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
38
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.
According to the book reviewer, what is the practical situation of the structure of companies?
选项
A、Hierarchy is not the only way.
B、Many companies have found other alternatives.
C、It will take a long time to change the existing structure.
D、Heterarchy seems to be better than responsibly autonomy.
答案
A
解析
细节题。文章中提到本文作者观点的地方只有一处,即第五段第二句,前文提到Gerard认为公司要想在运营方式方面有较大的改变还需很长时间,紧接着作者给出了自己的观点,即现在很多公司已经在向 responsible autonomy方面转变,接着给出了BP、Toyota等公司作为具体例证,可见本文作者认为等级制度不是公司唯一的运营方式,但并没有认为很多公司已经找到了出路,排除[B],答案为[A]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/GglO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
SomeProblemsFacingLearnersofEnglishAlthoughmanyEnglishlearnershavegothighscoresinanEnglishtestsuchasIELT
WecanconcludethatIsabelBurton______.AlthoughhewasemployedbyForeignOffice,RichardBurtonwas______.
MarkRothkoemigratedtotheUnitedStates______.Rothkothoughtthatmodernart______.
Readingmakesafullman;conferenceareadyman;andwritinganexactman.Andtherefore,ifamanwritelittle,hehadneedha
Whyshouldanyonebuythelatestvolumeintheever-expandingDictionaryofNationalBiography?Idonotmeanthatitisbad,as
WhenIwasabout11,Iinheritedmyolderbrother’spaperroute.Itwasagoodjob,thoughitmeanswakingupatthecrackofd
随机试题
原发性肝癌最常见的临床表现是
热者寒之属于()
甲公司急需购买一套设备,甲公司委托乙信息公司为自己找寻卖家,乙公司通过上网查询等方式得知丙公司正要销售一套甲公司需要的设备,乙公司向甲公司提供了该信息,甲公司派员到乙公司处进行谈判,顺利签订了买卖合同,以下说法正确的是()
已知某商业银行的资本状况如下:根据以上资料,回答下列问题:该银行的资本充足率是()。
《中华人民共和国教师法》规定,中小学教师和职业学校教师享受()。
报告是用于向上级机关汇报工作____情况,____上级机关询问的陈述性上行公文。
2011年我国网上购物保持高速发展态势,全年网购总额达到8090亿元,比2010年增长72.90%,占到了全国社会商品零售总额的4.46%;网购人数达到2.12亿,比2010年增长14.59%,占到2011年全部网民数的41.50%,比2010年提高了0.
A:I’msorry.He’snotinhisoffice.B:______
已知向量β=(α1,α2,α3,α4)T可以由α1=(1,0,0,1)T,α2=(1,1,0,0)T,α3=(0,2,—1,—3)T,α4=(0,0,3,3)T线性表出。把向量β分别用α1,α2,α3,α4和它的极大线性无关组线性表出。
Asthepaceoflifecontinuestoincrease,wearefastlosingtheartofrelaxation.Onceyouareinthe【C1】______ofrushingt
最新回复
(
0
)