題材：管理
難度：★★★
字?jǐn)?shù)：409
建議時(shí)間：24分鐘
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 the firm in the United States. 1.————————————Skill acquisition is considered as an individual responsibility. Labor is simply another factor of production to be hired-rented at the lowest possible cost-much as one buys raw materials or equipment.
The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporation hierarchy. In an American firm the chief officer is almost always second in command. 2. ————————————The post of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chances to move up to Chief Executive Officer (CEO).By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central-usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm hierarchy.
3. ———————————— While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do the Japanese or German firms. The money 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 focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.
As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. 4. ———————————— If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States . 5. ———————————— 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 speed with which new equipment can be employed.The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the bottom half of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can't effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.
試題詳解
難句剖析
1.語(yǔ)法難點(diǎn)：兩個(gè)破折號(hào)中的插入語(yǔ)起補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明的作用。
翻譯技巧：本句比較簡(jiǎn)單，可以采用順譯法。
2.語(yǔ)法難點(diǎn)：第二個(gè)句子是一個(gè)由and連接的并列句。
翻譯技巧：本句比較簡(jiǎn)單，可以采用順譯法。
3.語(yǔ)法難點(diǎn)：while連接的并列句；第二個(gè)句子是比較結(jié)構(gòu)。
翻譯技巧：本句比較簡(jiǎn)單，可以采用順譯法。
4.語(yǔ)法難點(diǎn)：if引導(dǎo)的條件狀語(yǔ)從句。
翻譯技巧：本句比較簡(jiǎn)單，可以采用順譯法，注意for example的位置變化。
5.語(yǔ)法難點(diǎn)：被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)；定語(yǔ)從句。
翻譯技巧：英語(yǔ)的被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的使用非常普遍，尤其是科普類(lèi)文章，強(qiáng)調(diào)客觀事實(shí)，而人稱(chēng)的表達(dá)不需要說(shuō)明。漢語(yǔ)表達(dá)中的被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)很少，所以英語(yǔ)被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的結(jié)構(gòu)譯成漢語(yǔ)的首選是換成漢語(yǔ)的主動(dòng)結(jié)構(gòu)；定語(yǔ)從句翻譯時(shí)可以與主句斷開(kāi)，譯成一個(gè)單獨(dú)的句子。
參考譯文
如果持續(xù)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)依靠勞動(dòng)力的技能，那么美國(guó)的公司就有問(wèn)題了。在美國(guó)，人力資源管理在傳統(tǒng)上沒(méi)有被認(rèn)為是在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中生存的核心。
1.技能的獲得被認(rèn)為是個(gè)人的責(zé)任。勞動(dòng)力不過(guò)是為了生產(chǎn)而雇來(lái)的另一個(gè)因素--以盡可能低的成本租用--就像是購(gòu)買(mǎi)原材料或者設(shè)備。
這種對(duì)人力資源管理重視的缺乏可以在公司等級(jí)制度中看到。在一家美國(guó)的公司里，首席財(cái)務(wù)經(jīng)理的指示總是處于第二位。
2.人力資源管理經(jīng)理的職位通常是一項(xiàng)專(zhuān)門(mén)的工作，被劃在公司等級(jí)邊緣之外。坐在這個(gè)位子上的經(jīng)理主管人員從來(lái)不會(huì)在主要戰(zhàn)略性決策上受到咨詢(xún)，并且沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)上升到執(zhí)行總裁的位子上。通過(guò)比較，在日本公司的等級(jí)制度里，人力資源管理經(jīng)理處在核心地位--往往是次最重要的經(jīng)理主管人員，位于執(zhí)行總裁之后。
3.美國(guó)公司經(jīng)常談到他們?cè)谂嘤?xùn)他們的工作隊(duì)伍上所花費(fèi)的大筆的錢(qián)，然而，事實(shí)上，他們比日本或德國(guó)公司在公司員工的培訓(xùn)上的投資要少。他們確實(shí)投資的錢(qián)也更加集中在專(zhuān)業(yè)人員以及管理人員上。而且投資在培訓(xùn)工人上的有限的錢(qián)也更加局限于進(jìn)行下一項(xiàng)工作必須的專(zhuān)門(mén)技能上，而非在那些使對(duì)新技術(shù)的吸收變得可能的基本背景技能上。
結(jié)果，當(dāng)科技上新的突破到來(lái)的時(shí)候，問(wèn)題就出現(xiàn)了。
4.舉例說(shuō)，如果美國(guó)的工人比德國(guó)工人(他們正是這樣做的)花費(fèi)更多的時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)如何操作新型靈活的生產(chǎn)設(shè)備，那么這些設(shè)備能夠產(chǎn)生效果的成本在德國(guó)就會(huì)比在美國(guó)低。
5.設(shè)備裝配完畢并以最大的生產(chǎn)能力運(yùn)行需要更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間，大范圍的再度培訓(xùn)的需要會(huì)增加成本并且形成瓶頸，這就限制了新設(shè)備可以達(dá)到的速度。這樣的結(jié)果是科技變革上步伐較慢。最后，占半數(shù)的底層員工的技能影響了頂層半數(shù)員工的薪水。如果占半數(shù)的底層員工不能有效地跟上必需的生產(chǎn)進(jìn)程，那么這一進(jìn)程中的管理工作以及專(zhuān)業(yè)工作就會(huì)消失。
