If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills.American firms have a problem． Human-resource management is no

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问题 If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills.American firms have a problem．
Human-resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of thefirm in the United States．Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility．Labor issimply another factor of production to be hired-rented at the lowest possible cost-much as onebuys raw materials or equipment．
The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporatehierarchy．In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in comman@D@Thepost of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job，off at the edge of thecorporate hierarchy．The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions andhas no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer(CEO)．By way of contrast，in Japan the head ofhuman-resource management is central-usually the second most important executive，after theCEO，in the firm’s hierarchy．
While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces，infact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms．Themoney they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees．
And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focusedon the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills thatmake it possible to absorb new technologies．
As a result，problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive．If Americanworkers，for example，take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stationsthan workers in Germany(as they do)，the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany thanit is in the United States．More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity，and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speedwith which new equipment can be employe@D@The result is a slower pace of technological change．
And in the end the skills of the population affect the wages of the top half．If the bottom half can’teffectively staff the processes that have to be operated，the management and professional jobs thatgo with these processes will disappear．
What is the main idea of the passage?______

选项 A、 American firms are different from Japanese and German firms in human-resource management．
B、Extensive retraining is indispensable to effective human—resource management．
C、The head to human-resource management must be in the central position in a firm’shierarchy．
D、The human-resource management strategies of American firms affect their competitivecapacity．

答案D

解析主旨题。本题问文章的中心思想。通过前面的解题过程，可见本文主要讨论的是美国公司在人力资源管理方面遇到的问题，及其对保持公司竞争优势的影响，也就是说，美国公司人力资源管理的策略影响公司的竞争力，所以D正确。A、C项太具体化；B项中“extensive retraining”文章中没有提到。

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If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills.American firms have a problem． Human-resource management is no

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