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  3. Read the following article about a US manufacturer of office supplies and the

Read the following article about a US manufacturer of office supplies and the

游客2025-05-27  2
问题    Read the following article about a US manufacturer of office supplies and the questions on the opposite page.
   For each question (15-20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
In 1761 the German cabinet-maker Caspar Faber started a small business producing pencils. Three generations later, in the nineteenth century, the firm was run by Lothar von Faber, whose innovations included a hexagonal pencil to prevent it from rolling, and a system to designate the hardness of lead, which was eventually adopted by other manufacturers in the industry. Exports to the USA began in 1843, with a New York subsidiary set up six years later to handle the US end of the business, under the management of Lothar’s brother Eberhard. This firm subsequently started making its own pencils, using leads imported from its German parent company, until in 1903 the two companies separated. Eberhard Faber, the US company, became a competitor of the German business, now called Faber-Castell.
By the 1970s, Eberhard Faber, originator of the yellow pencil familiar to generations of North Americans, had a 10% share of the $100 million pencil market. The company’s sales of pencils, pens, erasers, and rubber bands were increasing in developing countries, but recent US sales were essentially static. As a result, Eberhard Faber’s US pencil sales accounted for less than 20% of its worldwide sales, and by the end of the decade the company’s total US earnings had declined.
The pencil market became particularly competitive in the early 1980s, and Eberhard Faber’s top management concluded that the key to greater US profitability was marketing. At first the firm made some mistakes. For example, after producing yellow pencils for nearly a century, the company decided to introduce a natural-looking pencil: bare cedar wood covered with a coat of clear lacquer. Eberhard Faber projected a 15% market share for the new product, thinking that the current trend toward naturalness would carry over into the pencil market. But stationers avoided the new product, preferring to stick with a proven seller.
Another strategic miscalculation involved the company’s redoubled efforts in art supplies, a market that yields greater profit margins than the highly competitive office supplies market. Because Eberhard Faber’s design markers were already successful, the company acquired several art supply firms. At the same time, however, it began to put less emphasis in the commercial office supplies field that accounted for two-thirds of its total sales. In this market, which included sales to corporations under own-brand labels as well as the Eberhard Faber name, the firm found itself gaining a reputation for non-competitive pricing and sluggish new-product development, despite the consistently good quality and service it actually offered.
Later in the 1980s new executives tried to revamp every aspect of the company’s ineffective marketing operation. They also developed new products, such as five-sided erasers in stylish colours. Nearly every product package was updated. Such moves benefited the company’s image, but despite its efforts Eberhard Faber was still struggling, and began seeking a buyer. Faber-Castell, seeing an opportunity to increase market share and protect the Faber trade name, made the landmark acquisition of Eberhard Faber in 1987, reuniting the two firms. After further major changes, in 1996 a new Faber-Castell was once again established as a wholly-owned US company.
The new Faber-Castell USA concentrated on high end markets, and soon launched an exclusive collection of premium writing instruments and accessories, intended to bring back the handwriting culture that had been thrown aside by modern technology. According to Till Quante, the company’s marketing manager for fine writing instruments, when the calculator and later the personal computer were introduced, those in love with technology predicted the pencil companies would die, but, ’Just the opposite happened,’ says Quante. Faber-Castell is confident of a bright future. [br] According to the fourth paragraph, what strategic mistake did Eberhard Faber make?
选项 A、It moved into a market with which it was unfamiliar.
B、It allowed the quality of its products to fall.
C、It neglected volume sales in favour of profit margins.
D、It concentrated on selling products to be sold under own-brand labels.
答案 C
解析
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