SCHOOLS RENEW FOCUS ON THE FINANCIAL WORLD

作者：英国《金融时报》 德拉•布拉德肖

If there is one thing that the world has learnt in the past three years, it is that financial services companies simply do not operate in the same way as other businesses.	如果说世界从过去三年中学到了什么，那就是:金融服务公司的运营方式就是与其它公司不同。
However, this is something that Clayton Rose, professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, understood a long time ago.	然而，哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)管理实践教授克来顿•罗斯(Clayton Rose)很久以前就已意识到了这一点。
“Financial service firms have a unique place in the economy with unique responsibilities,” he says. He should know, he worked for JPMorgan for two decades before his thoughts turned to academia.	他表示：“金融服务公司在经济中有着独特的地位，同时也有着独特的责任。”他应该知道这些，因为在转入学术界之前，他曾为摩根大通(JPMorgan)效力二十年。
Now at Harvard, he has designed and teaches a timely second-year elective on the MBA programme, addressing the challenges and responsibilities that face the leaders in the financial services industry. It is one of the courses introduced at Harvard over the past year that have been specifically developed as a result of the financial meltdown. “The crisis really raised the stakes here,” says Prof Rose. “It's all about questions; I have no answers.”	如 今在哈佛，他为该学院MBA项目开发了一个很合时宜的二年期选修课程，并亲自教授这门课程。课程旨在解决金融服务业领袖所面临的挑战与责任。这是过去一年 哈佛专门针对金融危机开发推出的课程之一。“危机的确增加了我们工作的难度。到处都是问题，而我却无法给出答案，”罗斯表示。
Harvard is not alone in reacting actively to the economic crisis. Professors at business schools around the US have developed courses looking specifically at what caused the financial meltdown. But courses about how to do it better are less prevalent.	对经济危机做出积极回应的，并非只有哈佛一家学校。全美各大商学院的教授，都开发了专门研究金融危机致因的课程。但有关如何改善实践的课程，却不是那么常见。
For Prof Rose, the course “Managing the Financial Firm” has been designed with a wide brief, covering everything from banking to insurance and loans to brokerage.	罗斯设计的“管理金融公司”课程的大纲范围甚广：银行业、保险业、贷款业务及经纪业务等内容无所不包。
“This is an industry that is extremely broad.” The lens is focused on the client need. The course is intended for both those students who came from financial services or intend to get jobs there on graduation, and those with a healthy interest in the subject – the latter accounted for about 15 per cent of the class when it was first taught last year. The next class begins in September. The focus of the programme is on the changing challenges and responsibilities.	“ 这个行业范围极大。”课程的核心是客户需求。课程的目标人群包括：来自金融服务业的职场人士、计划毕业后进入金融服务业的学生、以及对该课题有着浓厚兴趣 的人。去年首次开课时，最后一类学生占到了整个班级的15%左右。下一个班将于9月份开课。课程核心是金融服务业所面临的不断变化的责任与挑战。
The first issue facing financial services firms is trust, he says, something which has been badly dented over the past few years. The second topic covers the operations of the firms – everything from compensation to risk management. A third element is the strategic challenge facing financial firms, where Prof Rose draws on the teaching of some of his Harvard colleagues; Michael Porter on strategy, for example. Finally he looks at the transformation of the industry.	罗 斯表示，金融服务公司所面临的首要问题是信任，过去几年内，这种信任已严重动摇。第二个问题是公司的运营，包括从薪酬到风险管理的一切事务。第三部分是金 融公司面临的战略挑战。在这一部分，罗斯借用了一些哈佛同事的教学内容，比如，迈克尔•波特(Michael Porter)的战略学讲义。最后，他还谈到了该行业的变革。
The course uses case studies covering all the usual suspects – Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bear Sterns and, of course, Lehman Brothers. But Prof Rose also looks at some more unusual cases, in particular that of the one-branch community bank run by Hope Harris Johnson.	该课程中的案例研究涵盖了所有常见“嫌犯 ”——花旗(Citigroup)、高盛(Goldman Sachs)、摩根大通、贝尔斯登(Bear Sterns)，当然还有雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)。但罗斯也研究了一些比较独特的案例，尤其是霍普•哈里斯•约翰逊(Hope Harris Johnson)经营的仅有一家分行的社区银行案例。
As chief executive of the Friend Bank in south-eastern Alabama, Ms Harris Johnson had an ambitious 20-year growth plan. “This is as important and real to her as anything that Jamie Dimon [JP Morgan chief executive] does,” says Prof Rose.	作为位于阿拉巴马州东南部的Friend Bank的首席执行官，哈里斯•约翰逊有一个雄心勃勃的20年增长计划。“这项计划对于她而言，与杰米•戴蒙（Jamie Dimon，摩根大通首席执行官）做的事情同样重要，且具有实际意义，”罗斯表示。
He argues that the case method is valuable in these sorts of issues. “There are pluses and minuses to the case method, but the case method allows you to get to these issues in a very real way which resonates with students.”	他认为，案例研究方法对于研究这类问题非常管用。“案例研究方法有利有弊，但这种方法让你能够以一种非常真实的方式来讨论这些问题，从而引起学生的共鸣。”
But alongside the more technical issues there are also grey areas relating to the ethics of banking. Prof Rose ponders the differences between banks 20 years ago and how they operate today. It used to be that if a bank had a large client in one area, it would not take on another that was a direct competitor. That has changed, he says and banks can justify their decisions. But he has qualms. “We [bankers] have lost sight of what our responsibilities are. The words fit together, but somehow it's not right.”	但除了技术 性比较强的问题，该课程还探讨了与银行业伦理相关的灰色地带。罗斯深入 思考了20年前的银行与今天的银行在经营上的差别。过去的做法是：如果一家银行在一个地区有一个大客户，它不会为这家客户的直接竞争对手服务。罗斯表示， 这种状况已发生改变，且银行能够证明自己的决定是对的。但他却对此存在疑虑。“我们（银行家）已经忘掉了我们的责任是什么。话是说得不错，但不知为何并不 正确。”
However, many bankers do get the point, he says. “They are really thinking about this. Some are doing it thoughtfully, but others are doing it defensively.”	不过，他表示，许多银行家的确认识到了这一点。“他们的确在思考这个问题。有些人是全面透彻地思考，有些则是被动地思考。”
Although a banker by training, Prof Rose realises that criticisms levelled at investment banking have to be dealt with in the classroom, in particular the issues of the strong anti-Wall Street feeling. To help him do that he brings what he describes as the more thoughtful banking leaders into the classroom. “There are leaders who are driven by more than what's the next trade.”	尽管是一名科班出身的银行家，但罗斯意识到，对投资银行的批评必须在教室里进行讨论，特别是那些对华尔街的强烈抵触情绪问题。为了帮助自己完成这部分内容，他把那些自己称之为更深思熟虑的银行业领袖带到了课堂。“有一些领袖并不单单是从下一笔交易的角度出发考虑问题。”
It is a philosophy he carries through the programme. “There are some leaders who get it, but there are a lot of people in firms that don't get that the world has changed pretty dramatically now and that they have some responsibility.”	这是他在整个课程中所贯彻的哲学。“有的领袖领悟到了这一点，但金融公司中有许多人尚未意识到，眼前的世界已经发生了巨变，他们肩负着一些责任。”
Prof Rose is clearly someone who loved his time on Wall Street and rues some of the changes. “There's an opportunity to make money in this industry, but don't go into it for that reason. Those people who do, fail.”	显然，罗斯热爱在华尔街度过的时光，但同时也为一些改变感到懊恼。“这个行业有赚钱的机会，但不要因为这个原因进入该行业。那些这么做的人都以失败告终。”
	译者/董琴