alone has solved many problems that had before stunted the growth of the company. A lot of these improvements came from the realisation that the solution does not have to be produced internally, but can come from any other company. The grading system also immeasurably enhanced the dynamics of the company. The fact that this measuring system is solely produced for staff members and inaccessible by management means that it cannot be used as a judging criterion for promotion. It has proven itself a relaxed and informal means of stimulating workflow.
When asked about specific features of his managing style, Khanna mentioned that it is important for him to respond personally to any complaints filed by staff members. Having found the existing complaints process slow and ineffective, he introduced a new online system that created a direct line of communication between Khanna and all employees of the company. The complaint form, dubbed by Khanna as a ticket, eradicates the middleman, is easily accessible to all employees online and has an interface that can be instinctively navigated. Any staff-related complaint, such as those relating to air conditioning and food quality, can be submitted directly to Khanna via this online system. Entitlement to vacation is also a popular issue discussed through this forum. The main benefit of using this system is that staff must include their personal details on the ticket before they are able to submit it. In the past, anonymous complaints had been at the root of much confusion and caused many wasted work hours, so the new system has put a ban on this form of complaint.
That wraps up the lecture for today. Please remember that attendance is mandatory... (fade out)