ВУЗ:
Составители:
Рубрика:
205
The things I don't enjoy are the routine back-ups of all the data, these take a bit of time. The other thing that I don't
quite like is the... the out of hours concept of system... systems administration, because the best time to actually fix
problems is when people aren't working, which means that ideally we should do that after six when everybody's gone
home, so, yes, we can be here until the early hours of the morning at the extreme.
PAUL: I'm Paul Lockwood, and I'm one of the training officers at Small World and my job is to... um... run and
provide training courses for our customers and agents.
The thing I enjoy most about my work is... um... being able to have direct contact with customers and...er... direct
knowledge of the sort of problems they encounter and how to resolve them.
The thing I don’t enjoy so much is that I feel that I... I... um... tend to be spending a lot of time either teaching or
preparing training material, and I don’t get enough chance to do hands-on programming that I would like to do. I do
have to have the skills of programming but what I don’t get the opportunity to do at the moment is to actually use them
to develop real applications for customers, I’m just showing other people how to do it.
Generally speaking, I... I enjoy my job. I... I enjoy the company that I work for. Um... it’s a very good environ-
ment, a very stimulating environment.
T a s k 6. Listening comprehension.
Vocabulary to be memorized:
abolish, rewarding, consign, staff turnover, rotate, parking lots, scrutiny, corporate managers, pyramid structure, subject
oneself to, collapse, afflict, counselor.
A PART OF RADIO PROGRAM ABOUT SEMCO
Charles: Jane, I wonder it you could tell us what Ricardo Semler is trying to do.
Jane: Well, sure. Semler wants to introduce real democracy in the workplace, and that's the essence of his philoso-
phy. It's the end of the party for the Henry Ford's assembly line he would argue. He gives it at the most a hundred years.
That means it still has 15 – 20 years to go. It's collapsing slowly. And the giant corporations we knew this century are com-
ing to an end.
Charles: Robert, would you like to comment on this?
Robert: Yes, I think it needs to be stressed that autocracy is the main problem afflicting all these companies. In
countries like America, Britain and Brazil people are all very proud of their democratic values in public life and rightly
so. But as Semler himself says he’s as yet to see a democratic work place we’re being held back by a system that doesn't
allow democracy into business or into
the work place.
Jane: If I could just add a related point there concerning bureaucratic structures, getting rid of seven layers of
management bureaucracy is the real key to Semco success. This went hand in hand with the introduction of genuine
democracy. Managers including Semler who is one of the 6 counselors who rotate in the job of chief executive are rated
regularly by their employees. Every manager gets points from 1 to a hundred from his staff anonymously. This happens
every six months when a new budget is set. If managers regularly fail to come up to expectations they give way or are
pushed out. One long serving manager used to score 86 out of a l00 has dropped down to nearly 51 and what will hap-
pen to him is uncertain.
Charles: Surely, this means the work force watches the management closely all the time instead of going on with
their work.
Robert: Yes, but evaluating the boss was just the first step. The big break came when the people were allowed to
elect their own boss. In Semler’s view managers imported from outside the company are bad news. The staff who are
truly involved in the financial success of the factory are realistic about choosing future bosses.
Charles: Jane, can this system really work?
Jane: Absolutely, and I'll tell you why. You see, the factory employees are free to come and go as they like or
work from home or become a consultant. It means that they don't take advantage of the situation. They recognize the
responsibility that comes with controlling their own futures. And as several reports show it appears to be a happy place
to work with very low staff turnover and a long waiting list of people applying for jobs there.
Robert: As Jane's already said what's happened is that Semco has got rid of the old pyramid structure of bureau-
crats together with their power symbols. So secretaries and parking spaces have gone. The organization now consists of
three concentric circles: an inner one of 6 vice-presidents (including Semler), surrounded by a second circle of up to 10
leaders of the business units and the outer one which includes everyone else. They are called associates. Just walking
around the factory there's no way of distinguishing the high earners from the low earners because workers wear what
they like and hardly anybody has a desk.
Charles: Of course, the major question people have been asking is whether the Semco experiment is transferable?
For instance, to other types of company and other countries?
Jane: –Yes, that's a big question. In some parts of Europe employees already do participate actively but in this case
there seems to be a special factor to explain their success. For example, the Mondragon cooperatives in Northern Spain
which are closely tied up with the Basque culture, or the benevolent former owners in employee-owned companies in sev-
eral other countries.
Страницы
- « первая
- ‹ предыдущая
- …
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- …
- следующая ›
- последняя »
