Conservatism in financing. The companies did not risk their capital gratuitously. They understood the meaning of money in an old-fashioned way; they knew the usefulness of spare cash in the kitty. Money in hand allowed them to snap up options when their competitors could not. They did not have to convince third-party financiers of the attractiveness of opportunities they wanted to pursue. Money in the kitty allowed them to govern their growth and evolution.
Sensitivity to the world around them. Whether they had built their fortunes on knowledge (such as Dupont’s technological innovations) or on natural resources (such as the Hudson's Bay Company's access to the furs of Canadian forests), the living companies in our study were able to adapt themselves to changes in the world around them. As wars, depressions, technologies, and politics surged and ebbed, they always seemed to excel at keeping their feelers out, staying attuned to whatever was going on. For information, they sometimes relied on packets carried over vast distances by portage and ship, yet they managed to react in a timely fashion to whatever news they received. They were good at learning and adapting.
Awareness of their identity. No matter how broadly diversified the companies were, their employees all felt like parts of a whole. Lord Cole, chairman of Unilever in the 1960s, for example, saw the company as a fleet of ships. Each ship was independent, but the whole fleet was greater than the sum of its parts. The feeling of belonging to an organization and identifying with its achievements is often dismissed as soft. But case histories repeatedly show that a sense of community is essential for long-term survival. Managers in the living companies we studied were chosen mostly from within, and all considered themselves to be stewards of a longstanding enterprise. Their top priority was keeping the institution at least as healthy as it had been when they took over.
Tolerance of new ideas. The long-lived companies in our study tolerated activities in the margin: experiments and eccentricities that stretched their understanding. They recognized that new businesses may be entirely unrelated to existing businesses and that the act of starting a business need not be centrally controlled. W.R. Grace, from its very beginning, encouraged autonomous experimentation. The company was founded in 1854 by an Irish immigrant in Peru and traded in guano, a natural fertilizer, before it moved into sugar and tin. Eventually, the company established Pan American Airways. Today it is primarily a chemical company, although it is also the leading provider of kidney dialysis services in the United States.
By definition, a company that survives for more than a century exists in a world it cannot hope to control. Multinational companies are similar to the long-surviving companies of our study in that way. The world of a multinational is very large and stretches across many cultures. That world is inherently less stable and more difficult to influence than a confined national habitat. Multinationals, like enduring companies, must be willing to change in order to succeed.
These four traits form. the essential character of companies that have functioned successfully for hundreds of years. Given this basic personality, what priorities do the managers of living companies set for themselves and their employees?
Which of the following does not belong to conservatism in financing?
A.Money burns a hole in one's pocket.
B.Money doesn't grow on trees.
C.Money called for is money well spent.
D.Money breeds money.
第1题
A.②③④
B.①②③
C.①③④
D.①②③④
第2题
A.②③④
B.①②③
C.①③④
D.①②③④
第4题
A.个人劳动与社会劳动、个人利益与社会利益直接统一。
B.劳动者个人的劳动通过交换价值的途径向社会劳动转化。
C.. 个人利益与社会利益之间仍然存在一定的差距。
D.社会成员之间的相互服务仍需采取交换价值的形式来进行。
第5题
职业是个人在社会中所从事的作为主要生活来源的劳动,其构成要素有: ①();②承担社会义务;③促进个性健康发展。
A.谋生
B.为个人发展
C.为家庭服务
D.对社会和国家作出贡献
第6题
A.获得经济收入,维持家庭生活
B.为社会的存在和发展奠定物质基础,保持社会稳定
C.参与社会劳动,承担社会义务为他人提供服务
D.发挥个人才能获得名誉、权利、地位
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