Recent years have brought minority owned businesses in the United States unp

游客2024-01-13  5

问题     Recent years have brought minority owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities—as well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, His-panics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $ 500,000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific per- centage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
    Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $ 77 million in 1972 to $1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980’s is estimated to be over 53 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade.
    Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. I3oth consume valuable time and resources, and a small company’ s efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
    A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many in- stances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as "fronts" with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures.
    Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often run the danger of becoming—and remaining—dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corpo- rate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success. [br] The author implies that a minority-owned concern that does the greater part of its business with one large corporate customer should

选项 A、avoid competition with larger, more established concerns by not expanding.
B、concentrate on securing even more business from that corporation.
C、try to expand its customer base to avoid becoming dependent on the corporation.
D、pass on some of the work to be done for the corporation to other minority-owned concerns.
E、use its influence with the corporation to promote subcontracting with other minority concerns.

答案 C

解析 一个生意大部分和一个大公司做的少数民族企业,应注意什么?这实际是原文第三个危险(第五段)——易产生依赖性的内容。A.避免扩大。无。B.关注于得到此公司更多定货。恰恰相反,这只会更加重危险。C.正确。扩大客户,防止依赖这个公司。L74—82指出,当前少数民族企业难摆脱依赖性,就是难于做到此点,如果此点能实现,就可避免第三个危险产生。D.把一些定货给其他企业。无。E.利用影响力使这个大公司和更多的少数民族企业签合同。无。
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