财富精英励志演讲108:艰难的抉择(9)

 　　And if you doubt that think about the parable¹ of Kodak and Hewlett Packard, Kodak was a company that in 1999 set on the huge pair of profit in the traditional photography business, that's in 5 years later, that business was drifting away, because a new technology had transformed an entire industry, all of you have cell phones you all take pictures with them. And that happened in about 5 years, when Kodak finally announced... with all due respect to anyone who is here who works for Kodak, when Kodak finally announced, OK, we get it, we're going to now move to the new digital edge, we're going to deemphasize our traditional business. The market said, "Yeah, that's the right decision everybody accepted it". It was too late and Kodak brand may survive，but it's not clear the company will. On the other hand, when we undertook the merger² with Compaq, very few people saw it, the fact that technology industry maybe had to consolidate³ was been viewed as heresy⁴, the fact that scope and skill mattered, the fact that we could actually compete against Dell, the fact that maybe we could overcome IBM as the largest technology company in the world, by the way, these all goals all things were said way back to 2001, they seemed like hubris⁵ and naivety⁶, and looking back now, it's clear the industry had to consolidate. It's clear that HP is competing against DeLL and IBM. At the time that we announced Compaq merger, I told the board of both companies the stock will drop, HP stock will drop 20%, and it dropped 23%. I was the close.

　　如果你怀疑，可以想一想柯达和惠普：1999年柯达公司坐拥传统摄影业的金矿，五年过后，这个业务渐渐低落，因为新科技改变了整个业界。大家都有手机，都用手机拍照，这是近五年来的事情。这里不是对在座的哪一位柯达员工不敬，当柯达最后宣布:“我们知道了，我们也要进入新数码时代，不再强调传统业务了。”市场回应：“好啊，这是正确的决定，大家都接受。”但为时已晚，可能柯达这一品牌还在延续，但不清楚企业能否生存下去。另一方面，当我们和康柏合并只有极少数人认为科技产业合并是理所当然的。事实上，规模和范围是重要的，我们可以和戴尔竞争，我们甚至可以超越IBM成为全球最大的科技公司。顺便说一下，这全是我们在2001年提出的目标。当然这些目标看似傲慢天真。现在回顾起来很清楚，这个产业需要合并，这样惠普才可以跟戴尔和IBM竞争。宣布惠普与康柏合并时，我吿知两个企业的董事，股价会下跌，惠普股票会下跌20%，实际上下跌了23%，和我预测的差不多。

1 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

2 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

3 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

4 heresy   

n.异端邪说；异教

参考例句：

• We should denounce a heresy.我们应该公开指责异端邪说。
• It might be considered heresy to suggest such a notion.提出这样一个观点可能会被视为异端邪说。

5 hubris   

n.傲慢，骄傲

参考例句：

• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
• The very hubris of French claims alarmed the other powers.法国贪婪的胃口使其他大国惊恐不安。

6 naivety   

n.天真，纯朴，幼稚

参考例句：

• Mozart's music is characterized by its naivety and clarity.莫扎特的音乐特色是纯朴兴清澈。
• She has lost none of her naivety.她丝毫没有失去那份天真烂漫。