Managing global organizations has been a business challenge for centuries. But the nature of the task is changing with the accel

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问题     Managing global organizations has been a business challenge for centuries. But the nature of the task is changing with the accelerating shift of economic activity from Europe and North America to markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. McKinsey Global Institute research suggests that 400 midsize emerging-market cities, many unfamiliar in the West, will generate nearly 40 percent of global growth over the next 15 years. The International Monetary Fund confirms that the ten fastest-growing economies during the years ahead will all be in emerging markets. Against this backdrop, continuing advances in information and communications technology have made possible new forms of international coordination within global companies and potential new ways for them to flourish in these fast-growing markets.
    There are individual success stories. IBM expects to earn 30 percent of its revenues in emerging markets by 2015, up from 17 percent in 2009. At Unilever, emerging markets make up 56 percent of the business already. And Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in India, now has operations in 40 countries and earns more than half its revenue outside India.
    But, overall, global organizations are struggling to adapt. A year ago, we uncovered a "globalization penalty": high-performing global companies consistently scored lower than more locally focused ones on several dimensions of organizational health. For example, the former were less effective at establishing a shared vision, encouraging innovation, executing "on the ground," and building relationships with governments and business partners. Equally arresting was evidence from colleagues in McKinsey’s strategy practice showing that global companies headquartered in emerging markets have been growing faster than counterparts headquartered in developed ones, even when both are operating on "neutral turf" emerging markets where neither is based (see "Parsing the growth advantage of emerging-market companies").
    Over the past year, we’ve tried to understand more clearly the challenges facing global organizations, as well as approaches that are helping some to thrive. Our work has included surveys and structured interviews with more than 300 executives at 17 of the world’s leading global organizations spanning a diverse range of sectors and geographies, a broader survey of more than 4,600 executives, and time spent working directly with the leaders of dozens of global organizations trying to address these issues.
    Clearly, no single organizational model is best for all companies handling the realities of rapid growth in emerging markets and round-the-clock global communications. That’s partly because the opportunities and challenges facing companies vary, depending on their business models. R&D-intensive companies, for example, are working to staff new research centers in the emerging world and to integrate them with existing operations. Firms focused on extracting natural resources are adapting to regulatory regimes that are evolving rapidly and sometimes becoming more interventionist. Consumer-oriented firms are facing sometimes-conflicting imperatives to tailor their businesses to local needs while maintaining consistent global processes.
What does the phrase "this backdrop" (Line 6, Para. 1) mean?

选项 A、Advances in information and communications technology.
B、New forms of cooperation within international companies.
C、Individual success stories in those fast-growing markets.
D、Emerging markets will host the fastest-growing economies.

答案D

解析 语义理解题。根据题干提示定位至第一段。该段最后一句中的Against this backdrop提示要从前面几句寻找该短语的指代内容。总结前面几句的内容可知,“这一背景”指的是新兴市场对未来经济的快速发展将发挥主导作用,D项与此相符,故为正确答案。根据第一段最后一句可知,A项和B项均在Against this backdrop之后,即以此为背景发生的事情,不能成为其所指代的内容,故都排除;C项出现在第二段首句,与this backdrop距离较远,且在含义上也不能成为其所指,故排除。
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