TED演讲:怎样让企业持续运行100年(5)

 This beautiful building is part of the Shitennoji Temple Complex in Osaka, Japan. 这栋美丽的建筑是日本大阪四天王寺寺庙的一部分

In fact, it's one of the oldest temples in Japan.  事实上它是日本最老的建筑之一

It was built by a Korean artisan, because at the time, Japan was not yet building temples. 它由一个韩国工匠修建，因为在那时日本还不会修建寺庙

And this Korean artisan went on to found a temple-building company.  这个韩国工匠创建了一个修建寺庙的公司

Amazingly, his company, Kongo Gumi, was still around 1,428 years later. 十分神奇的是，他的公司Kongo Gumi在1480年后仍然存在

In fact, it became the oldest continuously operating company in the world. 实际上，它成为了世界上持续经营的最古老的公司

So how is Kongo Gumi doing today? Not too well, I'm afraid. Kongo Gumi现在怎么样了呢？恐怕不是很好

It borrowed very heavily during the bubble period of the Japanese economy, to invest in real estate. 在日本经济泡沫时期借了很重的债来投资房地产

And when the bubble burst, it couldn't refinance its loans.  当经济泡沫破裂时，它不能偿还债务

The company failed, and it was taken over by a major construction company. 公司破产了，被一所主流建筑公司收购

Tragically¹, after 40 generations of very careful stewardship² by the Kongo family, 可悲的是，在Kongo家族40代的苦心经营之后

Kongo Gumi succumbed³ to a spectacular lapse⁴ in the ability to apply a principle of prudence⁵. Kongo Gumi最终屈服于在精准运营上的巨大失败

Speaking of company failures: we're all familiar with the failure of Kodak, 讲到公司倒闭，我们都熟悉柯达公司的失败

the company that declared bankruptcy⁶ in January 2012. 柯达在2012年一月宣布破产

Much more interesting, however, is the question:  然而更为有趣的是:

Why did Fujifilm -- same product, same pressures from digital technology, same time 为什么富士胶片--同样的产品，相同的数码科技界的压力，同样的时间段--

why was Fujifilm able to survive and flourish?  为什么富士胶片能够存活下来，并且欣欣向荣？

1 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

2 stewardship   

n. n. 管理工作；管事人的职位及职责

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Last, but certainly not least, are the issues of stewardship and ethics. 最后，但当然不是微不足道的，是工作和道德规范的问题。

3 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

4 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

5 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

6 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。