【CATTI】考前助攻之同源素材练习11~商业管理主题EC素材

快到CATTI考试啦！有的同学可能已经把真题练了好几遍了，又不知道练习什么材料好？快来看看学姐给大家准备的CATTI同源材料吧，基本上都是近两年的材料，内容有联合国文件、领导人讲话、政府工作报告、白皮书、外刊等。

今天给大家放送的商业管理主题的EC材料。

Brick bait: why Big Tech is building for the future

科技企业为什么造起了房子？

美国加州因为租不起或买不起房而住在汽车里的人数已经达到历史新高，一些科技企业承诺为可负担的住房提供共 50 亿美元的资金。

Silicon Valley’s solution to the global tech-lash is starting to sound strangely like the old model of Quaker capitalism popular in 19th-century Britain. Here’s Apple boss Tim Cook talking this year about the company’s pledge to address the housing crisis on the US west coast: “Affordable housing means stability and dignity, opportunity and pride.”

面对全球对科技企业的敌意，硅谷的解决方案开始变得有些奇怪——听起来就好 像是 19 世纪在英国盛行的贵格会(Quaker)资本主义的旧模式。苹果公司(Apple)老板蒂姆•库克(Tim Cook)今年在谈到该公司解决美国西海岸住房危机的承诺时表示：“可负担的住房意味着稳定和尊严、机会和自豪感。”

And here’s George Cadbury in 1893 describing the buying of land for company-owned housing as a way to “alleviate the evils of modern, more cramped living conditions”.

而吉百利(Cadbury)创始人乔治•卡德伯里(George Cadbury)在 1983 年说，购买土 地用于企业所有的住房是为了“减少现代的、更狭窄的居住条件所带来的弊端”。

Difficult to argue with either. A record number of people in California now live in vehicles — unable to rent or buy a home. Apple is not the only company that thinks it’s a good idea to wade into the state’s property market and try to alleviate the situation. In total, tech companies have now promised to spend $5bn on the problem.

这两个人的话都很难反驳。美国加利福尼亚州现在住在汽车里的人数已经达到历史新高——因为租不起或买不起房。苹果并不是唯一一家认为涉足加州房地产市场并试图缓解这种情况是个好主意的公司。目前，各科技企业已承诺在这一问题上投入共 50 亿美元。

Back in the late 1800s, life in inner-city Birmingham, where Cadbury factory workers lived, was difficult. When Cadbury expanded from a tea room to a global chocolate company, it moved to a greenfield site and created a model community. Bournville was the ultimate chocolate-box village — its image painted on to Cadbury selection boxes. By 1900, it had more than 300 houses along with land for parks, a school and places to swim. The community inspired rival American chocolatier Milton Hershey, who was raised a Mennonite, to build his own model village.

19 世纪晚期，在伯明翰市中心生活非常艰辛——吉百利工厂的工人就居住在这里。在吉百利从一间茶室发展为一家全球性巧克力企业后，该厂搬到了一处新址，在那里从头打造了一个模范社区。伯恩维尔(Bournville)是那个巧克力盒子上的村庄——它的形象被印在吉百利精选巧克力盒上。到 1900 年，这里已经建起 300多所房子，还有公园、学校和游泳场所。这个社区激发了其竞争对手好时(Hershey)创始人、美国巧克力大亨米尔顿•赫尔希(Milton Hershey)的灵感，他希望打造一个自己的模范村庄——赫尔希成长于一个门诺派教徒家庭。

There is a self-interested aspect to such plans. Housing shortages make company expansion difficult. Plus company control over basic worker needs can be a way to manipulate as well as help. Tech companies know that offering services such as laundry frees up more time for work as well as making the lives of employees easier. The Cadburys did not believe in drinking alcohol so Bournville had no pubs. If a modern tech company built the equivalent of Bournville, it would probably be stuffed with branded gadgets, scooters and the kind of wearables that monitor vital signs to check that workers are healthy and going to sleep at a reasonable hour.

这种计划也有自私的一面。住房的短缺使得企业难以扩张。此外，企业对员工基本需求的控制不但是帮助、也是操控员工的一种方式。科技企业知道，提供洗衣等服务不但能让员工的生活更加轻松，也能让他们有更多时间可以工作。吉百利夫妇不赞成喝酒，所以伯恩维尔没有酒吧。如果一家现代科技企业建造了一间伯恩维尔那样的工厂，那么这间工厂里很可能会充斥着各种品牌的小装置、滑板车和可穿戴设备，这些设备可以监测员工的生命体征，以检查员工是否健康，并确保他们在合理的时间睡觉。

The housing situation in California is so dire that many would probably accept that kind of creeping surveillance in exchange for the sort of affordable nice house with a garden that Cadbury offered. Apple’s plan is less ambitious. The company will make available land for new affordable housing in San Jose and give $1bn to support building “very low- to moderate-income housing”. Facebook has agreed to give $1bn in property grants and loans. Google has pledged $1bn for a similar plan. Microsoft has pledged $500m towards affordable housing in Seattle.

加州的住房状况非常糟糕，以至于很可能许多人会接受这种暗中监视，以换取吉百利提供的那种价格实惠的、带花园的漂亮房子。苹果的计划没有这么大的雄心。该公司将在圣何塞(San Jose)为新的可负担住房提供可用土地，并拿出 10 亿美元支持建造“超低收入至中等收入住房”。Facebook 已同意以房屋补贴和贷款的形式拿出 10 亿美元。谷歌(Google)也已承诺为类似计划拿出 10 亿美元。微软(Microsoft)承诺为西雅图的可负担住房拿出 5 亿美元。

What will west coast residents get for this? On some estimates, the state needs another million houses in the next decade. Unfortunately, the cost of land is so high that billions of dollars will fund tens of thousands of units, not millions, in the Bay Area. Higher corporate tax payments would have a greater impact.

西海岸的居民能从中得到什么？据部分人士估计，在未来十年，加州还需要一百万套住房。遗憾的是，土地成本如此之高，以至于数十亿美元的资金只能在湾区(Bay Area)资助数万套住房，而不是数百万套。提高企业税支出能够起到的作用会更大。

Still, commitment to society outside the walls of corporate headquarters is just the sort of enlightened entrepreneurialism that deserves to be applauded. There is no reason it shouldn’t extend beyond property. In the 1940s, pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson’s “Credo” declared its public service responsibility to put doctors and patients before shareholders. William Lever, founder of Unilever, wanted to ensure workers received good wages and working conditions.

尽管如此，对企业总部围墙之外的社会做出承诺，体现的正是那种值得称颂的开明企业家精神。这种精神没有理由不延伸到房产之外。20 世纪 40 年代，制药企业强生(Johnson & Johnson)宣布了这样的“信条”：将医生和病人置于股东之上是它的公共服务职责。联合利华(Unilever)创始人威廉•利弗(William Lever)希望确保工人能拥有不错的工资和工作条件。

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, started their company with a promise that executives would not earn more than five times the salary of the lowest-level workers (they managed it for 16 years).

Ben & Jerry 冰激凌创始人本•科恩(Ben Cohen)和杰里•格林菲尔德(Jerry Greenfield)在创立公司时承诺，该公司高管的收入不会是最底层员工工资的 5 倍以上（这一原则他们贯彻了 16 年）。

James O’Toole, emeritus professor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and author of The Enlightened Capitalists, notesdo-gooding founders have always had problems making sure their practices continue after they depart. Investor pressure can drown out other commitments.

南加州大学(University of Southern California)马歇尔商学院(Marshall School of Business)荣休教授、《开明的资本家》(The Enlightened Capitalists)一书作者詹姆斯•奥图尔(James O’Toole)指出，创始人总是难以保证他们开创的善举在自己离开公司之后还能延续下去。投资者施加的压力可能会盖过其他承诺。

Belief in trickle-down wealth creation and responsible capitalism was a way for the Cadburys to reconcile their religious beliefs with the business that was making them a fortune. Perhaps tech companies, many of which sincerely believe they are making the world a better place, are feeling a similar tug of conscience.

对“涓滴式”财富创造和负责任资本主义的信念，让吉百利创始人家族得以调和他们的宗教信仰与为他们带来财富的生意。许多科技企业真诚地相信它们正在让世界变得更美好，或许它们正在感受到同样的良心挣扎。

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