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2011年6月28日 星期二

Google removes paid Android apps from Taiwan

台北市要求賞玩期一周 可能有點強人所難
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針對Google手機付費軟體的7天鑑賞期爭議,是否適合以消保法規範?消基會董事長蘇錦霞今天受訪時指出,Google可提供消費者7天免費試用版,之後再決定是否購買,若消費者決定購買正版,則無鑑賞期。此外她也指出,Google提供的15分鐘鑑賞期,時間過短,無法讓消費者完整感受 ...

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Google removes paid Android apps from Taiwan


Google has been fined for selling apps in the Android Market in Taiwan without offering a seven-day refund period, as local regulations dictate, and has responded by halting sales of apps in the country.

According to a statement from the Law and Regulation commission of Taipei City Government, the Californian company was fined NT$1 million (US$34,596) for failing to comply with Taiwan's consumer protection law. The law states that consumers should be given seven days to evaluate purchases and decide whether to request a refund. Google currently gives Android owners just 15 minutes to evaluate apps and request a refund.

"Taipei City Government cannot tolerate such blunt violation of law--which uses unfavourable standard contract terms to transfer consumers' right of demanding a refund to Google's mercy," Ching-Yuan Yeh, chairman of the Law and Regulation commission, said in the statement on Monday.

2011年6月27日 星期一

台灣食品有八成外包

.......以泰山剛送進通路的飲料新品「御奉天山雪蓮茶」為例,台灣哪裡來天山雪蓮呢?所以,茶的配方,由泰山自己做,但其中雪蓮精華,是由台灣第一新藥萃取培植後獨家授權,而泰山的配方,還要靠許多原料廠商才能製作完成;生產,則是委外茗源食品工業。

據估計,台灣食品有八成是外包。

這其中,包括由廠家提供配方給代工廠,代工廠根據配方和原料商、生產的OEM模式,或全由代工廠協助發展產品的ODM模式。

產品愈來愈多樣、愈創新,這個旅程就愈來愈長。「真的是過了幾層都不知道,」一位食品業者坦承,「看不到上游。」

特別是台灣市場規模小、產品多,一家食品廠一個夏天就要推高達上百種新產品。如果什麼都自己生產、從頭做到尾,不合經濟效益,不如專業生產某樣東西,在設備投資、物料採購比較合算。

而且,愈是大廠,愈要建立品牌。全家便利商店公共關係暨品牌促進室部長林翠娟也觀察,打品牌成本很高,企業有品牌就希望多些衍生產品,充分利用品牌效益。例如品牌機能飲料,衍生推出碇劑,但製作生產已經超越企業能力,必須外包。

製造、通路、品牌 愈來愈疏遠

也就難怪被稱做日本「食品添加物之神」的安部司在他《恐怖的食品添加物》一書中指出,隨著社會發展、產業擴大,現在製造者、販賣者、食用者愈來愈疏遠。

製造原料的,不知道誰是終端消費者;品牌企業,看不見誰是某項材料的源頭廠商;而消費者,以為看見了品牌,但完全不知道產品有多少比例真正出自品牌企業的員工。三方都無法互相溝通、了解。

食品業變成「只要賣掉主義」,安部司指出,廠商即使製作出無添加物的食品,還是得不到消費者支持,於是就反過來忽視消費者,違法農業、違法添加物等不停出現。

食品廠一面需要掌握愈來愈複雜的供應商,另一方面,通路對利潤的要求愈來愈高,又使得食品廠很容易降低了對供應商的要求。

台灣通路為王,強勢通路不斷要求廠商擠出更多的利潤空間,要求上架費,一位食品業者透露,光上架費,就可能佔去產品行銷費用的一半,還要廠商吸收折扣來配合通路促銷、吸收通路廣告成本等,每個要求都墊高產品成本。如果銷售不如理想,有的新品不到一個月就得下架。

食品廠在成本的壓力下,有的就可能從原料減省,也讓便宜的添加物有機可乘進入供應鏈。

掛名就該負責

「掛我們的名字,我們要負起責任,」詹岳霖說。這是食品品牌廠應有的精神。但是要做到,則是複雜環境下的新挑戰,管理必須更上緊發條。

代工發展不容易逆轉,食品原料中出現工業原料的極端狀況,逼得食品廠重新檢視自己的源頭管理。

泰山這次沒有問題商品。過去,他們將代工比率控制在五○%,但是即使是代工生產的產品,也堅持自己採購原料。現在則更加強建立原料廠訪查制度。

食品龍頭統一的蘆筍汁、寶健運動飲料等產品,這次也中箭落馬。雖然統一過去有食品安全和品保系統,顯然必須重新審視系統到底哪個環節鬆脫、出了問題。

風暴發生後,統一全面清查原料供應來源。包括針對一千四百多種原物料送檢塑化劑並提出安全證明,工廠內並進行塑化劑抽檢;要求原物料供應者進行加工流程與原料成分的說明等。

他們也重新檢討供應商定期輔導評鑑辦法,修正評鑑的頻率,以及徹查塑膠容器或包材。

而量販巨頭大潤發則採原物料提證明、成品送檢雙管齊下的方式。

大潤發公關經理何默真指出,政府的角度是從上游抓下游,但以民眾的期待,是在賣場看到的每樣東西都要是沒有問題的。

第一步,大潤發先要求商品供應商與原料商提具檢驗證明。第二步,除了五大類管制品外,大潤發把自有品牌、烘焙自製品、生鮮自製品可能有風險的東西下架,合格的再上,以確保架上的都是安全的。

大潤發這次驗出含塑化劑的提拉米蘇,就是在五大類外的自製提拉米蘇送檢時發現的,但是提拉米蘇的哪部份含塑化劑,原因還在釐清中。何默真認為全面清查,雖然驗到塑化劑,但也會是發現問題的契機。

「現在有疑慮的東西我們全檢,就是要整個密密麻麻的網,避免任何漏網之魚,」何默真說。......



2011年6月26日 星期日

3M Opens Temporary Wafer Bonding Facility in Taiwan

有趣的公司之一趣事


3M Opens Temporary Wafer Bonding Facility in Taiwan

Published on June 26, 2011 at 9:15 PM

3M, a leading supplier of advanced materials to the semiconductor packaging industry, today announced the opening of the company's application laboratory in Yangmei, Taiwan, for 200mm and 300mm temporary wafer bonding. The 3M Semiconductor Innovation Center offers customers in Taiwan and throughout Asia access to 3M's Wafer Support System (WSS) materials and processes for temporary bonding for ultra-thin wafer handling applications for 3D integrated circuit (IC) packaging.

Temporary bonding is crucial in the 3D packaging process to temporarily bond the wafers during manufacturing and then debond them without damage. 3M's sophisticated technology makes this possible. The addition expands 3M's existing wafer support applications laboratories in Japan and the United States to meet customer demand.

3M Taiwan's Semiconductor Innovation Center enables 3M to work closely with customers to meet their ongoing need for high-performance process solutions that support high-volume manufacturing with a competitive cost of ownership. The addition of the WSS capabilities enables customer evaluation and testing of 3M's WSS materials including 3M's Liquid UV-Curable Adhesives and Light-To-Heat Conversion (LTHC) coating.

"3M is committed to bringing innovation to our customers that help them fulfill the demanding 3D-IC packaging requirements for advanced semiconductors. Now 3M innovation is even more accessible," says Jeffrey Chen, division manager for 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division in Taiwan. "Our customers are among the most technologically advanced semiconductor manufacturers in the world, and this lab allows customers and 3M engineers to work together to address the requirements for leading-edge material solutions."

3D packages - with shrinking form factor, increasing power management demands and complex packaging schemes - pose many challenges that need to be addressed with advanced materials. Emerging 3D packages require the development of novel, enabling materials and processes to overcome many new technical barriers, including temporary bonding of ultra-thin wafers for packaging high-performance silicon devices. 3M's temporary wafer bonding materials address these challenges. 3M's sophisticated UV curable adhesives offer fast cure cycle with a rigid bond that survives intense grinding and subsequent processing after the wafers are thinned. The 3M adhesive and glass system provides excellent support, enabling a much thinner wafer with better electrical and thermal properties. 3M LTHC Coating offers robust debonding of ultra-thin wafers with less stress on wafers, reducing the risk for damage and improving yield.

The 3M Wafer Support System includes equipment and materials that allow temporary wafer bonding to support wafer thinning and subsequent processing of ultra-thin wafers for 3D packaging. 3M's innovative use of a UV curable adhesive for wafer bonding to glass carriers provides robust wafer support throughout wafer grinding and subsequent multiple high-temperature processing cycles. After processing, 3M's unique Light-To-Heat Conversion layer allows low-stress, room temperature debonding of the thinned wafer directly to a tape carrier. The thinned wafer is supported throughout the entire process thereby minimizing warpage, stress and process complexity. This improves process yield and reduces overall cost of ownership of the temporary wafer bonding and thinning process. As compared to other processes that expose the thinned wafer to high-temperature and stress or other processes that use solvents to release the thinned wafer, 3M's one-of-a-kind process and materials solutions enable high-volume manufacturing at multiple semiconductor sites worldwide today.

2011年6月25日 星期六

The balladeer of the balance-sheet

Accounting

The balladeer of the balance-sheet

The head of IASB retires with the dream of convergence not yet realised

 Sir David, accounting Goliath

ACCOUNTING has very few rock stars but Sir David Tweedie is one of them. True, the Scot may not trash hotel rooms but as the first head of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which sets accounting standards for most of the world’s major economies outside America, he is the profession’s towering figure. After ten years in the chair, he will hand over to Hans Hoogervorst, a Dutch financial regulator, on July 1st.

Sir David’s biggest project has been convergence of IASB’s rules with those of America’s Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The two had set a June deadline, timed to coincide with Sir David’s retirement, to iron out their differences. That won’t be met. In April they announced a postponement on four issues: revenue recognition, lease accounting, insurance contracts and which financial instruments to record at “fair”, or market, value.

How to treat financial instruments is by far the toughest question. In 2009, under its previous chairman, Bob Herz, FASB narrowly voted 3-2 that all assets should be booked at fair value on banks’ balance-sheets. IASB proposed a less zealous, split model whereby loans held mainly for their income rather than for trading purposes could be booked at amortised cost.

Mr Herz left last year, to be replaced by Leslie Seidman. FASB’s expanded, seven-member board has now “tentatively” decided to move in IASB’s direction. Under a yet-to-be-released proposal, assets to be traded or held for sale would be booked at fair value in profit-and-loss statements. Traditional loans to customers would be booked at amortised cost. In between would be a new category. Debt instruments such as ordinary government bonds would have changes in value booked to “other comprehensive income” (ie, reserves) and not on the income statement until they are sold. So a bank holding Greek debt would immediately take a hit to its reserves if the market price went down. The IASB rule would show the loss only when the bonds were sold, provided they were held for their cash flows.

Mr Hoogevorst planted his flag in February, saying “stability should be a consequence of greater transparency rather than a primary goal of accounting standard-setters”. This will please the fair-value partisans. When FASB issues its proposals, IASB may put them to its own members.

Sir David should not be too disappointed that convergence is not complete. That the process has come as far as it has—and that America’s Securities and Exchange Commission might decide later this year to adopt IASB’s standards—is something no one could have predicted ten years ago, says Nigel Sleigh-Johnson of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. The June deadline was useful for concentrating minds but now, he says, it is more important to get things right.

2011年6月23日 星期四

Prada Is Making Fashion in China

Prada Is Making Fashion in China
Prada is busy in China these days. It's not just listing its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday and opening stores across the mainland. It is also increasingly manufacturing its high-end fashion there.

Uni-President Enterprises Corp

一 企業(Uni-President Enterprises Corp.)的一位管理人士週四稱﹐該公司計劃作價人民幣1.1億元(合1,700萬美元)將其在三家中國大陸合資公司的股權出售給合資夥伴家樂福中國控 股有限公司(Carrefour China Holdings B.V.)﹐以剝离離在中國大陸的非核心資產。

統一企業稱﹐預計公司將通過上述交易獲得311萬美元的股權出售收益。交易尚待監管部門批准。

統一企業稱﹐預計將在今年年底前完成上述交易。

統一企業發佈公告稱﹐計劃出售所持位於天津、廣州和重慶三家合資公司的股份。統一企業在這三家公司的持股比例分別為45%、20%和10%。

統一企業公關部門負責人Edward Tu稱﹐公司希望集中精力發展中國大陸的食品加工業務﹐這也是公司計劃撤回對公司不具控股權的零售和分銷業務投資的原因所在。

Fanny Liu發稿

KKR / Yageo

2011年06月23日 14:47 PM
台灣國巨私有化計劃被否決
Taipei blocks KKR move to take chip resistor group Yageo private
英國《金融時報》 鄺彥暉 台北報導




The Taiwanese government has blocked a plan by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the chairman of Taiwan's Yageo Corporation to take the electronic components manufacturer private in what would have been Asia's biggest private equity deal this year.


台灣政府叫停了私人股本基金KKR(Kohlberg Kravis Roberts)和台灣電子元器件生產商國巨公司(Yageo)董事長將國巨私有化的計劃。該計劃原本可能成為亞洲今年最大的一筆私人股本交易。

The rejection is a blow to Taiwan's reputation as a destination for foreign investment, coming after a string of similar rejections or delays imposed by the government on large cross-border deals. The most notable example was AIG's two-year attempt to sell Nan Shan, its Taiwan subsidiary, which is only now nearing completion.


此前台灣政府已經駁回和推遲了一連串類似的大型跨境交易。該計劃此次遭拒,再度打擊了台灣作為海外投資目的地的聲譽。最著名的一個例子,是美國國際集團(AIG)兩年來試圖出售子公司南山人壽(Nan Shan),但直到現在才接近完成。

KKR and Pierre Chen, who founded Yageo in 1977, in April offered T$16.10 per share, a 14 per cent premium to Yageo's undisturbed share price, for the rest of the company.


4月份,KKR和在1977年創立國巨公司的陳泰銘(Pierre Chen)提出,以每股16.10元新台幣的價格,購買國巨公司剩餘股份。這個價格較國巨未受此舉影響時的股價有14%的溢價。

The bid valued Yageo – the world's biggest maker by sales of chip resistors, which control the voltage passing through a chip – at US$1.6bn.


上述出價,對國鉅的估值為16億美元。國巨是全球銷售額最高的芯片電阻製造商,芯片電阻是用來控制通過芯片的電壓量的元器件。

The Investment Commission, which reviews all foreign investment into Taiwan, said that it rejected the deal because the acquirers did not give sufficient explanation as to “the protection of investors and shareholders and the fairness of the offer price”.


負責審議台灣所有海外投資的投資審議委員會表示,之所以駁回該交易,是因為對於“如何保護投資者和股東、以及出價的公平性”,收購方未能提供令人滿意的說明。

It also expressed concern about the company's capital adequacy after the highly leveraged transaction, fearing that it raised the potential of default that would have “serious impact on [Taiwan's] capital markets”.


該委員會還對收購方在此筆高槓桿率交易之後的資本充足率表示擔憂,擔心這加大了違約的風險,而違約可能會給“(台灣)資本市場造成嚴重影響”。

CY Huang, chairman of the Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council, an industry body, said the rejection would probably cause other investors to think twice about Taiwan-related deals.


台灣併購與私募股權協會(Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council)主席黃齊元(CY Huang)表示,該交易被駁回,可能會讓其他投資者重新考慮涉及台灣的交易。

Mr Huang estimates there is US$3bn-US$4bn worth of such deals in the pipeline.


黃齊元估計,目前有總價值30億至40億美元的此類交易在等待審批。

KKR and Mr Chen said on Wednesday they would maintain the existing partnership and continue to invest in Yageo despite the government's rejection, and had not decided whether to appeal.


KKR和陳泰銘週三表示,儘管交易被駁回,但他們會維持目前的合作,並繼續向國巨投資。他們尚未決定是否上訴。

KKR and Mr Chen have 30 days to appeal.


KKR和陳泰銘可在30天內提出上訴。



譯者/何黎

Li & Fung  chiefs  on the offensive

2011年06月23日 06:23 AM
利豐力圖消除對公司增長前景疑慮
Li & Fung  chiefs  on the offensive
英國《金融時報》 徐曉瑜 香港報導



The recovery in Li & Fung's battered share price gained momentum after top managers at the Asian sourcing group showed up en masse at an analyst briefing in an attempt to dispel doubts about the company's growth prospects.


亞洲採購集團利豐(Li & Fung)高層週三上午集體參加分析員日,以消除對公司增長前景的疑慮。之後,利豐股價止跌回穩。

Li & Fung's shares in Hong Kong rose as much as 11 per cent on Wednesday after it briefed analysts in the morning.


週三上午的分析員日之後,利豐在香港股市的股價上漲11%。

Those who watched the company's presentation said the company gave a detailed account of the medium-term prospects of each of its three business units.


觀看了利豐陳述的人表示,該公司分別對其三大業務單元的中期前景做了詳細描繪。

“The key point about today's presentation is that it shows the company improving disclosures about its operations. Also, William Fung, the chief executive [Bruce Rockowitz] and all division chiefs were there to talk about the company's strategy,” said CLSA consumer analyst Mariana Kou.


里昂證券(CLSA)消費者分析師Mariana Kou表示:“今日陳述的關鍵點在於,它表明該公司正在改進對其運營情況的披露。同時,馮國綸(William Fung)、集團總裁(指樂裕民( Bruce Rockowitz))和所有業務總裁都出席了活動,介紹公司戰略。”

The company dropped its previous habit of only providing geographical breakdowns of its operations. Instead, managers talked about how each of the three units – trading, logistics and distribution – had been able to sustain order volumes and margins this year.


利豐拋棄了以往只按地區介紹運營情況的慣例。這一次,它的高管們就三大業務單元——貿易、物流和分銷今年分別如何保持訂單數量和利潤率做了說明。

Li & Fung also announced that it had bought five small tr​​ading and distribution companies since March, though it was not considered the primary driver of the share price given the company did not disclose the value of the transactions and it had previously said that it would continue to pursue acquisitions up to 2013.


利豐還宣布,自3月份以來,它收購了5個小型貿易和分銷公司——儘管此舉並不被認為是股價上升的主要動力,因為公司並未披露交易價值,且它早前曾表示,將在2013年以前繼續尋求收購機會。

Ms Kou said that Li & Fung's share price performance should encourage companies to become more transparent, especially at a time when many Chinese stocks, such as Sino-Forest, had suffered because of concerns about inadequate corporate governance standards.


Kou表示,利豐的股價表現應該推動公司變得更加透明,尤其是在許多中國股票(比如嘉漢林業(Sino Forest))由於投資者對公司治理標準欠缺的擔憂而出現下挫之際。

Shares in Li & Fung had fallen by about a third so far this year and it is the second-worst performer on the Hang Seng index, according to Bloomberg data. The company, which supplies major retailers such as Walmart and Gap, is often seen as a bellwether for global consumer sentiment.


據彭博(Bloomberg)數據顯示,利豐股價今年以來已經跌去約三分之一,是恆生指數(Hang Seng index)中表現第二差的股票。作為沃爾瑪(Walmart)與Gap等主要零售商的供應商,利豐經常被視為全球消費者情緒的風向標。

However, its recent decline in the market has been attributed to the company's failure to meet operating profit targets and doubts about the sustainability of its business model as more retailers might want to build a direct relationship with manufacturers and skip the middleman.


然而,有人認為它最近的股價下跌是因為兩個原因:一是該公司未能實現營業利潤目標,二是隨著更多零售商可能想跳過中間商,與製造商構建直接關係,人們對該公司商業模式的可持續性存在懷疑。



譯者/何黎

2011年6月20日 星期一

婦產科醫師的糗事

"徐復觀講座、被家屬控告,這是怎麼回事?" 據許老師說 事先未徵詢家屬之同意 這可能有"專名權的問題
以前Berg 先生將他的公司賣給杜邦公司 後來--30年後 杜邦公司決定賣掉它

某公司買DuPont Connector System公司 要改回原先的公司名 Berg Electronics
他們取得Berg 先生的遺孀的同意


我說的校友會介入歷史系的內政是我認為這很可能是學校的行政權
校友會可以放砲 就像我過去浪費許多時間寫些東西一樣 但是介入人事是不恰當的 除非接到投訴 與校方共同處理 這樣可能有點"合法"


我想再追憶一下上周末 許老師的一些重要的話
總體而 我希望許老師可寫小說 或回憶錄
(前衛會出版他的散文精選集)


我提起郭冠英90年代企畫的張學良 不精彩--- 張的部下品質很差 張晚年很得意 "他家不收刮土地 有錢是做買賣的" 可惜沒講做什麼買賣..... 許老師提醒我們 張的藏書大半捐給東海 所以研究它們 (不少是外文) 也可以了解張---- me: 只是有書跟研讀過該書很難建立關係......

看來 許老師夫婦已挑出美國藏書要送東海的 因為他提到有本 JimmyCarter 簽名的書似不宜送 免得後人誤解 (他事先簽300本給書商發 因為現場戒備森嚴)....

許老師是芝加哥大學畢業的 所以問起 Herb. SIMON來
我跟他解釋Leo Strauss的學生的圍勦事件 現在可以補充
用Simon 自己的話

在第4章裡,我談到了政治學中的行為主義運動,它的先鋒是芝加哥大學的查爾斯‧梅里亞姆(C.Merriam)的系。赫伯特‧斯托林(H.Storing)編了一本書,書名叫《政治學的科學研究論文集》,在這本書裡,他每人一章分別批判了行為主義的帶頭人物,其中也包括我。

要回答這個政擊,需要一本同《管理行為》一樣厚的書,我壓根也沒想過寫這樣一本書。在我看來,《管理行為》一書本身就為自己做了最好的辯獲。我的判斷似乎經受住了時間的考驗,時光的流逝並沒有減少這本書的光彩。

當然,我現在仍然被指控為“實證主義”,而且好像這是多大一個罪過似的,不是大罪也是小罪。同時,至今仍有相當普遍的人不太理解,如果在前提中不是至少有一個“應當”的話,為什麼就不能按邏輯推導出“應當”來。然而,我想這些困難與斯托林的書沒有多大聯繫。它們起源現今的總趨勢,把實證主義作為貶義詞用,而對於實證主義者相信的是什麼,卻沒有個清楚的概念。

在經濟學方面,論戰開始得比較緩慢。我最初的攻擊是幾篇關於稅會落在誰的身上[1]和技術改變的文章,這幾篇論文與新古典主義的框架相安無事。然後是幾篇文章,建議需要認識到理性的限度以便創造比較真實的企業形象。在這些論文中,已經提供了進行這種挑戰的素材。



[1] 著者對此的解釋是,例如,房東按法律理應交稅,但是他通過提高房租的辦法,將稅“轉嫁”到房客頭上。—譯注



許老師跟我們介紹美國的保險制
他還講了一則老友婦產科醫師的糗事
為了防止醫療糾紛賠償 他將所有財產過給太太 所以有一次到大學辦事 車被拖走
辛苦找到拖吊場 不給車 因為連車子都是太太的
只好打電話 要求授權取車
許老師說 朋友 人生賺這樣多錢 意義何在?

2011年6月19日 星期日

Lyndall Fownes Urwick

Lyndall Fownes Urwick (March 3, 1891-December 5, 1983) was an influential business management consultant and thinker in the United Kingdom. He is recognized for integrating the ideas of earlier theorists like Henri Fayol into a comprehensive theory of management administration. He wrote an influential book called The Elements of Business Administration, published in 1943. With Luther Gulick, he founded the academic journal Administrative Science Quarterly.

Contents

Early life and education

Urwick was born in Worcestershire, the son of a partner in Fownes Brothers, a long-established glove-making firm. He was educated at Boxgrove Primary School, Repton School and New College, Oxford, where he read History.

Military service

He saw active service in the trenches during the First World War, rising to the rank of Major, and being awarded the Military Cross. Though he did not himself attend the military Staff College at Camberley, his respect for military training would affect his outlook on management in later life.

Career

After the war, he joined his father's business of Fownes Brothers. He was then recruited by Seebohm Rowntree, head of the York chocolate company and progressive philanthropist. Urwick's role involved assisting the modernisation of the company, bringing to bear his own thinking, which had two main influences. One was the work of Frederick Winslow Taylor with its concept of scientific management, and the other, counterbalancing it in its emphasis on the humanity of management was Mary Parker Follett, for whom he had great admiration. Urwick's own prolific writings on management truly began in this period.

His growing reputation as a British thinker on management and administration won him appointment in 1928 as Director of the International Management Institute in Geneva. The Institute may have proven short-lived, closing in 1933, but it provided Urwick the opportunity not only to lecture widely but to produce his books The Meaning of Rationalisation and The Management of Tomorrow. It was also the time that he became particularly keen to promote the writings of Henri Fayol to an English audience.

When Urwick returned to Britain, he established a management consultancy, Urwick Orr and Partners, which came to be one of the leading companies of its type in the 1940s and 1950s. At the same time, his intellectual interests continued. An increasing concern of his was the lack of management education in Britain. He was involved in the very earliest discussions for what would become, in 1948, the Administrative Staff College. His own view of the education required did not accord with the College as it was finally established, which concentrated on a three-month course for established executives. He would have preferred something much closer to the model of the American business school, involving a longer course and aimed at pre-experience students. It was a continuing frustration for Urwick that England's two ancient universities failed to promote management education.

In 1945, he made his most lasting contribution to management literature with the publication of his three-volume Making of Scientific Management. It was the first treatise to prsent a clear and focused discussion of the development and applications of management science. It included a comprehensive number of profiles of leading proponents of management theory, from early pioneers such as Charles Babbage and Frederick Winslow Taylor, to those such as Seebohm Rowntree and Mary Parker Follett who innovated and refined their concepts. All aimed to bring '"adequate intelligence" to the control of the forces released by a mechanised economy' to bring the logical standards of science to bear on business practice. It also dealt with early contributions to understanding the scientific approach to control in industry. A long background of scientific management practices had previously been largely unknown before publication of these volumes. The study included a view of methods of control at the famous Boulton and Watt Foundry, of Robert Owen's approach to personnel management, and of commercial management training.

In later years, Lyndall Urwick retired to Australia, where he died in 1983. His papers were donated to the Administrative Staff College, by then re-named Henley Management College.

Sources

Brech, Edward; Thomson, Andrew; Wilson, John F. Lyndall Urwick, Management Pioneer: A Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN-10: 0199541965; ISBN-13: 978-0199541966

See also

U.K. Weighs Privatizing Administrative Services

U.K. Weighs Privatizing Administrative Services


The U.K. is preparing a major push to increase the use of the private sector in operating government back offices as part of its attempts to cut public spending, people familiar with the matter said.

Francis Maude, the minister charged with squeezing efficiencies out of the public sector, is examining back-office areas that can be privatized, such as administration of the state pension and National Health Service prescriptions. The private sector's involvement in the wider NHS back office is also expected to increase.

The drive to privatize such functions could hit tough opposition, however.

The government has already encountered difficulties in its efforts to bring private competition into front-office functions, like the NHS. Attempts to bring the private sector even further into the back office will likely kick off union reaction at a time when the U.K. faces the prospect of a round of public-sector strikes over issues such as job losses and rights.

"Privatization of back office is something we expect and will oppose," said Richard Simcox, a spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union.

On Friday, the government got an early taste of that opposition when civil servants who administer the state pension went on strike over proposals to mutualize their department, which will allow holders of pensions to take a stake—but which unions call privatization by the back door.

Earlier this month thousands of civil servants voted to strike as a protest against pension changes.

The government hopes to release a major consultation document on public-sector reform before August. That will include what the government sees as radical ideas, such as people being given individual budgets to pay for public services, like care for the elderly, rather than having civil servants decide how all the budget is spent.

In the new push, government officials have asked private-sector companies to pitch ideas on how they can help run state-run back offices, one person familiar with the matter said. Officials believe that, given their steady cash flows, back-office functions could be marketed to companies seeking dependable returns.

As part of attempts to reduce spending, government departments have had their budgets slashed, some by as much as a third, and some believe outsourcing back-office functions may save money over time, another person said.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Maude didn't return phone calls.

With a budget deficit of over 8%, the government wants private-sector companies to compete with public-sector services in a bid to increase efficiencies, drive down costs and offer greater choice.

Rolling back the state is also a longtime ideological aim of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party. Last week, though, Mr. Cameron had to water down a banner attempt to bring greater competition into the NHS, after doctors and the public accused the government of trying to privatize the health service.

Despite Mr. Cameron's stalled NHS reform, the health service is one area in which the government has already experimented with allowing the private sector to run back offices. NHS Shared Business Services is jointly owned by the NHS and business-services company Steria. It handles finance, accounting, and other human-resource functions, as well as some procurement for the health-care provider.

John Neilson, its chief executive, says the venture will increase its share of the NHS back-office work. "Over time, it will widen," he said.

NHS SBS currently works for 40% of NHS Trusts, the operational units that deliver NHS care. By the end of the year, Mr. Neilson says, he believes he will work for over half of them, and that this work will be brought across to the bodies that will succeed the Trusts under the government's current reforms to the health service. Mr. Neilson estimates his unit saved the Treasury some £70 million ($113 million) from 2005 to the start of 2010.

Mr. Neilson said he also expects his company to move into other back-office functions like data management.

He says this sort of private-sector involvement in the back office is almost unique to the U.K., though more recently several other European countries have discussed with NHS SBS the possibility of setting up similar models in their countries.

Britain's last government took an even more radical look at privatizing back-office work, and explored bundling government activities such as human resources and information-technology management into commercial companies and selling or listing them.

The British public sector manages an asset base valued at well over £800 billion, according to the Treasury.

Data Centers Look for Lower-Emission Cooling

Green Column

Data Centers Look for Lower-Emission Cooling


BRUSSELS — Putting computers near water is usually discouraged. But water could become vital for some companies seeking to cool the powerful servers that store and exchange vast amounts of information.

Google, which runs five large data centers, is planning to open one of its most efficient facilities in a former paper mill on the coast of Finland later this year.

“It’s the first time that I know that seawater has been used for data center cooling, but in other industries it’s actually quite common,” said Urs Hoelzle, a senior vice president at Google.

“Over all, there is huge opportunity for improvement” in the way the industry approaches energy efficiency, including cooling, Mr. Hoelzle said.

Data centers account for most of the energy used by Google. The servers inside are key to ever-faster search results and data-rich services like video-conferencing and music downloads. Industries like banking and health care are also creating huge demand for added capacity.

In a study published three years ago, Jonathan Koomey, a consulting professor at Stanford University, found that powering and cooling the equipment in data centers represented about 1 percent of total global electricity consumption in 2005, or about 0.3 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide.

Mr. Koomey, who is updating those figures, emphasized that the most useful measure of the environmental footprint for the technology industry was not necessarily the amount of emissions created by data centers or digital devices taken on their own. He said it also was important to examine the way technology improved the environmental performance of the broader economy. He said downloading music represented huge savings in greenhouse gases that otherwise would have been emitted in manufacturing, shipping and recycling CDs.

Mr. Koomey said moving more of the operations run “in house” by companies to more efficient data centers would substantially lower the overall environmental footprint of the industry.

He also said there was a need to continue making all data center equipment as efficient as possible. Locating “data centers near cool bodies of water is one technique that works,” he said.

Even so, building more efficient data centers and getting smarter at managing them could “only blunt the underlying growth” of the sector and the “strong growth in the electricity that data centers consume,” said James M. Kaplan, a partner at McKinsey & Co. in New York.

Google already uses water for cooling at a center in Belgium. The facility treats and cleans water from a canal. The water is pumped to the data center and then into coils, over which warmed air from the servers is passed. The water in the coils absorbs the heat before it is pumped to a tower. Some of the water is recycled and some evaporates into the atmosphere.

That concept is somewhat similar to efforts by PEER 1 Hosting, which operates 17 server farms in Europe and North America and plans to open a new site at Portsmouth, England, in October.

In Portsmouth, PEER 1 plans to funnel air warmed by the servers to a chamber where it is to be cooled as it passes through metal plates sprayed with water. The water would be recycled, while the cooled air would be blown back through specially sealed aisles, rather than wasted on empty parts of the building. Refrigeration could still be used, but only when weather was particularly hot or humid.

New cooling methods could help PEER 1 win business and maintain profitability when electricity prices are rising, said Dominic Monkhouse, the managing director for PEER 1 in Europe. Companies like the giant supermarket chain Tesco that were directly or indirectly using PEER 1 services were demanding lower energy use from all parts of their supply chains, including data centers, as part of efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, he said.

At its best-performing facility in Toronto, PEER 1 needs power for cooling, mostly involving fans, amounting to 35 percent beyond what it uses to run the servers.

At Portsmouth, it aims to lower that figure to 10 percent.

At the five centers owned and operated by Google, that figure is 16 percent.

Mr. Hoelzle said the site at Hamina, northeast of Helsinki, should turn out to be somewhat more efficient in terms of water and energy use than the Belgium location.

Google plans to draw raw seawater directly from the Gulf of Finland into a large tunnel that a paper mill used for cooling. The seawater would then be used to cool a separate set of water pipes, running in a closed loop inside the data center, that would absorb heat from the servers. The warmed seawater would then be allowed to cool before it was pumped back into the gulf to minimize effects on the environment.

Google has invested about $400 million in renewable energy projects, and it plans to buy increasing amounts of electricity from those sources for its centers.

But the company was not about to install windmills or solar panels to feed green power directly.

On-site renewable energy “looks good” but was not “a rational idea,” Mr. Hoelzle said. Suitable sites for data centers “may not be very sunny because you don’t want it to be too hot, and it may not be very windy,” he said.

But putting new farms near bodies of cold water would not always be practical either, because of factors like the need to locate servers near enough to users to offer the best network speed.

“Data center site selection is sort of the art of compromise,” Mr. Hoelzle said.

Mr. Monkhouse of PEER 1 said the race to lower energy use at data centers had generated an explosion of ideas for cooling servers, including some that appeared far-fetched or impractical like immersing the machines in metal cases surrounded by oil to drain heat away even faster than water.

“I must get three or four e-mails a week saying, ‘Have you seen our new technology?”’ he said. “At every level, people are trying to innovate.”

中資企業造假醜聞!企業誠信亮紅燈Chinese manufacturers-The end of cheap goods?

造假醜聞連環爆!中資企業誠信亮紅燈


2011-06 天下雜誌 474期 作者:吳怡靜 譯

海外上市的中資企業接連爆出會計造假醜聞,財務與營運真實性備受質疑。更讓人擔心的是,在香港或中國上市的企業,帳目不實的情況會有多嚴重?

這還真是吹皺了一池「渾水」。六月二日,賣空機構渾水公司(Muddy Waters)在一份報告中,指控加拿大多倫多上市的中國企業「嘉漢林業」虛報資產價值。此舉引發外界擔心,大批在北美上市的中國企業,是否也在帳目上造假?類似的指控,同樣也發生在美國、新加坡上市的中國企業身上。由於案例層出不窮,很多人開始質疑:如果連監管嚴格的國家都傳出這麼多問題,那麼,在香港或中國上市的企業,帳目不實的情況會有多嚴重?

有人認為,會爆出假帳醜聞,起因於美、加等國的上市法規有漏洞,讓人有機可乘。最明顯的例子,就是中國企業透過「反向收購」(即借殼上市)到北美等市場掛牌。這種做法的成本較低,又可規避一般新股上市(IPO)必須接受的嚴格審查,才會在後來爆發帳目不實的弊端。其實,借殼上市一度也在香港盛行。但香港政府修改了遊戲規則,規定申請上市的企業必須有連續三年獲利紀錄,還得通過聯交所上市委員會的審查,有效遏阻了借殼風。

只是弊端仍舊免不了。例如,查核中資企業,要靠香港和內地的會計師事務所。但他們在處理資產「按市值計價」時,往往遇上困難。因為很多資產都是房地產,而中國的房市不是資訊不夠透明,就是價格被地方政府操控。最近就有幾家香港上市的中資企業,被媒體盯上。例如三月底,香港《壹週刊》爆料,蔬果生產商「超大現代」疑似誇大農地面積等數據。消息傳開後,公司股價大跌近三分之一。許多人已經推測,將來還會有更多的會計醜聞出現。

另一方面,上市企業的造假傳聞,在中國比較少見。對沖基金經理人漢普頓認為,這與風險程度有關:美國上市的中資公司如果涉及造假,負責人也許沒事;換成在中國,就沒這麼好脫身了。

中國對企業的查核不足

還有一個可能原因,是中國官方對上市企業的查核不足。在美國,許多做空的投資機構為了賺錢,常像偵探一樣,到處挖掘企業的缺失。但中國卻因為股市禁止做空,錯失了一支可以幫忙「打假」的生力軍。

造假醜聞的疑雲下,中國企業不分好壞,全都遭殃。最慘的是深圳創業板,以往股價齊漲的盛況不再,現在全部往下跌。



Chinese manufacturers-The end of cheap goods?

"IT IS the end of cheap goods," says Bruce Rockowitz. He is the chief executive of Li & Fung, a company that sources more clothes and common household products from Asia than perhaps any other. In the low-tech areas in which Li & Fung specialises, the firm handles an estimated 4% of China's exports to America and a sizeable chunk of its exports to Europe, too. It has operations in several East Asian countries, where it diligently searches for cheap, reliable suppliers of everything from handbags to bar stools. So when Mr Rockowitz says the era of low-cost Asian production is drawing to a close, people listen.

He argues that Asian manufacturing has gone through a number of phases, each lasting about 30 years. When China was isolated under Mao Zedong, companies in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea grew expert at making things. When China reopened in the late 1970s, after Mao's death, these experienced Asian operators converged on southern China. With almost free access to land and labour, plus an efficient port and logistics hub in nearby Hong Kong, they started to make things ever more cheaply and sell them to the whole world.

For the next 30 years manufacturers in China helped to keep global inflation in check. But that era is now over, says Mr Rockowitz. Chinese wages are rising fast. A wave of new demand, especially from China itself, is feeding a surge in commodity prices. Manufacturers can find some relief by moving production to new areas, such as western China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Malaysia, India and Indonesia. But none of these new places will curb inflation the way southern China once did, he predicts. All rely on the same increasingly expensive pool of commodities. Many have rising wages or poor logistics. None can provide the scale and efficiency that was created when manufacturers converged on southern China.

Nothing can replace the Chinese miracle. "There is no next," says Mr Rockowitz. Prices will now start to rise by 5% or more each year, with no end in sight. And that may be optimistic. So far this year, Mr Rockowitz says, Li & Fung's sourcing operation has seen price increases of 15% on average. Other sourcers of Asian toys, clothes and basic household products tell similarly ominous tales.

Yet manufacturers in some other fields see things differently. On May 31st, the day Mr Rockowitz spoke in Hong Kong, the annual Computex fair opened an hour's flight away in Taipei. Hotels were packed, even at inflated prices. The world's hottest technology companies, such as Apple and even Taiwan's HTC, were absent. But nearly 2,000 vendors showed up to hawk cheap and innovative gizmos.

Mainland Chinese firms arrived in force: more than 500 hired booths, up from 200 last year. Many are from the same parts of China that were once noted for cheap textiles and toys. With government encouragement, the belt that stretches from Shenzhen to Guangzhou has been shifting to more sophisticated products, such as electronics.

Some of the more striking offerings at the fair were ultra-cheap versions of global hits. A company named BananaU advertised tablet computers with Google's Android operating system for $100. Another pushed Windows-based thin computers looking much like MacBooks for under $250. E-Readers were everywhere and available for a song.

Whether these products can be produced or sold in developed markets is unclear. The quality may be "B" for Banana rather than "A" for Apple. The intellectual property embedded in some devices may not, ahem, have been paid for. But still, the booths were packed. Buyers goggled and haggled over motherboards, memory chips, solid-state drives, servers, graphics cards, non-tangling cables, connectors, monitors and so on.

In 2009 the prices of these electronic goods jumped suddenly, as buyers emerged from the financial crisis and started ordering more equipment from manufacturers which had slashed capacity. But data collected in Taiwan suggest that prices are now falling sharply again (see chart). If the vendors at Computex had a common slogan, it would be "more for less".

Among the products that generated the most heat were those that saved energy. These included alternating- and direct-current converters, and sensors that could moderate the power consumption of streetlamps, fridges and air conditioners. Such devices were initially marketed for their "green potential", but what buyers liked was their ability to enhance productivity. Japanese firms, which have had to make do with less power since the earthquake, were particularly eager.

Chinese firms were curious about any product that lowered costs or made it easier to automate. When labour was cheap, Chinese firms used it inefficiently. Now they are learning how to get more from fewer hands. Li & Fung may be sounding the closing bell on one era of production, but the Taipei computer fair suggests that another is emerging.

©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2011

The Nikkatsu Corporation (日活株式会社) 百年慶回顧展

The Nikkatsu Corporation (日活株式会社 Nikkatsu kabushiki kaisha?) is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".

Nikkatsu Studios 100th anniversary retrospective set for U.S. and France

BY NORIKI ISHITOBI STAFF WRITER

2011/06/19


photo"Bakumatsu Taiyoden" (Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate), Director Yuzo Kawashima, 1957 ((c) Nikkatsu Corp.)photo"Tokyo Nagaremono" (Tokyo Drifter), Director Seijun Suzuki, 1966 ((c) Nikkatsu Corp.)photo"Oshidori Utagassen" (Singing Lovebirds), Director Masahiro Makino, 1939 ((c) Nikkatsu Corp.)photo"Buta to Gunkan" (Pigs and Battleships), Director Shohei Imamura, 1961 ((c) Nikkatsu Corp.)

Nikkatsu Corp. will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2012. From prewar period dramas and postwar action films to Roman Porno (soft-core romantic pornography) of the '70s and '80s, this film studio has created new cinematic genres for every era. Its unique group of offerings is attracting the attention of audiences around the world.

A large-scale retrospective of Nikkatsu films will be screened this fall starting at the Lincoln Center in New York, and later at the Festival of Three Continents film festival in Nantes and the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris. The screenings were made possible with cooperation from the Film Center at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and the Japan Foundation.

Nikkatsu was first established as Nippon Katsudo Shashin Co. (literally the Cinematography company of Japan) in 1912. Before World War II, the company gained popularity with historical dramas featuring actor Matsunosuke Onoe, affectionately known as "Eyeballs Matsu," and later turned out globally acclaimed directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi and Sadao Yamanaka in great numbers.

In 1954, after the end of the war, the company resumed film production, mass producing action and youth-oriented movies with spirited directors such as Seijun Suzuki and featuring young and upcoming stars like Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi and Sayuri Yoshinaga.

In 1971, with its fortunes in decline, the company started to make Roman Porno films, working with directors such as Tatsumi Kumashiro, and releasing critically acclaimed, passion-filled masterpieces in the genre. It has also helped leaders of contemporary Japanese film, including directors Kichitaro Negishi and Yoshimitsu Morita, get their starts in the industry.

In October, the Lincoln Center is planning to screen about 40 films representative of each period in Nikkatsu's history. According to Richard Pena, the center's film society program director, there is currently a trend in the United States to review film history according to production company rather than director.

Cinematheque Francaise program director Jean-Francois Rauger, who is focusing on the success of Roman Porno, noted that many outstanding avant-garde films have been made in the genre, which depicts sex and violence, and there is great interest in the new filmmakers it is producing.

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the company's founding, director Yuzo Kawashima's masterpiece "Bakumatsu Taiyoden" (Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate) will be digitally restored.

The Nikkatsu retrospective, including Kawashima's film, will be screened in Japan in the fall of next year after it has completed its overseas showings.

2011年6月18日 星期六

專名權

"徐復觀講座、被家屬控告,這是怎麼回事?" 據許老師說 事先未徵詢家屬之同意 這可能有"專名權"的問題 以前某公司買DuPont Connector System公司 要改回原先的公司名 Berg Electronics 取得Berg 先生的遺孀的同意

2011年6月17日 星期五

福特六和 war room

福特六和快40年了
6/15/2011 我去中原大學演講 主持人是工業與系統工程學系郭財吉副教授
他那天帶新光化纖的吳董事長去 福特六和廠見習
當然是高規格接待 他提及戰情室(war room)的參觀 房間不大 但沒桌椅 所以可容40主管開會
這 我印象最深刻
當然我們過去有些福特六和 的朋友 他們有Ford 最先進的訓練資料
約7-8年前 有一次在車輛公會的觀摩
福特六和 廠的報告太先進了value stream mapping 滿天飛 讓我覺得他們是否玩過頭了


求才公司介紹:
【產業類別】 運輸工具製造業汽車及其零件製造業
【產業描述】 汽車製造業
【員  工】 1300人
【資 本 額】 5億5000萬元

【聯 絡 人】

人力資源處 郭小姐

【公司地址】

桃園縣中壢市中華路一段705號 點選可查詢電子地圖

【電  話】

暫不提供
【傳  真】 暫不提供
【公司網址】 http://www.ford.com.tw
公司簡介:
菁英的首選 – 福特汽車

光榮的福特
廿世紀初,福特汽車的創立人亨利福特 (Henry Ford) 說過:「我將為大眾製造以最好的材料、由最好的員工所生產,人人都買得起的好車」,將近一個世紀後,全球已有二億五千萬的福特車主,親身驗證了這個承諾。 1903年,福特汽車起源於底特律的一間小工廠,憑藉著傑出的設計和製造能力,在1915年突破百萬的生產量,成為全球汽車主要供應商之一。現在,福特汽 車銷售遍達200個國家,工廠分佈在26個國家,為全球第二大汽車製造商。

立足台灣,放眼世界的福特六和
1972年 - 福特六和在台灣成立,成為福特海外最重要的據點之一。
1996年 - 福特六和汽車領先業界,得到國內唯一的的英、美、德、荷ISO9001國際品質認證.
2001年 - 福特六和榮獲由亞洲華爾街日報及遠東經濟評論所頒發的「台灣最佳雇主」殊榮,同時亦入選「亞洲最佳雇主」之一。福特六和以優異的組織文化及目標,良好的垂 直溝通,最佳員工向心力及參與感,以及與企業目標完全整合的人力資源政策從此次評比中脫穎而出,得到國際肯定.
- “福特亞太地區員工滿意度” 調查結果,福特六和榮膺亞洲翹楚.
2002 年 - 設計暨研發中心大樓新落成,象徵福特汽車對台灣消費市場的重視,以及福特六和未來在亞太所將扮演的吃重的角色。

人才是最重要的資源
因為深信員工是福特今日能維繫世界級品質的關鍵,所以,員工始終是福特最看重的資源。在組織的規劃及人才的運用上,福特六和早於1996年就開始 推動「多元化」的努力,發展出「尊重個別差異的文化,以吸收來自於全球各地區、各種不同學、經歷背景的人才,進入組織內充分發揮其個人獨特的長才」。此 外,

1.在招募任用方面:
*健全的新進人員導入訓練,包含線上訓練課程、課堂訓練課程、導師制度與焦點團體討論等。
*1997年起,福特有感於消費市場的詭譎與多變,為提昇組織的創新、靈活與應變能力,以網羅具高專業學歷背景與發展潛力的人才為招募的策略與方向。目前公司內學士學歷員工佔所有職員的23%,碩、博士學歷以上員工佔所有職員的61%。.

2.在人員發展方面:
*導師制度帶領潛力員工建構生涯高峰。
*建構福特六和線上學習整合平台。
*推動工作輪調計畫,鼓勵員工開闊生涯的視野,持續學習與成長。
*由部門經理及高階主管組成「人員發展培訓委員會」,考核員工表現,亦同時協助員工進行生涯規劃。

3.福利與報償制度方面
*提供比同業更具競爭性的薪資水準及分紅制度
*員工獎勵計畫以慰勞員工或團隊傑出表現。
*提供表現優秀員工股票選擇權
*多樣化的福利組合以滿足員工的需求,包含週休二日、員工社團、員工購車方案、員工優惠購車貸款、團體保險等。

4.內部溝通:
*跨層級的溝通會議
*定期舉辦焦點團體討論,對象包含:女性、新進員工、新任用主管與資深同仁等。
*定期舉辦年度員工溝通大會。
*廠內溝通電視牆即時放送公司訊息以及員工通訊月報。
*企業內部網站
*福特脈動調查去瞭解目前管理階層在人員發展與管理上的指標,亦是所有員工反映心聲的主要管道。脈動調查主要包含十個面向:訓練與發展、壓力、工作量、矩陣管理、報償與獎勵、工作與公司、品質、工作團隊、監督與授權等。

5.活得精彩活動 – 期待員工「快樂工作、熱情生活」
*推動員工協助計畫包含員工體適能檢測、運動活動競賽、健康管理訓練、內部感恩活動。
*系列減壓活動包含減壓工作坊、肌肉放鬆訓練與減壓網站。
*「姊姊妹妹站起來」活動定期為女性員工開闢兼具知性與感性主題的講座。
*舉行女性焦點團體使女性同仁的心聲得以傾訴。
*活得精彩品牌內部行銷活動,帶給員工精彩的工作生活,主要內容包含員工子女日、快樂健身週等。

人,在福特六和擁有成長的資源及空間,而員工的茁壯更是福特六和的發展的動力。

你追尋的是一份值得終生投入的志業?你期待能在工作中自我實現並持續成長?你渴望的是尊重專業又充滿人性的工作環境?
來加入福特團隊
我們竭誠歡迎下列專才
製造生產/市場行銷/採購/財務分析/系統設計/工業設計/產品開發/人力資源/顧客服務
請立即將您的中英文履歷寄至「福特六和汽車 組織及人事規劃部 中壢市中華路一段705號」

2011年6月14日 星期二

China must create its own global brands

2011年06月15日 06:27 AM
中國必須有自己的“豐田”
To reach its full potential, China must create its own global brands
諾丁漢大學當代中國學學院院長姚樹潔為英國《金融時報》撰稿


China's “go global” strategy is picking up pace. According to the Asia Society, the educational organisation, Chinese overseas direct investment could hit $2,000bn by 2020.


中國正加快實施“走出去”的戰略。美國教育機構亞洲協會(Asia Society)估計,到2020年,中國在海外的直接投資可能達到2萬億美元。

Yet for the country's aspiring multinationals, pouring money overseas is no guarantee of international success. China surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy last year, but its inability to emulate its Asian competitors in producing world-famous brands such as Toyota and Samsung reflects fundamental weaknesses in its domestic business model.


然而,對於抱負遠大的中國跨國企業而言,在海外大把砸錢並不意味著一定能在國際上成功。去年,中國超越日本成為全球第二大經濟體,但是,中國無力效仿亞洲競爭對手,打造出類似於豐田(Toyota)和三星(Samsung)這樣的全球知名品牌,這反映出中國的商業模式存在根本性缺陷。

Future economic growth in the country is tied to the fate of its big businesses. If these companies fail to have an impact in ultra-competitive western markets, then it is highly unlikely China will be able to sustain another 20 or 30 years of rapid growth .


中國日後的經濟增長與國內大型企業的命運息息相關。倘若這些企業不能在競爭極其激烈的西方市場產生影響,那麼,中國再維持二、三十年快速增長的可能性將微乎其微。

Economic malaise poses the greatest threat to the ruling Communist party, and China's leaders have long been mindful of the need for commercial success abroad. Having officially implemented a “go-out policy” in 1999 to encourage domestic companies to invest overseas, their global strategy is clear: let state-owned enterprises (SOEs) enjoy monopolies at home, allowing them to accrue abnormal profits, and subsidise them with generous bank credits so they can flex superior monetary muscle in front of foreign counterparts.


經濟不振是中共政府心頭最大的隱患,中國領導人也早已認識到在海外取得商業成功的必要性。 1999年,中國政府正式實施了“走出去”政策,鼓勵國內企業到海外投資。中國的國際化戰略十分清楚:讓國有企業在國內享受壟斷地位,允許他們獲取暴利,以慷慨的銀行信貸補貼他們,以使他們能夠在外國同行面前展現優越的財力。

But cash reserves alone are insufficient for Chinese companies to secure long-term, profitable footholds in developed overseas markets.


然而,中國企業要想在海外發達市場長久立足並實現盈利,僅靠現金儲備是不夠的。

One great weakness of China's SOEs i​​s their dearth of experience of genuine competition. A monopolistic environment at home has made profits too easy to come by – last year the combined profit of the two most profitable SOEs was equivalent to that of the largest 500 private firms .


中國國企的一大弱點是缺乏應對“真正的競爭”經驗。在國內的壟斷環境下,實現盈利易如反掌——去年,兩家盈利能力最強的國企的利潤之和,相當於全國500家最大民營企業的利潤總和。

These enterprises lack incentives to innovate and develop technological expertise capable of rivalling that of western business giants. Unlike South Korea and Japan, China has a seemingly limitless domestic market and companies can record impressive growth without crossing borders.


這些企業缺乏創新動力,不會積極發展堪與西方商業巨擘匹敵的專業技術。與韓國和日本不同,中國擁有一個看起來無限廣闊的國內市場,企業無需跨出國門,就可實現不凡的增長。

I have met the chairmen of two of China's largest private companies, both extremely wealthy men, and neither has ever had any plans to enter developed markets overseas, citing high risks, poor technology and products that often fail to meet minimum quality standards required by the west.


我見過中國兩家大型民營企業的董事長。他們都極其富有,也都從來沒有過進軍海外發達市場的打算,理由是風險太大、技術拿不出手以及產品往往達不到西方要求的質量門檻。

Private companies not only lack state support, but also business scale and access to bank credit. Two-thirds of all bank loans are channelled to SOEs.


民營企業不僅缺乏政府扶持,也不具備商業規模,且很難獲得銀行信貸。中國三分之二的銀行信貸被投向了國企。

They also struggle with human capital. Graduates are lured by the prestige and higher pay that working for government organisations and SOEs bring, and employment in the private sector is seen as a last resort. Salaries in the state sector are 1.8 times higher than in the private sector and a government job offers attractive pension schemes and far greater job security.


同時,民企也難以招攬人才。在政府機關和國企工作的名聲和高薪吸引著大學畢業生。進入私企被認為是最後的出路。國企的工資比私企高1.8倍,事業單位則有誘人的退休金,而且穩定性要強得多。

China's march across the globe has instead centred on energy deals and mergers and acquisitions. It has enjoyed success in locking in a stable supply of natural resources, securing loans-for-oil deals, particularly in South America and Africa, and purchasing stakes in western mining companies. And while these M&A deals serve to accelerate its push into western markets, there are reservations over such a strategy. Acquisitions carry high price tags and China is not yet adept at managing the purchased assets.


中國走向全球的行動集中在能源交易和併購領域。中國成功地鎖定了穩定的自然資源供給,在南美和非洲等地達成了一系列石油換貸款協議,並收購了一些西方礦業公司的股權。雖然併購交易有利於加快其挺進西方市場的腳步,但人們對於這樣的戰略是否可取,仍持保留意見。收購往往價格不菲,而且中國並不擅長管理收購的資產。

The takeover of Volvo by Geely, the Chinese carmaker, is a case in point: it has given China little access to technology, as the best engineers are still non-Chinese. Aggressive manoeuvres can also attract political opposition, as Chinalco, the state- owned aluminium producer, found in its failed bid for Rio Tinto, the UK-listed mining company.


中國汽車製造商吉利(Geely)收購沃爾沃(Volvo)的例子就是一個明證:中方從中獲得不了多少技術,因為頂尖工程師仍然是外國人。激進策略也會招致政治上的反對。中國國有鋁業公司中鋁(Chinalco)收購在英國上市的礦業企業力拓(Rio Tinto)以失敗告終,就證明了這一點。

Another problem with acquisitions is that they deflect attention from the need to develop strong indigenous brands recognised by western consumers, and to restore credibility to a “made-in-China” label repeatedly knocked by safety scandals.


收購的另一個問題是會分散注意力,導致企業不能專心發展受到西方消費者認可的強大本土品牌,並重塑屢遭安全醜聞打擊的“中國製造”的信譽。

China's rapid economic expansion has been largely built on export processing and low-level manufacturing of consumer goods, capitalising on cheap labour and relying on technologies imitated or imported from the developed world.


中國經濟迅速擴張基本上有賴於以下幾個方面:消費品的出口加工和低水平製造、利用廉價勞動力,以及從發達國家借鑒或引進技術。

To change this, the country is investing heavily in science, technological innovation and education. Project 985, a commitment to university research funding, is one such initiative, with the government increasing research investment by 20 per cent every year for the past decade. But since universities are treated like government organisations, the efficiency of this investment has been called into question.


為了改變這種局面,中國目前正在科學、技術革新和教育等領域投入重金。承諾為高校的研究課題提供資助的985項目就是此類舉措之一,在過去10年,政府在研發上的投資每年增長20%。然而,由於大學被當作政府機構一樣看待,此類投資的效率受到了懷疑。

One solution to China's dilemma would be for the government to establish an incentive mechanism to encourage greater domestic competition, allowing private enterprises to compete fairly with SOEs. Bank credit needs to be loosened for private companies and a tough regulatory regime should be designed to guard against a state monopoly.


要擺脫窘境,一個辦法是由政府建立促進國內競爭的激勵機制,讓私企與國企公平競爭。銀行信貸必須對私企放開,同時建設嚴格的監管機制,以防範政府壟斷。

Will China succeed in hauling itself up the technological ladder? It will certainly be a long, painful process. The country still has a large reservoir of cheap labour, meaning the pressure for innovation and technology upgrading has not yet reached the critical point.


中國能否成功攀登技術的階梯?這必然是一個長久而痛苦的過程。中國仍擁有大量的廉價勞動力,這意味著進行創新和技術升級的壓力尚未達到臨界狀態。

To meet its ambitions and become a rich and powerful nation will require multinationals to flourish overseas. But without its own respected brands, its Toyotas and Samsungs, China will always languish at the lower end of the value chain. Its future will ultimately depend on its ability to create, not to replicate.


為了實現雄心和國家富強,中國的跨國公司必須在海外獲得興旺發展。沒有國際公認的品牌,沒有自己的豐田和三星,中國永遠只能在價值鏈低端煎熬。歸根結底,中國的未來係於其創造力,而非模仿的才能。

The writer is professor ​​of economics and head of the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham.


本文作者是諾丁漢大學當代中國學學院院長、經濟學教授姚樹潔



譯者/何黎

2011年6月11日 星期六

唯排名是問 小心掉入競爭力陷阱 --天下雜誌 473期 作者:賴建宇

馬英九總統多次在演講中表示,政府會以IMD世界競爭力排名為努力方向,並邀請洛桑管理學院院長威爾斯(John R. Wells)到總統府,直接向他請益。甚至責成經建會、研考會,針對各項指標研究,台灣要如何邁向世界第一。台灣要如何更有競爭力?

按照IMD的標準,台灣每位勞工每年要多「爆肝」六百小時,才能世界第一。

最新工時競爭力世界第一是卡達,一年工作二六○○小時。台灣「只有」二○七四小時,排名第十四名。換算下來,每個勞工為了國家競爭力著想,每天要多上班三小時,暫時把家庭跟身體放在一邊。

國家競爭力要高,薪水還要夠低。根據IMD的排名,製造業每單位產出的勞動成本,台灣比前一年下降一二.三%,但還是比不過最厲害的新加坡,下降一五.八%,只能屈居第二。

這還不夠,勞工最好都是乖乖的,不許抱怨、罷工。IMD的「勞工關係」一欄評分標準是請雇主打分數。台灣勞工關係排名世界第十,比前一年十五名好很多。但瑞士、澳洲、新加坡、香港勞工更讓雇主滿意。

另一項目「勞動規範」問的也是企業,而非勞工。考慮的是雇用、解雇的難易度,和最低薪資多少。偏偏台灣比冰島、香港、新加坡等國要保護勞工,因此只能排名第十三。

企業繳稅愈低,競爭力也可以變強。台灣企業繳稅佔GDP比重二.一%,已是全球第五低。若要競爭力更強,可以學學阿拉伯聯合大公國,企業完全不必繳稅。

不少學者不認同唯排名是問,因為IMD評比有它的問題:



一、 指標相互矛盾。譬如對勞工保護愈少愈好,生產力愈高愈好。

二、 只要是資本主義、自由化都是好的。金融海嘯發生之後,資本主義已經引起許多反思。

三、 問卷主觀性強。資料只問高階決策人士,結果波動甚大。例如冰島宣布破產前一年,世界競爭力還名列第七。

學者建議,台灣可以參考個別對我們有幫助的指標,但大可不必像考生等待大考放榜一樣。「好壞自己最清楚。」

台灣人從小就被教育要當世界第一,我們真的希望變成IMD規則下的世界第一嗎?

2011年6月10日 星期五

Huawei 華為亮相慢

Huawei 華為

The long march of the invisible Mr Ren

China’s technology star needs to shine more openly

“THE crisis, decline and even bankruptcy of Huawei are to come. We are in spring, but winter is very close. Don’t forget that the Titanic set sail in the atmosphere of hurrah.” Few bosses would be as alarmist as Ren Zhengfei, but he spoke those words in 2000 at the height of the technology bubble. He rightly feared it would pop and that it might destroy the firm he founded. Yet Huawei quickly bounced back and in 2010 became the world’s second-biggest maker of telecoms equipment, with annual sales of $28 billion—not far behind the leader, Ericsson, with $30 billion in sales. This year, Huawei, which employs 110,000 people, may overtake the Swedish champion.

For Mr Ren there is still a long way to go. Within the next ten years Huawei wants to become not only a technology leader but also a $100 billion company playing in the same league as Western IT giants such as Cisco, HP and IBM.

Whether China’s brightest technology star makes this transition has wider implications. It will be a test of how far Chinese companies are prepared to play the Western game to become global brands. It will also reveal how willing the West is to let a big Chinese player in—and for Huawei that is a particular problem.

Ask a politician in Washington, DC, about Huawei and the chances are that he will respond with a description of a sinister organisation: a company that is supposedly run like a military operation, which does not respect others’ intellectual property and whose products are heavily subsidised by cheap loans from the China Development Bank. And, worst of all, Mr Ren once served in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Despite much investment and lobbying in America, the idea that Huawei is a PLA front and that Chinese spooks use its gear to listen in and even remotely control things continues to dog the company. As a result, Huawei remains confined to the periphery of America’s telecoms market. Last November, when Sprint Nextel, America’s third-largest mobile carrier, considered awarding a multi-billion-dollar contract to Huawei, the American firm’s boss is said to have received a call from Washington, DC, and eventually opted for another vendor. In February the American government even forced Huawei to undo a minor deal: the $2m purchase of patents from 3Leaf, a bankrupt Silicon Valley start-up.

Huawei’s sprawling campus in Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, presents a rather different image. The multi-storey glass buildings could be in Silicon Valley. Tired faces in the lifts suggest long working hours, although the bedrolls next to desks are used for a nap during the lunch break rather than for nights at the office. At the campus’s centre sits “the tower of ten thousand engineers”, whose efforts can be admired in Huawei’s glitzy exhibition centre. The firm pioneered the SingleRAN, a base station for mobile networks programmable for different wireless standards. It was also the first to make easy-to-use dongles that plug into laptops to connect to the internet wirelessly.

But in contrast to Silicon Valley, laptops are nowhere to be seen in Huawei’s huge canteen. Leaving the office with a computer involves tiresome security procedures—in case it somehow finds its way to the firm’s crosstown Chinese rival, ZTE, which Huawei recently sued over patent and trademark violations. In fact, Huawei has as much intellectual property to protect as any Western technology giant, says Song Liuping, the firm’s chief legal officer. By the end of 2010 it had been awarded nearly 18,000 patents, including 3,000 overseas ones.

Other suspicions about Huawei are more difficult to quieten. In an open letter to the American government after the failed 3Leaf deal, Ken Hu, Huawei’s deputy chairman, confirmed that some customers do benefit from loans from Chinese banks, but he gave little detail. Huawei has tried to allay fears about security by setting up outfits that allow customers and governments to examine its equipment. The approach has not worked well in America, but seems to be accepted in Britain, where the firm in November opened a “Cyber Security Evaluation Centre” to openly test equipment to show it meets security standards.

I did it Huawei

Still, Huawei can feel a bit like a corporate version of the Chinese Communist Party. Mr Ren is a charismatic leader. He was born in 1944, his parents were teachers and he studied civil engineering before joining the PLA. In 1987, after the PLA disbanded its engineers corps, Mr Ren started Huawei with 21,000 yuan (then $4,400) of his own money. He first imported telephone switches from Hong Kong, then decided to build his own products and spend on average 10% of revenues on R&D.

Mr Ren’s mission is to help China develop its own telecoms technology (Huawei means both “China can” and “splendid act”). To achieve this, he has taken more than one page from Chairman Mao, says Liu Shengjun, deputy director of the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. “Using the countryside to encircle and finally capture the cities”, is one of Mr Ren’s business strategies. Finding it tough to sell to carriers in China’s big coastal cities, where state-owned equipment makers and foreign vendors reigned supreme, Huawei first went for the provinces. Offering technically advanced but cheaper equipment, and deploying armies of salespeople, the firm quickly managed to persuade local operators to buy its products. It then moved on from there.

The firm repeated the trick abroad. In Europe, for instance, the Russian government was the first customer. Contracts in eastern Europe followed, with cash-strapped operators welcoming a firm that charged at least 25% less than competitors. And the mobile miracle in Africa might not have happened so quickly without Huawei’s cheap and robust equipment.

Another tactic Mr Ren copied from Mao is ideological education. In the early years, he had employees sing revolutionary songs. Even today, the thousands of new recruits hired every year undergo a six-month course that includes two weeks of cultural induction on the Shenzhen campus and an internship on the ground, for instance helping to set up base stations. This is when new Huaweians are supposed to acquire the “wolf spirit” which is said to drive the firm on.

Yet in more than one way, Huawei differs from other Chinese firms. It avoids speculative investments in property and the stockmarket. It puts customers first and develops new products in co-operation with network operators (although it sometimes also makes offers that turn out too good to be true). And Mr Ren does not hesitate to ask foreign experts for help. After a trip to America in the late 1990s, he decided better management systems were needed and ever since has spent up to 3% of revenues buying advice from Western companies like IBM.

In Europe Huawei has now clearly reached the cities. In May the firm won its first order for mobile network equipment in Britain from Everything Everywhere, a joint venture of Orange and T-Mobile. Richard Windsor of Nomura, an investment bank, predicts the market for wireless networks will become essentially a game of two players: a technology leader, Ericsson, and a cost leader, Huawei. “Operators need a cost leader to keep Ericsson honest,” says Mr Windsor.

This leaves plenty to do for Mr Ren, now 66, before passing on his command. Even without its various overseas hurdles, maintaining Huawei’s rapid rate of growth (see chart) is the firm’s most pressing challenge, argues Stéphane Téral of Infonetics Research, a market-research firm.

The reason is that the market for telecoms equipment is shifting. In recent years, most investment has gone into building networks, particularly the wireless kind. In this area, Huawei could deliver exactly what was needed: well-designed cheap equipment. Yet increasingly, as in most IT markets, it is software and services where money is being made. At Ericsson, services already generate a third of revenues, compared with half that proportion at Huawei.

In software and services it will be harder for Huawei to catch up than it was in hardware, expects Dan Hays of PRTM, a consultancy. Language and cultural differences can be big barriers to understanding the needs of foreign customers. A highly disciplined and hierarchical organisation like Huawei may be very good at optimising and cleverly combining bits of technology, but less so at providing high-end services and writing cutting-edge software.

No peeping inside

The biggest cultural barrier to Huawei’s continued growth, at least in the West, may be its lack of transparency. As customers come to rely more and more on the firm, they will want to know a lot about its internal workings, predicts Dan Breznitz, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-author of “Run of the Red Queen”, a book on innovation in China. But trying to understand Huawei is a bit like Vatican-watching.

Who really controls Huawei is still an unanswered question. The firm says that Mr Ren holds only 1.42% of the stock and that the rest is in the hands of the employees who own Huawei’s holding company. These pool their interests in a shareholders’ union which is run by an elected committee. But the firm does not disclose much about this body, or who sits on it. Some say that the power rests with members of Mr Ren’s family. Others argue that the place is actually run by a “shadow structure” of the Communist Party.

An even bigger mystery is Mr Ren himself, who must be the most reclusive boss in the technology industry. He has never given a press interview—proof, some say, of his great self-discipline. The most detailed biography Huawei has released is some 200 words in its open letter to the American government.

To its credit, Huawei has started to address both its strategy and cultural problems. As for its strategy, the firm says it wants to enter the “enterprise market”, selling networking equipment and other types of hardware to companies other than telecoms operators. And Huawei plans to move fast, says William Xu, the president of the newly founded unit charged with this task: by the end of 2011 it will already boast 10,000 employees.

Huawei also intends to take a big part of the market in data centres for cloud-computing services and in smartphones. If it succeeds with smartphones, Huawei could become a household name. It wants to offer models costing between $70 and $200—the “golden range”, in the words of Victor Xu, who leads the efforts to market Huawei’s devices. By 2013 he wants Huawei to be among the world’s top five mobile-phone makers.

These moves play to Huawei’s strengths, but adapting its culture may be more difficult. Like its rivals the firm has spread its research activities around the world; it now operates 20 R&D centres globally. It has also hired more Westerners, in particular to work for its services business. But Shenzhen is still the centre of Huawei’s universe and non-Chinese employees remain a small minority there. None have made it into the inner-management sanctum.

Most importantly, efforts to become more transparent have not got very far. In April its annual report, which is audited by KPMG, for the first time named the directors of the firm’s boards and even gave short biographies. But it failed to mention that one member is Mr Ren’s daughter and another his brother—a fact that the firm confirmed only later, adding that both have been senior managers for some time.

Nor does it help that, as far as Mr Ren’s succession is concerned, the firm appears to be moving backwards. Most observers expected that a member of the tight circle of top executives would eventually take the helm, most likely Sun Yafang, who chairs the board. However, in October it was reported that Mr Ren was trying to promote family members and has plans to position his son, Ren Ping, to become his successor. Spokesmen deny that there are any such plans, but it would not be the first time in China that rumours have been launched to test the waters.

The move that would create true transparency seems to be the one that is still out of the question: taking at least part of Huawei public. Being a listed company would distract management and limit the freedom to make decisions, company officials explain. Yet, observes Duncan Clark of BDA, a telecoms consultancy in Beijing: “The fact that they haven’t gone public is feeding the suspicions.”

Huawei appears to want to have it both ways: remaining a culturally Chinese company, perhaps even family-run, while competing with publicly traded Western giants. This is unlikely to work. One way or another, Huawei needs to become less secretive if its long slog is to reach the destination that Mr Ren is aiming for.

2011年6月9日 星期四

False Advertising: 'Backdoor' China Plays Under Fire 中國高速頻道夸大業績遭美國審查

Backdoor' China Plays Under Fire
China MediaExpress's rapid growth and big profits helped it draw marquee U.S. investors. Now it is one of dozens companies from China that have come under fire by investors and U.S. regulators for allegedly misleading investors.



中國高速頻道夸大業績遭美國審查
大批赴美上市的中國公司中﹐中國高速傳媒控股有限公司(CCME﹐簡稱高速頻道)曾經像是一顆小小的明珠。

憑借高調宣稱的快速增長和在中國城際巴士車載電視銷售廣告的巨額利潤﹐高速頻道吸引到了許多大牌投資者數億美元的資金。去年6月﹐公司在納斯達克市場(Nasdaq Stock Market)上市﹐其首席執行長敲響了開盤鐘。

如今﹐高速頻道陷入一團糟。投資者對其業務規模表示擔憂﹐對公司審計存有質疑﹐經歷動盪不堪的幾個月後﹐公司股票在納斯達克停牌。

公司涉嫌誤導投資者﹐遭到投資者的質疑和監管機構的審查。還有十幾家中國公司也有同樣問題﹐暴露了令美國監管機構擔憂不已的漏洞。

公 司的審計機構是德勤會計師行(Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu)。根據高速頻道一份經過德勤核實的監管文件﹐德勤在3月份辭去了高速頻道的審計職務﹐說它對許多問題有擔憂﹐包括“可能的未披露的銀行 賬戶及銀行貸款”﹐以及“有關某些廣告公司/客戶及巴士運營商合法性的問題”等。

德勤還說覺得自己“無法再……信任管理層的代表”﹐並對高速頻道董事會做出的“可靠財務報告”的承諾“失去了信心”。

高速頻道在向美國證券交易委員會(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission﹐簡稱SEC)提交的文件中說﹐它“認為自己正在著手解決”德勤提出的這些問題。

同 樣是在3月﹐史帶國際有限公司(Starr International Co.)在美國特拉華州聯邦法院向高速頻道提起訴訟。史帶是一家由美國國際集團(American International Group Inc.)前首席執行長格林伯格(Maurice "Hank" Greenberg)管理的保險和投資公司。在訴訟中﹐史帶聲稱在10月份購買高速頻道1350萬美元股票是受到了高速頻道新聞稿和SEC備案文件的誤導 ﹐史帶指稱這些新聞稿和文件反復夸大高速頻道的收入及其業務規模。史帶未說明是如何知道這些公告是不準確的。

史帶還說就高速頻道在2010年1月接受史帶3000萬美元投資的協議在香港對其提起了仲裁程序。

4月﹐史帶又在特拉華州法院向高速頻道提起訴訟﹐指稱後者未能提供史帶要求的某些賬簿和記錄﹐違反了特拉華州法律。

高速頻道對兩起訴訟均尚未做出答辯。

3月﹐高速頻道股價下跌50%﹐導致其市值減少近4億美元﹐之後其股票交易被暫停。5月19日﹐高速頻道說納斯達克已經決定將其股票摘牌。

高速頻道股票在場外交易的價格為1.70美元﹐按這個價格計算﹐包括所有認股權證和優先股的轉換在內﹐史帶投資高速頻道的股票估值約1,100萬美元。今年1月27日﹐高速頻道的股價近23美元。

Dinny McMahon/The Wall Street Journal
乘客在乘坐一輛帶有高速頻道車載電視的北京機場大巴。由於投資者對其業務規模表示擔憂﹐對公司審計存有質疑﹐高速頻道的股票已在納斯達克停牌。
高速頻道否認批評人士的言論﹐指責空頭(股價下跌時賺錢的投資者)圍攻其股票。該公司今年5月初說﹐已委托國際律師事務所歐華(DLA Piper)調查那些針對自己的指控。該律所發言人拒絕置評。

美國證券交易委員會目前正在調查通過“反向合併”或“反向收購”在美上市的中國公司的會計和信息披露等問題﹐凸顯出證交會對此事的廣泛關注。這種以“後門上市”赴美上市的中國公司向投資者披露的信息要遠遠少於通過傳統方式在美IPO的中國公司。

美國證券交易委員會投資者教育和宣傳部門的負責人朔克(Lori Schock)週四不客氣地警告說﹐鑒於這些潛在風險﹐投資者在考慮投資反向併購公司的股票時﹐應特別小心。

《華爾街日報》上週報道說﹐美國證券交易委員會正在調查部分中國公司的美國審計方﹐調查結果有望作為執法的事實依據。

高速頻道發言人說﹐美國證券交易委員會曾聯繫過該公司的審計委員會和律師﹐但沒有透露具體的聯繫時間。該發言人說﹐高速頻道計劃將公司內部調查結果上報給美國證券交易委員會。該委員會拒絕置評。

美 國上市公司會計監督委員會(U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)的一項調查發現﹐2007年初至2010年3月期間﹐有159個中國公司通過反向收購在美國上市﹐其數量幾乎是同期通過傳統方式在美IPO的 中國公司的三倍。雖然大多數反向收購的公司規模較小﹐但若加總在一起﹐它們的影響不容小覷。調查覆蓋的這些公司2010年3月的總市值為128億美元。

美國證券交易委員會專員阿奎拉(Luis Aguilar)說﹐雖然這些中國公司里﹐大多數可能都是合法企業﹐但事實證明﹐其中有越來越多的公司都出現了重大會計缺陷或明目張膽的欺詐。

其它幾個反向收購的中國公司也被暫停股票交易或摘牌。

反向收購公司總計有數十億美元的市值就此蒸發﹐這些公司受到投資者、審計方和做空者的批評。

美國證券交易委員會處罰這些公司的能力有限。反向收購屬合法行為﹐而中國並不在該委員會的管轄範圍內﹐所以它無法從中國傳召相關文件資料和人員。由於反向收購公司的資產和大多數高管都位於中國國內﹐美國即使做出針對這些資產和高管的決定﹐執行起來也會受限。

高速頻道主營娛樂節目的編制﹐並銷售巴士車載視頻上的廣告位。其業務最初限於城際大巴。高速頻道首席執行長發言人表示﹐公司業務後來拓展至機場快線巴士﹐於是開始考慮在美國籌集資金﹐但金融危機阻止了其IPO計劃。

2009年10月﹐該公司通過反向收購﹐在紐約泛歐交易所集團(NYSE Euronext)旗下的美國證券交易所(American Stock Exchange)上市﹐立即就從投資者那裡籌集了4,600萬美元的資金。

不 過﹐由於該公司出色的業績﹐賣空者開始產生懷疑。在去年11月公佈的三季度收益報告中﹐高速頻道的資產回報率遠遠超過了在美國上市的中國三大廣告公司﹐比 排在第二的公司高出了三倍。其他公司的目標受眾為白領﹐而高速頻道安裝廣告屏的長途巴士乘客卻多為較不富裕的學生和農民工。

然後﹐問題開 始暴露出來。今年2月初﹐做空該股的三家投資者就該公司發表了負面報告。三家賣空者都說﹐自己是獨立行動的。其中之一Muddy Waters Research的報告獲得了特別的關注。報告稱﹐高速頻道向投資者宣稱自己的網絡涵蓋27,200輛巴士﹐而實際不到所說的一半。高速頻道否認了這一說 法。

Muddy Waters與高速頻道之間的口水戰難以核實﹐從一定程度上是因為無法獲得有關巴士登記的官方公開信息。

《華爾街日報》試圖聯繫上海巴士實業(集團)股份有限公司﹐據高速頻道說這家巴士公司是其最大的合作伙伴之一。高速頻道首席執行長程征在2月份公司網站上公佈的一封信中說﹐與上海巴士實業集團簽有合同﹐在後者1,892輛城際巴士上安裝有高速頻道的廣告屏。

2009年﹐上海巴士實業集團分成兩個名字不同的實體﹐該公司隨之不復存在。該公司的運輸業務被注入上海巴士公交(集團)有限公司。

高速頻道一位姓李的發言人說﹐現在與高速頻道簽有合同的是上海巴士公交(集團)。在記者反復要求高速頻道首席執行長置評後﹐該公司4月份安排了一次採訪。採訪中﹐李姓發言人說﹐上海巴士公交(集團)旗下的20多家子公司大部分都與高速頻道有合作。

據上海巴士公交(集團)辦公室的吳姓副主任和另外兩名員工說﹐該公司運營著數千輛同城巴士﹐不過只有一家子公司運營城際巴士。該公司城際巴士子公司辦公室管理人士劉德慶(音)說﹐該子公司只有約800輛車﹐而且與高速頻道沒有合作。

高速頻道發言人說﹐該公司與上海巴士公交(集團)的多個子公司有業務往來﹐歐華律師事務所進行的內部調查的結果將證實它此前的說法。

《華爾街日報》最近探訪了一個由上海巴士公交(集團)運營的、上海最大的長途汽車站之一。期間﹐三輛停靠在那裡的巴士都未裝有高速頻道的廣告屏。而是由司機決定巴士的硬盤中播放什麼。

車站副站長王輝(音)說﹐你會發現每輛車各有一套不同的影片。

高速頻道李姓發言人說﹐該公司目前對自身在美上市的方式產生了疑慮。他說﹐我們從來沒有想到採用這種方式上市會以投資者的信任為代價。

Dinny McMahon
False Advertising: 'Backdoor' China Plays Under Fire

China MediaExpress Holdings Inc. (CCME) once seemed like a small gem among a heap of Chinese companies listing shares in the U.S.

Boasting rapid growth and big profits from selling advertising on video screens in Chinese intercity buses, it drew tens of millions of dollars from marquee investors. It listed its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where its chief executive rang the opening bell last June.

Today, MediaExpress is in chaos, its shares no longer traded on Nasdaq after a turbulent few months marked by investors' concerns over the size of its business and questions over its accounting.

It is one of dozens of companies from China that have come under fire by investors and regulators for allegedly misleading investors, exposing a loophole that has U.S. regulators concerned.

The company's auditor, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, resigned in March, saying that it had raised concerns over 'possible undisclosed bank accounts and bank loans,' and 'issues concerning the validity of certain advertising agents/customers and bus operators,' among other issues, according to a MediaExpress regulatory filing verified by Deloitte.

The accounting firm also said it felt it could 'no longer...rely on the representations of management' and had 'lost confidence' in the MediaExpress board's commitment to 'reliable financial reporting.'

MediaExpress said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it 'believes that it was working to address' the items Deloitte raised.

The same month, Starr International Co., an insurance and investment vehicle run by former American International Group Inc. chief Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg, sued MediaExpress in federal court in Delaware. In its suit, Starr claims that it bought $13.5 million of the company's stock in October on the basis of MediaExpress news releases and SEC filings that Starr alleges repeatedly overstated MediaExpress's income and the size of its operations. Starr doesn't say how it knows the statements were inaccurate.

Starr also said it separately had initiated arbitration in Hong Kong over MediaExpress's agreements in a separate $30 million Starr investment made in January 2010.

In April, Starr also sued MediaExpress in Delaware state court, alleging that the company failed to turn over certain books and records when Starr asked for them, in violation of Delaware law.

MediaExpress hasn't yet filed answers to either lawsuit.

Exchange trading in MediaExpress's shares was suspended in March after a 50% drop erased almost $400 million in market value. On May 19, MediaExpress said Nasdaq had decided to delist its shares.

The shares now trade over the counter at $1.70, compared with nearly $23 on Jan. 27, valuing Starr's stake at about $11 million, assuming the conversion of all warrants and preferred stock.

MediaExpress has denied its critics' assertions, blaming short sellers--investors who make money when a stock price declines--for attacking its shares. It said in early May that it had commissioned international law firm DLA Piper to investigate the allegations against it. A spokeswoman for DLA Piper declined to comment.

Underscoring the SEC's broader concerns, the regulator is examining accounting and disclosure issues regarding Chinese companies that listed in the U.S. through a backdoor process known as a 'reverse merger' or 'reverse takeover' that requires them to disclose a lot less information to investors than a traditional initial public offering.

'Given the potential risks, investors should be especially careful when considering investing in the stock of reverse-merger companies,' Lori Schock, the SEC's director of investor education and advocacy, said in a blunt warning on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the SEC also is investigating some of the Chinese companies' U.S. auditors, too, and that the inquiry is expected to lead to enforcement cases.

A MediaExpress spokesman said the SEC had contacted its audit committee and lawyers. He wouldn't say when. He said the company plans to report the results of its internal investigation to the agency. The SEC declined to comment.

A survey by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which monitors auditors, identified 159 Chinese companies from the start of 2007 through March 2010 that listed in the U.S. through reverse takeovers. That is almost three times the number of Chinese companies that launched traditional IPOs in the U.S. over the same period. While most reverse-takeover companies are small, as a group they pack weight: Those covered by the survey had a total market capitalization of $12.8 billion in March 2010.

'While the vast majority of these Chinese companies may be legitimate businesses, a growing number of them are proving to have significant accounting deficiencies or being vessels of outright fraud,' said Luis Aguilar, a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in April.

Several other Chinese reverse-takeover companies also have been suspended or delisted.

In all, billions of dollars in market value have vaporized in reverse-takeover companies that have come under criticism from investors, auditors and short sellers.

The SEC's ability to discipline these companies is limited. Reverse takeovers are legal, and the agency's jurisdiction doesn't extend into China, so it can't subpoena documents and people. With company assets and most senior executives in China, the U.S. has limited scope to enforce any decisions against them.

MediaExpress programs entertainment and sells ad space on video screens installed in buses. The business originally was limited to intercity buses. Its expansion into airport express buses drove it to look into raising capital in the U.S, but the financial crisis scuttled plans to list via an IPO, according to a spokesman for the CEO.

The company listed its shares through a reverse takeover on NYSE Euronext's American Stock Exchange in October 2009 and immediately raised $46 million from investors.

But short sellers were becoming suspicious because of its stellar results. In its third-quarter results, released in November, MediaExpress's return on assets far outstripped those of the three major Chinese 'out-of-home' advertising companies listed in the U.S.; it was three times higher than the next best performer. And whereas the other firms target a white-collar audience, the long-distance buses in which MediaExpress installs its screens are mainly used by less-affluent students and migrant workers.

Then things started unraveling. In early February, three investors who had shorted the stock, issued negative reports on the company. All three short sellers said they acted independently. A report by one of them, Muddy Waters Research, gained particular attention. It alleged that MediaExpress had fewer than half the 27,200 buses than it tells investors are in its network. MediaExpress denied the assertion.

The competing claims by Muddy Waters and MediaExpress are hard to verify, in part because no official information on bus registrations is publicly available.

The Journal tried to contact a bus company that MediaExpress has claimed is one of its biggest partners, Shanghai Bus Industrial Group Co. MediaExpress Chief Executive Cheng Zheng said in a February letter published on its website that it had a contract with Shanghai Bus to carry MediaExpress screens on 1,892 intercity buses.

Shanghai Bus ceased to exist in 2009 after splitting into two differently named entities. Its transport business was injected into Shanghai Ba-Shi Public Transportation Group Co.

A spokesman for MediaExpress who identified himself as Mr. Li said Shanghai Ba-Shi is the company with which MediaExpress now has a contract. In an April interview arranged by MediaExpress after repeated requests for comment from its CEO, Mr. Li said most of Shanghai Ba-Shi's more than 20 units work with MediaExpress.

Shanghai Ba-Shi runs thousands of intracity buses, but it has only one unit that runs intercity buses, according to the vice director of the company's general office, who gave his surname as Wu, and two other people who work there. Liu Deqing, an official in the general office of the intercity bus unit, said it has only about 800 vehicles, and that the unit doesn't work with MediaExpress.

MediaExpress's spokesman said the company does business with multiple units of Shanghai Ba-Shi, and that the results of the internal investigation being conducted by DLA Piper will validate its previous claims.

At one of the biggest long-distance bus terminals in Shanghai, a gleaming depot run by Shanghai Ba-Shi, none of the three buses idling during a recent Journal visit carried MediaExpress screens. Instead, the bus drivers determined what to load onto the buses' hard drives.

'You'll find that every bus has got a different set of movies,' said a deputy station master, Wang Hui.

Mr. Li, the MediaExpress spokesman, said the company now has misgivings about how it listed in the U.S. 'We had never considered that this way of listing would come [at the expense] of investor trust,' he said.

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