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
•Read the following article about merge and the questions on the opposite page. •For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B,
•Read the following article about merge and the questions on the opposite page. •For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B,
admin
2010-01-28
37
问题
•Read the following article about merge and the questions on the opposite page.
•For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
A school of behavioral economists has long argued that when it comes to money, people are incapable of acting in their own best interest -- that decisions result from impulse and overconfidence as much as from reason. Smart folks, in other words, are just as likely to soon part with their money as all those fools.
The truly bad news is that smart companies are just as prone to make terrible decisions for the same reason. Take one of the biggest business decisions of all— merger. Research consistently shows that most mergers fail in every sense of the word, from falling stock prices to lower profitability after the merger. Yet, even with suffering capital markets, a recent Hewitt Associates study found that more than half of the 70 senior executives and board members surveyed planned to step up merger activity during the next three years.
Why? Call it executive hubris. CEOs are not different from the rest of us in that they fall prey to the self-enhancement bias: we all like to think we are intelligent and efficacious. So we overestimate our abilities. That’s why studies show that significantly more than half of all people believe they are above average -- in negotiating ability, even in income, This overly optimistic view is, of course, worse for CEOs- afar all, they generally are way above average. Btu the result is the same: bad decisions. One study, by business school professors Matthew Hayward and Donald Hambrick, showed that the greater the hubris of the chief executive, the more a company tends to overpay for acquisitions.
The aphorism "Pride goeth before a fall" seems to hold true in business too. When executives are confronted with the appalling statistics, their first response goes something like this: "That may happen to other companies, but not ours. This acquisition will be more successful. We have learned."
The next CEO challenge is persuading a possibly recalcitrant board of directors to let you pursue your urge to merge. Hubris, again, returns to center stage. You paint a picture of doom and gloom that will result if you don’t merge. Take a look at one of the rationales given for the merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, two companies with poor operating track records. The argument was that PCs were becoming a commodity industry, consolidation was inevitable, and if HP didn’t do the consolidating, it would soon be one of the consolidated. Here’s another variant of the same rationale: If you don’t buy the target company, your competitor will -- and you’ll lose out. This gambit uses the influence strategy of scarcity -- we want what we can’t have, and we find particularly desirable anything that we may lose to someone else.
Here’s how to avoid hubris-fueled merger mania. First, follow the adage from medicine: Forgive and remember. Go back and evaluate past merger decisions, admit when you were wrong, figure out why, and learn from it.
Second, beware of too much agreement in the board room. When Alfred Sloan ran General Motors, if he couldn’t find opposition to a decision, he’d postpone it. He interpreted a lack of dissent as a lack of analysis. Find, even encourage, people to disagree with you, so that all sides of the decision are examined. Mostly, we like those who agree with us. But as one of my colleagues likes to point out, if two people agree all the time, one of them is redundant.
The urge to merge is still like an addiction in many companies: Doing deals is much more fun and interesting than fixing fundamental problems. So, as in dealing with any other addiction or temptation, maybe it is best to just say no.
What is said about CEOs in the third paragraph?
选项
A、They are above the average people in intelligence.
B、They look down upon the ordinary people.
C、They are overly confident about their abilities as the others are.
D、They can do more mergers with their greater hubris.
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/jCKd777K
本试题收录于:
BEC高级阅读题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC高级阅读
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
A、 B、 C、 CLet’scleanuptheofficefirstanswerswhatshallwedofirst.Choice(A)confusestheoppositeslast
A、 B、 C、 CHe’stoobusyisapoliteresponsetotherequest.Choice(A)answerswhichtypeoflettersdoyoupre
A、 B、 C、 AHowaboutthefrontrowoffersasuggestionofwheretosit.Choice(B)answersthequestionwhen,not
Theinterlocutorasksyouquestionsonanumberofwork-relatedandnonwork-relatedsubjects.(Thecandidatechoosesonetopic
Askingquestions询问
Askingquestions征询
Tellingyouraudiencethattheycanaskquestions请听众提问
随机试题
昔者孺子瑕有寵于衛君。衛國之法,竊駕君車者罪刖。彌子瑕母病,人間往夜告彌子,彌子矯駕君車以出。君聞而賢之,曰:“孝哉!為母之故,忘其刖罪。”異日,與君游於果園,食桃而甘,不盡,以其半啖君。君曰:“愛我哉,忘其口味以啖寡人。”及孺子色衰愛弛,得罪於君,君曰:
OnSeptember7,2001,a68-year-oldwomaninStrasbourg,France,hadhergallbladder(胆囊)removedby-surgeonsoperating,viacomp
以下有关24h尿标本留取的叙述正确的是
关于甲亢突眼的眼部护理内容,错误的是()
某进口设备的离岸价是400万美元,外汇牌价:1美元=8.27元人民币,国外运费率6%,国外运输保险费率2.66%,进口关税率22%,进口环节增值税率17%,外贸手续费率1.5%,银行财务费率0.5%。则进口关税为()。
用来压实路基路面,有时也被用来碾压密实土方,公路和城市道路施工必备的施工机械是()。
根据劳动合同法律制度的规定,下列关于试用期约定的表述中,正确的有()。
甲公司2011年度的存货周转率与2010年度相比有所下降。甲公司提供的以下理由中,不能解释存货周转率变动趋势的是()。(甲公司该存货周转率的计算主要是为了评估存货管理业绩)
如何养老已成为刻不容缓需要解决的社会问题。养老问题可以通过社会化方式解决,敬老院、托老所等社会机构承担了部分养老职能。然而,由于历史文化传统的影响,机构养老并非多数老年人的首选。同时,我国机构养老发展时间不长,软硬件设施尚不完善,与社会需求相比还存在不小差
It’s______thecaseintheregion;astoryalwayssoundsclearenoughatadistance,buttheneareryougettothesceneofeve
最新回复
(
0
)