有關商學院高管項目的問答

I have just joined a Fortune 500 company in the human resources department and realise that the company spends huge amounts of money sending managers to business school, effectively as a very expensive perk. There is no attempt to justify the cost or measure the impact of the courses on the way the company operates. What, if anything, can I do to change this?

我剛剛加入一家《財富》(Fortune) 500強公司的人力資源部。我很快意識到，這家公司花了很多錢派管理人員出去讀商學院，實際上這是一項非常昂貴的額外福利。誰也沒有試着檢驗這錢花得值不值，或者衡量一下商學院課程對公司運營方式產生了多大影響。總之，我能做些什麼去改變現狀呢？

First, you need to understand how the company views HR. If you are seen as a tiresome meddler by the top brass, then I suggest you lie low. Questioning perks handed out to senior people is going to do no good at all and will only harm you.

首先，你需要弄清楚，這家公司是如何看待人力資源部門的？如果你被最高層視爲令人討厭的管閒事者，那我建議你放低姿態。對高級職員獲得的福利提出質疑，對你沒有絲毫好處，只會害了你。

There will come a time when the company will probably decide to send people on online courses instead. That won’t come from a careful weighing of pros and cons but from a cost-cutting edict. Until such a time, I suggest you devote your efforts to asking to be sent on such a course yourself — and then you’ll be better placed to judge what value, if any, they really have.

有一天，公司可能將決定讓員工就讀商學院在線教育項目。但那不會是出於仔細的利弊衡量，而是因爲上頭命令削減成本。到那時之前，我建議你把心思花在向公司申請就讀這類項目上——那樣你就能更好地判斷此類項目價值的大小，如果真有價值的話。

I have just been promoted and given additional line responsibility in my company. Traditionally, those who were promoted to this position were sent on a two-week business school programme in the US. Instead, I have been offered access to the same programme from the same university, but in an online format. I feel short-changed. Am I right to do so?

我剛獲得晉升，在公司裏增加了其他分管業務。在傳統上，晉升到這個位置上的人會被派往美國參加兩週的商學院項目。但是，公司雖然讓我就讀同一大學的同一項目，卻是在線版。我感到公司對我不公正。我這麼想對嗎？

I feel your pain. The online version is the worst of all worlds — you have to do all the boring work without any of the fun and without getting any contacts at the end of it.

我感覺得到你的痛苦。在線版商學院項目是最糟糕的東西——你得完成所有枯燥的功課，毫無樂趣可言，結束時不能增加一絲一毫的人脈。

Unfortunately, I doubt whether there’s much you can do about it, assuming this is a general change of policy that applies to everyone. Your company has noticed the difference to its bottom line and acted accordingly — which makes perfect sense.

遺憾的是，我覺得你對此基本無能爲力，如果這是適用於所有員工的總體政策調整的話。你的公司注意到了兩者對公司利潤的不同影響，並相應地採取了行動——這麼做是合情合理的。

However, if it turns out to be only you who has been short-changed in this way, then there is no harm in kicking up rough. Tell them about all the wonderful contacts you would make for the business and how you love learning from others. And tell them it’s not fair. In my experience people who make a huge fuss tend to get their way.

然而，如果事實證明只有你一人在這方面受到了不公正待遇，激烈反抗沒有害處。告訴他們，你將爲公司結識絕妙的人脈關係，以及你是多麼地喜歡向其他人學習。還要告訴他們，這是不公平的。就我的經驗而言，大鬧一場的人通常得到了自己想要的結果。

I enrolled in a short programme thinking it would enhance teamwork and networking. However, quite a few participants are from the same company and do not seem interested in the rest of us. What can we do to make sure they do not ruin it for everybody else?

我加入了一個短期項目，認爲它能增強團隊精神，擴大關係網絡。然而，有好幾個學員跟我來自同一公司，他們對別人似乎不感興趣。我們怎麼才能確保不讓他們幾個壞了其他所有人的事呢？

You need to enlist all the others who don’t work for that company. Together you are much more powerful than you are on your own. Either form a splinter group or, as a group, challenge the others. Tell them this isn’t working for you — and can’t be working for them either, as they might as well still be in the office. Even if they continue in their exclusive ways, comfort yourself with the thought that you are still learning something valuable that can be widely applied in almost all corporate situations: how to interact with people who aren’t interested in you.

你需要贏得你公司以外的所有學員的支持。你們團結在一起，跟你單打獨鬥相比，力量要大很多。或者形成一個小派別，或者你們所有人一起，挑戰那幫人。告訴他們，他們的做法對你不管用，對他們也不可能有好處，因爲他們大概也還得在公司工作。即便他們仍自行其是，你也可以安慰自己，你是在學習對幾乎所有公司場合都適用的有價值經驗：如何跟那些對你不感興趣的人打交道。

There is much talk of online courses replacing campus-based executive education. I am annoyed. In the past I have enjoyed immersing myself in study away from the office and mixing and networking with the other participants. Can it ever be possible to replace face-to-face contact effectively on an online course?

有關在線高管教育項目取代校園項目的說法太多了。我都煩了。過去，我很喜歡脫產學習，跟其他學員交流，建立關係網。在線項目有可能真的取代面對面交流嗎？

It depends what you think is the purpose of these courses. If it is to learn basic accountancy or to whip through a few case studies, online learning is just as good — and probably better as it’s faster and considerably cheaper.

這取決於你如何看待就讀商學院項目的目的。如果目的是學習基礎會計知識，或者很快做完幾個案例，在線項目跟校園項目同樣有效，很可能會更理想，因爲它耗時更少，花費也少得多。

But that is hardly ever the point of such courses. The point is that they are a perk and a reward. They are a badge that shows your employer rates you and is giving you permission to strut your stuff among others who have been equally favoured. So no, this contact can never be replaced. Whether that means these courses survive long-term is not certain, although it is likely, as those who control the purse-strings tend to be the same people who have benefited from such courses themselves.

但是，這根本不是商學院項目的關鍵。關鍵是，它是額外待遇和獎勵。它是一枚“徽章”，表明僱主認可你，允許你跟其他受到看重的人一樣用它炫耀自己。所以，在線項目絕對取代不了實際交流。這是否意味着校園項目將長期存在還很難說，儘管有這種可能性，因爲控制錢袋子的人通常也是曾親身從此類校園項目中受益的人。

Other participants on my course do not seem to like working with those who are junior to themselves. I am starting to feel like a second-class participant. What should I do?

跟我參加同一項目的其他學員似乎不願跟資歷不如他們的學員合作。我開始感覺自己就像是一個二等學員。我該怎麼辦？

You could try telling yourself that anyone who is so status-conscious is unlikely to be worth bothering with. But I doubt if you’ll convince yourself.

你可以嘗試告訴自己，任何太過關注地位的人，可能都不值得你爲之煩惱。但我懷疑你是否能說服自己。

Corporate life is hierarchical, no matter how hard it pretends not to be. One of the most important things is learning how to survive on the lower rungs of the ladder. Alas, it means you simply have to try harder than those above you, who are taken seriously by dint of their seniority. By contrast, you have to perform, and perform visibly.

在公司裏，人是分三六九等的，無論怎麼假裝否認也不行。最重要的事情之一，是學會如何在職場階梯的較低層生存。可惜，這意味着你就是得比資歷高於你的人更加努力——他們被重視是因爲資格老。對比之下，你必須有所表現，並且是大家看得見的表現。

You have to learn to think of things that are intelligent, original or funny to say. You have to earn respect — they get it handed to them as a matter of course. It’s not fair or nice, but it is how it works. Good luck.

你必須學會想出一些睿智、新穎或有趣的事情講給大家。你必須贏得尊重——而他們是自然而然獲得尊重的。這不公平，也不美好，但事情就是如此。祝你好運。