「華人戴明學院」是戴明哲學的學習共同體 ,致力於淵博型智識系統的研究、推廣和運用。 The purpose of this blog is to advance the ideas and ideals of W. Edwards Deming.

2015年2月5日 星期四

三頭六臂集 681-88 幾種恐懼的說法


補充2015.2.5:"幾種恐懼的說法",參考文末:


三頭六臂集  2009.7.15

688
亂說一通
品質太好惹的禍 Crocs"洞洞鞋"要破產?
中國經濟網 - Beijing,China
看來品質太好,也是要出事的啊。洞洞鞋的品質如此強悍,怪不得明星名流和人民大眾都愛它。 美國前總統布希是洞洞鞋的忠實粉絲。可惜此搭配實在太雷人,被美國媒體戲稱“老人家逛海灘造型”。



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2009年 07月 24日 07:57
福特第二財季扭虧 淨利潤23億美元

著福特汽車(Ford Motor)不斷從底特律競爭對手那裡贏得顧客﹐該公司得以在第二季度扭虧為盈﹐並顯現出持穩跡象。


Ford Motor Company
在新車型的推動下﹐福特在美國市場的佔有率在攀升﹐而通用汽車和克萊斯勒則走下坡路
福特汽車第二季度實現利潤23億美元﹐不過這主要來自於該公司當季債務重組等舉措帶來的利得。不包括這些利得﹐福特汽車當季虧損4.24億美元﹐仍較上年同期的10.3億美元虧損明顯收窄﹐明顯高於華爾街分析師此前預期。

福特汽車的收益顯示﹐底特律汽車廠商的大幅下滑局面可能已經觸底﹐至少三巨頭有一家學會了如何在銷量不佳的情況下保持業務穩定。

對三年前剛剛進入汽車行業的福特汽車首席執行長穆拉利(Alan Mulally)來說﹐這一業績也襯托出了他不斷上升的行業聲譽。

前波音高管穆拉利週四表示﹐福特汽車仍在實施2011年盈虧相抵或是轉為盈利的計劃﹐公司有充足的流動性保障業務扭轉計劃。

福特汽車曾一度被視為汽車行業問題最為嚴重的公司﹐該公司經歷了一段痛苦的成本削減時期。穆拉利帶領公司關閉工廠﹐出售品牌﹐裁減了4萬多名員工。福特汽車還用公司幾乎所有有價值的資產作為抵押﹐從私營貸款商那裡籌到了235億美元。

去年﹐瘦身之後的福特汽車得以不需要政府救助﹐避免了破產厄運﹐並將自身重塑成一家擁有足夠新產品和全球業務能夠度過汽車行業衰退的美國汽車廠商。

福 特汽車相對成功的一個關鍵因素就在於該公司管理現金消耗的能力不斷提高﹐正是這個問題導致了通用汽車(General Motors)急劇下滑乃至破產。第二季度福特汽車消耗了大約10億美元現金﹐遠遠低於第一季度的37億美元。該公司因此在汽車業務擁有210億美元的現 金總額。

福特汽車之所以能夠減少現金消耗量﹐主要是因為該公司限制了促銷支出以及北美工廠提高了產量。

誠然﹐在眼下這個近年來最糟糕的汽車市場之一中﹐福特仍然受著累累債務和銷量不斷下滑的重壓。此外﹐福特預計也將難以再次從債務重組中獲得一次收益。

福特公佈最近一個季度每股收益為0.69美元﹐而去年同期則虧損86.7億美元﹐合每股3.89美元。福特的收入從去年同期的386億美元下滑至272億美元。該公司將業績的下滑歸咎於美國汽車市場年率33%的銷售同比下降。

不過﹐福特高管預期今年下半年業績會好轉﹐首次表示他們預期2009年在歐美市場雙雙贏得市場佔有率。預計下半年現金流出將緩解。

福特首席財務長布斯(Lewis Booth)警告說﹐速度不及預期的經濟復蘇或是汽車業部件供應中斷都可能使福特的樂觀預期化為泡影。

福特二季度末的負債總計261億美元。福特拒絕接受美國政府的救助、也沒有申請破產保護﹐這個決定或許在消費者中樹立了信譽﹐但競爭對手通用汽車能消除約400億美元的債務。克萊斯勒(Chrysler)同樣也以更少的財務負擔走出了破產保護。

不過穆拉利說﹐福特競爭對手們的破產重組和債務削減並沒有讓福特陷入不利地位。福特二季度將債務削減了101億美元﹐還通過發行新股籌集了16億美元。與此同時﹐福特還將運營成本削減了18億美元。

穆拉利在電話會議上對分析師和記者說﹐我認為﹐令我們吸引更多客戶的是好汽車和非常強勁的業務。

據 標準普爾(Standard and Poor's)的數據﹐2009年前6個月﹐通用汽車和克萊斯勒在美國的市場佔有率下降﹐而福特的市場佔有率則從15.3%小幅上升至15.9%。今年前 6個月﹐通用汽車的市場佔有率為19.8%﹐而去年同期為21.5%。克萊斯勒則為9.8%﹐較去年同期的11.7%有所下降。

福特內部數據三年內首次顯示﹐消費者對品牌的看法開始大為改觀。

MATTHEW DOLAN / JEFF BENNETT
Ford Motor Co. returned to profitability in the second quarter and showed signs of stabilizing as the company continued to win customers from its Detroit competitors.

The car maker reported a profit of $2.3 billion, though that came mainly from gains it recorded as part of efforts to restructure its debt during the quarter. Excluding those gains, Ford would have reported a loss of $424 million, still narrower than a comparable loss of $1.03 billion a year earlier and much better than Wall Street analysts were expecting.

The earnings suggest that the deep downturn in Detroit may have bottomed out and at least one member of the Big Three has figured out how to stabilize its business at a much lower sales volume.

The results also underscore the assessment of Chief Executive Alan Mulally as a rising star in an industry he entered only three years ago.

Ford remains on track to break even or make money in 2011 and has sufficient liquidity to fund its turnaround plan, Mr. Mulally, a former Boeing Co. executive, said Thursday.

Once seen as the industry's sickest company, Ford underwent a wrenching cost-cutting period. It closed plants, shed brands and laid off more than 40,000 employees. It also borrowed $23.5 billion from private lenders by mortgaging almost everything of value at the company.

In the last year, a leaner Ford was able to shun a government bailout and avoid bankruptcy, recasting itself as a U.S.-based car maker with enough new products and global reach to survive the auto-sales downturn.

A key indicator of Ford's relative success has been its increasing ability to manage cash burn, the issue that caused General Motors Co. to stumble close to insolvency. Ford used about $1 billion in cash during the second quarter, far less than the $3.7 billion in the first quarter. That left the Dearborn, Mich., company with $21 billion in gross cash in its automotive operations.

Ford's rate of cash use fell largely as a result of limited spending on buyer incentives and increased production at its North American plants.

To be sure, Ford remains saddled by massive debt and declining sales in one of the worst auto markets in recent history. And Ford doesn't expect to repeat the one-time gains from debt restructuring.

For the recent quarter, Ford reported earnings of 69 cents a share, compared with a loss of $8.67 billion, or $3.89 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $27.2 billion from $38.6 billion a year earlier. Ford blamed the slump on the 33% year-over-year drop in the annualized sales rate for the U.S. vehicle market.

Nonetheless, Ford executives predicted a rosier second half of the year, saying for the first time that they expect to gain market share for 2009 in both the U.S. and Europe. Cash outflow also is expected to abate for the second half.

Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth cautioned that a slower-than-expected economic recovery or a disruption of the industry's parts supply could tamp down Ford's optimistic outlook.

The company's debt at the end of the second quarter totaled $26.1 billion. Ford's decision to decline U.S. aid or file for bankruptcy protection may have created consumer goodwill, but rival GM was able to eliminate about $40 billion in debt. Chrysler Group LLC similarly exited bankruptcy with lower financial obligations.

But Mr. Mulally said the bankruptcy reorganizations and debt reductions at Ford's rivals haven't put his company at a disadvantage. Ford reduced its own debt by $10.1 billion in the second quarter while raising $1.6 billion through new stock. At the same time, it reduced the cost of running its business by $1.8 billion.

'I think it's great cars and a very strong business' that are drawing more people to Ford, Mr. Mulally told analysts and journalists during a conference call.

According to Standard and Poor's, GM and Chrysler lost market share in the U.S. through the first six months of 2009, while Ford's rose slightly to 15.9% from 15.3%. GM's share for the first six months was 19.8%, compared to 21.5% in the same period in 2008. For Chrysler, the figure was 9.8%, down from 11.7%.

And for the first time in about three years, Ford's internal data are showing that consumer opinion about the brand is improving by a significant margin.

MATTHEW DOLAN / JEFF BENNETT

686


Low Grades for Performance Reviews


Managers and employees alike sense the truth: Workplace appraisals aren't working


Some years ago, a human resources manager at Apple Computer (AAPL) got her managers to finish their performance reviews by bribing them with free tickets to San Francisco Giants games. At North Carolina software company SAS Institute, David Russo, then head of HR, got cheers from employees in the mid-1990s for a bonfire celebration that fed appraisal forms into the flames.
Nothing has changed much since then. Managers don't like doing appraisals. Employees don't like getting them. Perhaps that's because they all suspect what the evidence shows: Such performance reviews don't work.
With the dreaded midyear review season upon us, now is as good a time as any to think about giving up this bankrupt process. The main beneficiaries of traditional employee evaluations are the consulting firms that try to improve the fatally flawed practice and the software providers that make it more efficient.
Why don't these kinds of appraisals accurately assess employees? There are so many reasons. Research conducted by Purdue University business school professor F. David Schoorman in the 1980s showed that employees hired by the person conducting a review got higher scores than employees who came to the company another way. (Managers have a greater commitment to people they have picked.)
And there are other kinds of rater bias: The evidence shows that gender and race affect reviews, with evaluations more positive for underlings whose managers share their social demographic. Ingrained expectations, about what types of people perform better, also subtly influence the process.
What's more, in jobs where work is difficult to assess objectively—in research and development, where outcomes can take a long time to appear, or in managerial positions where there is so much interdependence with others that one person's contribution is tough to discern—performance reviews mostly reflect the ability of employees to ingratiate themselves with the boss. Not surprisingly, research shows that political skill—the ability to understand others and use that knowledge to influence them— helps individuals put a gloss on their performance that ensures a higher rating.
Nor does the traditional review process help employees learn something about a better way to work. The reviews occur too infrequently to provide useful feedback. And the peer comparisons invariably create competition and discourage collaboration—a big problem in transferring knowledge in the workplace.
Besides, many of us believe we are above average and resist being told that we aren't. Numerous studies show most people think they are better than the majority of folks when it comes to skills, negotiating ability, even sense of humor. Since performance assessments often require half the staff to be rated below average, they can pose a threat to people's self-esteem. As a result, employees often discount them.
Possibly the biggest issue, however, is that performance appraisals focus on precisely the wrong thing: individuals. As W. Edwards Deming, the father of the quality work movement, taught us a long time ago, a company's performance arises more from variations in systems than from differences among individuals. One reason Toyota Motor (TM) has been so successful, as its leaders have come and gone, is that its quality management system gives it an edge.
By focusing instead on the presumed deficiencies or strengths of individuals, performance reviews divert attention from the systemic reasons, such as inferior technology, that may be behind poor results.
What should you do if you're locked into performance appraisals for now? To reduce supervisor bias, make evaluation criteria more explicit and objective and involve more people in each review. Encourage managers to have frequent, ongoing conversations with their staff about performance (as SAS's Russo did after he threw the forms into the fire). Annual reviews rely on hazy recall, with managers remembering recent events and overlooking what was done earlier in a review cycle. And don't force comparisons among people.
A recession is a good time for managers to focus more on evidence and less on received wisdom or old habits. Asking hard questions about performance management would be a good place to start.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. He is the author or co-author of 13 books. His next, tentatively titled Power: An Organizational Survival Guide, is due out in 2010.

685
The Epic Journey of Lean Movement

He is best known for his work on the behavioural theory of organisations, working at one time with Herbert Simon (see article), the definer of the idea of satisficing, with whom he wrote a classic book, “Organisations”. In this, and in the book he wrote with Richard Cyert, he developed a theory about the “boundedness” of managers’ behaviour. Just as consumers go for the satisfactory rather than the “best” decision when purchasing, so managers go for the less-than-rational decision when on the job, because they are necessarily restricted by human and organisational limitations.
The protections for the imagination are indiscriminate. They shield bad ideas as well as good ones—and there are many more of the former than the latter. Most fantasies lead us astray, and most of the consequences of imagination for individuals and individual organisations are disastrous.
In a more recent paper, which he entitled “The Hot Stove Effect”, after Mark Twain’s point that cats who learn to avoid hot stoves learn to avoid cold ones too, March warned that the way in which we learn to reproduce success results, inevitably, in a bias against both risky and novel alternatives.
John Padgett, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote in the journal Contemporary Sociology that “Jim March is to organisation theory what Miles Davis is to jazz … March’s influence, unlike that of any of his peers, is not limited to any possible subset of the social science disciplines; it is pervasive”.
March has also written seven books of poetry and made a film (called “Don Quixote’s Lessons for Leadership”). His background notes to the film include a short prose poem:
Quixote reminds us
That if we trust only when
Trust is warranted, love only
When love is returned, learn
Only when learning is valuable,
We abandon an essential feature of our humanness.
His love of language has led him to create some colourful metaphors—the garbage-can theory of organisational choice, for instance, which defines an organisation as “a collection of choices looking for problems; issues and feelings looking for decision situations in which they might be aired; solutions looking for issues to which they might be the answer; and decision-makers looking for work”. Problems and solutions flow in and out of the garbage can. Which problems get attached to which solutions is largely a matter of chance.

Notable publications

With Simon, H., “Organisations”, John Wiley & Sons, 1958; 2nd edn, Blackwell, 1993
With Cyert, R., “A Behavioural Theory of the Firm”, Prentice Hall 1963; 2nd edn, Blackwell Business, 1992
“A Primer on Decision Making”, Free Press, New York, and Maxwell Macmillan International, Oxford, 1994
“The Pursuit of Organisational Intelligence”, Blackwell, 1999

684
自由時報
衛生署檢測三件濾油粉 均含微量砷 【7/17 20:09】

〔記者魏怡嘉/台北報導〕麥當勞等速食店油炸油含砷,是否是遭到濾油粉污染?衛生署昨日檢測北市衛生局送來的三件濾油粉樣本,結果均驗出0.05 至0.06ppm微量的砷,衛生署認為檢測出的值遠低於4ppm標準值,加上濾油粉的砷都是無機砷,無磯砷不溶於油,因此不會對濾油造成砷污染。

 不過,林口長庚臨床毒物科主任林杰樑對此抱持相當質疑的態度,林杰樑指出,衛生署檢驗的濾油粉都是未經過過濾過的新粉,既然三件樣本均驗出含砷,衛生署就應進一步實地將濾油粉拿來過濾油,再來檢測過濾的油是否含砷。

 林杰樑進一步表示,濾油粉是合成矽酸鎂,其主要來自天然礦物,所以其所含的砷應都是無機砷,雖然無機砷不溶於油,但並不表示其微量的分子不會污染到過濾 的油,尤其濾油粉可以除臭、脫色及中和酸鹼,有些業者會拿濾油粉反覆來過濾油,污染的程度及機會就更高了,衛生署的檢驗結果無法排除濾油粉可能污染濾所扮 演的角色;此外,衛生署對濾油粉砷含量訂定4ppm,實在是太高了。

 對此衛生署食品衛生處簡任技正許景鑫表示,由於濾油粉是無機砷,不溶於油,所以訂4ppm並不會太高,此外,衛生署也限定其使用量不得超過2%,也就是 一千公克重的油,其用來過濾這些油的濾油粉不得超過20公克,這也是國際上普遍用的標準,如果有用超過一點,由於其不溶於油,也不會吃下肚,基本上應該不 會有太大的危害,不過業者仍要以油的酸價值來決定換油與否,而不是用濾油粉。

 對於學者建議,衛生署應進一步實地將濾油粉拿來過濾油,再來檢測過濾的油是否含砷,許景鑫表示贊成,接下來衛生署會再委託專家學者做相關的研究。截至目前為止,各縣市衛生局所抽驗的52件市售油品均未檢出砷。


683

トヨタとマツダ、ハイブリッドシステム供与で協議


 トヨタ自動車がマツダにハイブリッドシステムを供与する方向で協議を始めたことが16日、分かった。トヨタが電池やモーター、インバーターなどの ハイブリッドユニットをマツダに供給する案が有力。マツダは2010年代の初頭に、ハイブリッド車(HV)投入を表明している。ただ、ハイブリッドシステ ムでマツダは自社開発や米フォード・モーターとの共同開発も進めており、協議の先行きは流動的だ。
 トヨタは日産自動車とフォードにハイブリッドシステムを供給しているが、小規模にとどまっている。マツダへの供給は実現しても日産など向けと同様、システム供給になると見られる。
 実現には課題も多い。トヨタはHV「プリウス」などの好調を追い風に、HVの拡販を国内外で加速する。システムや電池の生産能力も増強しているが、トヨタの計画以上に売れれば、システムを他社に供給する余力はなくなりかねない。
(掲載日 2009年07月17日)

682
Architecture Review

Stadium Where Worlds Collide, Humanely




Published: July 15, 2009

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — For some of us, entering a vast sports stadium is always an anxious pleasure. Behind the electrifying anticipation of the game there’s the nagging feeling that every stadium contains the seeds of mass hysteria — that it can, in extreme times, become a place of terrifying intensity.
紐時讚世運主場館 充滿人文魅力
名建築師伊東豐雄所設計的世運主場館,在夜幕低垂之際,仍展現恢宏氣勢。 (美聯社)

〔編譯管淑平/紐約時報十五日報導〕高雄世運開幕,世運主場館建築風格也引起國際媒體注意。紐約時報十五日專文介紹這座由日本知名建築師伊東豐雄設計的體育場,稱讚它不僅極具魅力,更著重與周邊都市生活、人文環境的結合,擁有其他類似規模建築少有的豐富人文氣息。
紐約時報指出,伊東豐雄設計的這座體育場,雖不像北京奧運主場館「鳥巢」引起那麼多討論,但是它令人陶醉,魅力不下於鳥巢,強調的是在實體或象徵意涵上,將體育場內賽事與周邊公共空間和環境做連結。
伊東豐雄設計 魅力不輸鳥巢
這 座能容納四萬人的體育場,主體結構是由白色鋼管交織而成的螺旋體,蜿蜒如一條正準備環抱其獵物的巨蟒,尾端往外延伸,形成入口廣場的一部分,場館周圍是一 片廣大的綠帶公園,數年後,當這些熱帶植物長成,體育場就好似被一片茂盛的熱帶森林圍繞。主體尾端和開口式設計,在意象、實體上,傳達將場館外環境融入體 育場內的體驗,就在視線隨著充滿律動感的主體結構曲線投向體育場內之際,遠方山頭和市中心天際線納入眼簾,伊東豐雄似乎藉此再次凸顯體育場與這座城市連結 的意念。
伊東豐雄以此一開放又環抱的實驗設計體育場,試圖探尋現代主義晚期和後現代主義所忽略的心理層面,目的就是要擴展建築的情感面,創造一種豐富的人文體驗。
伊 東豐雄一九四一年生於日本殖民時期的韓國首爾,一九六五年自東京大學建築系畢業。一九九七年獲得日本年度藝術選獎文部大臣獎,二○○二年拿下威尼斯建築雙 年展終身成就金獅獎。除了高雄世運主場體育館,伊東豐雄未來還將在台灣完成台中大都會歌劇院、台灣大學社會科學院院館兩項作品,台灣北、中、南都可看見這 位大師的作品。


681
底特律可以向硅谷學些什麼?
2009年07月14日08:26




安迪•格魯夫

我們的政府在美國汽車業投入了巨資。它應該如何利用這種影響力呢?這是一個難以回答的問題﹐因為看來汽車業正處於徹底的轉型過程之中。對於企業如何應對企業環境的重大變化有許多信息可以獲得﹐但有關整個行業轉型的信息卻少得可憐。

歷史表明﹐大多數企業對轉型的處理都不夠好。原因之一與高級經理有關。他們往往“搞不明白”。他們難以接受這樣一個現實:未來將與現在大不相同﹐因為這些人都是在舊的企業環境下上台掌權的。他們在舊的環境下出類拔萃﹐卻沒有具備新的環境下所需的經營技能。

經理們還難以區分一家企業競爭地位的衰落和一個行業本質上的變革。明白二者之間的區別是最困難的事之一﹐儘管這也是最重要的事之一。

整個行業的轉型不會經常發生。只有在一系列的因素都具備的情況下﹐才會發生行業的轉型﹐這些因素包括消費需求的變化、主要供應鏈的某些部分從一個國家轉移到另外一個國家、以及關鍵技術變革的出現。

上世紀八、九十年代的電腦業就是如此。在那之前﹐各個企業利用自有的軟硬件生產自己的大型機。企業的銷售團隊隨後銷售這些結構複雜、價格不菲的產品。

個人電腦的出現改變了這一切。在短短幾年間﹐電腦業就實現了打破──再重組的過程。整個行業開始依靠常用硬件元素(微處理器)和軟件包﹔銷售則被外包給第三方。在企業中﹐我們稱之為從“垂直”結構轉向“水平”結構。垂直結構指的是企業負責自己的開發、製造和分銷﹔水平結構則指的是一些企業專門從事元件生產﹐而其他企業則負責組裝和分銷任務。

結果是﹐隨著Burroughs和Digital Equipment等舊參與者逐漸消失﹐以及康柏(Compaq)和戴爾(Dell)等新型企業的出現﹐電腦業變得更具活力。

通常來講﹐一個企業無法左右一個行業的轉型。不過﹐當一個政府像美國政府參與汽車業轉型一樣參與一個行業的轉型時﹐政府最終能做出轉型決策。

想像一下﹐如果在電腦業轉型的過程中﹐里根政府擔心行業的動盪﹐並試圖通過向主要大型機企業投入巨資而拯救這個重要行業的話﹐情況會怎樣。這樣的投資本來是為了保護這些企業的可存續﹐而結果卻會使轉型戛然而止﹐只會注定使美國失去其領導地位。

如果汽車業只需要應付衰退而已﹐那麼政府投資通用汽車(General Motors)或許會帶來直接幫助。但事實情況並非如此。汽車業面臨著一系列因素的聯合作用:全球性的衰退、油價上漲、環保需求、製造業全球化﹐最重要的的是涉及到汽車業本質的技術變革。

電動汽車已經變得可行﹐未來很可能只會變得更強大。對電動汽車性能至關重要的組件──電池和電子控制系統──的技術都在迅速發展。這些都是新技術﹐因此可以在投資持續小幅增加的情況下迅速改進。與此相反﹐已經存在了很長時間的技術享受了幾十年的發展﹐進一步改進的潛力有限﹐比如內燃機引擎以及相應的燃料和驅動系統。

結果是﹐多個因素正在累加在一起﹐即將引發汽車業的結構變革。電動汽車可能會更好地滿足我們這個時代的需求﹐人們對電動汽車的喜愛可能會超過依靠內燃機引擎的汽車。現在的汽車業就象個人電腦出現之前電腦業的情況一樣﹐也是“垂直”結構。不過﹐電動汽車的簡單﹐再加上某些組件的標準化﹐這些可能會導致汽車業轉向“水平”結構。互聯網已經成為一個重要的汽車營銷媒介﹐能很容易地適應水平結構。

如果發生了這樣的轉變﹐生產商的成功將取決於它利用新結構的能力高下﹐它是否能對電池等組件的規模化生產和成本下降比競爭對手更好地加以利用。

美國政府正在投資汽車業﹐希望藉此防止就業崗位的喪失。這可能會改善通用汽車在現在結構內的運營能力。不過﹐在開發該公司應對新的電動汽車時代的運營能力上﹐政府並沒有投入同等規模的投資。

中國似乎選擇了另外一條路。還不清楚中國政府如何影響產業戰略。不過﹐中國正在大力開發和製造電池。實際上﹐中國政府斷定﹐在開發可能成為汽車業新結構的基礎技術方面﹐中國能夠領先。

哪種投資戰略更勝一籌?現在作出判斷還為時尚早。美國的戰略短期內很可能會挽救就業崗位。長遠來看﹐則有更多的問題。我們還不知道汽車業是否以及何時會轉向水平結構。不過這非常重要。各國進行的戰略決策可能會決定誰最終將成為世界汽車技術和製造的領頭羊。

(編者按:本文作者安迪•格魯夫(Andrew S. Grove)曾任英特爾(Intel Corp.)首席執行長。)





Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American (31)

Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American by Richard Tedlow

對於資訊 -半導體業的人,Andy Grove:是重要的業界人物。他在80 年代出版過High Output Management  One-on-One With Andy Grove ,台灣都有翻譯,接下來十年的兩本書包括回憶錄),台灣也都有出版:這本書提到 W. Edwards Deming 一處,「恐懼可以成為自滿的剋星。因自滿而受到傷害的,通常正是那些最成功的人。」 (10 倍速時代 p.151) ( 尋智書摘第1 )
去年有一本授權的傳記: Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American by Richard Tedlow,Porfolio,2006( Richard Tedlow is the Class of 1949 Professorof Business Administration at Harvard Business School.) 【哈佛大學的電子刊物working knowledge 有訪問稿】。隔年,2007年大錄很快就有翻譯: AndyGrove: The Life and Times of an American by Richard Tedlow

2015.2.5

【南方朔:語言、思想與時代】遇到沒被社會化的「怪胎」毋需驚惶!

政治社會學理論裡,有所謂的「社會化」之說。

所謂的「社會化」,在保守的結構功能學派裡,乃是指使人們形成遵守社會規範的過程。它相信,每個個人,可以透過家庭、教育及社會的角色,而學得人情世故及應有的行為規範,從而可以使人成為馴化的「從眾分子」(conformist)。

理論家為了掩飾他們的保守,還特意的把「社會化」說成是個人內在的自動形成,而不是一種外在的制約。這種「社會化」理論,乃是一九五○及六○年代的主流學說。

早期社會懲罰與眾不同的異類

但到了一九六○年代後,由於人們的價值改變,對「社會化」已有了不同的認知:

一、「社會化」似乎不是人們內在自動形成的,而是一個社會調控機制所加的。它的目的是要馴化社會的成員,使人們接受社會某種給定的價值秩序,使人服從──不該問的問題不要問,不該懷疑的規則不要懷疑。社會化搞過了頭,它就會成為「社會控制」的重要環節,這種社會也就變成「行政管理型社會」。

二、「社會化」有它的獎懲功能。一個社會化良好的成員,人們就會說他做人做事成熟、懂得人情世故,在社會上就有人緣,會被人接受。如果一個人有很強的自主意識,老喜歡問不該問的問題,或質疑既有的規範,表現得像個特立獨行的「不從眾分子」(non-conformist),輕微的就會說他是個「怪胎」,或是個「書呆子」,這都是「明褒暗貶」的說法,等於變相的褫奪了他的身分。

嚴重的,則是對他的行為及語言,立即做出「道德驚惶」(moral panic)的反應,小題大作、製造緊張,因此壓制掉他的影響。在有些早期社會或專制社會,經常會把無法整合進既有秩序的「怪胎」,收進精神病院,這就是假藉精神病之名而遂行壓迫的例子。

從壓迫差異到轉為容忍肯定

三、當今的社會,由於日趨多元,對人的「差異」已由「壓迫」轉為「容忍」,再由「容忍」轉為「肯定」。

後現代主義大師布希亞(Jean Baudrillard)在《邪惡的透明:極端現象論文集》(La transparence du mal)裡即指出,當今的社會,由於過度的社會化,每個人的主體可謂已經死亡,傳統哲學裡所謂的主體、認知、差異、良知等都已不再,每個人其實都是那個最大的客體之「分身」(double),人透過與別人對比而發展,而走向未來都已消失,在人已經變得一樣的時代,「相同已成了可怕的地獄」。

布希亞可說是近代思想家裡,第一個將「相同」化以極端方式表現出來的,他的理論見解,已完全站到了「反社會化」的立場。在真正民主多元,鼓勵人與人的不同,使社會更加豐富、有更多的對話,這乃是人類走向未來更好的屏障。

四、對人的「社會化」愈來愈反對,這不只是進步思想家的見解,當代腦神經學專家柏恩斯(Gregory Berns)在近著《破壞偶像者》(Iconoclast)中指出,人腦有個掌管了恐懼這種精神現象的杏仁核,這使得人們在從事腦內活動時,都傾向於「從眾行為」,恐懼和別人不同,因此「社會化」是有腦神經科學依據的。

但社會上的確有一種人和別人腦筋不一樣,這種人的腦筋無懼於改變,無懼於與人不同,由於無所畏懼,不怕被人視為怪胎,這種人反而經常是發明者、創新者和重要的改革者。

柏恩斯教授遂開創了腦神經經濟學這個新領域,他主張人可鍛鍊自己的腦部,訓練自己的恐懼迴路,克服與人不同的恐懼,而使自己成為一個「不從眾的人」,當一個人的腦內若無恐懼,他即可成一個打破陳規的創新者和改革者。

當代的腦神經經濟學家,已從另外一種科學的角度,否認了社會化這種保守的社會價值。

因此,從一九五○年代到一九七○年代後,人類對「社會化」這套價值已有了根本的改變:

價值不從眾,才是未來主流

一、一九五○年代剛打完世界大戰,人類在廢墟上重建,為了要有秩序,遂強調「社會化」這個價值,凡不利於秩序的,都設法予以排除,因而鼓勵人必須相同、必須服從,不能每個人有自己的主體思考。

二、但到了一九七○年代後,由於青年世代出現,世界一步步的趨於多元,人對差異的容忍度也增加,人們已發現豐富多元所帶來的新選擇,才有利於社會的進步與創新,當「創新」成了新的價值指標,怪胎型的人物遂開始地位被突顯。

循規蹈矩、很懂人情世故、凡事保守、什麼事都不敢做,他們是舊式的老人種,我們社會的馬英九可算是老人種的代表

至於柯文哲,則是新人種的典型。他完全沒有被馴化,什麼事都有話要說,他從內政到兩岸,都會說出和既有價值完全不同的意見。對於他所說的離經叛道意見,我們千萬不要用保守的「道德驚惶」來小題大做。

時代已經變了,在價值上不從眾的人,才是未來的主流!

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