評(píng)論
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Business
商業(yè)版塊
Bartleby
巴托比專欄
The lure of the family business
家族企業(yè)的誘惑
The pros and cons of following in your parents’ footsteps.
追隨父母腳步的利與弊。
Family business makes for compelling drama.
家族企業(yè)造就扣人心弦的戲劇故事。
Just ask anyone tuning in to the final season of “Succession”, which has recently begun airing on HBO.
只要問(wèn)問(wèn)任何一個(gè)在看《繼承之戰(zhàn)》最后一季的人就知道了，這部劇最近開(kāi)始在HBO播出。
This Bartleby prefers “Buddenbrooks”, Thomas Mann’s chronicle of the decline and collapse of a German merchant family over the course of four generations.
本文的巴托比專欄作者更喜歡托馬斯·曼的《布登勃洛克一家》，一部關(guān)于一個(gè)德國(guó)商人家族歷經(jīng)四代而衰落崩潰的編年史。
That novel, first published in 1901, drew heavily on the author’s personal experience.
這部小說(shuō)于1901年首次出版，在很大程度上借鑒了作者的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷。
The dilemmas of working for an organisation which an immediate family member runs or in which they own the majority sound alarming enough in fiction, never mind real life.
在一個(gè)由直系親屬管理或直系親屬擁有多數(shù)股權(quán)的組織里工作，這種兩難境地在虛構(gòu)小說(shuō)中聽(tīng)起來(lái)就夠令人擔(dān)憂的了，更不用說(shuō)在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中。
And nepotism can be plenty dramatic even without the plot twists.
即使沒(méi)有曲折情節(jié)，裙帶關(guān)系也可以相當(dāng)有戲劇性。
These days it is frowned upon—most publicly listed companies and professional firms ban it.
如今，人們不贊成裙帶關(guān)系--大多數(shù)上市公司和專業(yè)公司都禁止這一行為。
Still, family businesses make up more than 90% of the world’s enterprises.
盡管如此，家族企業(yè)仍占全球企業(yè)的90%以上。
Many of them, quite literally, are mom-and-pop shops.
其中許多都是名副其實(shí)的夫妻店。
Some are large-ish businesses in smallish economies, like the one in Athens where this guest Bartleby, straight out of university, was put in charge of managing relations with institutional investors.
有一些是小型經(jīng)濟(jì)體中比較大的企業(yè)，比如雅典的一家公司，筆者剛從大學(xué)畢業(yè)就在這家公司負(fù)責(zé)管理與機(jī)構(gòu)投資者的關(guān)系。
A handful are giant global corporations: think of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire (which allegedly inspired “Succession”) or Bernard Arnault’s $460bn luxury conglomerate, LVMH (which, as it happens, has grown by acquiring other family firms, such as Bulgari and Fendi).
還有幾家是大型全球性企業(yè)：想想魯伯特·默多克的傳媒帝國(guó)(據(jù)說(shuō)為《繼承之戰(zhàn)》提供了靈感)，或者貝爾納·阿爾諾價(jià)值4600億美元的奢侈品集團(tuán)酩悅·軒尼詩(shī)-路易·威登集團(tuán)(LVMH)(該集團(tuán)碰巧通過(guò)收購(gòu)寶格麗和芬迪等其他家族企業(yè)而逐漸壯大)。
Regardless of size, all family companies face common challenges.
無(wú)論規(guī)模大小，所有家族企業(yè)都面臨著共同的挑戰(zhàn)。
Filial loyalty and multi-generational thinking can morph into resistance to change, and if a firm has outside shareholders, clash with their interests.
孝順忠心和多代思維可能會(huì)演變成不思變革，如果公司里有家族以外的股東，那么就會(huì)出現(xiàn)利益沖突。
The process of generational transition can be particularly draining and frustrating to the staff members who are not family, raising uncomfortable questions about social mobility, or the lack thereof.
對(duì)于家族以外的員工來(lái)說(shuō)，代際過(guò)渡的過(guò)程可能尤其令人感到精疲力竭和沮喪，并引發(fā)關(guān)于社會(huì)流動(dòng)性或缺乏社會(huì)流動(dòng)性的令人不安的問(wèn)題。
For the corporate heir, meeting family expectations and continuing a legacy while achieving personal fulfilment can generate a mass of contradictions, as Mann splendidly illuminated.
對(duì)于企業(yè)繼承人來(lái)說(shuō)，在實(shí)現(xiàn)個(gè)人成就的同時(shí)滿足家族期望和延續(xù)遺產(chǎn)可能會(huì)引發(fā)大量矛盾，正如托馬斯·曼精彩描述的那樣。
Even in companies that insist they are meritocratic, no amount of skill will convince all your colleagues that you have actually earned your job.
即使在堅(jiān)稱任人唯賢的公司里，有再多的技能也無(wú)法讓你的所有同事相信，你是靠努力贏得了這份工作。
Any pre-existing domestic frictions might make their way into the business.
任何先前存在的家庭內(nèi)部摩擦都可能進(jìn)入公司里。
And vice versa: disagreements over the business can breed feuds, often between siblings.
反之亦然：在公司業(yè)務(wù)上的分歧也可能會(huì)滋生世仇，通常是在兄弟姐妹之間。
In India, the bitter dispute between Mukesh and Anil Ambani over their inherited empire, Reliance Industries, lasted for years after their father died without leaving a will.
在印度，穆凱什和阿尼爾·安巴尼對(duì)他們繼承的商業(yè)帝國(guó)"信實(shí)工業(yè)"產(chǎn)生了激烈爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，他們的父親沒(méi)有留下遺囑就去世了，爭(zhēng)執(zhí)在父親去世多年后仍然繼續(xù)。
No wonder some heirs decide to hold on to their shareholdings, perhaps a board seat, but pursue a career elsewhere.
難怪一些繼承人決定保留他們的股份或董事會(huì)席位，但在其他地方追求事業(yè)。
Not all Waltons work for Walmart; it is hard to find Hoffmanns among executives at Roche, the Swiss drugmaking giant founded by their forebear in 1896.
并不是所有的沃爾頓家成員都在沃爾瑪工作，在羅氏的高管中也很難找到霍夫曼家的人，羅氏是一家瑞士制藥巨頭，由霍夫曼家的祖輩于1896年創(chuàng)立。
They thus avoided being accused of belonging to the “l(fā)ucky sperm club”, as Warren Buffett calls those who might well possess the managerial skills to lead a large organisation but never had to jump through the same hoops as everyone else.
這些人因此免于被指責(zé)屬于“幸運(yùn)精子俱樂(lè)部”，沃倫·巴菲特稱這些人可能完全具備領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一個(gè)大型組織的管理技能，但不必像其他人那樣吃同樣的苦頭。
Hilton and Marriott, two of the world’s biggest hotel chains, as well as Lego, a toymaking giant, are examples of companies which did not produce a strong successor and eventually ended up in the hands of professional managers.
希爾頓和萬(wàn)豪這兩家世界上最大的連鎖酒店，以及玩具制造巨頭樂(lè)高，都是沒(méi)有培養(yǎng)出強(qiáng)有力的繼承者，最終公司由職業(yè)經(jīng)理人掌管的例子。
For those who nevertheless decide to take an active role in the family business, it does not have to be a poison.
對(duì)于那些仍然決定在家族企業(yè)中發(fā)揮積極作用的人來(lái)說(shuō)，家族企業(yè)不一定是毒藥。
Some of the logic that historically made family firms de rigueur continues to stand.
過(guò)去曾讓家族企業(yè)符合社會(huì)習(xí)俗的一些邏輯如今依然成立。
For example, designated heirs—like Mr Arnault’s five children, all of whom now run parts of LVMH—are groomed early on, so by the time they are ready to take over they have already acquired some industry knowledge by osmosis.
例如，指定的繼承人--就像阿爾諾的五個(gè)子女，現(xiàn)在都管理LVMH的部分業(yè)務(wù)--很早就要培養(yǎng)好，這樣當(dāng)他們準(zhǔn)備接手時(shí)，他們已經(jīng)耳濡目染地獲得了一些行業(yè)知識(shí)。
At the personal level, work is not solely about money but also about empowerment and prestige.
在個(gè)人層面，工作不僅僅關(guān)乎金錢(qián)，還關(guān)乎賦權(quán)和聲望。
Your name on the door may bestow a sense of purpose.
門(mén)上印著你的名字，這可能會(huì)給人一種使命感。
Preserving the legacy of an empire can be rewarding, so long as the heir displays passion and persistence.
只要繼承人表現(xiàn)出激情和堅(jiān)持不懈，保護(hù)帝國(guó)的遺產(chǎn)就會(huì)帶來(lái)回報(bào)。
They can probably forget being one of the gang when it comes to office gossip, but they can earn their colleagues’ and subordinates’ respect with modesty and hard work.
當(dāng)談?wù)撧k公室八卦時(shí)，他們可能會(huì)忘記自己是家族的一員，但他們可以通過(guò)謙虛和努力工作來(lái)贏得同事和下屬的尊重。
The serious heir knows that showing up simply because it is easier than venturing out on their own doesn’t cut it.
嚴(yán)肅的繼承人知道，僅僅因?yàn)槌霈F(xiàn)在自家公司比外出打拼容易就留在自家公司，這并沒(méi)有想象中的美好。
Ultimately, being entrusted with a business by people who share your DNA is something you ought to earn, not expect.
歸根結(jié)底，受到和你有共同基因的人的委托，而去經(jīng)營(yíng)一家企業(yè)，這應(yīng)該是你努力贏得的，而不是憑空期望的。
As the adage goes, “A family business is not a business you inherit from your parents, it is a business you borrow from your children.”
正如諺語(yǔ)所說(shuō)："家族企業(yè)不是你從父母那里繼承來(lái)的企業(yè)，而是你從子女那里借來(lái)的企業(yè)。"
Disregard for this nugget of wisdom is what makes “Succession” such riveting television—and Waystar Royco so dysfunctional.
《繼承之戰(zhàn)》如此精彩以及劇中的威士達(dá)傳媒集團(tuán)如此崩壞的原因就在于對(duì)這一智慧的漠視。
