经济学人439:意大利企业 把企业控制权留在家族中

 　　Italian businesses

　　意大利企业

　　Keeping it in the family

　　把企业控制权留在家族中

　　Patriarchs are reluctant to cede¹ control of the companies they built

　　创始人都不愿放弃操控他们创立的公司

　　RAISED in an orphanage², Leonardo Del Vecchio started selling spectacles in Belluno in northernItalyin 1967. Today his company, Luxottica, owns Ray-Ban and Oakley, the two biggest brands of sunglasses, and has annual sales of 7.3 billion Aged³ 79, Mr Del Vecchio isItaly's second-richest man. He stepped back from management a decade ago. But on September 1st he abruptly⁴ stepped back in. Andrea Guerra, Luxottica's boss, has left. Mr Del Vecchio will head the triumvirate that will replace him.

　　在孤儿院长大的莱昂纳多.德尔.维奇奥在1967年开始在意大利北部的Belluno售卖眼镜。而今其公司Luxottica拥有雷朋和奥克利两大太阳镜品牌，年销售额为73亿欧元。而现79岁的德尔.维奇奥先生是意大利第二大富豪。十年前他退出了管理层。但是9月1日他又重装上阵。Luxottica公司的老板Andrea Guerra已卸任。德尔.维奇奥先生将取代他的位置统领这一巨头。

　　意大利企业.jpg

　　This is an unusual solution to a problem that faces many Italian firms: ageing patriarchs who are reluctant to bow out or even to plan for the day when they eventually must. Until Mr Del Vecchio's comeback, there had seemed to be somewhat of a trend for founders⁵ and their heirs to hand management to professionals. In 2006 Salvatore Ferragamo, an upmarket shoemaker, hired Michele Norsa to succeed Feruccio Ferragamo, the founder's son. Sergio Marchionne, the boss of Fiat⁶ Chrysler, does not belong to the carmaker's founding family, the Agnellis. Mr Del Vecchio had won praise for picking Mr Guerra over his relatives to run Luxottica.

　　许多意大利企业都面临的一个问题：年迈的创始人不愿退休，甚至不愿为这终将到来的退休之日做个计划。而这是一个非比寻常的解决方式。创始人或他们的继承者把管理权交给专业经理人似乎成了一种趋势，直到德尔.维奇奥先重装上阵。2006年，高端制鞋公司Salvatore Ferragamo雇佣了Michele Norsa使得创始人之子Feruccio Ferragamo一举成功。Fiat Chrysler的老板Sergio Marchionne不是汽车制造企业创始人家族—Agnellis家族的一员。德尔.维奇奥因在其家族中选择Guerra先生来运营Luxottica公司而赢得赞誉。

　　Smooth handovers are hard to arrange, especially at fashion houses, which struggle to break free from the geniuses who created them. Giorgio Armani, now 80 (pictured, left), has no known succession plan for the company that bears his name. Roberto Cavalli, a designer of slightly younger vintage, has so far failed to find someone to take over. The brand's two most senior non-family managers left in January. A deal to sell his firm to Permira, a private-equity investor⁷, fell apart. Now he is trying to sell a majority stake to VTB, a Russian state-controlled bank, despite VTB being among the firms subject to Western sanctions overRussia's involvement inUkraine.

　　顺利的交接很难安排，特别是在时装公司，他们奋力要冲破创始人的光环。如今80岁的Giorgio Armani，以其名字命名的公司没有已知的继任计划。偏年轻复古风格的设计师Roberto Cavalli到如今也没能找到继任者。该品牌最资深的两个非家族管理者在1月就离开了。将公司出售给一家私募股权投资公司Permira的计划最终也流产了。如今他正试图将其公司大部分的股权卖给一家俄罗斯国家控股银行—俄罗斯外贸银行，尽管俄罗斯外贸银行因俄罗斯插手乌克兰变局正受到西方制裁。

　　Mr Guerra had to go, said Mr Del Vecchio, because his views on the firm's strategy had “diverged” from his own. Mr Guerra had expanded Luxottica globally and doubled its profits, though its retail⁸ chains, Sunglass Hut and LensCrafters, had not done as well as expected.

　　说Guerra先生不得不离开，因为他对于公司战略的看法已经与他自己向背离德尔.维奇奥。Guerra先生将Luxottica扩张到全球各地并使其利润翻倍，尽管其零售产业链Sunglass Hut 和LensCrafters 并未达到预期效果。

　　Mr Del Vecchio says he has no plans to hand the management of the firm to his children. If his motives⁹ in shaking up Luxottica's management are indeed primarily financial, minority shareholders¹⁰ will cheer. If they are familial, they will be sceptical, even though some Italian firms are thriving under second- and third-generation bosses. Ermenegildo Zegna, an upmarket tailor, is well-run by the founder's grandson. Michele Ferrero, a confectioner who isItaly's richest man, has handed to his son the job of selling Nutella and Tic Tacs.

　　德尔.维奇奥表示他没有计划将公司的管理权交个他的孩子。如果他重组公司管理层的动机真的主要是金融方面的，一小部分股东将为之欢呼雀跃。如果他们是家族成员，他们就会有疑虑，尽管一些意大利企业在第二代、第三代老板的管理下正蓬勃发展。高级制衣公司Ermenegildo Zegna在其创始人孙子的管理下运营良好。糖果制造商Michele Ferrero—意大利最富有的的人，让其儿子接管了Nutella和Tic Tacs的销售工作。

　　Perhaps Mr Del Vecchio could take inspiration from Hermes, a French luxury-goods house that has gone from family to professional management and back without visible strain. Its pedigreed boss, Axel Dumas, took over in February after eight years of management by an outsider. On September 3rd he settled a row with LVMH, a rival that had built a large stake in his company. LVMH now says it will distribute those shares to its shareholders, ending the threat of a hostile bid. Mr Dumas had feared for Hermes's independence, and perhaps for his job. He now looks secure. Mr Del Vecchio must be hoping for an equally sunny outcome.

　　也许德尔.维奇奥可以从法国奢侈品公司Hermes得到启发，Hermes的管理权从家族人士手中转移到专业人士手中，而后有毫无明显负担的回到家族。在经过外人管理公司8年后，其有家族血统的老板Axel Dumas在二月接手上任。9月3日他和路易威登站在一排。其竞争对手路易威登已在其公司拥有大量股份。如今路易威登表示它将会把这些股份分发给它的股东，以结束敌意收购的威胁。Dumas先生为Hermes的独立性感到担忧，同时担忧的也许还有他的工作。他现在看起来很安全。德尔.维奇奥一定正期盼着一个两全其美的结果。

1 cede   

v.割让，放弃

参考例句：

• The debater refused to cede the point to her opponent.辩论者拒绝向她的对手放弃其主张。
• Not because I'm proud.In fact,in front of you I cede all my pride.这不是因为骄傲，事实上我在你面前毫无骄傲可言。

2 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

7 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

10 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任