2023考研英語(yǔ)閱讀海爾海闊天空

由雕龍文庫(kù) 分享時(shí)間：2024-03-19 05:38:27 收藏本文

　　Haier and higher

　　海爾海闊天空

　　The radical boss of Haier wants to transform theworld s biggest appliance-maker into a nimbleinternet-age firm

　　與眾不同的海爾老總想將世界上最大的家電制造商改造成一家矯捷的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)時(shí)代的公司

　　NO URINATION or defecation in the working area. That admonition was among 13 rules thatmanagers felt necessary to post on the walls of a shambolic fridge factory in Qingdao in theearly 1980s.

　　上世紀(jì)八十年代早期，一家位于青島的冰箱制造廠車間赫然寫著：不許在車間大小便，廠長(zhǎng)認(rèn)為這對(duì)于已經(jīng)陷入混亂的工廠來(lái)說(shuō)很有必要。

　　After several senior managers failed to turn it around, in 1984 the municipal government ofthe Chinese city appointed a young employee, Zhang Ruimin, as the firm s boss.

　　在一年幾度換帥卻無(wú)法扭轉(zhuǎn)頹勢(shì)的情況下，年輕的張瑞敏臨危受命出任廠長(zhǎng)。

　　The gamble worked. Since then alousy local firm has turned into the world s biggest appliance-maker.

　　青島市政府的這次豪賭收到了成效，隨后這家瀕臨倒閉的工廠一躍成為世界上最大的家電制造商。

　　Most think of Chinese companies as peddlers of cheap, undifferentiated kit or mere copycats.

　　印象中，中國(guó)公司即廉價(jià)產(chǎn)品、低端元件、或山寨產(chǎn)品的代名詞。

　　In contrast, Haier is recognised globally for reliability and marketing know-how.

　　相比之下，海爾已贏得全球顧客的信賴，并且精通市場(chǎng)運(yùn)作。

　　Mr Zhang had spent time in quality-obsessedGermany, where he observed that evenmanhole covers were precisely made and numbered.

　　張瑞敏曾到以品質(zhì)著稱的德國(guó)考察，他注意到在那里即便只是一個(gè)普通的井蓋都是精密制造的，還編上了序號(hào)，

　　It made a deep impression.

　　這在他腦海里留下了深刻的印象。

　　Incensed that a fifth of the products his plant turned out were defective, in 1985 he handedout sledgehammers and joined employees in smashing 76 faulty fridges in public view.

　　隨后，工廠生產(chǎn)的產(chǎn)品不合格率高達(dá)20%令他震怒;1985年，他讓生產(chǎn)出那些不合格產(chǎn)品的員工當(dāng)眾砸毀了76臺(tái)冰箱。

　　That won him national celebrity and was the start of the firm s transformation.

　　這讓他在全國(guó)開(kāi)始小有名氣，工廠的轉(zhuǎn)型也由此拉開(kāi)了序幕。

　　Now comes Mr Zhang s latest radical notion: eliminating the firm s entire middlemanagement.

　　如今，張瑞敏最新的理念是：去掉公司所有中層管理人員。

　　But surely it is barmy to tinker with a successful business model?

　　但是，但是如此巨大地改動(dòng)成功的商業(yè)模式是不是瘋了?

　　A close inspection of the firm s rise reveals that Mr Zhang has never adhered toconventional wisdom.

　　進(jìn)一步審視海爾的崛起之路不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，張瑞敏從不會(huì)受制于傳統(tǒng)觀念。

　　Haier became China s biggest fridge-maker in 1999 in part by acquiring lots of lossmakinglocal rivals.

　　1999年，海爾成為中國(guó)最大的冰箱制造廠，一個(gè)原因是他不斷兼并國(guó)內(nèi)日益虧損的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。

　　Mr Zhang looked for firms with strong products and markets but inept leadershipstunnedfish, he calls themthat could be turned around by superior management.

　　張瑞敏注意到的是那些產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量過(guò)硬、有一定市場(chǎng)份額而管理不善的公司他稱之為休克魚這些公司能夠通過(guò)先進(jìn)的管理扭轉(zhuǎn)格局。

　　His un-Chinese obsession with quality and branding helped, earning his products apremium even during periodic price wars.

　　他對(duì)產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量、品牌的非中國(guó)特色式癡迷，讓他在周期性的價(jià)格戰(zhàn)中為其產(chǎn)品贏得了一項(xiàng)榮譽(yù)。

　　He also emphasised top-flight service, rare in China, promising that machines would befree if not delivered within 24 hours.

　　同時(shí)，他還注重一流的服務(wù)理念，這在中國(guó)也實(shí)屬罕見(jiàn)。他向顧客許諾如果海爾產(chǎn)品如果未能在下單后24小時(shí)送達(dá)，該訂單即可免費(fèi)。

　　Mr Zhang also defied Chinese notions of how to expand overseas.

　　此外，張瑞敏摒棄了中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)的海外擴(kuò)張思想。

　　Rather than go first to less competitive regions like South-East Asia and Africa, Haier longago pushed into America and Europe.

　　很久以前，海爾首先打入美國(guó)、歐洲市場(chǎng)，而非首先向競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力薄弱的東南亞、非洲擴(kuò)展。

　　Mr Zhang wanted the firm to learn how to meet the demands of the world s mostsophisticated consumers.

　　張瑞敏希望公司能夠?qū)W校如何滿足世界上最挑剔客戶的需求，

　　Haier s quality exceeded norms set even byJapan s exacting standards bodies.

　　海爾的質(zhì)量甚至高于日本嚴(yán)格的產(chǎn)品標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

　　By listening closely to demanding consumers, his firm s fast and frugal engineers came upwith clever products like mini-fridges built into computer tables, freezers with a slightlywarmer compartment and horizontal deep freezers with two tiers of drawers.

　　通過(guò)仔細(xì)聆聽(tīng)用戶需求，海爾敏捷的工程師設(shè)計(jì)出的智能產(chǎn)品，如內(nèi)置于電腦桌中的小冰箱，冷凍機(jī)上帶有一個(gè)小暖室，還有一個(gè)帶有兩層抽屜的水平冷藏器。

　　Haier also developed new niches, such as affordable wine fridges, ignored by Western rivalsobsessed with economies of scale.

　　海爾還設(shè)計(jì)了新的壁龕式冰箱，如儲(chǔ)酒冰箱，其西方競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手癡迷于規(guī)模化生產(chǎn)，不屑于這種小眾化的產(chǎn)品。

　　It is now pioneering wireless charging of appliances.

　　如今，海爾現(xiàn)在正走在家電無(wú)線控制技術(shù)的前列。

　　The results of Mr Zhang s unconventional strategy have been breathtaking.

　　張瑞敏非傳統(tǒng)策略的成果令人震驚。

　　Haier s revenues have shot up fourfold since 2000, topping 160 billion yuan last year.

　　2000年后，海爾的銷售收入增長(zhǎng)了四倍，去年達(dá)到了1600億元。

　　Pre-tax profits rose more than six fold over the same period.

　　同期，稅前利潤(rùn)漲幅超過(guò)六倍。

　　It was judged the eighth most innovative firm worldwide, ahead of Amazon among others,in a ranking drawn up last year by the Boston Consulting Group. And now KKR, aprivate-equity giant, is investing in the firm.

　　去年，波士頓咨詢公司發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)排名顯示，海爾躋身全球第八大創(chuàng)新企業(yè)，領(lǐng)先與亞馬遜等名企。現(xiàn)今，股權(quán)投資巨頭科爾伯格-克拉維斯公司已向海爾投資。

　　It has stumped up $500m for a 10% stake, if the rumours are correct.

　　如果傳言屬實(shí)，KKR向海爾注資5000萬(wàn)美元，占其投資份額10%。

　　Most bosses would be satisfied with such a record, but not Mr Zhang.

　　如此驕人成績(jī)換做任何老總都會(huì)很滿意，但張瑞敏卻不沾沾自喜。

　　Though in his 60s, he still works nearly every day and he rarely takes a holiday.

　　盡管已年過(guò)花甲，他仍然將近每天工作，基本不休假。

　　And far from resting on his laurels, he is occupied reinventing his business.

　　張瑞敏非但沒(méi)有躺在過(guò)去的功勞簿上，現(xiàn)今還致力于公司重整。

　　The point of killing middle management is to make the firm more responsive, he says: Inthe past, employees waited to hear from the boss; now, they listen to the customer.

　　去掉公司所有中層管理人員的意義在于讓公司更加。他說(shuō)：過(guò)去，員工等著老板發(fā)話;現(xiàn)在，他們得聽(tīng)顧客的。

　　Previously, the firm s 80,000 or so workers toiled in traditional and distinct areas likemanufacturing, sales and so on.

　　先前，海爾近8萬(wàn)員工遵循傳統(tǒng)，在諸如制造、銷售等不同部門辛勤工作。

　　Now, they are organised into 2,000 zi zhu jing ying tiself-managed teams that performmany different roles.

　　現(xiàn)今，他們每2000人組建一個(gè)自主經(jīng)營(yíng)體，實(shí)現(xiàn)團(tuán)隊(duì)自我管理，履行各種不同職能。

　　Each is responsible for profit and loss, and individuals are paid on performance.

　　經(jīng)營(yíng)體內(nèi)每位成員都要對(duì)團(tuán)隊(duì)盈虧負(fù)責(zé)，個(gè)人報(bào)酬多少基于其表現(xiàn)好壞。

　　In the past, managers relied on internal support services for, say, research or marketing.

　　過(guò)去，像市場(chǎng)調(diào)查、營(yíng)銷這類工作，管理人員需要依靠?jī)?nèi)部的支援。

　　To encourage open innovation, the firm insists the new ZZJYTs must attract outsidepartners and resources.

　　為了鼓勵(lì)開(kāi)放式創(chuàng)新，海爾堅(jiān)持自主經(jīng)營(yíng)體必須吸引外部合作伙伴及相應(yīng)資源。

　　If ambitious employees spot an opportunity, they are free to propose an idea for a newproduct or service.

　　如果雄心勃勃的員工發(fā)現(xiàn)機(jī)遇，他們完全可以建議開(kāi)發(fā)一款新產(chǎn)品或一項(xiàng)新服務(wù)。

　　A vote, which can include not just employees but suppliers and customers, decides whichproject goes ahead.

　　一種即包括員工，還兼顧供應(yīng)商、顧客的投票機(jī)制，可以決定哪個(gè)項(xiàng)目先行實(shí)施。

　　The winner also becomes the project s leader.

　　同時(shí)，勝者將成為項(xiàng)目負(fù)責(zé)人。

　　He forms his team by recruiting from across the company; employees are free to join orleave ZZJYTs.

　　張瑞敏通過(guò)從整個(gè)公司挑選人才，搭建管理團(tuán)隊(duì);員工自行選擇是否加入自由經(jīng)濟(jì)體。

　　Mr Zhang says the goal is a free market in talent, so the cream rises.

　　他表示這樣做的目的是人才自由市場(chǎng)，是金子便會(huì)發(fā)光。

　　He explains why such disruption is necessary: If we don t challenge ourselves, someone elsewill.

　　他解釋道這樣分化管理的必要性：如果我們不自己尋求挑戰(zhàn)，總有人會(huì)向我們發(fā)起挑戰(zhàn)。

　　If that sounds like talk straight out of Silicon Valley, in a sense it is.

　　這話聽(tīng)起來(lái)就像硅谷的理念，從某種意義上來(lái)說(shuō)確實(shí)如此。

　　He is convinced that if Haier is to flourish in the internet age, it must become a servicescompany.

　　張瑞敏相信如果公司想在當(dāng)今的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)時(shí)代站穩(wěn)腳跟，那么海爾就要成為一家服務(wù)型公司。

　　He even thinks it can mine user information to become a big data firm, to serve customerseven better.

　　他甚至認(rèn)為海爾可以開(kāi)發(fā)用戶信息而成為一家大型數(shù)據(jù)公司，如此才能更好的為顧客服務(wù)。

　　How exactly does Mr Zhang intend to strike a balance between the chaoticentrepreneurial energy released by the ZZJYTs and the need for corporate control at thetop?

　　既然如此，那么張瑞敏又如何做到平衡混亂自由經(jīng)濟(jì)體的創(chuàng)造力和公司高層對(duì)整個(gè)企業(yè)的管理呢?

　　We don t need to balance!, he says with a smile. An unsteady and dynamic environment isthe best way to keep everyone flexible.

　　對(duì)此，他坦然一笑，并說(shuō)道：我們不需要去平衡，一個(gè)不穩(wěn)定的動(dòng)態(tài)環(huán)境是讓每個(gè)人都靈活工作的最佳途徑。

　　If you doubt his seriousness, just consider the catfish.

　　如果你懷疑他的決心，想想鯰魚效應(yīng)的作用。

　　Yang Lin, who started at the firm 12 years ago as a technician, won the contest to becomethe head of the team for automatic top-loading washing machines.

　　12年前，楊林開(kāi)始了自己在海爾的技術(shù)員工作。如今，他已成為海爾洗衣機(jī)全自動(dòng)型號(hào)經(jīng)營(yíng)體長(zhǎng)。

　　He works extremely hard, he says, not only to earn his bonus but also to stay ahead of thecatfish.

　　他說(shuō)自己工作努力，不僅可以分得公司紅利，還在諸多鯰魚中處于領(lǐng)先位置。

　　That is what the firm calls the person with a rival idea who came second in the voting. Heworks on the victor s team but watches for any chance to unseat him.

　　這便是海爾號(hào)召競(jìng)職選舉中得票第二的人要有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)意識(shí)的結(jié)果，他為第一工作，卻時(shí)刻想著取代第一。

　　Does this upset Mr Yang?

　　這讓楊林感到困擾嗎?

　　I can t run things like an emperor, he reflects, but I don t mind.

　　他反省道：我無(wú)法像一個(gè)皇帝統(tǒng)攬大權(quán)，但我并不介意。

　　In fact, I m a catfish to other teams myself.

　　事實(shí)上，對(duì)于其他團(tuán)隊(duì)而言我同樣也是只很具競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力的鯰魚。

　　It s fish-eat-fish at the heart of the world s most successful white-goods firm.

　　這種魚吃魚的理念已經(jīng)深入這家世界上最成功的家電公司。

　　詞語(yǔ)解釋

　　1.transform into 把轉(zhuǎn)變成

　　Did pinocchio transform into a donkey? Why?