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发表于 2016-7-11 21:49:59
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However attractive the figures may look on paper, in the long run the success or failure of a merger depends on the human factor. When the agreement has been signed and the accountants have departed, the real problems may only just be beginning. If there is a culture clash between the two companies in the way their people work, then all the efforts of the financiers and lawyers to strike a deal may have been in vain.
According to Chris Bolton of KS Management Consultants, 70% of mergers fail to live up to their promise of shareholder value, riot through any failure in economic terms but because the integration of people is unsuccessful. Corporates, he explains, concentrate their efforts before a merger on legal, technical and financial matters. They employ a range of experts to obtain the most favourable contract possible. But even at these early stages, people issues must be taken into consideration. The strengths and weaknesses of both organisations should be assessed and, if it is a merger of equals, then careful thought should be given to which personnel, from which side, should take on the key roles.
This was the issue in 2001 when the proposed merger between two pharmaceutical companies promised to create one of the largest players in the industry. For both companies the merger was intended to reverse falling market share and shareholder value. However, although the companies' skill bases were compatible, the chief executives of the two companies could not agree which of them was to head up the new organisation. This illustrates the need to compromise if a merger is to take place.
But even in mergers that do go ahead, there can be culture clashes. One way to avoid this is to work with focus groups to see how employees view the existing culture of their organisation. In one example, where two global organisations in the food sector were planning to merge, focus groups discovered that the companies displayed very different profiles. One was sales-focused, knew exactly what it wanted to achieve and pushed initiatives through. The other got involved in lengthy discussions, trying out options methodically and making contingency plans. The first responded quickly to changes in the marketplace; the second took longer, but the option it eventually chose was usually the correct one. Neither company's approach would have worked for the other.
The answer is not to adopt one company's approach, or even to try to incorporate every aspect of both organisations, but to create a totally new culture. This means taking the best from both sides and making a new organisation that everyone can accept. Or almost everyone. Inevitably there will be those who cannot adapt to a different culture. Research into the impact of mergers has found that companies with differing management styles are the ones that need to work hardest at creating a new culture.
Another tool that can help to get the right cultural mix is intercultural analysis. This involves carrying out research that looks at the culture of a company and the business culture of the country in which it is based. It identifies how people, money and time are managed in a company, and investigates the business customs of the country and how its politics, economics and history impact on the way business is done.
1. According to the text, mergers can encounter problems when
A contracts are signed too quickly.
B experts cannot predict accurate figures.
C conflicting attitudes cannot be resolved.
D staff are opposed to the terms of the deal.
2. According to Chris Bolton, what do many organisations do in preparation for a merger?
A ensure their interests are represented
B give reassurances to shareholders
C consider the effect of a merger on employees
D analyse the varying strengths of their staff
3. The proposed merger of two pharmaceutical groups failed because
A major shareholders were opposed.
B there was a fall in the demand for their products.
C there were problems combining their areas of expertise.
D an issue of personal rivalry could not be resolved.
4. According to the text, focus groups can help companies to
A develop new initiatives.
B adopt contingency plans.
C be decisive and react rapidly.
D evaluate how well matched they are.
5.Creating a new culture in a newly merged organisation means that
A management styles become more flexible.
B there is more chance of the merger working.
C staff will find it more difficult to adapt to the changes.
D successful elements of the original organisations are lost.
6. According to the text, intercultural analysis will show
A what kind of benefits a merger can lead to.
B how the national context affects the way a company is run.
C how long it will take for a company culture to develop.
D what changes companies should make before a merger takes place.
参考答案及解析：
《Achieving a successful merger》，实现一个成功的并购。文章没有从技术和经济效益的角度来分析并购成功的因素，而是强调了一个在并购中容易被忽视的重要因素：文化冲突。不同的企业文化走到了一起，能否兼容是并购能否成功的关键因素。一个比较著名的例子是当年惠普与康柏的并购。
第1题，问什么情况下并购会遇到麻烦。答案是A段的最后一句，关键词是culture clash：如果两个公司的员工在工作方式上存在文化冲突，那么金融专家和律师们为了达成交易所做的一切努力都是徒劳的。所以选C：冲突性的态度无法得到解决。Conflicting attitude对应于culture clash。attitude具体指公司员工做事情的方式和态度。
第2题，问很多机构为并购所做的准备是什么。答案是第二段的这么一句话：Corporates, he explains, concentrate their efforts before a merger on legal, technical and financial matters。公司都把精力集中在法律、技术和金融事务上了。也就是更多的看重经济等方面的利益，而忽视了人的因素。选A：确保他们的利益得到很好的反映，也就是自己的利益有保障。represent在这里的意思是be present or found in something, especially to a particular degree。
第3题，问这俩医药公司并购失败的原因是什么。答案是第三段的倒数第二句：the chief executives of the two companies could not agree which of them was to head up the new organisation.在谁来领导新的机构的问题上无法达成一致。所以选D：人员竞争问题无法得到解决。Personal rivalry就是指两个领导谁也不服谁。
第4题，问focus group可以帮助公司干什么。先弄明白focus group的意思，看剑桥高阶的解释：a group of people who have been brought together to discuss a particular subject in order to solve a problem or suggest ideas。处理问题的团体。答案在第四段。这一段是举例说明两个合并公司的文化兼容性问题。经过focus group的调查，这两个公司的做事方式有很大差别，不能兼容。所以这一题的答案是选D：评估他们能否匹配。
第5题，问在一个新合并的公司里创造新的文化意味着什么。答案是第五段的这么一句：This means taking the best from both sides and making a new organisation that everyone can accept。吸取双方的优点，创造一个所有人都能接受的新组织。每个人都能接受，那么合并成功的可能性会大大增加。选B：合并起作用的几率增加了。
第6题，跨文化分析能够表明什么。答案是最后一段的最后一句：how its politics, economics and history impact on the way business is done.看看这个国家的政治、经济和历史是怎么影响商业行为的。也就是考察宏观的国家背景对微观的经济个体的影响。选B：国家背景怎样影响公司的运行方式
Signs of the times: Wall Street protesters get creative with placards in effort to make their message heard. 选自《每日邮报》
As the Occupy Wall Street protest enters its third week, demonstrators are making increasingly creative placards to ensure their voices are heard. Clever word play, bright colours, famous quotations and popular images have all been used to crystallise their message of opposing corporate influence over U.S. politics and the lack of legal repercussions following the 2008 banks bailout.
One poster shows a picture of the White House with a letting sign on the lawn which reads ’For Sale - To The Highest Bidders’. Another uses the iconic image of Lord Kitchener, wearing a V for Vendetta mask, over the words ’I Want You To OccupyWallStreet’. Signs displaying quotes from Gandhi and English writer GK Chesterton have been used to contextualise this protest with ones from the past, while many have puns on Wall Street. One placard says ’Lets Rip Down The Wall And Make It Just A Street’, another ’Wall Street Is Our Street’.
A recurring motif is money and greed and how the demonstrators supposedly represent 99 per cent of Americans. One sign reads: ’The Whole World Is Going Bankrupt - To Who?’
There is even a poster called the ’Map of the Occupied States of America’, which uses stars to highlight future locations for protest.
Not all people needed cardboard to display their message, however. One protester used bright blue chalk to write on the sidewalk: ’Occupation Is My Occupation’. Makeshift camps including a library and pharmacies have been set up by Wall Street protesters in a clear sign that they intend to carry out their promise of staying into the winter. The development came after thousands of people yesterday marched to New York Police Department (NYPD) headquarters following accusations of brutality from officers dealing with demonstrators. Similar protests against the banking system have spread across the country, with events taking place up in Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago.
New York City police are braced for a weekend of unrest in the Financial District, with the Occupy Wall Street protest showing little sign of dissipating as it moves into its third straight week. People have travelled from all over the country to voice their anger at the 2008 bank bailouts, rising numbers of foreclosures and persistently high unemployment. Protesters signalled their intention to keep a presence in Zuccotti Park, just outside Wall Street, by setting up larger camps of mattresses and sleeping bags, and laying out a basic library, newspaper stands, pharmacies and I.T. Hubs.
The days of the camera-toting tourist may be numbered. Insensitive travelers are being ordered to stop pointing their cameras and camcorders at reluctant local residents. Tour companies selling expensive trips to remote corners of the world, off the well-trodden path of the average tourist, have become increasingly irritated at the sight of the visitors upsetting locals. Now one such operator plans to ban clients from taking any photographic equipment on holidays. Julian Mathews is the director of Discovery Initiatives, a company that is working hand-in-hand with other organizations to offer holidays combining high adventure with working on environmental projects. His trips are not cheap; two weeks of white-water rafting and monitoring wildlife in Canada cost several thousand pounds.
Matthews says he is providing 'holidays without guilt', insisting that Discovery Initiatives is not a tour operator but an environmental support company. Clients are referred to as 'participants' or 'ambassadors'. 'We see ourselves as the next step on from eco-tourism, which is merely a passive form. of sensitive travel - our approach is more proactive.'
However, says Matthews, there is a price to pay. 'I am planning to introduce tours with a total ban on cameras and camcorders because of the damage they do to our relationships with local people. I have seen some horrendous things, such as a group of six tourists arriving at a remote village in the South American jungle, each with a video camera attached to their face. That sort of thing tears me up inside. Would you like somebody to come into your home and take a photo of you cooking? A camera is like a weapon; it puts up a barrier and you lose all the communication that comes through body language, which effectively means that the host communities are denied access to the so-called cultural exchange.'
Matthews started organizing environmental holidays after a scientific expedition for young people. He subsequently founded Discovery Expeditions, which has helped support 13 projects worldwide. With the launch of Discovery Initiatives, he is placing a greater emphasis on adventure and fun, omitting in the brochure all references to scientific research. But his rules of conduct are strict. 'In some parts of the world, for instance, I tell people they should wear long trousers, not shorts, and wear a tie, when eating out. It may sound dictatorial, but I find one has a better experience if one is well dressed. I don't understand why people dress down when they go to other countries.'
Matthews' views reflect a growing unease among some tour companies at the increasingly cavalier behaviour of well-heeled tourists. Chris Parrott, of Journey Latin America, says: 'We tell our clients that indigenous people are often shy about being photographed, but we certainly don't tell them not to take a camera. If they take pictures without asking, they may have tomatoes thrown at them.' He also reports that increasing numbers of clients are taking camcorders and pointing them indiscriminately at locals. He says: 'People with camcorders tend to be more intrusive than those with cameras, but there is a payoff - the people they are filming get a tremendous thrill from seeing themselves played back on the viewfinder.'
Crispin Jones, of Exodus, the overland truck specialist, says: 'We don't have a policy but, should cameras cause offence, our tour leaders will make it quite clear that they cannot be used. Clients tend to do what they are told.
Earthwatch, which pioneered the concept of proactive eco-tourism by sending paying volunteers to work on scientific projects around the world, does not ban cameras, but operates strict rules on their use. Ed Wilson, the marketing director of the company, says: 'We try to impress on people the common courtesy of getting permission before using their cameras, and one would hope that every tour operator would do the same. People have to be not only environmentally aware but also culturally aware. Some people use the camera as a barrier; it allows them to distance themselves from the reality of what they see. I would like to see tourists putting their cameras away for once, rather than trying to record everything they see.'
参考题目：
1. In the first paragraph we learn that Discovery Initiatives
A offers trips that no other tour company offers.
B organizes trips to places where few tourists go.
C has decided to respond to its customers complaints.
D has already succeeded in changing the kind of tourist it attracts.
2. Julian Matthews thinks that the function of the company is to
A get people involved in environmental work.
B influence the way other tour companies operate.
C inform. holidaymakers about environmental damage.
D co-operate with foreign governments to promote eco-tourism.
3. What does Matthews say in the third paragraph about cameras and
camcorders?
A They give local people a false impression of holidaymakers. B They discourage holidaymakers from intruding on local people. C They prevent local people from learning about other societies. D They encourage holidaymakers to behave unpredictably.
4. What is Mathews keen for clients to realize?
A that certain behaviour may spoil their enjoyment of a trip. B that they may find certain local customs rather surprising.
C that it is likely that they will not be allowed in certain places. D that the brochure does not contain all the information they need.
5. Which of the following does Chris Parrot believe?
A Tourists are likely to agree to travel without cameras. B Local people may react angrily towards tourists who use cameras. C Tourists are becoming more sensitive about their use of cameras. D Camcorders always cause more trouble with local people than cameras.
6. Crispin Jones says that his company
A expects its staff to prevent problems over the use of cameras. B seldom encounters problems regarding the use of cameras. C is going to decide on a firm policy regarding the use of cameras. D advises clients about the use of cameras before they leave.
7. Which of the following best summarises the view of Earthwatch?
A Too many tour operators ignore the problems caused by cameras.
B Most tourists realize when they have caused offence to local people.
C There are more problems concerning the use of cameras these days.
D Cameras enable people to be detached from places they visit.
8. The word intrusive in the text means...
A becoming involved in something in a way that is not welcome. B behaving towards other people in a pleasant way. C willing to do things that are unfair, dishonest, or illegal. D deserving to be blamed for something that has happened.
参考答案：BACABADA |
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