— You will hear another five recordings. — For each recording, decide what reason each speaker gives for the problem they mentio

I used to work for an employment agency which supplied staff to civil engineering companies. We were growing fast, opening branches in more countries every year Well, that was great. But instead of investing properly to get a good location for each branch, the company preferred to rent cheap premises and to pour resources into the head office, which of course very few of the customers ever saw. It made most of the staff in the branches very unhappy.

Certain things must be right, from the outset. Take staff.’ employing people you can’t depend on is very harmful. And when you’re trying to break into a market with goods identical to your competitors’ products, you need to undercut them. But my last company did the opposite when they targeted a new region, and expected consumers to pay twenty per cent more. Obviously you can only sell at a premium if you’re selling something new, or offering added value.