Unit9

Let the Computers Be the BureaucratsOren HarareI. About the authorOren Harari(Oren Harare, more often is spelled as Oren Harari.)An incredibly popular speaker and author, Dr. Oren Harari's energetic, dynamic presentations excite and challenge audiences around the world with insight, humor and knowledge. Dr. Oren Harari brings provocative new perspectives on competitive advantage, organizational change, and transformational leadership. As a leading management consultant and best-selling author, he brings more than 20 years of seasoned professional experience to the public speaking forum.The Financial Times has cited Dr. Harari as one of the "Top 40 Business and Management Minds in the World," and featured him in the fall 2001 book Business Minds. Harari believes that in the chaotic competitiveness of today's markets, bold and often-radical management approaches are the key to top performance. He has also found that long-term financial success depends primarily on leaders' abilities to capitalize on globalization and technological advance, and to launch dramatic breakthroughs in innovation, service, teamwork, and speed.In his seven books, Dr. Harari describes the strategic decisions and leadership behaviors that propel organizations into successful position of competitive advantage. His 2002 book The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell,published by McGraw-Hill, reached the best-seller lists of The New York Times, Business Week,and The Wall Street Journal.In this book, Oren Harari outlines 16 elegant principles of leadership, which he has drawn from Powell's career. He then applies those principles to corporate and government arenas and demonstrates what transformational leaders do to take their organizations to new heights.In 2003, Oren Harari wrote the follow-up corporate handbook The Powell Principles, also published by McGraw-Hill. In 2000, Dr. Harari co-authored a revolutionary book, Beep Beep! Competing in the Age of the Road Runner, published by Warner Books. The book received rave reviews by Michael Dell, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue, and Fast Company founding editor, Alan Webber, among others. The book focuses on thriving in a globally networked, real-time "Road Runner" marketplace.His latest book, Break From the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy, will be published fall of 2006 by Prentice Hall/Wharton Press.Dr. Oren Harari also penned the 1999 best-seller Leapfrogging the Competition: Five Giant Steps to Becoming A Market Leader, published by Prima. The first edition was rated by Management General as one of the ten best business books of 1997. Both editions received accolades from Colin Powell, Tom Peters, Michael Dell, Bill Marriott, and Target CEO Bob Ulrich, to name a few.Harari also co-authored the best-selling book Jumping the Curve: Innovation and Strategic Choice in an Age of Transition, published by Jossey-Bass, which was rated by the prestigious Library Journal as one of the top 40 business books in 1994. Said Charles Schwab on the book jacket: "If I were to recommend that my managers read just one business book this year, Jumping the Curve would be it."Harari received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and currently teaches in the MBA and executive MBA programs at the University of San Francisco.More information about Harari please refer to : /index.htmII.background information1. Matthew 20 from the Holy BibleFor the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We areable.And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.2. The World Gold CouncilThe World Gold Council, an association of the world's leading gold producers dedicated to the promotion of gold.The World Gold Council is a non-profit association of the world's leading gold producers, established to promote the use of gold. With headquarters in Geneva, the Council is represented by a network of offices in the major centres of gold demand around the world and its promotional activities cover markets representing some three quarters of the world's annual consumption of gold.The nature of its work, much of which is in close partnership with the local gold trade and industry, varies according to the different needs and stages of development of the countries, and of the forms (jewellery, bars, coins, dentistry, etc.) in which gold is most commonly sold or held.The Council's programmes and skilled staff help to improve gold products and distribution systems, and they provide specialist gold information and economics services to large holders of gold. Its primary focus in recent years has been on facilitating the removal of structural impediments to the free flow of gold, thereby encouraging its more widespread acquisition and retention.The Council conducts both regional and global market research studies and publishes information on developments in gold demand, or major gold-related issues.3.RubbermaidRubbermaid, a leading manufacturer of high-quality, innovative products, was acquired in March, 1999 by Newell Manufacturing Company, Inc., a manufacturer of curtain rods, founded in Ogdensburg, NY., 1902.Newell Rubbermaid was ranked 332 of the Fortune 500, 2006.For more than 70 years, the Rubbermaid® brand represents innovative, high-quality products that help simplify life. From its original line of simple, durable housewares, Rubbermaid has developed a major presence in a wide array of categories ranging from home and garden to seasonal and commercial products. Recognized as a “Brand of the Century,” Rubbermaid is one of only 100 companies named as having an impact on the American way of life.In 1999, Newell Rubbermaid Inc. was created, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products with 2005 sales of $6.3 billion. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., and has approximately 30,000 employees worldwide.Today, Rubbermaid products can be found almost everywhere including mass retail,hardware and home center stores, warehouse clubs, supermarkets, drug stores, department stores and specialty stores.Newell Rubbermaid Inc. is committed to ensuring that the Rubbermaid® brand continues to stand for durable, innovative products that help simplify the lives of people everyday.More information: 4. EDSEDS is a leading global technology services company delivering business solutions to its clients. EDS founded the information technology outsourcing industry more than 40 years ago. Today, EDS delivers a broad portfolio of information technology and business process outsourcing services to clients in the manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, communications, energy, transportation, and consumer and retail industries and to governments around the world.More information: 4. GTEIn March 2000, Bell Atlantic and GTE Corp merged their operations into a new company called Verizon Communications. command, control and communications, intelligence and global mobile-cellular roaming agreements in 30 countries;. By April 1998, GTE was providing long-distance service to 2 million customers nationwide, representing a 100% increase in one year. The businesses for sale include 5 to 8% of its local phone operations.5. Fidelity InvestmentsWorld's largest independent investment management organisation; leading provider of financial services; offers investment management, retirement, directly to individuals, institutions, and through intermediaries.6. Harry DentSelling “The Roaring 2000s”from years of hands-on business experience, Mr. Dent offers aIn his book The Great Boom Ahead, published in 1992, Mr. Dent stood virtually alone in accurately forecasting the unanticipated “Boom” of the1990s. Today he continues to educate audiences about his predictions for the next and possibly last great bull market run into 2005-2009. Since 1992 he has authored two consecutive best sellers The Roaring 2000s and The Roaring 2000s Investor (Simon and Schuster). In his latest book The Next Great Bubble Boom, Dent offers a comprehensive forecast for the next two decades and explains how fundamental trends suggest that we will see another strong economic decade and how anyone can profit. Mr. Dent also publishes the H. S. Dent Forecast newsletter.Mr. Dent received his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and was elected to the Century Club for leadership excellence. Since 1988 he has been speaking to executives around the world. H e has appeared on “Good Morning America”, PBS, CNBC, CNN/FN, and has been featured in Barron’s, Investor’s Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Fortune,Success, US News and World Report, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, American Demographics and Omni.While at Bain & Company he worked as a consultant with several Fortune 100 companies. He has been CEO of several entrepreneurial growth companies. Mr. Dent is an investment strategist and Managing Director of H.S. Dent Advisors, which acts as a sub-advisor to The AIM/Dent Demographic Trends Fund and as a consultant to The Van Kampen Funds Dent Global Demographics Unit Investment Trust. Mr. Dent also provides tactical allocation advice on mutual funds to various investment firms.7. George GilderGeorge Gilder, Editor in Chief of Gilder Technology Report, is Chairman ofGilder Publishing LLC, located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He is alsoa Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute where he directs Discovery's programon high technology and public policy.Born in 1939 in New York City, Mr. Gilder attended Exeter Academy andHarvard University. At Harvard, he studied under Henry Kissinger and helped found Advance, a journal of political thought, which he edited and helped to re-establish in Washington, DC after his graduation in 1962. During this period he co-authored (with Bruce Chapman) The Party That Lost Its Head. He later returned to Harvard as a fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Politics and editor of the Ripon Forum. In the 1960s Mr. Gilder also served as a speechwriter for several prominent official and candidates, including Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, and Richard Nixon. In the 1970s, as an independent researcher and writer, Mr. Gilder began an excursion into the causes of poverty, which resulted in his books Men and Marriage (1972) and Visible Man (1978); and hence, of wealth, which led to his best-selling Wealth and Poverty (1981).Mr. Gilder pioneered the formulation of supply-side economics when he served as Chairman of the Lehrman Institute's Economic Roundtable, as Program Director for the Manhattan Institute, and as a frequent contributor to A.B. Laffer's economic reports and the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal,. In the 1980s he also consulted leaders of America's high technology businesses. According to a study of presidential speeches, Mr. Gilder was President Reagan's most frequently quoted living author. In 1986, President Reagan gave George Gilder the White House Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.In 1986 Gilder was made a Fellow of the International Engineering Consortium. The investigation into wealth creation led Mr. Gilder into deeper examination of the lives of present-day entrepreneurs, culminating in many articles and a book, The Spirit of Enterprise (1986). The book was revised and republished in 1992. That many of the most interesting current entrepreneurs were to be found in high technology fields also led Mr. Gilder, over several years, to examine this subject in depth. In his best-selling work, Microcosm (1989), he explored the quantum roots of the new electronic technologies. A subsequent book, Life After Television, was a prophecy of thefuture of computers and telecommunications and a prelude to his book on the future of telecommunications, Telecosm (2000).Mr. Gilder's latest book The Silicon Eye (2005) travels the rocky road of the entrepreneur on the promising path of disruption, and celebrates some of smartest—and most colorful—technology minds of our time. In this fascinating narrative of personality and technology, Gilder shares his insider knowledge of Silicon Valley and illustrates how the unpredictable mix of genius, drive, and luck that can turn a startup into a Fortune 500 company.Gilder Publishing produces the Gilder Technology Report and the annual Gilder/Forbes Telecosm Conference, both of which offer elite analysis of ascending and disruptive technologies affecting management and investment decisions of investors, executives, engineers and entrepreneurs.Mr. Gilder is a contributing editor of Forbes magazine and a frequent writer for The Economist, The American Spectator, the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He lives in Tyringham, Massachusetts, in the Berkshire Mountains, where he is an active churchman, sometime runner, and with his wife Nini, parent of four children.More information:ttp:///scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&isFellow=true&id=10Gilder 6. Jeremy Rifkinrevised edition of his 1995 international best-seller, The End of Work, is widely credited with helping shape the current global debate on technology displacement, corporate downsizing and the future of jobs. Mr. Rifkin's 2000 international bestseller, The Age of Access, explores the vast changes occurring in the capitalist system as it makes the transition from geographic markets to e-commerce networks and from industrial to cultural production. His 1998 international bestseller, The Biotech Century, addresses the many critical issues accompanying the new era of genetic commerce and is the most widely read book in the world on the biotech revolution.Mr. Rifkin holds a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a degree in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Rifkin speaks frequently before government, business, labor and civic forums. He has lectured at more than 500 universities in some 25 countries in the past 30 years. Since 1994, Mr. Rifkin has been a fellow at the Wharton School's Executive Education Program, where he lectures to CEOs and senior corporate management from around the world on new trends in science and technology and their impacts on the global economy, society and the environment. Mr. Rifkin's monthly column on global issues appears in many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian in the U.K., Die Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany, Le Soir and Knack in Belgium, L'Espresso in Italy, El País in Spain, Informatíon in Denmark, Hospodárské Noviny in the Czech Republic, Wort in Luxembourg, Eesti Päevaleht in Estonia, Trud in Bulgaria, Clarín in Argentina, and Al-Ittihad in the U.A.E.Rifkin has been influential in shaping public policy in the United States and around the world. He has testified before numerous congressional committees and has had consistent success in litigation to ensure responsible government policies on a variety of environmental, scientific and technology related issues. He has been a frequent guest on numerous television programs, including CNN's Crossfire, Face the Nation, The Lehrer News Hour, 20/20, Larry King Live, Today, and Good Morning America. The National Journal named Rifkin as one of 150 people in the U.S. that have the most influence in shaping federal government policy.Mr. Rifkin is the founder and president of The Foundation on Economic Trends () in Washington, DC. The Foundation examines the economic, environmental, social and cultural impacts of new technologies introduced into the global economy.More information: /JeremyRifkin.htmIII.Pre-reading exerciseA.Warming up questions1.We are now living in an age of knowledge and information. Can you cite some examplesin your own life to show how important knowledge and information is?2.Describe a typical day of a student, a factory worker, a teacher, a clerk and a businessexexutive. How much do they rely on computer and computer network? How different their life would be if there was no information technology?3.If you were running a company, what would you consider the most important for yourcompany to get ahead your competitors?4.List some jobs that existed in history but has disappeared now. Why did these jobs die?Are there any jobs dying today? Are there any new jobs appearing? What are they?B.Study the sentences given and try to match the underlined words and expressions withthe appropriate explanations.1.Several of our research discoveries have been adapted for commercial use, and oneparticular breakthrough in linear hydraulics is now being used by every oil company in the country. ( )2.The army plans to phase out the equipment as it becomes obsolete. ( )3.During the violent earthquake, many of the walls came tumbling down. ( )4.With the instructions given by the doctor through the phone, the journalist triedmouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the drowned girl. ( )5.He was so angry and shouted to his boss: “You’re never willing to c hange your old rules!You old bureaucrat!”( )6.In data security, the transmission of data to unauthorized users by processes withlegitimate access to data. A compiler, for example, could leak a proprietary program whilst it is being compiled. ( )7.All the three avenues converge at a central square. ( )8.The dead hand of bureaucracy is slowing our progress. ( )9.It is said that tangible assets are losing its primary importance in this information age.( )10.She's high up in the management hierarchy. ( )A. A technique used to resuscitate a person who has stopped breathing, in which the rescuerpresses his or her mouth against the mouth of the victim and, allowing for passiveexhalation, forces air into the lungs at intervals of several seconds.B.Management or administration marked by diffusion of authority among numerousoffices and adherence to inflexible rules of operationC.An official who is rigidly devoted to the details of administrative procedureD.Categorization of a group of people according to ability or statusE.To come together from different directions; meetF.Exclusively ownedG.(of especially business assets) having physical substance and intrinsic monetary valueH. A major achievement or success that permits further progress, as in technology.I.Outmoded in design, style, or constructionJ.To collapseIV.Structure of the textV.Understanding the text1. Let the Computers Be the BureaucratsLet the computers do the routine and repetitive work..Bureaucrat: An official who is rigidly devoted to the details of administrative procedure. Here it refers to people who do the routine work which requires no creation or imagination.2. All the 11th hour; mouth-to-mouth resuscitation of restructuring and "empowerment" won't save it.:Any last-minute effort of changing the structure or supplying the resources to your job won't make your job survive.11th hour: the last possible moment, only just in time. This phrase originates from the Bible,Matthew 20.3. It's doomed because the economy of the emerging millennium has no room for it.It is definitely going to disappear because there is no place for it in the economy of the coming century.4. ...you can hold off the inevitable until you retire --- a rather forlorn wish.the inevitable (the day your job becomes obsolete) could be put off to the day you retire --- but it is unlikely to happen.hold off: delay or put offe.g. Could you hold off (making) your decisions until next week?He makes every excuse to hold off getting married/the wedding.a forlorn wish: (idiom ) plan or undertaking that is almost certain not to succeede.g. Going to their rescue in a rowing boat is a bit of a forlorn wish.For him, a young man without formal education background, to find a good job during the recession is kind of a forlorn wish.5. ... by preparing to obsolete your current work before it obsoletes you.:by getting away from your present job, restructuring and preparing for it a newly emerging job before your current job becomes out of date. Here obsolete is used as a verb, meaning "make out of date/put to rest, or end."obsolete a.: no longer used; out of datee.g. Many obsolete words can be found in this old text.The horse-drawn plough is now obsolete in most European countries.6. ... what this drumroll is all aboutwhat I want to say with this dramatic introduction (Rolling of drums is used to get an audience's attention.).Drumroll n.: sound make by beating drums7.Bear with me.: Tolerate me patiently.Bear with: tolerate someone/sth patientlye.g. We must bear with her during this difficult period.8. We are moving from a production-based industrial economy to an information-based network economy.We are making a change from an industrial economy which is based on production to a network economy which is based on information.9. We are moving from an economy where intangibles like speed, flexibility and imagination are more important predictors of business success than tangibles like mass, size and physical assets.We are making a change towards an economy where business success depends more on intangible things such as speed, adaptability and creativity than on tangible things such as large quantity, scale and physical property.10. ... hitherto sacred principles like volume, economies of scale, experience curves, mass production and mass marketing are becoming less and less useful if we're interested in competitive edge.those economic principles, such as large quantity, economies of scale, experience curves, mass production and mass marketing, which used to be considered the best are becoming less useful in the competitive market.hitherto adv.: until nowcompetitive edge: an advantage in a competition11. Rapid collaborative application of intelligence is where it's at.The competitive edge lies in the ability to quickly apply new knowledge and information from various sources collaboratively. “It” refers to the competitive edge.12. Some companies get it.Some companies understand that competitive edge lies in collaborative application of intelligence. “Get it”is an idiom meaning understand.13. In 1990, Microsoft achieved a 38 percent quarterly sales boost by adding $90 million to its top line; in 1995, that same 38 percent standard required Microsoft to generate $800 million in new business.In 1990, by adding $90 million to its revenue, Microsoft's sales increased by 38 percent quarterly; in 1995, Microsoft must have made $800 million in business to reach that same 38 percent standard.boost n.: increase; encouragementgive boost: give encouragemente.g. to give sb's confidence a boostachieve a boost: see rapid increasee.g. This year the economy in Shanghai has achieved a 9.9 percent boost.top line: 公司常用的财务报表中，不论资产负债还是损益表，其第一行(top line) 都是revenue (收入)，top line growth 指盈收增长。