4. What does working capital (营业资本；周转资本） include?
- Basically, working capital consists of a firm’s current assets (a liquid asset 流动资产). It includes:
Inventories - that is, raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods on hand;
Accounts receivable (minus accounts payable减去应付帐款).
What are short-term expenditures?
- Short-term expenditures are incurred regularly in a firm’s everyday business activities. - They involve:
accounts payable应付帐款- unpaid bills owed to suppliers plus wages and taxes due within the upcoming year；
accounts receivable 应收帐款 – funds due from customers who have bought on credit；
Inventories (库存；盘存), including raw materials inventory, work-in-process inventory and finished-goods inventory.
ccounts payable 应付帐款：unpaid bills owed to suppliers plus wages and taxes due（expected;到期的）within the upcoming year.
Cf. accounts receivable 应收帐款：consisting of funds due from customers who have bought on credit（赊购）.
4. working capital - u.n. the money that is available to be used for the costs of running a business, not invested in its buildings, equipment, etc. 营业资本；周转资本
Cf. venture capital – money that is lent to sb. so that they can start a new business风险资本；创业基金
the Credit Interchange 信用交换；互换信用情报
the National Association of Credit Management （NACM）国家信用管理协会
6. incentive – c.n. /u.n. sth. which encourages you to work harder, start new activities, etc. ; stimulus刺激；奖励
- incentive to do sth.
- tax incentives (= offers of reduced taxes)
e.g. The higher the discount, the more incentive buyers have to pay early.
7. work-in-process inventory 在制品盘存/库存
Cf. raw materials inventory 原料库存
finished-goods inventory 制成品库存
8. current assets - (commerce) assets which change in the course of business (e.g. money owed) 流动资产
Cf. fixed assets –(technical) items with long-term use or value, such as land, buildings, and machinery 固定资产
- liquid asset 流动资产
liquid – adj. (finance) easily converted into cash
liquidate – vt. (technical) to pay or settle a debt 清偿/ 清算债务；- vi. /vt. to close down a business in order to pay its debts 清算 - u.n. liquidation
U4
. International Monetary Fund (IMF)国际货币基金组织 Southeast Asia 东南亚
2. emerging economic powers 新兴的经济强国
- emerging – adj. (only before n.) in an early state of development
3. economic shocks 经济冲击
Cf. cultural shock 文化冲击
4. currency devaluation 货币贬值
- devalue – vt. to reduce the value of (a currency) in relation to other currencies or gold 使贬值
Cf. depreciate – vi. to become less valuable 贬值
appreciate – vi. increase in value 增值；涨价
cut spending 缩减开支
6. industrialized nations 工业化国家
Cf. agriculturalized 农业化的
7. foreign-exchange reserves 外汇储备
- reserves – (usu. pl.) things put aside or kept for later use; extra amount available 储备物；储备量
e.g. currency /oil /gold reserves 货币/石油/黄金储备
8. trade imbalance 贸易失衡
e.g. narrow global trade imbalances
the US’s huge trade deficit 贸易逆差
the soaring trade surpluses (贸易顺差) in emerging Asia
European economies 欧洲各国
- economy
- c.n. the system by which a country’s money and goods are produced and used, or a country considered in this way 经济制度；e.g. a capitalist economy
- u.n. control and management of money, resources, etc. of a community, society, household, etc. 理财
e.g. political economy 政治经济学
domestic economy 国内经济
- adj. (only before n.) economy size / pack – a product that is cheaper, usu. because you are buying a larger amount
economy (continued)
- adj. (only before n.) economy class
- u.n. the cheapest type of seats in a plane;
- adv. : We flew economy class.
10. oil-producing nations 石油出产国
- OPEC – Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries 石油输出国组织：是石油主产国自愿结成的政府间组织,成立于19xx年。
- APEC - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation亚太经合组织：亚太地区最具影响的经济合作官方论坛，成立于19xx年。
11. The Group of Seven (G-7) industrial countries 七大工业国
- G-7：including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States. 始创于19xx年六国首脑高峰会议。
- Group of Seven plus One: 199４年第20次会议期间，俄罗斯作为正式成员参加政治问题的讨论，形成“7+1”机制。
-G8（Group of Eight），由19xx年在美国丹佛举行的七国首脑会议演变而来，“7+1”的模式结束。
- G8 Summit 八国峰会
- A central focus of reform today is the restructuring of voting power to better reflect changes in economic importance, as well as to give small poor countries more of a say.
U5
a developer (开发商) of mechanical energy-storage devices (essentially batteries made of flywheels（飞轮；惯性轮） rather than chemicals（化学药品）)
The firm is beefing up (making bigger) production of some of its gadgets (small mechanical device or tool) tenfold (-fold: suffix, ten times) this year to quench demand.
.To pay for such expansion, Vycon’s executives decided to sell shares to the public.
executive: person or group in a business organization, trade union, etc. with administrative or managerial powers 行政领导；行政人员；董事；主任
e.g. a sales executive 营业主任
an executive briefcase 行政人员公事包
executive officer 行政主任
CEO/CFO/CTO : chief executive /financial/ technical officer首席执行官；财务/技术总监
Too tiny to trade (vi. engage in trade) on New York City’s NASDAQ, the company focused instead on another market catering to ambitious upstarts like Vycon.
NASDAQ: National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation美国全国证券交易商协会自动报价系统,由全美证券交易商协会(NASD)创立并负责管理。它是19xx年在华盛顿建立的全球第一个电子交易市场。
(to be continued)
(continued)
- upstart: n. (derog.) person who has suddenly risen to wealth or a high position, esp. one who behaves arrogantly and causes resentment突然发迹者；新贵；暴发户
Cf. start-up: web start-ups
start-up company 刚起步新建的公司
起步期(start-up stage, 已注册成立）
“London’s Alternatives Investment Market (AIM：二板市场；另类投资市场；高增长市场) was a global market for small companies,” says Vycon president and CEO Tony Aoun, which would “put the company in a good light (in a good way)”.
AIM: 成立于19xx年6月，隶属于伦敦证券交易所London Stock Exchange (LSE)，简称“伦敦证交所”,是世界四大证券交易所
(to be continued)
continued) (东京、纽约NYSE、纳斯达克证券交易所）之一 ，现已成为全球中小型企业的主要融资市场。
6. When the business was listed (上市) on AIM in March, investors poured in ＄18 million, fulfilling Vycon’s best hopes.
. Launched by the LSE in 1995, AIM now lists more than 1, 600 companies, five times the number of a decade ago. Turnover in its shares hit ＄114 billion in 2006, some way from the ＄3.8 billion bartered (vt. exchange) in its first full year.
turnover: n. (1) (sing.) amount of business done by a company within a certain period of time （一定时期的）营业额
e.g. make a profit of ￡2,000 on a turnover of ￡20,000 (to be continued)
Roel Campos, a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the stock-market regulator, branded AIM a “casino”, with 30% of new firms “gone in a year”.
- commissioner: (usu. Commissioner) member of a commission, esp. one with particular duties 委员（尤指有某职责的）； 长官
To float on the LSE’s main market, a company normally needs a three-year business record（业务记录）, a minimum market cap（market capitalization 市值，指公司总的市场价值） and shareholder approval for big acquisitions or disposals; NASDAQ and NYSE have similar hurdles.
- float: (1) vi. to stay on or at the surface of sth. 漂浮 (2) vt. start (a new business company) by selling shares in it to the public（以公开发行股票的方式）开办（新公司）
10. But AIM’s quality control (质量控制) is outsourced to 85 so-called Nominated Advisers, or Nomads.
outsourcing: u.n. the practice of using workers from outside a company 外包
Nomad：任命保荐人，主要职能是帮助确定公司是否适合在伦敦证券交易市场上市，协助评估公司成功上市的几率，与市场监管机构打交道，帮助公司完成上市规则所要求的各项义务，对首次公开招股流程的统筹和管理承担整体责任。
11. Generally accounting firms (会计事务所) or financial management companies, Nomads scrutinize a firm’s executive staff, business model (商业模式) and performance before deciding whether it can list.
12. Since the Nomad’s （任命保荐人）fees are paid for by the company wanting to be listed, it might seem that AIM is built on a giant conflict of interest（利益冲突）, but Nomads counter that traditional auditors and accountants are company-paid, too. （to be continued)
12. (continued)
audit: (1) n. official (usu. yearly) examination of accounts to see that they are in order (政府的）审计；查帐
(2) vt. Examine (accounts, etc. ) officially
auditor 审计员；查帐人
accountant 会计 chief accountant 会计经理
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) 注册会计师
U8
The Key Challenges Facing Corporate America at Present
Corporate America:公司美国，指美国现代经济体系中崛起的、在国家经济中发挥关键作用的大型企业群体。
2. Big companies don’t seem to endure all that well. Despite all the advantages available to them (economies of scale, marketing savvy（营销常识）, strong channels of distribution), large corporations typically don’t get bigger and stronger over time.
3. What’s needed is a workable（可行的） way to implant entrepreneurial thinking（创业式思维） inside the corporate walls in such a way that wealth can be created on an ongoing basis.
3. Specifically ,corporations face four key challenges:
Finding effective ways to renew the corporate spirit（企业精神）and stay vibrant and successful over an extended period of time;
Developing better ways to link employee compensation（雇员补偿）with the creation of
long-term value;
Overcoming internal resistance to change;
Generating genuine growth in revenues and profits.
4. The Need for Corporate Renewal
Loads of ideas have already been tried to extend the life cycle（延长生命周期） of large corporations:
In the 1960s, acquisitions（收购） were all the craze ,with diversification as the main aim. In the 1970s, many companies tried to generate growth internally through intrapreneurship programs（企业内部创业管理方案）.
During the 1980s, creating value through financial techniques（理财技巧） (junk bonds, leveraged buyouts, financial asset repackaging) was tried.
4. (continued)
junk bond: 垃圾债券，指市场上流通的债券根本就没有或不入等级。
Leveraged buyout (LBO):杠杆收购是指收购公司利用目标公司资产的经营收入来支付收购价金或作为此种支付的担保。
Cf. management buyout (MBO): 管理层收购，指公司管理层收购公司的多数股权。 financial asset repackaging：金融资产再包装
9. Dealmakers（交易人） – CEOs, investment bankers, venture capitalists（风险投资商）and even high-profile consultants （高知名度的顾问）– typically make unprecedented amounts of money based solely on closing an acquisition（完成收购交易）, not on how the combined entity actually performs in the marketplace.
Investment Banker：投资银行家，指为企业或政府执行融资计划的金融机构的代表人。
10. In all ,the executive management teams of many organizations have titled their compensation systems to their own advantage.
11. They devote more time to managing the company’s stock price (so they can exercise their stock options) than they do to growing the business through organic growth or strategic expansion.
stock option:股票选择权，一种契约性协议，它使持有者能在规定时期内按指定价格买卖某项证券，在此期间不受其市场价变动的影响。
12. There is a bias towards actions which will make an immediate impact on the company’s stock price – mergers（合并）, divestitures（撤资）, refinancing（再融资）, equity carve-outs（权益分割）, venture funds, extensive layoffs and cost-cutting measures, strategic alliances and so forth.
13. Internal Resistance to Change
The long-term success of many firms has also been hampered by the resistance of middle management（中层管理人员）to change in the status quo（现状）.
14. Sluggish（adj. slow-moving; not alert or lively) Corporate Growth
As a result, acquired growth（收购带来的增长） is never as good as growth that has been generated by market expansion, internal cost-cutting, intelligent choice of a strategic direction or the other old-fashioned ways of growing a company.
Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling an organization’s financial, physical, human and information resources to achieve its goals.
In fact, any given manager is likely to be engaged in each of these activities during the course of any given day.
Planning: Determining what the organization needs to do and how to get it best done requires planning.
4. Planning has three main components:
(Managers) determine the firm’s goals;
(Managers) develop a comprehensive strategy for achieving those goals;
(Managers) design tactic and operational plans for implementing the strategy.
5. For example,
(1) When Yahoo! was created, the firm’s top managers (总经理) set a strategic goal of becoming a top firm（顶级公司）in the then-emerging（当时新兴的）market for the Internet search engines（搜索引擎）. (Determine the firm’s goals.)
5. (2) Then came the hard part – figuring out how to do it. They started by assessing the ways in which people actually use the Web and concluded that users wanted to be able to satisfy a wide array of needs, preferences, and priorities by going to as few sites as possible to find what they were looking for.
Thus one key component of Yahoo!’s strategy was to foster partnerships and relationships with other companies so that potential Web surfers (冲浪者）could draw upon（to make use of) several sources through a single portal（端口）– which would be Yahoo！. (Develop a comprehensive strategy for achieving those goals.)
5. (3) Thus, the goal of partnering（合伙制；伙伴关系）emerged as one set of tactical plans (策略性方案）for moving forward.
Yahoo！managers then began fashioning alliances with such diverse partners as Reuters , Standard & Poor’s , and the Associated Press (for news coverage新闻报道), RE/Max (for real estate房地产 information), and a wide array of information providers （信息供应商）specializing in（专门经营）sports, weather, entertainment, shopping, and travel.
The creation of individual partnership agreements with each of these partners represents a form of operational planning（操作方案）.
5. (3) Thus, the goal of partnering（合伙制；伙伴关系）emerged as one set of tactical plans (策略性方案）for moving forward.
Yahoo！managers then began fashioning alliances with such diverse partners as Reuters , Standard & Poor’s , and the Associated Press (for news coverage新闻报道), RE/Max (for real estate房地产 information), and a wide array of information providers （信息供应商）specializing in（专门经营）sports, weather, entertainment, shopping, and travel.
The creation of individual partnership agreements with each of these partners represents a form of operational planning（操作方案）.
6. For example,
Once one of the leading-edge (领先的；have an edge on/over sb. / sth. –
(infml.) have a slight advantage over sb. / sth. ) high-technology (hi-tech 高科技）firms in the world, Hewlett-Packard began to lose some of its luster（a quality that outshines the usual光彩；出色）in the mid-1990s.
- 惠普公司（Hewlett-Packard，简称HP）（NYSE：HPQ）位于美国加州的帕罗奥多，是一间全球性的资讯科技公司，主要专注于印表机、数位影像、软体、计算机与资讯服务等。
7. Specifically, HP had long prided itself on being little more than a corporate confederation（企业同盟/联盟；the Confederation of British Industry 英国工业联合会；China Corporate Federation 中国企业联合会）of individual businesses.
8. The competition among the individual businesses kept each unit on its toes (to keep in the state of being alert).
9. By 1998, however, Ann Livermore, then head of the firm’s software and services business, realized that the structure that had served so well in the past was now holding the company back.
10. To regain its competitive edge (优势）, HP needed an integrated（整合的）, organization-wide Internet strategy. Unfortunately, the company’s highly decentralized (分散式的；全分布式的）organization made that impossible.
11. “I felt we could be the most powerful company in the industry,” Livermore says, “if we could get our hardware, software, and services aligned.”
In fact, a reorganized HP has bounced back and is quickly regaining its competitive strength.
12. This process – determining the best way to arrange a business’s resources and activities into a coherent (connected logically) structure – is called organizing.
13. Managers have the power to give orders and demand results. Directing, however, involves more complex activities.
14. When directing, a manager works to guide and motivate (to stimulate the interest of sb. 激发;激励）employees to meet the firm’s objectives.
15. Example:
Gordon Bethune, CEO of Continental Airline（美国大陆航空公司）, is an excellent example of a manager who excels at/in (be exceptionally good at sth.擅长) motivating his employees.
16. When Bethune took the helm of (hold in control of; be in charge of) the troubled carrier (air carrier 航空公司）in 1994, morale（u.n. state of confidence, enthusiasm, determination, etc. of a person or group at a particular time 士气；精神状态 raise/boost/lower/undermine one’s morale）was dismal（adj. gloomy; miserable), most employees hated their jobs, and the company’s performance was among the worst in the industry (行业中）.
17. Almost immediately, Bethune started listening to his employees to learn about their problems and hear how they thought the company could be improved.
18. He also began to reward everyone when things went well and continued communicating with all Continental employees on a regular basis.
19. Today, the firm is ranked among the best in the industry and is regularly identified as one of the best places to work in the United States.
20. In May 2000, Continental was named the highest-quality airline in the United States, based on the J.D. Powers Survey of Customer Satisfaction (顾客满意度调查).
21. Controlling is the process of monitoring (监控）a firm’s performance to make sure that
the firm is meeting its goals.
22. All CEOs must pay close attention to costs and performance.
23. Indeed, skillful controlling, like innovative directing, is one reason that Gordon Bethune has been so successful at Continental.
24. For example,
Continental Airline focuses almost relentlessly on numerous indicators of performance（业绩/绩效指标）that can be constantly measured and adjusted.
-关键绩效指标（Key Performance Indicators 简写KPI），是管理中“计划—执行—评价”中“评价”不可分割的一部分，反映个体/组织关键业绩贡献的评价依据和指标。
25. Everything from on-time arrivals to baggage-handling errors to the number of empty seats on an airplane to surveys of employee and customer satisfaction are regularly and routinely monitored.
26. If on-time arrivals start to slip, Bethune focuses on the problem and gets it fixed.
27. If a manager’s subordinates (下属）provide less-than-glowing reviews, that manager loses part of his or her bonus（额外津贴；奖金；红利）.
28. As a result, no single element of the firm’s performance can slip too far before it’s noticed and fixed.
25. Everything from on-time arrivals to baggage-handling errors to the number of empty seats on an airplane to surveys of employee and customer satisfaction are regularly and routinely monitored.
26. If on-time arrivals start to slip, Bethune focuses on the problem and gets it fixed.
27. If a manager’s subordinates (下属）provide less-than-glowing reviews, that manager loses part of his or her bonus（额外津贴；奖金；红利）.
28. As a result, no single element of the firm’s performance can slip too far before it’s noticed and fixed.