发信人: stryker (屎踹可儿), 信区: EconForum
标 题: 美国经济被MBA们翻车zz
发信站: 水木社区 (Wed Jul 13 06:25:54 2011), 站内
发信人: OverCloud (天马行空), 信区: Military
标 题: 美国经济被MBA们翻车。
发信站: BBS 未名空间站
最新一期Time周刊有一篇好文。 大意就是，美国经济是被MBA们搞得一团糟糕。70年代
末MBA开始在美国吃香，同时，美国经济开始走下坡路。 MBA们只认数字，不懂产品开
发，为了公司数字好看，不惜将公司资深工程师劝退。 苹果公司在最糟糕时期，就是
一群MBA在管理。 他们搞不出产品，只能玩短线数字游戏。 文章的总体思想就是，技
术公司要由懂技术的人来管理，而不是由只会玩数字游戏的人来管理。
文章在最后说到中国正在走美国的MBA路线。 中国政府正在投资兴建40所商业学院，培
养大批MBA。结尾句用一个美国人的话说 "That's the best news I've heard in
years."
Driven off the Road by M.B.A.s
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2081930,00.htm
--
Bob Lutz, the former Vice Chairman of General Motors, is the most famous als
o-ran in the auto business. In the course of his 47-year rampage through the
industry, he's been within swiping range of the brass ring at Ford, BMW, Ch
rysler and, most recently, GM, but he's never landed the top gig. It's becau
se he "made the cars too well," he says. It might also have something to do
with the fact that Maximum Bob, who could double as a character on Mad Men,
is less an éminence grise than a pithy self-promoter who has a tendency to
go off corporate message. That said, his new book, Car Guys vs. Bean Counter
s: The Battle for the Soul of American Business, has a message worth hearing
. To get the U.S. economy growing again, Lutz says, we need to fire the M.B.
A.s and let engineers run the show.
Lutz's main argument is that companies, shareholders and consumers are best
served by product-driven executives. In his book, Lutz wisecracks his way th
rough the 1960s design- and technology-led glory days at GM to the late-1970
s takeover by gangs of M.B.A.s. Executives, once largely developed from engi
neering, began emerging from finance. The results ranged from the sobering (
managers signing off on inferior products because customers "had no choice")
to the hilarious (Cadillac ashtrays that wouldn't open because of corporate
mandates that they be designed to function at -40°F). It's pretty easy to
imagine Car Guy Lutz removing his mirrored shades and shouting to the coweri
ng line manager, "Well, customers in North Dakota will be happy. Too bad nob
ody else will!" (See five destructive myths about the U.S. economy.)
The auto industry is actually a terrific proxy for a trend toward short-term
, myopically balance-sheet-driven management that has infected American busi
ness. In the first half of the 20th century, industrial giants like Ford, Ge
neral Electric, AT&T and many others were extremely consumer-focused. They s
pent most of their time and money using new technologies to create the best
possible products and services, regardless of development cost. The idea was
, if you build it better, the customers will come. And they did.
The pendulum began to swing in the postwar era, when Harvard Business School
grad Robert McNamara and his "whiz kids" became famous for using mathematic
al modeling, game theory and complex statistical analysis for the Army Air C
orps, doing things like improving fuel-transport times and scheduling more-e
fficient bombing raids. McNamara, who later became president of Ford, brough
t extreme number crunching to the business world, and soon the idea that "if
you can measure it, you can manage it" took hold ― and no wonder. By the l
ate 1970s, M.B.A.s were flourishing, and engineers were relegated to the gee
k back rooms. (See why you should still go to college.)
This is not to say that the Whiz Kidding of American business yielded no pos
itives; things like the hyperefficient FedEx logistical hubs and the entire
consulting industry were born out of it. But ultimately, moving numbers arou
nd can do only so much. Over the long haul, you've got to invent or improve
real products and services to grow.
In the U.S., the growth of the financial industry has only exacerbated the t
rend toward balance-sheet-driven management. Companies everywhere, but parti
cularly in the U.S., where the banking sector wields the most power, are und
er tremendous short-term pressure to make their quarterly numbers. This ofte
n leads to planning that's reactive rather than smart: force the highest-pai
d engineers to retire, even if they are the best, and reduce payroll costs a
cross all divisions rather than invest in the ones that are pushing the New
New Thing through the pipeline. (See the 20 best- and worst-paid college maj
ors.)
It's interesting to note that the one area of the U.S. economy that's adding
jobs and increasing productivity and wealth is also the one that is the mos
t relentlessly product- and consumer-focused: Silicon Valley. The company of
f Highway 101 that best illustrates this point is, of course, Apple. The onl
y time Apple ever lost the plot was when it put the M.B.A.s in charge. As lo
ng as college dropout Steve Jobs is in the driver's seat, customers (and sha
reholders) are happy. The reason is clearly the one Lutz puts forward in his
book: "Shoemakers should be run by shoe guys, and software firms by softwar
e guys."
Meanwhile, despite all the post-financial-crisis soul searching within the b
usiness community about the value of an M.B.A., schools are still churning t
hem out. There are, and will be for the foreseeable future, a lot more bean
counters than engineers in this country. But the same may soon be true in Ch
ina, where the state plans to open 40 new graduate schools of business in th
e next few years. As Lutz puts it, "That's the best news I've heard in years
."
See why women now hold more advanced degrees than men.
See 24 of the most and least affordable colleges.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2081930,00.html#
ixzz1Rw08OYho
--
一个人为了赶上别人，就不得不像条狗那样拼命工作，做事时也可能会另辟蹊径，并且心中怀有极大的不满。
※ 修改:・stryker 于 Jul 13 06:56:10 2011 修改本文・[FROM: 211.99.222.*]
※ 来源:・水木社区 newsmth.net・[FROM: 211.99.222.*]
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