美国国家公共电台 NPR CEOs' Dilemma: Supporting Trump's Agenda, Opposing His Behavior

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Today President Trump¹ tried to keep his business agenda on track. He signed an executive order to speed up the permitting of highways and bridges.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We will rebuild our country with American workers, American iron, American aluminum², American steel.

CORNISH: But also today, more members of a White House council on manufacturing said they were stepping down after observing President Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va. NPR's Jim Zarroli has more.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE³: Last February, Kevin Plank⁴, the head of the clothing company Under Armour⁵, generated a social media firestorm because of an appearance he made on CNBC. Plank's offense⁶ was to speak a little too enthusiastically about President Trump.

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KEVIN PLANK: I think he's highly passionate⁷. He definitely is - you know, to have such a pro-business president is something that's a real asset for this country. I think people should really grab that opportunity.

ZARROLI: Yesterday, Plank joined the growing ranks of corporate⁸ leaders who are publicly cutting ties with Trump following his tepid⁹ statements about the Charlottesville violence this weekend. Plank stepped down from a White House advisory¹⁰ council on manufacturing. He said there is no place for racism¹¹ and discrimination in this world. He follows the CEOs of Merck and Intel out the door. Nicholas Pearce is an associate professor of management at Northwestern's Kellogg School.

NICHOLAS PEARCE: I think these leaders are waking up to the fact that their continued silence in the face of mounting evidence of immorality¹² is tantamount to consent.

ZARROLI: The defection of these CEOs underscores the dilemma¹³ that corporations face in a highly polarized and partisan¹⁴ era. University of Michigan business administration professor David Ulrich says many CEOs share President Trump's agenda of deregulation and tax cuts and want it to succeed. But they increasingly find it difficult to ignore Trump's personal behavior.

DAVID ULRICH: How do you begin to manage the balance between the person and the policy? And I can imagine these CEOs are really struggling to find that right balance between those two things.

ZARROLI: Ulrich says the dilemma is all the more difficult for another reason. By publicly cutting ties with the White House, the CEOs are giving up a seat at the table.

ULRICH: It's pretty easy for a CEO to say, these are my values; you violated them. But the CEOs who are smart know, once I back out of that opportunity to shape policy, the voice that I could have had is now lost.

ZARROLI: And Trump said in a tweet today that he won't have any trouble replacing the CEOs who quit. Meanwhile, several other CEOs made clear they're staying on the White House council. Alex Gorsky of Johnson & Johnson said in a statement that the company has a responsibility to remain engaged, not to support any political agenda but to make sure its values are represented as crucial public policy is developed.

The events in Charlottesville point to another challenge facing corporations. Companies can't risk allowing racial tensions to fester in the workplace. Michael LeRoy of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana says companies that do can face legal problems.

MICHAEL LEROY: I think you have to figure out who you are as an organization. And if you're going to tolerate that, then you're going to have to put up with litigation as to racial harassment¹⁵ and so forth¹⁶.

ZARROLI: LeRoy says it's ultimately up to a top executive to set the right tone in the workplace and send a message that those kinds of tensions won't be tolerated. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

5 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

6 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

7 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

10 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

11 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

12 immorality   

n. 不道德, 无道义

参考例句：

• All the churchmen have preached against immorality. 所有牧师都讲道反对不道德的行为。
• Where the European sees immorality and lawlessness, strict law rules in reality. 在欧洲人视为不道德和无规则的地方，事实上都盛行着一种严格的规则。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

13 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

14 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

15 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

16 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。