Woman: And now let's meet Philip Spencer, one of Britain's top industrialists,and hear about his experiences and ideas on improving company performance. welcome, Philip.
女:现在让我们欢迎菲利普·斯宾塞,英国的顶尖实业家之一,聆听他在提高公司业绩方面的经验和思想。欢迎你,菲利普。
Man: Thanks, Gemma. Good to be here.
男:谢谢,吉玛。很高兴来到这里。
Woman: Philip,you're famous for your unique approach when called in to advise companies.
女:菲利普,你最出名的是总是以独特的方式为企业提供建议。
Man: Well, I'm certainly very generous with my advice! I always acknowledge genuine effort wherever possible it is important to do so; but my job isn,t to manage the company, it's to hunt down underlying weaknesses in the systems; that's what I'm trained to do.
男:嗯,我当然非常慷慨地提供建议!我总是推崇真正的努力,只要有可能,这样做很重要;但是我的工作不是管理公司,而是找到系统的潜在弱点;我受到的就是这样的训练。
Woman: Your visit to Manson's received a very mixed response, didn't it?
女:你访问曼森公司遇到了不同的反应,是吗?
Man: Well, yes. Following my first visit, they'd researched the market more deeply and had improved product quality considerably, but, on my return, I blamed their failures on the ancient assembly line which they'd still done nothing about,despite my report, and which by now had led to a ten-year waiting list for their customers. The company was so upset by the comments I made during my second visit that they didn't invite me back!
男:嗯,是的。我第一次访问后,他们更深入地研究市场,大幅提高了产品质量,但是,我回来时,我认为他们的失败是由于陈旧的装配线,他们还是什么都没做,尽管我提交了报告,该装配线要让他们的客户等十年。公司对我第二次的评价很不满意,没有再邀请我!
Woman: Another of your consultations took you to Criterion Glass, a family-run business.
女:另一家咨询的是标准玻璃,这是一家家族生意。
Man: Yes. Their troubles started with an over-concentration on the actual making of the product, on the craftsmanship involved, without asking themselves whether there was still enough of a market for that type of product. Prices needed to be more competitive too, something they hadn't considered sufficiently.
男:是的。他们的问题在于,过分集中于产品的实际生产,及其涉及到的工艺,没有问自己这种产品是否仍有足够的市场。价格也需要更有竞争力,这是他们没有充分考虑到的。