首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Though not the ideal shape for a Christmas stocking, this slim little volume could nevertheless make a welcome seasonal gift. La
Though not the ideal shape for a Christmas stocking, this slim little volume could nevertheless make a welcome seasonal gift. La
admin
2010-07-19
46
问题
Though not the ideal shape for a Christmas stocking, this slim little volume could nevertheless make a welcome seasonal gift. Launched in Britain at the end of October, and covering just under 100 pages (with paragraphs inset almost to the middle of the page), it is not much more than an extended essay. But it presents an interesting idea eloquently and clearly, offering digestible brain food amid a surfeit of turkey and television.
The author, Gerard Fairtlough, was a senior executive with Shell for many years before he left in 1980 to found a new biotechnology company called Celltech--recently bought by UCB, a Belgian group, for over $2 billion. He knows how businesses are run both well-established organisations, such as Shell, in which it can be hard to see an alternative to "the way things are done around here", and new start-ups, where the founders’ enthusiasm can evaporate if it has to be corralled into an organogram.
The author’s thesis is that we are all addicted to hierarchy--partly because that is how we are hardwired, as are our simian cousins, but also because we do not realise there are other ways to run organisations. "The hegemony of hierarchy," writes Mr. Fairtlough, "makes us think the only alternative is disorganisation. we only compare hierarchy with anarchy or chaos."
There are, he says, two alternatives to hierarchy (hence the title of the book). One is heterarchy; the other, "responsible autonomy". Heterarchy is the form of structure commonly found in professional service firms, the partnerships of accountants or lawyers in which key decisions are taken by all the partners jointly. With responsible autonomy "an individual or a group has autonomy to decide what to do, but is accountable for the outcome of the decision." "Accountability," says Mr. Fairtlough, "is what makes responsible autonomy different from anarchy."
The author says that hierarchy is so entrenched it will take years before there is any significant change. But he perhaps gives too little credit to the many companies that have moved (and are still moving) along the spectrum from hierarchy to responsible autonomy. BP, for example, a huge multinational, has managed to devolve authority to much smaller units in recent years and has decimated the staff in its headquarters. Toyota, likewise, evolved towards greater autonomy as it discovered that the only effective way to carry out its famous "just-in-time" system of stock control was by delegating responsibility for ordering stock to the person closest to the coal face. The fact that these are among the most successful companies in the world today strengthens Mr. Fairtlough’s case.
The author has not just written a book, he has also set up a publishing firm to produce it. But Triarchy Press is not a vanity publisher, It exists because Mr. Fairtlough believes that traditional business-book publishers are too focused on engineering bestsellers. He wants Triarchy Press to provide a sort of transition, a way books can test the water, at low cost, to see how the public responds. If they get a warm reception they can subsequently be given the full publishing treatment. The danger is that the public will not notice. For first they have to find their way to a website: www. TriarchyPress. co. uk.
The phrase "test the water" in the last paragraph probably means ______.
选项
A、ask questions.
B、check answers.
C、have a try.
D、cross a river.
答案
C
解析
语义理解题。由题干定位至末段第四句,语义理解题需要联系上下文进行语义分析,因此需从首句着手,该句提到Gerard为这本书成立了一家出版公司。第三句和第四句提到其初衷:他希望自己的出版公司能够担当一个过渡的角色,以低成本test the water,看看公众的反应如何。显然后面的不定式短语to see how the public responds 表目的,正是对test the water的解释,故[C]为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/LglO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
MarkRothkoemigratedtotheUnitedStates______.Rothkothoughtthatmodernart______.
Readingmakesafullman;conferenceareadyman;andwritinganexactman.Andtherefore,ifamanwritelittle,hehadneedha
Thewritersuggeststhatthereisnosenseinbuyingthelatestvolume______.Throughoutthepassage,thewriter’stonetoward
Thewritersuggeststhatthereisnosenseinbuyingthelatestvolume______.CrippenwasabsentfromtheDNB______.
Thewritersuggeststhatthereisnosenseinbuyingthelatestvolume______.OntheissueofwhoshouldbeincludedintheDN
Ofalltheareasoflearningthemostimportantisthedevelopmentofattitudes.Emotionalreactionsaswellaslogicalthought
WhenIwasabout11,Iinheritedmyolderbrother’spaperroute.Itwasagoodjob,thoughitmeanswakingupatthecrackofd
随机试题
机体柔嫩,生理调节和适应能力不成熟,平均每天睡眠长达20h;易发生窒息、溶血、感染等,死亡率高是()的特点。
A.头晕胀痛B.手足蠕动C.目涩D.胸闷喜太息E.咽喉肿痛(1996年第79,80题)肝火上炎,可出现()
咽淋巴内环中最大的淋巴组织是
A.恶心呕吐B.发热C.腹痛D.脂肪泻E.黄疸
患者,女,20岁。昨日过食冰水后,出现呃逆,声音沉缓有力,膈间及胃脘不舒,喜热饮,纳食减少,舌苔白润,脉象迟缓。治疗方剂宜用
我国新型工程建设管理体制加强了政府的宏观管理,符合政府职能由微观经济管理转变到( )宏观管理上来的要求。
下列说法正确的有()。
阅读下面的材料,按要求作文。20世纪30年代,梅兰芳先生初到上海,虽然他唱功绝佳,誉满京华,但要想在大上海一下子出名也很难。当时戏班子想在报纸上登广告,但广告怎么写,才能引起人们的注意呢?经过一番筹划,戏班子决定在报纸上只印三个字——梅兰芳。当时上海
使用UTP双绞线和RJ45接头连接的以太网络结构属于()。
某次网球比赛的四强对阵为甲对乙、丙对丁,两场比赛的胜者将争夺冠军.选手之间相互获胜的概率如下:甲获得冠军的概率为().
最新回复
(
0
)