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2008年9月28日 星期日

『台灣戴明圈:2008年東海戴明學者講座』

新書:『台灣戴明圈:2008年東海戴明學者講座

對話;王晃三 鍾漢清

HC 新書:『台灣戴明圈:2008年東海戴明學者講座』 SD求序--

王晃三SD):「短文『戴明 戴明 戴明』交卷, 請斧正。」

漢清:(HC寫得很不錯。Deming四度來台。一次似乎"過境"演說一下, 所以改成三四次。似乎應將兩次擔任Deming翻譯經驗的真實感受寫一下。
由於此書/此次WWS是主角,或可寫2006/3/26?那天你在 Hyatt Hotel講的寓言。
題目可考慮「Deming 現象」 Deming 與我」....

不知道你的奇招是否有效 或夠莊重......

這本書

Part I DEMING談日本和『品管九講』

Part II 為發揮應用

Part III 為 WWS日【HC和蔡博士……WWS三講

每部分都加導言

附錄為東海師長

---

Part II 導言一部分 請參考

品質運動與三位名人的事業發展關係頗深。W. W. Scherkenbach 在2008年的東海戴明學者講座第一場提出他的一種看法:

「品質界的三大權威:戴明 ( W. Edwards Deming, 1900-93),朱蘭(J.M. Juran, 1904-2008),克羅斯比(Philip B. "Phil" Crosby, (, 1926 2001)),他們每個人都犯這種錯誤。戴明最強的領域是"邏輯的世界"(淵博知識) ,朱蘭的是"物理的世界"(企業組織) ,而克羅斯比的則是情感(慶祝活動,葡萄酒和奶酪派對) 。他們各自都有一群趣味相投的追隨者。您是否曾經試圖向某不動如山"的人解釋你之所以做它的理由?這時需要的可能不是邏輯:採取行動無法"理喻"之。也許有權威者命令之,指揮之,或者動之以情或訴之以價值觀,最能讓人行動。」

我用翻譯這三大權威的代表作品,來協助華人界深入了解他們的學說:

克羅斯比(Philip B或. "Phil" Crosby, ( 1926 2001))我選擇他的暢銷近二百萬本《品質免費》的全新版本Quality Is Still Free《熱愛品質》,這位品質運動重要人物再一次探討為何做好品質不用花錢。

朱蘭(J.M. Juran, 1904-2008)《管理三部曲》(Managerial Breakthrough, 1964/2004 )。--「品質、管理大師朱蘭(J. M. Juran)不朽的著作,改造、改善學派及TQM學派的創始作品,闡明「突破、管制、規劃」在經營管理及品質管理的應用,戴明博士讚不絕口。」

戴明 ( W. Edwards Deming, 1900-93)的重要著作 轉危為安/ 戴明的新經濟觀,參考「一首產官學轉型史詩」。他的學生和朋友的作品。更有《第四代管理》、《戴明修練I》、《戴明修練II》、《戴明博士四日談》、《戴明領導手冊》。

為什麼多偏心Deming 呢?這多少與個人的際遇相關,因為Jurab和 Crosby 兩先生與台灣的淵源和情份較少,不像 Deming數次【義務】來台,傳記中列兩年當台灣生產力中心之顧問。另外可能與晃三兄在本書序言中所說的「戴明現象」有關。

王晃三SD):「我已經不記得在HAYAT講過的是那一個寓言了

可不可以給我一點提示。

那就選用『Deming 現象』了

這文章是我用原定用在植物園的四小時換來的。

話說回來若不是你給我一點壓力,這我不會主動去經歷陣痛之苦,也不會有這篇文章,

要謝謝你囉!

三呆

P.S. 據說風會很大

HC:「那是你孫子的馬之三相之故事 這是你的創作 期勉老馬戰到93歲或104
加油 盡力
你是人才 要多INTERACTIONS 多寫
BYE

P S

我出書都沒請人寫序--只有「加速度組織 」「四日談」例外-- 可惜當時美沒訪談曾繁城, 而用底下人的代筆,無法表現出曾之功力---因為真怕朋友『"""其短』。
你身在海外,能擠出這篇,真不簡單、不過,這也是你要向"歷史"交待的第一步,否則真是『青史盡成灰』…….

又,對了旅途 WAITING LINE中,或可弄貴序之英文版,應該很不錯,此IDEA供參考….

三呆;交友不慎。你可真會折磨人。我會試試看。但是不敢讓太太知道,不然她會駡人。我要去睡覺了,明天一早的班機,她已經來催過了。

2008年9月25日 星期四

台灣中國 奶粉丑闻:“一切都是文过饰非”

消費者文教基金會副秘書長吳家誠今天強調,衛生署採用香港標準容許食品含2.5ppm三聚氰胺是不合理的,香港是聽北京的,且歐盟、美、日都不允許含有,政府此舉等於是讓賣方決定食品安全標準,也將不利台灣業者發展國際貿易。 ...



中国 | 2008.09.25

奶粉丑闻:“一切都是文过饰非”

由三鹿奶粉引起的中国牛奶行业丑闻很有可能是今年最大的食品安全事件。从现在的情况来看,受到污染的不仅仅只限于婴儿奶粉。在这种背景下,德国记者 Janis Vougioukas就中国的食品安全问题采访了作家、《民以何食为天》的作者周勍。在他看来,此次爆发的奶粉丑闻不过是中国食品安全问题的冰山一角。

一夜之间,全世界都在为中国的毒牛奶而担惊受怕。对这件丑闻您感到吃惊吗?

一点也不!在我的书里我就做出过预言,我们的食品在将来还会越来越不安全。

您的书中也涉及了婴儿食品吗

实际上在之前就发生过奶粉丑闻。2004年安徽阜阳的婴儿就是因为喝了完全没有任何营养成分的奶粉而患病。许多婴儿得了脑水肿,有些婴儿甚至因此饿死。

当时的事件主要涉及的只是一个省份,而这次关系到全国……

从本质上来说,两件丑闻都有同一个原因。整个体系出了问题。这次的事件牵涉的不再单单是安徽的贫苦农民,而是22家企业,可以说它们在全国的每一个城市售卖自己的产品。

到底是哪里出了问题?

所有的部门都推卸责任,这就意味着,只要某一点出了问题,那么整个系统就都会受到牵连。此外,许多奶粉厂家从政府那里获得了质量证书,让他们免于接受其他的卫生检查。这样的证书根本没有意义,许多企业完全是花钱买来的。政府应当行使自己的职能,这才是纳税人缴税的原因。

现在连婴儿食品都被污染,对中国消费者而言,还有没有值得信赖的食品?

我总是建议消费者们越简单的东西越好。既不要买太过便宜的商品,也不要买太贵的东西。

为什么购买价格高昂的商品时也要小心?

因为那些商品存在很大的利润空间。如果可以通过在食物中添加化学品的方式赚更多的钱,那就有人会去这么做的。在中国,人们还需要注意,不要在过于大型的超市中购买商品。企业影响力越大,就越有机会操纵消费者。还有一条金科玉律:最好的产品是那些经过最少加工的产品。

中国的消费者有何反应?人们变得更小心了吗?还是大家已经对这样的坏消息感到麻木了?

普通民众现在有很多烦恼。许多人在股市中损失了大量的金钱。房价也在下跌 - 食品安全不过是这其中的一个问题而已。有时候政府只是利用这样的食品丑闻转移公众对其他问题的注意力。

这次也是?

首先逮捕了19名奶农,这只是想保护那些真正应当承担责任的人。然后关闭了12家奶 站,而这还不够。接着一名副市长辞职,然后是市长,最后才牵涉到中国的大型奶企。整个丑闻的发展就是个不断文过饰非的过程。我们从中看到了什么?企业的权 势如此之大,它们能够从地方政府那里买到保护伞。在西方,这是不可想象的。

面对这种情况,中国的消费者可以做些什么?

首先,他们必须清楚要学会保护自己,这真的只能由他们自己来完成。在中国,这个过程会很漫长。然后,政府必须放权。在这个过程中,中国的媒体必须发挥中心的作用 - 它们是我们与企业作斗争的唯一武器。

在今天的中国到底还有没有安全的食品?

最大的问题是监管。我相信,真实的情况比我们现在就奶粉行业所知的情况要严重得多。毕竟婴儿食品是全世界监管最为严厉的行业。

在今年年初就已经出现第一例死亡的婴儿了。为什么在食品监督实际上已经失控的情况下,医院当时还是没有给出警报?

整个的三鹿丑闻能够公之于众完全是个偶然。我不认为媒体报道了所有的真实情况。第一例死亡婴儿来自甘肃。如果这件丑闻是在一个举办奥运的城市发生的,我向您保证我们根本就不会知道有这回事。

在中国的食品加工业和监管体系中难道没有道德标准吗?

道德什么都不是,在每一个国家都是这样,道德帮不上什么忙。唯一的解决办法就是严厉的法律。

在过去的一个星期,几乎每天都会出现新的关于奶粉丑闻的坏消息。现在还会发生什么?

这次危机甚至有可能导致骚乱和抗议 - 有可能是新的革命的开始。

这会不会有些夸张?

吃饭是每个人的基本需求。十月革命的原因之一也是因为人们突然买不起面包了。

采访记者:Janis Vougiouka

2008年9月24日 星期三

Ellen J. Kullman

DuPont News, September 24, 2008

Ellen Kullman to Become President, Director, CEO

The DuPont board of directors has elected Ellen Kullman president and a director of the company effective Oct. 1 and chief executive officer effective Jan. 1, 2009. DuPont Chairman and CEO Chad Holliday will serve as chairman of DuPont and as a member of the board until Ellen’s expected succession as chairman.

“Ellen is ready to lead DuPont’s market-driven strategy for faster growth,” Chad said. “By appointing Ellen now as president, she will define DuPont’s detailed 2009 execution plans that will make a solid advance toward achieving our 2010 accelerated growth goals.”

Ellen is the 19th executive to lead the company in DuPont’s 206-year history. Since June 2006, she has served as an executive vice president and a member of the company’s office of the chief executive, with responsibility for four of DuPont’s five business segments and its Marketing & Sales and Environmental Sustainability functions. From February 2002 to June 2006 as group vice president of the then-newly formed DuPont Safety & Protection segment, Ellen led revenue growth from USD 3.5 billion to USD 5.5 billion. She joined the company in 1988 from General Electric.

“I am honored to have been selected by the board of directors to lead DuPont into its next phase of accelerated growth,” said DuPont Executive Vice President Ellen Kullman.

“We have a renowned science capability, a rich pipeline of new products, the right productivity mindset and terrific market opportunities. We will build on our momentum and drive earnings growth by continuing on our mission to solve challenging global problems and achieve our financial commitments, including our 2010 growth goals,” Ellen added.


DuPont News, September 24, 2008

A Glimpse of Ellen Kullman’s 20 Years at DuPont


Ellen Kullman, a native of Wilmington, Del., began her career at DuPont in 1988 as marketing manager in the Medical Imaging business. In her 20 years with the company, Ellen has held responsibilities in a broad range of businesses across the company. In March 2008, Ellen was selected to lead the dynamic planning process for the company's growth in emerging international markets.

"Ellen’s strong track record, market focus and leadership skills were the basis for the board’s decision that she is the right person to lead our exceptionally talented management team and 60,000-strong global work force into DuPont’s bright future,” Chad said. “Ellen grew what has become our highest-earning business segment, Safety & Protection, by assuring that we harnessed the power of our science to meet customer needs. She has thrived in DuPont’s transformation to a market-driven science company, she has been an important force in linking our science to our customers’ needs, and she has been instrumental to our strong emerging markets expansion.

“I look forward to working with the exceptional people of DuPont to serve our customers and communities and to reward our shareholders,” Ellen said.








Meet the Executives Ellen J. Kullman President (Designate) & Chief Executive Officer (Designate)

Click to Download
Prior to her appointment as DuPont president effective Oct. 1, 2008 and CEO effective Jan. 1, 2009, Ellen J. Kullman, 52, served as executive vice president and a member of the company's office of the chief executive. She was responsible for DuPont Coatings & Color Technologies; DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies; DuPont Performance Materials; DuPont Safety & Protection; Marketing & Sales; Pharmaceuticals; Risk Management; and Safety & Sustainability. In March 2008, Ellen was tapped to lead the dynamic planning process for the company's growth in emerging international markets.

A native of Wilmington, Del., Ellen began her career at DuPont in 1988 as marketing manager in the Medical Imaging business. Following two years as business director for the X-ray Film business, she moved to Printing & Publishing as global business director, Electronic Imaging. In 1994, she joined White Pigment & Mineral Products as global business director and was named vice president and general manager in 1995. She assumed leadership of two high-growth businesses, DuPont Safety Resources in 1998 and Bio-Based Materials in 1999.

Ellen was named group vice president and general manager in 2000 with the addition of Corporate New Business Development and Intellectual Assets Licensing. In 2001 she assumed responsibility for DuPont Flooring Systems and DuPont Surfaces. She was named group vice president - DuPont Safety & Protection in February 2002. In June 2006 she was named executive vice president until her appointment as DuPont President and CEO.

Ellen is a member of the board of directors of General Motors Corporation. She is on the Board of Trustees at Tufts University, serves on the board of overseers at Tufts University School of Engineering. She is also on the Board of Trustees, National Safety Council.

Prior to joining DuPont, Ellen worked for General Electric in various business development and marketing positions. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and a Masters degree in management from Northwestern University.

9/08





2008年9月23日 星期二

中國敗德 到 兩類複雜大型問題

兩類複雜大型問題

連日來美國金融危机的新聞傳得沸沸揚揚。…..或許可用 4.1 「相依的流程網絡」(p.106)來表示供應網,不管是產業,如最近所謂「中國毒乳品業」或全球的投資銀行業。

這一年半以來,它們最近都是頭條新聞級的複雜大型問題--我們多少可以將這種複雜大型問題稍微區分為兩類。

全球的投資銀行業的金融危機屬於「搞不清楚」該系統的錯綜複雜類;「中國毒乳品業」其實就比較容易追查其「來龍去脈」。也許這只是相對的分類。這兩類危機,以往都有人或多或少提出警告,不過,個人、組織或政府,都不會主動積極辦案---他們甚至搞不清楚是否有風險,有的話,「定時炸彈」威力多大。

不過,不管是「中國毒乳品業」或「全球的投資銀行業」的危機。它們的顧客群和負責管制的政府,都是我們該考慮的。

這社會幾乎沒所謂「預防機制」。政府多極為被動,反應也不過快。

現代社會碰到的兩難是,須要有管理單位,包括政府。不過它們本身卻無法預防,能改錯就很了不起了…..





德语媒体 | 2008.09.23

一个失去道德罗盘的社会

中国奶粉丑闻震惊了世界。在震惊之余,人们不禁要问,怎么能为了利润竟然不顾婴儿的生命安全?南德意志报发表的社论认为,这要归结于“当前中国社会的一个核心问题”:

"中国形成了一个失去道德罗盘的社会,对物质财富的无限贪婪四处泛滥。正如欧洲进口商和厂家一再抱怨的那样,在中国没有什么东西不能伪造。 有仿冒的宝马轿车、模仿裁制的阿玛尼西服、盗版的好莱坞影片、伪造的彪马运动鞋。如果危险的玩具或有毒的止咳糖浆也来自这个国家,谁还会感到奇怪呢?

在中国,对食品也大量胡作非为。为了让鱼长得更快,把避孕药扔进鱼塘。给肉牛注射荷尔蒙,把蔬菜浸在杀虫剂中,想走捷径发财致富的中国人想必太多了。

几年前,就已有中国婴儿死于掺假的奶粉。现在再次发生这样的事件表明,北京共产党领导人已无法满足消费社会提出的全面要求。共产党仍然像章鱼一样把 持着国家,这正是问题的关键之一:乳制品企业负责人是共产党的成员,给他们提意见的人,最后落到某个监督部门负责人手中。此人同样是共产党,他对此不闻不 问,却受到媒体和法院的保护。这一切都是关系问题。可以说可怜的婴儿不仅死于三聚氰胺,也死于过量的中国维持关系的'关系维生素'。"


他们要的是孩子健康

世界报报道说,中国将在星期四在甘肃酒泉航天基地把三名宇航员送上太空,实施太空散步。但甘肃也是有毒奶粉的重灾区,全国死亡的四名婴儿中有两名在甘肃,患病婴儿不计其数。该报接着写道:

"这些孩子的父母与其他父母一样,不会观看由北京导演的太空远征。他们要的是孩子的健康,要预防这类事件再次发生,要清算对这些事件负有责任的人员。现在人们日益清楚地看到,这场危机是贪婪获取金钱和腐败的结果,无所控制的经济增长进一步起了推波助澜的作用 。

一位专家说,一年来,牛奶市场的竞争升级。超市的一升鲜奶价格上升到十元,但涨价并没有给农民带来好处,他们的成本,从饲料到能源都上涨了40%。而增大的牛奶供应量和外国厂家廉价产品的压力却使中国牛奶收购价格不断下跌。

中国奶农每升奶只能挣一毛钱人民币,中间商挣一毛钱,加工厂家挣几毛钱。他们如何生活呢?这位专家说:只有不诚实经营,大家才能赚钱!一名被捕的贩 子说,二十公斤一袋的三聚氰胺卖二百元,他几周内卖出二十袋。奶粉制造厂家用这种致命的添加剂可以使自己的产品增值四分之一。"

2008年9月21日 星期日

德国专家谈中国劳动合同法:雇员权利与产业升级

中国经济 | 2008.09.20
德国专家谈中国劳动合同法:雇员权利与产业升级
中国雇员权利:法律保障如何执行?



Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 中国雇员权利:法律保障如何执行?

2007年,中国政府颁布了《劳动合同法》并宣布该法从今年1月1日开始生效。在法律生效9个半月之后,中国政府在昨天公布了与该法配套的《劳动合同法实施条例》。实际上,从《劳动合同法》问世到现在,关于它的讨论就一直没有停止。德国之声记者就此采访了汉堡大学国际比较劳动与产业关系研究所主任罗夫•盖夫肯博士(Dr. Rolf Gefken)。

德国之声:盖夫肯教授,您一直在关注中国政府今年实施的《劳动合同法》。从您的观点看来,这部法律有何特点?您是否认为中国政府在制定这部法律时借鉴了德国的相关经验?



盖夫肯:是的,我最近刚刚用德语、英语和中文三种语言撰写了一部关于这部法律的分析评论。这部法律的一个特点就是它的问世过程。《劳动合同法》在制定之初就在相当广泛的范围内听取了各个方面的意见,我认为这不是中国借鉴了什么德国经验的问题,相反,单从大范围内征求意见这一点来看,这恰恰是我们需要向中国学习的地方,这一点毋需掩饰。除了互联网上的民间讨论之外,在制定这部法律的草案时(中国)举行了不计其数的研讨会,也出现了各种各样的想法和建议。这一点是我们乐于见到的。该法的另一个特点是,在正式生效之前,某些条文得到了修改。从现在公开的消息来看,这部法律除了受到来自中国国内的压力之外,确实也与来自外国投资者的压力有关。他们中的一部分认为这部法的某些条文过于激进和强调雇员的利益。



德国之声:从现在看来,这部法律对中国经济、尤其是对中国的劳动市场有何影响?



盖夫肯:关于这一点,总的来看有两方面的意见。有些新自由主义者认为给予雇员太多的权力会阻碍经济的发展,而另外一些人则认为确保雇员的权力有利于提高经济发展的质量。我认为后者的观点是正确的。如果我们看一看德国国内的情况的话会发现一个有趣的现象。尽管德国没有统一的、关于劳动权利的法规,但我们有不同种类的劳资协定。那些雇员权利较为完善的领域恰恰是德国质量最高的生产部门,比如汽车和飞机制造、钢铁工业、IT业等等。我认为,高质量的行业和良好的雇员权利之间存在着直接的联系。将提高雇员权利作为淘汰过时的或者缺少创新能力的产业的手段是完全正确的。从长期看,中国也不需要这样的产业。比如中国没有必要继续发展廉价的鞋帽和纺织业,这些产品可以在世界其他地方生产。将来中国需要的是高质量的产业,只有这样才能在世界市场上真正站住脚跟。我想,提高雇员权利可以在这方面做出贡献。二者并非矛盾关系,而是相辅相成,高质量的产业和良好的雇员权利是统一的。



德国之声:实际上刚刚您已经谈到了这一点,即在制定《劳动合同法》的过程中,恰恰是很多外资机构提出这部法律可能会对雇员“过于友好”。您怎么看待这个问题?



盖夫肯:美国商会、还有欧洲商会确实有这方面的顾虑,认为给予雇员过多的权利可能会危及中国作为投资接受国的地位。我想中国需要尽快适应这一点,即使是在这些国家国内,提及雇员权利的增加,许多企业都会组织各种活动来表达类似的疑虑。对于这样的观点,我认为人们没有必要过于认真。不过在某些条款上,西方企业的批评得到了考虑,比如一些涉及到兼职工作者的条款。与全职员工相比,兼职者受到的法律保护明显较弱。而在某些其他条款上,所谓的“西方企业”的意见则没有被考虑。但是不管怎样,从总体上看,我认为这还是一部强调雇员利益的法律。这是个有趣的现象,因为它与现在西欧盛行的做法不一样,在这里,雇员的权利实际上在减少。人们减少雇员权利、减少全职员工,强调雇员需要有更大的流动性等等。恰恰是在中国的发展势头却与此恰好相反。我认为这十分有意思。



德国之声:昨天中国政府公布了《劳动合同法实施条例》。许多人认为这个条例更多地顾及了雇主的利益。比如该条例明确规定了在何种情况下雇主可以中断与雇员的劳动合同。您认为为什么会出现这种变化?



盖夫肯:在中国,法律和条例还没有完全区分开来。理论上,法律确定基本的前提,实施条例必须遵守这个前提而不能包含有新的规定。这是正确的理论框架,在德国我们也是这么做的。但是,这个理论框架在中国没有得到贯彻。在中国,对雇员的权利保护和执行一直有限。实际上,之前的法律也提到了如何保障雇员的利益,但是在很多时候都没有被真正执行。在这个背景下,《实施条例》将重点放在了如何使《劳动法》本身得到精确的执行上。至于这一点在现实中是否真能实现,则是另外一个问题。但是这种努力是明显的。我们需要的不单单是一部法律,而是这部法律在现实中能够运作起来。中国在这方面还需要走一段我们曾经花了很长时间才走过的路。但是,中国在这方面做出的努力仍然值得我们肯定。



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2008年9月20日 星期六

acer/ netbook pc

"宏碁執行長蘭奇(Gianfranco Lanci)19日在2008宏碁全球記者會上發豪語,期望宏碁在2011年擠下惠普(HP),成為全球最大筆記型電腦(NB )品牌,全球合併營收挑戰300億美元,達到約新台幣1兆元。

他強調,為滿足不同消費族群需求,只有一個品牌不夠用,未來宏碁將是「一個集團、三家公司、四個品牌、多樣化產品線。」旗下包括acer、Gateway、Packard Bell和eMachines等四大PC品牌。

宏碁2008年全球記者會19日在匈牙利首都布達佩斯召開,蘭奇表示,雖然全球經濟大環境不佳,但PC市場至少在未來三年內看不到烏雲,持續以兩位數百分比的高速成長,而宏碁的成長率會優於整體市場平均值。

他在會中許下宏碁2011年營運目標,包括全球合併營收挑戰 300億美元,約新台幣1兆元。以宏碁今年上半年合併營收2,521億元,全年合併營收約200億美元計算,平均每年成長率維持約15%。

在筆記型電腦市場方面,宏碁預估以每年35% 的成長速度前進,2011年擠下惠普躍居全球最大NB品牌。另外在成本控制及獲利表現方面,宏碁目標2011年營運性支出(OPEX)壓低到6%以下,營業淨利(operation income)拉高到4%以上。

蘭奇的信心滿滿,除了來自宏碁在全球市占率不斷擴張。宏碁去年陸續併購捷威(Gateway)、佰德(Packard Bell) 等電腦品牌,合併效益也將宏碁營運推上一把。

蘭奇昨天在記者會中為宏碁的多品牌策略定調,他說PC已變成生活中不可或缺的必需品,跳脫純科技產品範疇,在銷售手法上,應該從過去的「科技導向」轉變為「情感導向」。

宏碁依照地理性和品牌形象,區分四大品牌定位。其中acer和eMachines 都會在世界各地行銷。acer以最快的速度提供消費者最新的科技產品為使命,鎖定中高階市場;eMachines 則瞄準強中低階領域。

Gateway 和Packard Bell主攻高階路線,產品設計更為流行時尚。其中Gateway將在北美和亞太地區銷售;Packard Bell在歐洲銷售。"

----

精簡型電腦(Netbook)究竟是業績的毒藥或解藥?最近在個人電腦(PC)產業 引發熱烈爭論。宏碁執行長蘭奇(Gianfranco Lanci)認為,電腦仍是最方便的上網介面,估計今年Netbook全球市場規模約1,000萬台,明年達到2,500萬台,為NB市場創造出一塊新商 機。

蘭奇19日在宏碁全球記者會上,以「一個世界、兩種面貌」形容個人電腦(PC)市場的新樣態。除了桌上型電腦(DT)外,由傳統筆記型電腦(NB)、 Netbook、MID等多項產品所組成移動上網機族群,具有高度移動性,讓使用者隨處可上網,將是驅動未來PC市場成長的主要動力。

蘭奇預估,今年全球Netbook市場規模約1,000萬台,明年挑戰2,500萬台。宏碁7月推出首款Aspire one小筆電後,銷售持續長紅,目前仍處於供不應求狀態。而宏碁旗下Gateway也決定加入戰局,準備推出Netbook機種。

蘭奇分析,網際網路的各式應用蓬勃發展,像是正夯的交友網站Facebook去年中會員數僅約5,200萬人,今年中已暴增成長到1.32億人。而影音網站You Tube會員數也以84%的年成長速度前進,這都會刺激上網設備的需求增加。

宏碁資訊產品全球運籌中心事業群總經理翁建仁補充分析,大家隨時隨地都要上網,這兩年智慧型手機(smart phone)市場高速起飛,但手機畢竟是單手操作、不夠方便,電腦仍是大家公認上網最方面的介面,短時間內很難被取代。

因為移動性強,NB逐漸取代桌上型電腦,Netbook 跳脫原始的低價訴求,轉個方向朝輕巧、簡易使用者介面和隨處可上網等優勢發展,的確收到市場不錯反應。

2008年9月19日 星期五

改頭換面 rebranding: Panasonic, ROHM

松下電器產業將於2008年10月1日,將公司和品牌名稱統一為“Panasonic”,該公司為此在東京舉行了白色家電業務說明會。介紹了將白色家電從以往使用的“National”品牌更改為“Panasonic”品牌的目的以及洗衣機、冰箱等新產品概要。

  該公司董事長社長大坪文雄首先亮相。他說:“我們希望將過去分散在‘松下’、‘Panasonic’、‘National’名下的價值集中起來。使全 球員工成為一個整體”。董事長副社長牛丸俊三指出,在家庭購買的商品中,松下電器產業經營的產品及設備的總金額甚至超過汽車。但是由於此前品牌各異,用戶 有時並不清楚這些產品屬於同一公司,因此,該公司希望通過統一品牌擴大銷售額。

  牛丸指出“超聯動”、“超節能”、“徹底化通用設計”三點作為Panasonic品牌產品的著力點。希望通過網路實現設備聯動,耗電量低、環 保的產品形象以及老少皆宜,形成與其他公司的差異。此外,牛丸還提到了將利用該公司自主的“黑箱技術”和設計風格來統一品牌形象。作為黑箱技術,他舉出包 括帶電水微粒子發生技術“nanoe”、真空隔熱材料“U-Vacua”等,這些技術與之後的新產品發佈密切相關。另外,“Panasonic特色設計” 將著眼于“令人憧憬和溫馨的設計”,使白色家電在“白”之上增加“亮銀”和“紅褐”等顏色。牛丸還介紹了旨在告知消費者Panasonic品牌統一計劃的 “Hello! Panasonic”活動的概要。表示“將在年底前投放歷史最大規模的10萬條電視廣告,推廣Panasonic品牌”(牛丸)。

  說明會的最後,松下發佈了空調、冰箱、洗脫烘三機一體洗衣機、旋風式吸塵器新產品。其中,空調的賣點在於業內領先的節能性能和nanoe帶來 的美膚效果。冰箱除耗電量較該公司現有產品低30%外,還配備了能夠以3倍于現有機型的速度進行冷凍的功能。洗脫烘三機一體洗衣機的節能、節水性能均達到 了業內第一,洗凈能力比以往產品高15%。旋風式吸塵器除利用新方式維持長時間吸力外,還使耗電量比以往產品降低了45%。(記者:今井 拓司)

【視訊】說明會視訊(製作:BPtv)


■日文原文
「ナショナル」から「パナソニック」へ,松下が白物家電の新ブランド説明会《動画追加》

■相關報導
“現在的公司名稱地區色彩稍濃” 松下電器將更名為“Panasonic”

ローム、ブランドロゴを変更 - デザインコンセプトは信頼と高品質の約束


ロームは、創立50周年を機にブランドロゴを変更することを決定した。新しいブランドロゴとなる「ROHM SEMICONDUCTOR」は、2009年1月1日より運用が開始される予定で、製品の標印をはじめ、社員の名刺、各種のPR物のすべてが新しいブラン ドロゴへと変更される。

現在のブランドロゴは1979年に制定されたもの。世界的なメジャープレーヤを目指すためには、「半導体のローム」というブランドイメージをグローバルに発信する必要があったことから、今回のロゴ変更となった。

左が現行(1979年1月1日より適用)のもので、右が2009年1月1日より適用されるブランドロゴ

新しいロゴのデザインコンセプトは、「The promise of reliability and high quality(信頼と高品質の約束)」で、これまで「品質第一」を掲げてきた同社の企業目的を再確認するとともに、社外に積極的にPRしていこうという もの。

この新コンセプトに基づいて決定された新たなブランドロゴは以下の3点を表現しているという。

  1. 「ROHM オリジナルフォント」(しなやかで安定感のある企業姿勢を表現)
  2. 「ROHM ベンチャーレッド」(ベンチャー精神のDNAを表現)
  3. 「ROHM SQUARE」(半導体の外形をイメージし、新しく開始予定の標印とも連動)

なお、同社ではブランドステートメントとして、「Innovations Embedded」を掲げ、創業以来の技術開発型の企業姿勢を明確に打ち出していくとしている。

2008年9月16日 星期二

'Here I am.'

Nike 'Here I Am' Slogan Woos Europe's Women

| | |
2008年09月12日15:16
Nike has been marketing its 'Just do it' slogan since 1988. In Europe, it is trying out a new, softer catchphrase on young women: 'Here I am.'

The sportswear titan recently launched a new ad campaign in Europe aimed at selling more clothing to university-aged women.

Made by the Amsterdam office of the independent Wieden + Kennedy agency, the campaign includes five short animated cartoons about the life stories of five top European female athletes.

One shows tennis player Maria Sharapova overcoming doubts as she grows up and goes professional. 'You're just another pretty face,' critics say in the spot. 'You won't be agile enough. You won't stay on top for long.' At the end, the animated Sharapova morphs into the real Sharapova, who forms the 'I' in 'Here I am.'

The aim of the slogan and ads is to deliver the message that there is more to sports than getting fit or competing. 'It is about building self-esteem. Once you have taken part in sport, you have the confidence to say, 'Here I am,'' says Abi Findlay, a Nike account manager at Wieden + Kennedy.

The agency decided to use animation to make the athletes less intimidating. The idea for the slogan came out of research commissioned by Nike that found that university-aged women in Europe aren't as competitive about sports as men. The women also told the researchers that they enjoy the social aspect of exercise and yoga classes, and feel happier when they work out. The agency said that the research was done in Europe and that it doesn't have data on U.S. women.

To appeal to them, the agency's copywriters decided they needed a different slogan from the 'Just do it' message, says Mark Bernath, a creative director for Nike at Wieden + Kennedy. 'Here I am' promotes the personal benefit of exercise without being aggressive, he says. 'We want to make sure normal women can relate to it,' he says.

Nike executives liked the slogan because they thought it would be understood in English across Europe. (Though in parts of Italy it is being translated into Italian.) The company also wanted a slogan that wouldn't sound odd alongside 'Just do it.' 'When you are dealing with a pan-European business, you need a degree of simplicity and openness,' says Charlie Brooks, a Nike spokesman.

In the U.S., Nike doesn't have a slogan aimed at women. That is because advertising for Nike's women's line in the U.S. is handled by different Wieden + Kennedy offices. There aren't any plans to use the European campaign in the U.S., Ms. Findlay says.

In recent years, the agency, based in Portland, Ore., has been one of the hottest in the ad world, winning big clients such Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola, and leading an industry trend for big marketers to hire small 'hot shop' agencies to produce innovative ads. Nike is one of the agency's oldest accounts, and Nike Chairman Philip H. Knight and agency co-founder Dan Wieden have a close relationship.

Wieden + Kennedy has had big success with slogans for Nike before. Within a year of Nike's adopting its 'Just do it' slogan, sales were booming. Nike plans to continue using 'Just do it' for its overall brand and 'Here I am' to promote its Her Favourites line of women's clothing in Europe, Nike and Wieden + Kennedy said.

Underscoring how big marketers can use the Internet, particularly with younger consumers, Nike is paying for the spots to appear on Facebook, Bebo and other social-networking sites popular with young women, but doesn't plan any television ads.

Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., has also booked time for the ads on video screens in gyms and university student unions across Europe, including the U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Russia, Ms. Findlay says.

Ms. Sharapova has appeared in Nike ads for years. But apart from her, Wieden + Kennedy chose athletes who aren't as well known, so their lives don't seem out of reach to ordinary women, Mr. Bernath says. Also appearing in the spots are Simona La Mantia, an Italian triple-jumper, Nicola Spirig, a Swiss triathlete, Nicola Sanders, a British sprinter, and Delphine Delsalle, a French judoist.

A century o fGM


GM Looks for Buzz
With Its Electric Volt

Auto Maker Hopes
High-Mileage Car
Will Repair Image

Cobbled together by a brash entrepreneur starting in September 1908, with Buick as its foundation, followed by Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Chevrolet, GM overcame improbable odds and emerged among hundreds of automotive brands and companies in the early years of the 20th century.

Henry Ford invented the mass assembly line and put basic, affordable transportation -- the Model T -- in the hands of millions. But GM took the bold next steps with innovations of all types.

"After the Model T, GM predicted that more power, more styling, more comfort and more prestige would sell en masse," said Bob Casey, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. "They created the modern car business to do just that -- offer more choices. And, remarkably, they continued to do it successfully for decades.

"We are a nation obsessed with the new. That GM has survived 100 years says they have done a lot of the right things for a long time."

It was a GM engineer from Dayton, Ohio -- Charles Kettering -- who invented the electric self-starter in 1912 that replaced the cumbersome hand crank and opened motoring to the masses. GMAC -- the first captive finance company started by an automaker -- began offering car loans in the early 1920s, allowing more people to buy on credit and start driving immediately.

And GM first championed the annual model year change in the 1930s, giving consumers another reason to shop new car showrooms more frequently.

And, of course, who can forget the stately Cadillacs, rocket V-8 engines, Corvettes, tail fins and muscle cars that captivated Americans.

Over time, as America's love affair with the car grew, "as big as a Buick" and "the Cadillac of ..." became part of the American lexicon.

"Without question, for most of the 20th century, GM pioneered and defined the quintessential American conglomerate," said Michael Marsden, dean of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., and an expert on the automobile and American culture.

"They set the pace on nearly every front -- perfecting vertical integration, adopting central management and financial control, creating consumer demand through marketing innovations, and styling that captured the imagination of an optimistic public in profound ways."

It was a rocky beginning when GM founder William "Billy" Durant went on a shopping spree, snapping up car companies and parts makers and creating a giant automotive bureaucracy overnight.

It was the first "keiretsu," the term that management expert Peter Drucker would later coin to describe a Japanese network of supplier and manufacturing operations that maintain separate identities but fall under the same family.

GM failed to grow as fast as the overall auto industry in its early days -- burdened by acquisitions, debt and enormous competition.

But after 1918, the company grew faster as tighter management oversight and financial controls took hold. Backed by bankers and remarkable, astute leadership, it survived a brush with bankruptcy in the early 1920s and had surpassed Ford Motor Co. by the late, prosperous 1920s.

By 1928, GM's net profit margins had reached an all-time high of 18.9 percent.

It became the industry's undisputed intellectual and product powerhouse with designers, researchers and engineers blazing new paths in styling, marketing, technology, safety and the environment.

"Along the way, GM management made critical investments -- establishing the industry's first styling department, embracing customer-based market research, establishing the first automotive proving grounds and first research department," said Charles Hyde, a history professor at Wayne State University.

Under longtime leader Alfred Sloan, GM recognized the needs and buying power of America's growing households -- and offered a model for every income in the 1920s and 1930s. At the bottom of the marketing ladder was Chevrolet, followed in price by Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and finally, Cadillac -- the flagship.

While it was brilliant marketing and design of cars and trucks that allowed GM to become the largest company ranked by revenues for years, its reach was felt way beyond the open road. At one time, the company owned Frigidaire, built diesel locomotives and was a leading defense contractor.

Worried that the airplane would become a personal mode of transportation, management decided to become an early investor in America's aircraft industry. GM's Delco light plants helped electrify rural American homes and farms starting in the 1930s. GM engineers created the gyroscope that guided man to the moon, as well as the lunar rover that later allowed man to traverse the moon. More recently, it played a role in the launch of satellite television and radio.

Under the microscope

With its earnings power and market influence, GM also drew scrutiny. After the sit-down strikes of 1937 in Flint, GM acquiesced and recognized the bargaining rights of hourly employees, and the United Auto Workers union was born. With GM's manufacturing footprint spreading far and wide, the union would secure unprecedented wages and benefits that would drive economic prosperity across America.

Flint; Dayton, Ohio; Anderson, Ind.; and other cities came to be known as "GM towns."

Critics say the company became too smug and complacent, starting in the 1960s -- when its market share reached a zenith of 52 percent -- and that it didn't continue to innovate.

"Sloan's successors became GM caretakers rather than risk takers," Hyde said.

In recent decades, GM management responded too slowly or failed to anticipate major shifts in the market such as the popularity of the minivan in the 1980s and the sport utility vehicle boom in the 1990s.

Looking ahead

GM's outlook is unsettled and eerily similar to that of the turbulent early 1900s, when the company overcame skittish bankers, high-profile management shake-ups and unrelenting competition.

GM's biggest rivals are more likely to come from Asia and Europe now; in its early days there were home-grown Lincolns, Packards, and Hudsons. Since the early 1990s, the company has repeatedly downsized and restructured to reduce waste and better capitalize on its global reach and economies of scale.

It has killed off brands -- Oldsmobile, for one, and launched new ones, such as Saturn, to counter falling market share and competition.

With its U.S. market share hovering just above 20 percent, GM is struggling to support even more brands -- Chevrolet, GMC, Saturn, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Saab and Hummer -- than it did when it commanded more than 50 percent of the market a half-century ago.

Faced with record gasoline prices, a housing slump and growing unemployment, the U.S. marketplace has suddenly turned away from GM's core truck and SUV lineup and seems unwilling to sample its cars despite great improvements in independent quality surveys.

The company is responding with another round of job and spending reductions, benefit cuts, plant closings and the elimination of its dividend for the first time in 88 years.

GM has faced crises before -- a brush with bankruptcy in 1920, and during the Arab oil embargo and gas shortages of the 1970s, when the U.S. market underwent a historic shift away from rear-wheel-drive sedans, a GM staple, to smaller vehicles.

Today, it is staking its future on overseas markets in China, Russia, India and Eastern Europe, while redoubling efforts to win back customers and generate sales growth in the United States. And it is banking on a new generation of clean power sources to set it apart from rivals.

But the times are different and the challenges seem more daunting. GM's stock price no longer commands respect on Wall Street. Its credit rating has been slashed to junk status -- depriving it of the affordable capital it relied on in the past to grow. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are considered leaders in developing alternative power sources.

"Leaders and innovators don't keep an advantage for long," Hyde said. "Look at how far GM has fallen."

GM founder Billy Durant discovered and believed that great periods of change also present great opportunities, and GM management is re-examining his famous playbook.

"We intend to be the global leader in a broad range of advanced propulsion technologies, which will be the key to addressing the issue of energy supply, energy security and CO2 emissions," GM Chairman Rick Wagoner recently told the Flint Journal, where Durant created GM. "GM's centennial is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to leading the industry in meeting these challenges."

The next 100 years will determine if GM is right, and history can be repeated.



GM Seeks Buzz With Electric Volt
GM plans to officially unveil its most important model in decades -- and possibly the key to its survival.




*****

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A century of General Motors

Legacy of innovation

David Phillips / Special to The Detroit News

Few major companies endure the rigors and shocks of American capitalism for decades -- let alone survive long enough to mark their centennial. But GM is no ordinary American company.

With GM facing severe financial woes, waning market share and the prospect of losing its global sales crown for the first time in almost 80 years, it is easy to dismiss its influence at its 100th birthday. Some even question GM's survival.

Yet for much of the past century, you couldn't overstate GM's vast reach and impact on American life and business.


Cobbled together by a brash entrepreneur starting in September 1908, with Buick as its foundation, followed by Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Chevrolet, GM overcame improbable odds and emerged among hundreds of automotive brands and companies in the early years of the 20th century.

Henry Ford invented the mass assembly line and put basic, affordable transportation -- the Model T -- in the hands of millions. But GM took the bold next steps with innovations of all types.

"After the Model T, GM predicted that more power, more styling, more comfort and more prestige would sell en masse," said Bob Casey, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. "They created the modern car business to do just that -- offer more choices. And, remarkably, they continued to do it successfully for decades.

"We are a nation obsessed with the new. That GM has survived 100 years says they have done a lot of the right things for a long time."

It was a GM engineer from Dayton, Ohio -- Charles Kettering -- who invented the electric self-starter in 1912 that replaced the cumbersome hand crank and opened motoring to the masses. GMAC -- the first captive finance company started by an automaker -- began offering car loans in the early 1920s, allowing more people to buy on credit and start driving immediately.

And GM first championed the annual model year change in the 1930s, giving consumers another reason to shop new car showrooms more frequently.

And, of course, who can forget the stately Cadillacs, rocket V-8 engines, Corvettes, tail fins and muscle cars that captivated Americans.

Over time, as America's love affair with the car grew, "as big as a Buick" and "the Cadillac of ..." became part of the American lexicon.

"Without question, for most of the 20th century, GM pioneered and defined the quintessential American conglomerate," said Michael Marsden, dean of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., and an expert on the automobile and American culture.

"They set the pace on nearly every front -- perfecting vertical integration, adopting central management and financial control, creating consumer demand through marketing innovations, and styling that captured the imagination of an optimistic public in profound ways."

It was a rocky beginning when GM founder William "Billy" Durant went on a shopping spree, snapping up car companies and parts makers and creating a giant automotive bureaucracy overnight.

It was the first "keiretsu," the term that management expert Peter Drucker would later coin to describe a Japanese network of supplier and manufacturing operations that maintain separate identities but fall under the same family.

GM failed to grow as fast as the overall auto industry in its early days -- burdened by acquisitions, debt and enormous competition.

But after 1918, the company grew faster as tighter management oversight and financial controls took hold. Backed by bankers and remarkable, astute leadership, it survived a brush with bankruptcy in the early 1920s and had surpassed Ford Motor Co. by the late, prosperous 1920s.

By 1928, GM's net profit margins had reached an all-time high of 18.9 percent.

It became the industry's undisputed intellectual and product powerhouse with designers, researchers and engineers blazing new paths in styling, marketing, technology, safety and the environment.

"Along the way, GM management made critical investments -- establishing the industry's first styling department, embracing customer-based market research, establishing the first automotive proving grounds and first research department," said Charles Hyde, a history professor at Wayne State University.

Under longtime leader Alfred Sloan, GM recognized the needs and buying power of America's growing households -- and offered a model for every income in the 1920s and 1930s. At the bottom of the marketing ladder was Chevrolet, followed in price by Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and finally, Cadillac -- the flagship.

While it was brilliant marketing and design of cars and trucks that allowed GM to become the largest company ranked by revenues for years, its reach was felt way beyond the open road. At one time, the company owned Frigidaire, built diesel locomotives and was a leading defense contractor.

Worried that the airplane would become a personal mode of transportation, management decided to become an early investor in America's aircraft industry. GM's Delco light plants helped electrify rural American homes and farms starting in the 1930s. GM engineers created the gyroscope that guided man to the moon, as well as the lunar rover that later allowed man to traverse the moon. More recently, it played a role in the launch of satellite television and radio.

Under the microscope

With its earnings power and market influence, GM also drew scrutiny. After the sit-down strikes of 1937 in Flint, GM acquiesced and recognized the bargaining rights of hourly employees, and the United Auto Workers union was born. With GM's manufacturing footprint spreading far and wide, the union would secure unprecedented wages and benefits that would drive economic prosperity across America.

Flint; Dayton, Ohio; Anderson, Ind.; and other cities came to be known as "GM towns."

Critics say the company became too smug and complacent, starting in the 1960s -- when its market share reached a zenith of 52 percent -- and that it didn't continue to innovate.

"Sloan's successors became GM caretakers rather than risk takers," Hyde said.

In recent decades, GM management responded too slowly or failed to anticipate major shifts in the market such as the popularity of the minivan in the 1980s and the sport utility vehicle boom in the 1990s.

Looking ahead

GM's outlook is unsettled and eerily similar to that of the turbulent early 1900s, when the company overcame skittish bankers, high-profile management shake-ups and unrelenting competition.

GM's biggest rivals are more likely to come from Asia and Europe now; in its early days there were home-grown Lincolns, Packards, and Hudsons. Since the early 1990s, the company has repeatedly downsized and restructured to reduce waste and better capitalize on its global reach and economies of scale.

It has killed off brands -- Oldsmobile, for one, and launched new ones, such as Saturn, to counter falling market share and competition.

With its U.S. market share hovering just above 20 percent, GM is struggling to support even more brands -- Chevrolet, GMC, Saturn, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Saab and Hummer -- than it did when it commanded more than 50 percent of the market a half-century ago.

Faced with record gasoline prices, a housing slump and growing unemployment, the U.S. marketplace has suddenly turned away from GM's core truck and SUV lineup and seems unwilling to sample its cars despite great improvements in independent quality surveys.

The company is responding with another round of job and spending reductions, benefit cuts, plant closings and the elimination of its dividend for the first time in 88 years.

GM has faced crises before -- a brush with bankruptcy in 1920, and during the Arab oil embargo and gas shortages of the 1970s, when the U.S. market underwent a historic shift away from rear-wheel-drive sedans, a GM staple, to smaller vehicles.

Today, it is staking its future on overseas markets in China, Russia, India and Eastern Europe, while redoubling efforts to win back customers and generate sales growth in the United States. And it is banking on a new generation of clean power sources to set it apart from rivals.

But the times are different and the challenges seem more daunting. GM's stock price no longer commands respect on Wall Street. Its credit rating has been slashed to junk status -- depriving it of the affordable capital it relied on in the past to grow. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. are considered leaders in developing alternative power sources.

"Leaders and innovators don't keep an advantage for long," Hyde said. "Look at how far GM has fallen."

GM founder Billy Durant discovered and believed that great periods of change also present great opportunities, and GM management is re-examining his famous playbook.

"We intend to be the global leader in a broad range of advanced propulsion technologies, which will be the key to addressing the issue of energy supply, energy security and CO2 emissions," GM Chairman Rick Wagoner recently told the Flint Journal, where Durant created GM. "GM's centennial is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to leading the industry in meeting these challenges."

The next 100 years will determine if GM is right, and history can be repeated.

2008年9月11日 星期四

US LIVES UP TO ITS STEREOTYPE

US LIVES UP TO ITS STEREOTYPE

By Rebecca Knight in Boston 2008-09-12

Many of the cultural stereotypes of Americans – such as the neurotic New Yorker, the friendly Midwesterner and the chilled-out California dude – may have some basis in fact.

A study by researchers at Cambridge university in the UK found that the personalities of people in the US often differ according to the state in which they live.

“Obviously it's not as simple as saying that you're guaranteed to be more anxious if you live in New York,” said Jason Rentfrow, a professor in social and political sciences at Cambridge, who led the study.

“But it does mean that if you live there, statistically you are going to run into people who are more irritable and anxious which, [because of the effects of] emotional contagion, is likely to rub off on you.”

Researchers analysed the results from more than a half million online surveys – as well as data from the Census Bureau, Centers for Disease Control and the Bureau of Labor Statistics – to create a “personality map” of the US.

Wisconsin, for instance, had high readings for extraversion and agreeableness but low for openness, suggesting that people there are sociable and traditional. Arizona, on the other hand, ranked high on conscientiousness but low on neuroticism, signifying that people there like order and discipline but are relatively relaxed.

The research team also found that personalities are geographically clustered. For instance, “neuroticism” was highest in the east along a line stretching from Maine to Louisiana, and lowest in the west, suggesting the country has an identifiable “stress belt”.

Prof Rentfrow said that the strongest personality traits within a given population become self-reinforcing by influencing the area's culture. Where the population was creative and intellectual – as was found to be the case in New York and California – one might expect to find people who were interested in art, literature and science, he said.

This, in turn, leads to the creation of universities and museums, which then have an effect on the views and values of the local people and encourage more creative and imaginative people to move to the region.

Prof Rentfrow said his work had applications in business. Companies planning to relocate may consider the personalities of people in the region as they consider their potential pool of employees. And start-ups may want to go where “openness” is high and there are more patents produced.

一方水土养一方美国人

英国《金融时报》丽贝卡•奈特(Rebecca Knight)波士顿报道 2008-09-12

选择字号:


在人们的印象中,各地的美国人有不同的文化特征——诸如神经兮兮的纽约人、友好的中西部人和放松的加州小子。研究表明,人们的这种认识或许有一些事实依据。

英国剑桥大学(Cambridge university)的一项研究发现,美国人的性格往往随着所在州的不同而不同。

剑桥大学社会政治学教授、这项研究的负责人杰森•伦特福罗(Jason Rentfrow)表示:“这并不是说如果你住在纽约,你就肯定比别人焦虑。显然不是这么简单。”

“但从统计上来说,如果你住在那里,你就会与比较易怒、焦虑的人打交道。由于情绪感染的作用,你可能会受到影响。”

研 究人员对50多万份网络调查结果以及来自人口调查局(Census Bureau)、疾病控制中心(Centers for Disease Control)和劳工统计局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的数据进行了分析,旨在绘制一份美国“性格地图”。

例如,威斯康星州在“外向性”和“易相处”上的得分较高,但在“开放性”上的得分较低,表明当地人好交际,也比较传统。而亚利桑那州在“责任感”一项上排名靠前,在“神经质”这一项则排在后面,表明当地人喜欢秩序和纪律,但精神上相对放松。

该研究小组还发现,性格呈地理集中性。例如,东部地区(从缅因州到路易斯安那州)的人最“神经质”,而西部人最不神经质,说明美国具有一条可以辨认的“压力带”。

伦特福罗教授表示,一个地区人口最强的性格特征,通过对当地文化的影响而有自我加强的作用。在人口具有较高创造力和知识水平的地区——如纽约和加州——很容易找到对艺术、文化和科学感兴趣的人。

这进而推动大学和博物馆的成立,而后者进而又对当地人的观念及价值观产生影响,并吸引更多具有创造力和想象力的人迁来本地。

伦特福罗教授表示,他的研究成果在商业上具有实用性。企业在迁址时,基于未来选择人才的考虑,可能会顾及当地人的性格问题。而新成立的公司可能倾向于“开放性”较高、产生较多专利的地区。

译者/岱嵩

2008年9月9日 星期二

登革熱判定

登革熱判定 南部5縣市不接受

衛生署疾病管制局修正「登革熱檢驗結果判定基準」,南部5縣市衛生局都表態不能接受,建議回復原有的判定標準;衛生署本月11日南下與5縣市衛生局就此溝通、研議。

衛生署疾管局上月22日對登革熱判定標準改採「一採判定」的寬鬆標準,並新增登革熱快速檢驗(簡稱NS1),即只要第一次採檢IgG(抗體)、IgM(抗原)、NS1等檢驗項目,其中一項呈現陽性,即判定為確定病例。

疾管局並表示,從寬認定登革熱確診病例,可讓除蚊、防疫措施更早發動,比起嚴格判定長期等待,不慎造成疫區擴散,反而得付出更多人力、物力。

縣府衛生局長黃志中表示,疾管局改採「一採判定」寬鬆認定標準,並回溯到今年7月1日後,高雄縣入夏以來登革熱確診病例因此從3例增為7例,讓他不知如何向原先判定「非病例」的當事人解釋;而且因此將提高偽陽性機率,易造成民眾恐慌,浪費防疫資源。

黃志中說,南部5縣市衛生局都無法接受「一採判定」的變更,曾向衛生署多次反映,都未得到衛生署的回應,直到高雄市衛生局的主管與疾管局為此爆發口角衝突,才引發衛生署長重視,而決定重新開會研議。

南部5縣市衛生局建議回復原有的登革熱檢驗作業流程及判定標準,另為符合基層快速防疫需要,只要是PCR或IgM或IgG任一呈現陽性便可啟動擴大疫調、孳生源清除、噴藥消毒等三合一防疫工作。

黃志中說,他將建議中央成立國家級登革熱防疫專責機構,以因應一年比一年嚴重的國內外疫情,以及環境暖化後的斑蚊生態環境改變,並能及早因應斑蚊擴大版圖的疫情。

2008年9月4日 星期四

Asustek Plans Eee Extras

華碩電腦擬推出免費新服務

| |
2008年09月05日07:00
碩電腦有限公司(Asustek Computer Inc., 簡稱﹕華碩電腦)總經理沈振來(Jerry Shen)表示﹐公司計劃向客戶推出包括網絡數據存儲空間在內的免費服務﹐以求在競爭日益激烈的平價個人電腦市場上脫穎而出。

沈振來週三晚間接受採訪時表示﹐華碩電腦計劃於今年年底或明年年初在全球推出上述服務﹐其中一項是向購買低成本電腦Eee PC的消費者提供20 G的免費網絡存儲空間。

零售價低至300美元的Eee PC去年10月面市後﹐銷售情況出人意料的火爆。

沈振來表示﹐華碩電腦還在與內容提供商談判﹐擬向客戶提供免費的音樂、電影、教育和遊戲下載資源。

客戶將在一定的時間期限內(如3個月)享受免費下載服務。沈振來拒絕透露這些內容提供商的名字及其他有關細節。

沈振來表示﹐網絡服務計劃旨在吸引對Eee PC相對較小的存儲空間存在顧慮的潛在消費者﹐並使華碩電腦的產品不同於最近大量湧現的競爭產品。

Eee PC大獲成功後﹐惠普公司(Hewlett-Packard Co.)和宏碁股份有限公司(Acer Inc.)等華碩電腦的大型競爭對手很快推出了類似的低成本電腦產品。

戴爾公司(Dell Inc.)料將很快推出低成本小型筆記本電腦﹐知情人士稱﹐這種電腦也將附送網絡存儲服務。

Ting-I Tsai

Asustek Plans Eee Extras

By Ting-I Tsai
Word Count: 621 | Companies Featured in This Article: Hewlett-Packard, Acer , Dell, Apple
TAIPEI -- Asustek Computer Inc., the maker of the low-cost Eee PC, plans to offer free online data storage and other Web services in an effort to distinguish its device from the increasingly crowded field of inexpensive personal computers. The service, which Asustek plans to offer world-wide later this year or early in 2009, will include 20 gigabytes of free Web-based storage for buyers of the Eee PC, Chief Executive Jerry Shen said in an interview. The Eee PC, a mini-notebook that retails for as low as $300, has proven a surprising hit for the Taiwanese company since it was ...








2008年9月2日 星期二

the Vivanno「健康‧環境を一兆円事業に」

“到2012年度,健康與環境業務的銷售額將達1兆日元!”

  夏普代表董事社長片山幹雄在新產品發佈會上大聲宣告。2012年是夏普創業100週年,屆時,該公司計劃把健康與環境業務的銷售額擴大至07年實際業績的約4倍,達1兆日元。

  健康與環境業務,是指包括08年8月新設的LED業務在內,還有空氣凈化器、冰箱、洗脫烘三機一體洗衣機以及燒烤微波爐等在內的白色家電業務。“目標是把這些業務與太陽能電池單元業務結合,並培育成佔夏普銷售額50%的業務”(片山)。

  作為該業務的核心技術,夏普擁有面向白色家電的超強除菌“電漿離子(Plasma Cluster)技術”、配備在倍受歡迎的燒烤微波爐“HEALSIO”上的“水熱技術”以及具有節能效果的LED照明。“電漿離子和LED均是由半導體 衍化而來的技術。充分利用了日本引以為榮的在半導體方面的技術實力”(片山)。

新設法人營業部

  夏普達成1兆日元目標的關鍵將是開展海外業務、強化法人營業。

  該公司08年9月1日起,新設了法人營業部門“特機營業本部”。其本部長由執行董事庵和孝就任。

  此前,夏普面向法人的業務僅有影印機和元器件等。今後將以LED照明和空氣凈化器為核心,在日本國內外強化法人營業(參閱本站報導)。片山就法人業務表示“希望能發展成在健康與環境業務銷售額中約佔3~4的業務”。

  面向消費者的業務中,09年之前將開始在海外銷售HEALSIO。庵表示:“市場調查結果表明,海外也有健康烹調器具需求。希望09年之前能夠開始銷售。首先將在美國,其次在中國銷售”。(記者:淺川 直輝)

■日文原文
「健康‧環境を一兆円事業に」,シャープ社長の片山氏がコメント




Clearly, the Vivanno alone will not revive Starbucks, which expanded too fast and diluted its quality and culture in the process. Getting the store closures right and finding other new products will be crucial.

But the banana beverage may be the turning point. It seems to be catching on with the many Starbucks customers who have complained over the years about the company’s descent into the obesity business. One of the many Starbucks outlets near The Economist’s New York office is selling the Vivanno at four times its target volumes. The firm’s share price, which hit a five-year low the day before the Vivanno was introduced, has since risen by around 10%. If not exactly proof of the existence of God, this does at least suggest that even fallen companies can have some hope of resurrection.

Scenario planning

這起碼是十幾年前之舊飯啦.......

Idea

Scenario planning

Sep 1st 2008
From Economist.com

Scenario planning (sometimes called “scenario and contingency planning”) is a structured way for organisations to think about the future. A group of executives sets out to develop a small number of scenarios—stories about how the future might unfold and how this might affect an issue that confronts them. The issue could be a narrow one: whether to make a particular investment, for example. Should a supermarket put millions into more out-of-town megastores and their attendant car parks, or should it invest in secure websites and a fleet of vans to make door-to-door deliveries? Or it could be much wider: an American education authority, for instance, contemplating the impact of demographic change on the need for new schools. Will the ageing of the existing population be counterbalanced by the rising level of immigration?

In Peter Schwartz’s book “The Art of the Long View”, scenarios are described as:

Stories that can help us recognise and adapt to changing aspects of our present environment. They form a method for articulating the different pathways that might exist for you tomorrow, and finding your appropriate movements down each of those possible paths.

Scenario planning has been used by some of the world’s largest corporations, including Royal Dutch Shell, Motorola, Disney and Accenture. Two things lay behind its rapid growth in the 1970s:

• Widespread dissatisfaction with existing ways of planning. Many organisations realised how misleading were predictions based on straight-line extrapolations from the past. The oil price hikes of 1973 and 1978 dramatically and painfully brought home how vulnerable businesses were to sudden discontinuities. The unusually smooth path of economic progress since the second world war had lulled them into a false sense of continuity.

• Growing attachment to the idea that business can make better use of the non-rational side of human nature. At the head of Royal Dutch Shell’s planning department at the time was Pierre Wack (see article), a Belgian who had been persuaded to give up the editorship of a Franco-German philosophy magazine and join the company.

The appeal of scenario planning increased further in the wake of the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the greater perceived uncertainty of the 21st century. According to Bain & Company’s annual survey of management tools, fewer than 40% of companies used scenario planning in 1999. But by 2006 its usage had risen to 70%. As a result of its scenario planning, the New York Board of Trade decided in the 1990s to build a second trading floor outside the World Trade Centre, a decision that kept it going after September 11th 2001.

In an article in Harvard Business Review in 1985, Wack wrote:

Scenarios deal with two worlds; the world of facts and the world of perceptions. They explore for facts but they aim at perceptions inside the heads of decision-makers. Their purpose is to gather and transform information of strategic significance into fresh perceptions.
The process of scenario planning usually begins with a long discussion about how the participants think that big shifts in society, economics, politics and technology might affect a particular issue. From this the group aims to draw up a list of priorities, including things that will have the most impact on the issue under discussion and those whose outcome is the most uncertain. These priorities then form the basis for sketching out rough pictures of the future.

Scenario planning draws on a wide range of disciplines and interests, including economics, psychology, politics and demographics. The recommended reading list of Global Business Network, a leading adviser on scenario planning, includes Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” as well as Peter Senge’s “The Fifth Discipline” and “The Leopard”, Giuseppe Tomasi’s sweeping tale of Sicilian family life.

Further reading

Schwartz, P., “The Art of the Long View”, Doubleday/Currency, 1991; John Wiley & Sons, 1998

Wack, P., “The Gentle Art of Re-perceiving”, Harvard Business Review, September–October 1985

More management ideas

This article is adapted from “The Economist Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus”, by Tim Hindle (Profile Books; 322 pages; £20). The guide has the low-down on over 100 of the most influential business-management ideas and more than 50 of the world’s most influential management thinkers. To buy this book, please visit our online shop.

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