Cutting Departmental Costs

Wang: You know our departmental costs have risen a lot recently.
Zhang: Yes, I think we are exceeding our budget.
Wang: What do you think are the reasons?
Zhang: I think there are many reasons for this. You know last month we run a series of promotion campaigns. That＇s a lot of money, isn＇t it?
Wang: Yes, but I think we spent too much on that. I mean we could have spent less.
Zhang: Uh Um?
Wang: You know we have been traveling a lot around the country. And most of us travel by air.
Zhang: You mean some of the travels are not necessary.
Wang: Exactly. You know, some of the face-to-face talks may simply be replaced by email communication.
Zhang: There＇s a lot in what you＇ve said. I think we should make full use of our modern facilities and save some expensive travels.
Wang: Not only that. I think modern facilities, like computers, should be made full use of within the company, too. I mean a lot of money could have been saved, if we had done that.
Zhang: What do you mean?
Wang: You see, each month we spend a good lot of money on office supplies like print paper.
Zhang: Yes, some of the managers always ask for printouts instead of retrieving information from the computer system.
Wang: Especially those senior managers, who are usually older than others. They are simply not accustomed to the advanced computer system.
Zhang: And young people are also responsible for the increase in costs, too. You know many of them often keep their computers on for the whole night.
Wang: And very often they forget to turn off lights when they leave their offices.
Zhang: So, something must be done before things become any worse.
Wang: Right. I think we should offer some incentives to those who save costs in their jobs.
Zhang: Like what?
Wang: Like a quarterly award for them.
Zhang: And personally I see an absolute need for a training course for our staff members.
Wang: On computers?
Zhang: Yeah. So that they can make better use of them. And in this way, I believe we＇ll be able to bring down our costs.
Corporate Image
Wang: You know we are going to run a series of activities for the local community.
Zhang: Yes, just to improve our corporate image. But what do you think we can do for the community?
Wang: I think we can do something for the needy people.
Zhang: You mean we can contribute to the local community charity.
Wang: Exactly. And apart from that, I think we could sponsor a few programmes of entertainment.
Zhang: Like an orchestra or a singing performance or something?
Wang: Yeah. And I think we should also do something for the primary pupils. You know how important they are nowadays.
Zhang: Yeah. We may provide them with some school things.
Wang: You mean school things they can buy anywhere or those made to our special order?
Zhang: I think we can have them made to our order, with our name or logo on them.
Wang: All these shall benefit us in many ways.
Zhang: Yes. Obviously, they help establish a favorable corporate image.
Wang: Yes, more people in the community will come to see us as a company willing to help them.
Zhang: Yeah, and in this way our customer base shall be reinforced and expanded.