Đề Cương Bài Giảng Tiếng Anh Chuyên Ngành (kinh Tế) - 123doc

Language review: Present simple and present continuous Can you give me some examples.. Normally we use the present simple for permanent states, and the present continuous for temporary

(Tập bài giảng dùng cho sinh viên đại học,hệ chính quy)

Biên soạn: Vũ Thị Huyền

Bộ môn: Kinh tế

THÁNG 10/2015

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SPKT HƯNG YÊN

TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH

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(Tập bài giảng dùng cho sinh viên đại học, hệ chính quy)

Biên soạn: Vũ Thị Huyền

Bộ môn: Kinh tế

THÁNG 10/2015

Unit 1: Brands 1.1 Listening: Why brands matter

a Sandra Greaves is a consultant at Wolff-Olins, a leading international brand consultcy based in London In the first part of the interview she talk about why we need brands Listen and complete these extracts

1 Brands are all about…

2 You know what a brand is…, what it…, what it’s going to…

3 You actually trust it to… … … … again

4 One thing about brands is they add a lot of … and … and …, as well as giving you power to … things

b Listen to the second part of the interview and tick the points below which Sandra makes

1 People are very loyal to successful brands

2 Even successful brands are seen as just a product or a service

3 Apple was popular because it wasn’t a big corporation

4 Apple customer felt that the Mac was an easy product to use

c Listen to the example Sandra gives of how Wolff-Olins helped a company with

1 What was the company?

2 What is its business sector?

3 What advice did they receive?

1.2 Reading: Outsourcing production

Made in Europe

By Jo Johnson, Fred Kapner and Richard McGregor

Almost every fashion label outside the top super – luxury brands is either already manufacturing in Asia or thinking of it Coach, the US leather goods maker, is a classic example Over the past five years, it has lifted all its gross margins by manufacturing solely in low-cost markets In March 2002 it closed its factory in Lares, Puerto Rico Its last company- owned plant, andoutsources all its products

Burberry has many Asian licensing arrangements

In 2000 it decided torenew Sanyo’s Japanese licence for 20 ten years

This means that almost halfof Burberry’s sales at retail value will continue to be produced under licencein Asia

At the same time however, Japanese consumers prefer the group’s made products Sanyo is now creating to this demand for a snob alternative to the Burberryproducts made in its factories across Asia by opening a flagship store inTokyo’s Gin

European-za, where it sells Burberry products imported from Europe

In interviews with the FT, many executives says the top luxury brands willcontinue to

be seen, particularly in Asia, as European

Domenico De Sole ofGucci says “ The Asian Consumer really does believe –

whether it’s true ornot –

that luxury comes from Europe and must be made there to be thebest.’

Serge Weinberg, Chief Executive of Pinault Printemps Redoute, whichcontrols Gucci, says it will not move Gucci’s production offshore

Yet some inthe industry recognize that change may be round the corner even for thesuperluxury brands

Patrizio Bertelli, Chief Executive of Prada, says:’ The“Made in Italy” label is importan

t but what we are really offering is a style,and style is an expression of cultureHe therefore recognizes that qualityfashion items may not always need to be produced in italy Amitava Chattopadhyay, professor of marketing at Insead, the businessschool, says:’ A brand is a set of associations in the mind of the consumerand one of these is the countr

y of origin

For luxury goods, the role of thebrand is crucial

To damage it is a cardinal sin and no brand manager willwant to get the balance betwee

n manufacturing location and the brandimage wrong’

1.3 Language review: Present simple and present continuous

Can you give me some examples?

Yes, of course We use the present simple to talk about things which are repeated every day, every week, every year, etc

I usually get up at 7 o'clock

During the week I have swimming practice on Mondays, I dotaekwondo on

Tuesdays and tennis on Thursdays

We always go on holiday in the summer

I see And you use words for explaining more about the time too

Yes, we often use adverbs of frequency sometimes, often, usually or other time

expressions like on Mondays, twice a week or in the summer

What about permanent states? What does that mean?

Permanent states are situations or feelings which are not temporary

I like him a lot

Sophie works as a travel writer

They live in London

We also use the present simple for general facts, for example when talking about science or geography

Thailand is really hot at this time of year

Snakes live on the ground, in trees and in water

So what do I need to know about forming the present simple?

The main thing is that the third person singular forms end in -s or -es That's

for he, she or it

He watches black and white films at his cinema club on Wednesdays

He thinks chess is a sport!

OK, and the other forms don't end in -s or -es? I watch TV a lot We think Coldplay are

boring

Correct!

What about questions and negatives?

For most verbs we use the present simple of the verb do/does + subject +

infinitive without to to form questions

Do you see him on Wednesdays then?

Does Jack like sports?

For negatives we use the subject + do/does + not + infinitive withoutto

Daisy and Jack don't go out together much at the weekend

I don't think Coldplay are boring

To go back to the idea of permanent and temporary things, what about this sentence: Is

your mum in Thailand this week? Isn't that temporary?

Yes, it is That's a very good point Normally we use the present simple for permanent states, and the present continuous for temporary states, but some verbs are thought of as State Verbs and they are not usually used in the continuous form

And the verb to be is one of those verbs?

Exactly! So even though staying in Thailand is temporary, we use the present simple

with the verb to be Here's another example:

How's Daisy? Is she with you?

But that isn't the question form you just told me about! Where's the do?

Ah, no I said 'for most verbs we use do in questions' The verb to be is different and so are modal verbs like can We'll look at the verb to beseparately because it's different

and very common

What are the other state verbs?

We'll look at those when we look at the Present Continuous Any more questions?

Yes, what about: The train leaves at 5 in the morning? Isn't that talking about an event

in the future?

Yes, it is, but it's also a repeated event This is sometimes called the 'timetable future'

OK, I have a maths class in a minute, so I have to go

- Skills: Taking part in meetings

Talking part in meetings

Four marketing executives at a cosmetics company, Marvel Plc, are talking about licensing their 'Luc Fontaine' product range to an Asian manufacturer Listen to the conversation and answer the questions

1.Why do the marketing executives at Marvel Plc want to license their 'Luc Fontaine'

product range?

2.What advantages does Susan Li offer to Marvel?

3.According to Barbara, what is the disadvantage of offering a license to Susan Li? 4.What suggestion does Barbara make to her colleagues?

Discussion: Two promotions

Case 1: Harley Davidson

In 2003 the Harley Davidson brand was 100 years old Although its brand image

is based on the spirit of wild and rebellious youth such as Marlon Brando in the film The Wild One (1954), the typical consumer is very different They are likely to be rich, middle-aged accountants trying to recapture their youth The average age of Harley Davidson customers is 46 compared with 36 for the rest of the motorbike industry At the party to celebrate the centenary, the surprise performance was actually Elton John, rather than the Rolling Stones who many people had expected This caused many of the 150,000 riders and dealers to leave the event very unhappy Although sales and earnings for Harley Davidson have been increasing for the past 18 years, many people see the trouble on the road ahead The problem is Harley Davidson’s typical customers from the baby –boom generation (1946 – 1964) and, as these customers get older, Harley Davidson may find its market shrinking

Case 2: JCB

JCB is a world-famous engineering company It was founded in 1945 by Joseph Cyril Bamford He began his business working alone in a small garage JCB makes construction and agricultural equipment such as tractors, earth-moving vehicles, and loading machines Now its world headquarters in England is one of the finest engineering factories in Europe The company produces over 130 different models on four different continents and sells a full range of equipment in over 150 countries It is truly a global brand

JCB’s research showed that its customers associated with the company with the following brand values :’yellow,’digger’, and ‘durable’ Adult saw the brand and being functional Children, on the other hand, saw the brand as ‘big’, ‘muddy’ and ‘fun’ JCB made a decision to stretch its brand

1 Where does the name JCB come from?

Its come from by Joseph Cyril Bamford

2 What was surprising about JCB’s customer research?

Its customers associated with the company with the following brand values : “yellow’,

‘digger’ and ‘durable’

3 What sort of products do you think JCB developed as a result of its research?

JCB makes construction and agricultural equipment such as tractors, earth-moving vehicles and loading machines

4 Can you think of a similar example of brand-stretching in your country?

a the name given to a product by the company that makes it 5 name

b using an existing name on another type of product 3 stretching

c the ideas and beliefs people have about a brand 4 awareness

d the tendency to always buy a particular brand 1 loyaltly

e how familiar people are with a brand 2 image

PRODUCT

f the set of products made by a company 8 range

g the use of a well-known person to advertise products 10 endorsement

h when products are used in films or TV programs 9 placement

i the introduction of a product to the market 6 launch

j the length of time people continue to buy a product 7 lifecycle

B Complete these sentences with word partnerships from Exercise A

BRAND

1 The creation of Virgin Cola, Virgin Air, Virgin Rail and Virgin Bride is an example

of brand stretching

2 Consumers who always buy Levi´s when they need a new pair of jeans are

showing brand loyalty

3 Not enough people recognize our logo; we need to spend a lot more on raising brand image

PRODUCT

1 David Beckham advertising Vodafone is an example of product endorsement

2 A product lifecycle consists of introduction, growth, maturity and decline

3 The use of BMW cars and Nokia phones in James Bond films are examples

of products placement

1 Loyalty [ J ] a the name given to a product by the company that makes it

2 Image [ C ] b using an existing name on another type of product

3 stretching [ B ] c the ideas and beliefs people have about a brand

4 awareness [ E ] d the tendency to always buy a particular brand

5 name [ A ] e how familiar people are with a brand

6 launch [ I ] f the set of products made by a company

7 lifecycle [ D ] g the use of a well-known person to advertise products

8 range [ F ] h When products are used in films or TV programs

9 placement [ H ] i The introduction of a product to the market

10 endorsement [ G ] j the length of time people continue to buy a product

- Case study: Caferoma

BACKGROUND AND PROBLEMS 1 BACKGROUND

Market share has declined by almost 30%

Consumers have become less loyal to brands and more price conscious(they are rather buying economy brands than premiere brands)

Supermarkets are selling own

‐

label brands at much lower prices

There are lot of ‘copycat’ products – cheaper Italian style brands that

h a v e e s t a b l i s h e d t h e m s e l v e s a s a s t r o n g c o m p e t i t i o n t o h i g h

end brands like Caferoma

Caferoma’s brand image seems to be outdated, no longer exciting and

Unit 2: Travel 2.1 Reading: Air rage

Road ragers in the sky

By Derek Brown

Airline and their long-suffering customers are reporting a steep in air rage incidents Some incidents are apparently caused by problems which are familiar to many regular travellers One case reported from America stemmed from an interminable delay in takeoff, when passengers were cooped up in their aircraft on the tarmac for four hours, without food, drink or information Mass unrest is less common than individual misbehaviour, as in the case of the convict who recently went crazy on a flight, attacked the crew and tried to open a door in mid-flight

The psychology of air rage is a new area of study, and there are almost as many explanations as examples Most analysts of the phenomenon blame alcohol, but many people now think that the airlines are at fault To cut costs, they are cramming over more passengers into their aircraft, while reducing cabin crew, training and quality of service, all of which increase passenger frustration In addition, there is increasing concern in the US about another cost-cutting exercise, which could seriously harm passenger's health: cabin ventilation

Modern aircraft are equipped with sophisticated air conditioning devices - but running them at optimum capacity burns up valuable aviation fuel Many airlines routinely instruct their flight crews to run systems on minimum settings Campaigners for improved air quality claim that this can lead to irritability and disorientation

In the US, the soaring number of passenger complaints across a wide range of issues is reflected in a number of new Internet sites which criticise the airlines and demand better service One of the sites is demanding an air passengers' Bill of Rights

Cabin and flight crews who are in the front line of the battle against disruptive and dangerous in-flight behaviour, have called for stiffer penalties against the offenders Management have also called for legislation - while denying that its cost-cutting practices have contributed to the problem But there are some signs, in the US at least, that the airlines are at last attempting to respond to customer dissatisfaction Some

major lines have announced concessions to the most frequent complaint of all, and are removing seats to make more room for their customers

2.2 Listening: A business traveller’s priorities

a Answer these questions before you read the article

1 What was your worst experience when travelling by air?

2 Why do some people get angry when they are travelling on a plane?

b Now read the article Which of these statements are true about the article? Correct the falses ones

1 People in groups are more likely to behave badly on planes

2 Drink is often the cause of problems on board

3 Airlines can do little to improve air quality

Skills: Making arrangements on the telephone

a Philippa Knight, Sales Director at The Fashion Group in NewYork, makes two telephone call to Maria Bonetti, a fashion buyer in London Listen and note: 1 The purpose of each call and 2 The result

b Listen to the first call again

- Case study: Work, Rest and Play

ICON is a computer software company based in Los Angeles, USA The Manager of its company travel service is making arrangements for some senior managers to attend a seminar in France The seminar starts on Friday July 5th and ends on Sunday July 7th

It will include meetings to discuss work problems and executive games to encourage teamwork This is important because the participants are of different nationalities The participants will expect to work hard, then relax, enjoy the amenities of the hotel, explore the surrounding area and have a really good time The Manager of ICON"'s travel sendee wants to book a hotel which is both stylish and for money

Stage l

The Manager of ICON's travel sen ice phones the Account Manager for Corp ,: Travel

at Universal Airlines He asks Universal to propose three hotels in France for die seminar The Account Manager of Corporate Travel asks for more details about the seminar and its participants Manager ICON's travel service: turn to page 140 Account Manager, Universal Airlines: turn to page 147

- Vocabulary: British and American English

Match the words and phrases below which have the same meanings For each pair decide which is British English and which is American English

1 subway a motorway

2 city centre b lift

3 Carry-on baggage c public toilet

4 one way d schedule

5 return e economy class

6 free way f single

- Language review: talk about the future

We can use diffirent language form to talk about the future

1 We can use going to talk about what we intend to do and have already decided to do

2 We use will to talk something we have decided to do at the time of speaking

3 We use the present continuous to talk about a fixed arrangement

Unit 3: Organization 3.1 Reading: A successful organization

Walk into SOL City, headquartesrs of one of the northern Europe's most admired companies, and it feels like you've entered a business playground Located in a renovated film studio at the heart of Helsinki, the office explodes with colour, creativity and chaos The walls are bright red, white and yellow; the employees wander the halls talking on yellow portable phones Lisa Joronen developed SOL Cleaning Service 11 years ago, out of a 150-year-old industrial empire owned by her family SOL's competitive formula has five key ingredients

Few people dream about becoming a cleaner But that doesn't mean cleaners can't find satisfaction in their work The key to satisfaction, Joronen believes, are fun and individual freedom Its cleaners wear red-and-yellow jumpsuits that reinforce the company's upbeat image SOL's logo, a yellow happy face, is on everything from her blazer to the company's budget reports Freedom means abolishing all the rules and regulations of conventional corporate life There are no titles or secretaries at SOL, no individual offices or set hours of work The company has eliminated allperks and status symbols

SOL's training programme consist of seven modules, each of wich lasts four months and ends with a rigorous exam Of course, there are a limited number of ways to polish

a table or shampoo a carpet That's why SOL employees also study time management, budgeting and people skills

Lots of companies talk about decentralising responsibility and authority At SOL it's a way of life The real power players of the company are its 135 supervisors, each of whom leads a team of up to 50 cleaners These supervisors work with their teams to create their own budgets, do their own hiring and negotiate their own deals with customers

Lisa Joronen believes in autonomy, but she's also keen on accountability SOL is fanatical about measuring performance It does so frequently and visibly, and focuses

on customer satisfaction Every time SOL lands a contract, for example, the salesperson works at the new customer's site alongside the team that will do the cleaning in the future Together they establish performance benchmarks Then, every month, the customer rates the team's performance based on those benchmarks "The more we free our people from rules," Joronen says, "the more we need good measurments." Laptops and cell-phones are standard equipment for all supervisors at SOL, freeing them to work where they want, how they want Inside the offices there's almost no room for paper So the company stores all critical budget documents and performance reports

on its Intranet, along with training schedules, upcoming events and company news

3.2 Listening: Advising companies

Listen to the ecomments from diffirent places in the organization and write them down Then match them to the places

Skills: Socializing: Introductions and networking

Listen to the three conversations Choose the correct

Greetingsomeone andtalkingaboutthepast Introducinganotherperson

- Case study: Auric Bank

Introduction In this case we get an entire scenario about how the Japan deflation set in,

what were the effects of the deflation on the economy as well as on the people of Japan

It also mentions about the various reasons because of which Japan was in such a tight grip of Deflation, Depression, Demographics and Debts Guides us through the steps taken by the government in order to curb this deflation Imparts a great knowledge to us about the various economic terms like deflation, self-liquidating credit, Non-Self Liquidating Credit and how the people and economy of a country is affected by these Free markets economies are subject to cycles Economic cycles consist of fluctuating periods of economic expansion and contraction as measured by a nation's gross domestic product (GDP) The length of economic cycles (periods of expansion vs contraction) can vary greatly The traditional measure of an economic recession is two

or more consecutive quarters of falling gross domestic product There are also economic depressions, which are extended periods of economic contraction such as the Great Depression of the 1930s From 1991 through 2001, Japan experienced a period of economic stagnation and price deflation known as "Japan's Lost Decade." While the Japanese economy outgrew this period, it did so at a pace that was much slower than other industrialized nations During this period, the Japanese economy suffered from both a credit crunch and a liquidity trap

- Vocabulary: Company structure

Match the words and phrases below to the correct place on the diagram

- Language review: Noun combinations

We can combine two or more noun several ways

NOUN COMBINATIONS

We can combine two or more nouns in several ways:

1 We use 's (possessive) to express a relationship between a person or organisation and

another person or thing

Julia's desk

her husband's car

This very often means that the relationship can be expressed using "have"

Julia has a desk

Her husband has a car

2 When two (or more) nouns are used together, the first nouns function as adjectives

and describe the last noun

a business card

a job description

a company credit card

a management training program

3 Two nouns are joined by "of" when the ideas are more abstract

the cost of living

5 When compound nouns are used with a number in expressions of measurement, the

first noun is singular.a six-lane motorway

a four-day week

a five-year-old boy

EXERCISE

Choose the best noun combination in each group:

1 a) the meeting of today / b) today's meeting / c) today meeting

2 a) a letter of credit / b) a credit's letter / c) a letter's credit

3 a) a five-stars hotel / b) a hotel five-stars / c) a five-star hotel

4 a) technology of information / b) technology's information / c) information

technology

5 a) head company quarters / b) company headquarters / c) headquarter's company

Unit 4: Change 4.1 Listening: Managing change

- Maggie Miller is the Business Transformation Director of Sainbury’s, one of the largest supermarket groups in the UK She is talking about the programe of change

at Sainsbury’s Listen to the first part of the interview

- Now listen to the first part again and answer these questions

1 Why did the new Chief Excutive want to change things at Sainsbury’s?

2 In which three areas was new investment necessary?

4.2 Reading: Change in retailing

US department stores launch counter-attack

This may help to explain why four times as many households visit discount stores as department stores Department stores face mounting competition from speciality retailers and discounters, such as Wal- Mart and Target Their steady loss of market share may be partly because the concept was born in a different era, a time when, for families, a trip to the stores combined shopping with entertainment

What is needed, say retail experts, is a new approach A typical example of this approach working is seen at Selfridges This UK group has recast itself from a "sleepy 1970s-style department store" into a retailing 10 experience fit for the 21st century, says Wendy Liebmann, President of WWL Strategic Retail

One of the main changes is that more floor space is rented to vendors, in what is sometimes referred to as the showcase business model: vendors design their own booths and are encouraged to be creative

The Selfridges model, says Peter Williams, CEO of Selfridges, is about creating an experience that is "new, interesting and different" where it is not just the product that is different He says the problem with US department stores is that they all look the same

Arnold Aronson, a management consultant, believes Selfridges could be a prototype for failing US department stores: "It has brought back excitement and novelty and is really seducing customers by developing the right merchandise In the right quantities at the right time."

Skills: Taking part in meetings

Four executives are discussing changes to company working practices Listen to the meeting and answer these questions

1 Why does Nancy think the open-plan office is a good ideas?

2 Why are two of the people against introducing an open-plan office?

3 Why is Max against hot-desking?

Case study: Acquiring Metrot

Vocabulary: Describing change

- Write the verb from the box under the correct prefix to make words connected with change Use the good dictionary to help you Some of the words can be used with more than one prefix

Language review: Past simple and present perfect

- We use the past simple for actions at a particular point in the past

- We use the present perfect for actions linking the present to the point on the past

Unit 5: Money 5.1 Listening: Rasing business capital

Hugh Campbell is the fouder of GP Capital, a London – based finace film which raises money for entrepreneurs Listen to the first part to the interview and complete the chart Listen to the second part of the interview and answer these

questions

According to Hugh, which three areas do venture capitalists look at when selecting companies to invest in?

What type of market is good to invest in and why?

What helps some businesses to win against other companies?

What three questions would Hugh ask the management team?

Listen to the third part of the interview What kind of company does

Hugh describe? \/Yhy did he lime this type of company?

Listen to the final part of the interview Which of these statements

are true? Correct the false ones

Hugh was offered the chance to buy fifty percent of an Internet business

He didn’t invest because he thought the management team was weak

The business did very well for a couple of years

It was sold for twenty times its original value

5.2 Reading: Reporting financial success

Before you read the articles decide which of these statements are true

Both Wal-Mart and Target Stores are based in the UK

Wat-Mart is the world’s largest retailer

Target is not a competitor of Wat-Mart

Lee Scott, the CEO, said: "I am more optimistic about the year we have just started than

I have been in several years I am not only optimistic about the economy and the continuing strength of the housing market but also encouraged about Wal-Mart's position."

Mr Scott was also encouraged by consumer spending, which he said was driven by higher tax refunds and "eventually improvements in the jobs picture"

The world's largest retailer by revenues said 30 fourth-quarter profits rose 11 percent to S2.7bn, or 63 cents a share, compared with $2.5bn, or 56 cents a share over a year ago Revenues for the quarter increased 12.2 percent to S74.5bn

For the full year, Wal- Mart's profits jumped 13.3 percent to $8.9bn or $2.03 a share, up from S7.8bn Revenues increased 11.6 percent from $229.6bn to $256.3bn International sales were strong, contributing about S7bn to the near $27bn gain in overall sales Mr Scott said Wal-Mart had a good year but the international division had

an excellent year He stressed that, while gross margin was better than originally forecast, the improvement was thanks to the mix of merchandise, not higher prices

"We are not raising 60 prices and have no intention of doing so," Mr Scott said

$1.65bn, or $1.81 a share, the year before Revenues rose 9.7 percent to S48.16bn from

$43.91bn, driven by new stores, a 2.9 percent rise in same-store sales and growth in credit revenues

Skills: Dealing with figures

Saying numbers

Saying numbers

Castudy: Angle Investments

Angle Investments is based in Warsaw, Poland It is run by a group of rich people who invest money in companies

At present, it has 10 milion to spend and it has chosen four companies as potential investment

- Vocabulary: Idioms

Match the definitions z to 6 with the financial terms a) to I)

money owed by one person or organisation

to another person or organization

a period of time when business activity decreases

because the economy is doing badly

a) gross margin

b) recession

c) shares

d) debt /difference between the selling price of

- Language review: Decribing trends

We can decribe trends in English in diffirent ways For example:

Verbs of change

Prepositions

Diffirent verb forms

Unit 6: Advertising 6.1 Reading: Successful advertising

1 What makes Nike's advertising tick

2 Phil Knight is prepared to take risks to give his company a sporting chance

However, he did agree to an interview in support of his being named Advertiser

of the Year at the 50th Cannes International Advertising Festival this week He is the first person to win the award twice, and his genuine pleasure in it speaks volumes about why Nike produces such stand-out advertising

"It's the most prestigious award in the world advertising industry, and I feel pretty good about it," says Knight "Especially winning it for the second time It

is a huge honour for the company."

Given his noted reticence, he is a surprisingly loquacious interviewee - when he wants to be The only subject off limits was the US lawsuit on whether Nike's corporate statements constitute advertising or not, and that only because it is "in the courts"

So, what is Knight's view on the subject of the hour, David Beckham, who wears Nike as his Manchester United strip, but has a personal deal with Adidas worth about £4m a year? He is succinct, if a little tongue in cheek "David Beckham? All I'll say is I wish we had him I'll tell you that." And that really was all he would say

But it is unlikely that Knight will be too happy about the prospect of Beckham defecting to a rival - Real Madrid wears Adidas - in favour of Nike's United or Barcelona teams Knight has an absolutely clear and committed strategy to celebrity athlete endorsement He describes it as one part of the "three-legged stool" which lies behind Nike's phenomenal growth since the early 1980s, with the other two being product design and advertising

He has built Nike's expansion into sport after sport from its athletics roots on the back of sporting masters: Carl Lewis on the track; tennis's Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe; Tiger Woods, who led Nike into golf; Ronaldo and the Brazilian national football team; and Michael Jordan, who famously rescued the company From the beginning Nike has been prepared to take a gamble on sporting bad boys others would not touch: Ian Wright, Eric Cantona and Andre Agassi spring

to mind It was a strategy that began with Ilie Nastase, the original tennis bad boy The Romanian had the quality that has come to represent Nike and its advertising: attitude

"Part of our success is that we know who we are," says Knight "We defined ourselves It is our job to provide inspiration and aspiration for everyone interested in sports in the world We believe that everyone who has a body is an athlete."

It is a point taken up by the man Knight describes as his advertising "MVP", or most valuable player Nike's long-term adman, Dan Wieden, co-founder of the Portland-based agency Wieden & Kennedy Wieden is himself in Cannes this week as president of the festival's film and print juries

"Nike is the real deal These guys are jocks They are happiest in the locker room Phil Knight is driven by a love of sport but not necessarily by a love of business," he says, explaining what makes Knight and Nike stand out from competitors And a brief look at the company's history proves what anyone who has visited the Nike corporate campus at Beaverton outside Portland, Oregon, knows immediately: these guys really are jocks

In the 1950s Knight was a runner at the University of Oregon where his coach was Bill

Bowerman, who later worked with the US Olympic track team Convinced that his athletes would do better in lighter running spikes than those made by the dominant German manufacturer, Adidas, Bowerman designed and made his own and his athletes started to break records wearing them

After graduating with an MBA at Stanford University, where he wrote his thesis

on trainer manufacturing, Knight went on a world tour He stopped in Japan, where the dominant track shoe brand was Tiger Knight set up Blue Ribbon Sports on the spot, and began importing Tiger running shoes as a sideline to his day job as an accountant

In 1964 Bowerman and Knight each put $500 into the creation of the company, whose storeroom was the Knight family's laundry room By 1971 the duo wanted

to set out on their own, and the name and the swoosh were born

Knight was determined to use famous athletes as endorsers, and because nearly all Nike's salesmen were also athlete acquaintances of the founders there was a genuine affinity between product and consumer

After extraordinary growth built on the new "waffle" sole invented by Bowerman, Nike grew to be number one trainer manufacturer in the US But Knight admits the company then lost its way as it failed to cope with its success

It experimented unsuccessfully with expansion into non-athletic shoes, and lost its number one position to Reebok in 1986, leading to the first lay-offs in the company's history

"It was a terrible thing," Knight recalls "We can never lose our performance base You can wear some of our products mowing the lawn, but we cannot concentrate on that or we would be dead."

Knight bet the company on a new air technology inside the trainer, launched it with a David Fincher-directed ad which used the Beatles track "revolution", and then marketed the Air Jordan brand on the back of then rookie basketball player Michael Jordan The black and red shoes were banned by the sport's governing body, the NBA, for being "too colourful" Sales took off and the rest is history Unsurprisingly then, Knight is absolute in his belief in celebrity endorsement and that Nike's athlete heritage helps land A-list stars Paying top dollar is a bonus,

of course Most recently there was LeBron James, the 18 year-old high school basketball phenomenon signed by Nike in a seven-year $90m deal

"You've got to remember that the others offered more," he says unapologetically, referring to the unseemly auction with Reebok and Adidas

Knight is in feisty mood: "Now we are the biggest in our industry, we have become the target for a lot of unfair criticism We don't like it but we are getting

used to it Look at the World Cup Final of 1998 when Brazil lost to France and everyone said it was because we made Ronaldo play, which of course is not true

No one said anything when Brazil won last year in Japan and Korea."

Surprisingly, he is even prepared to discuss the decade-long criticism of Nike for allegedly using cheap labour in Asia He says Nike will not use advertising to combat the negative publicity

"We did briefly use advertising in 1998 but we thought it wasn't very effective," Knight says "Instead we do a better job there by improving in the factories themselves, working with the local and international NGOs and bringing in journalists to show them this rather than just us ing advertising which only really draws attention to the subject."

Which brings us to the subject of globalisation and the vexing question in the world political climate of how American the brand can be Nike uses a mix of global ads such as "good v evil" and local advertising such as its famous poster campaigns in the UK

"We want the brand to stand for the same thing all over the world We don't want the brand to be different in Europe or Asia, but we know that is not easy," Knight responds "I accept our Americanism with an asterisk Our goal is to be a global company We will never duck our American heritage, and that's not a bad place to be As a friend of mine once said to me, America and sports is like France and cooking."

During a 21-year partnership with W&K, Nike has created some of the world's most attention-grabbing advertising: Nike "good v evil" and the recent $3m Terry Gilliam-directed epic in cages on a ship, both for World Cups; "tag", last year's Cannes grand prix winner; famous ads starring Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi playing in the streets of Manhattan; Tiger Woods playing keepy-uppy with a golf ball; and Brazil's team playing soccer at the airport terminal It is a remarkable body of work, both in its variety, daring and consistent originality

At Nike there is a streamlined decision-making process that gives marketing directors real power and a refusal to rely on market research pre-testing which so often neuters edgier commercials There is also the long relationship with one of the world's best ad agencies, and what Wieden describes as "an honesty about sport" Things only happen in Nike ads that sportsmen and women can really do What's more, Wieden adds, "Nike constantly wants us to surprise and amaze them" This short statement really isn't the normal approach to advertising for a major global corporation in caution-stricken 2003