Good to Great (1/3)
从优秀到卓越
A book for busy executives summarized and reviewed by Soundview Executive Book Summaries
In his previous （1） , Built to Last, Jim Collins explored what made great companies great and how they sustained that greatness （2）. One point kept nagging him, though great companies have, （3）, always been great, while a vast majority of good companies remain just that: good, but not great. What could （4） good companies do to become great, to turn long-term weakness into long-term （5）?
Collins and his team of researchers used strict benchmarks to identify a group of 11 elite companies that made the leap from good to great and sustained that great for at least 15 years. The real surprise of Good to Great is not so much what good companies do to propel themselves to greatness—it is more companies have not done the same things more often.
The author and his team of researchers established these good-to-great benchmarks:
1. The companies had to have experienced 15 years cumulative stock returns that were at or below the general stock market, punctuated by a transition point, then cumulative returns at least three times the market over the next fifteen years.
2. Each company had to demonstrate the good-to-great pattern independent of its industry
3. Each company had to demonstrate a pattern of results.
4. Each company was compared to other similar companies that either never made the good-to-great leap (or made it but did not sustain it), in order to determine what distinguished the good-to-great company from all others.
When the dust declared and the good-to-great companies are identified, the author and his researchers found distinct patterns of behavior in those who led each company and the people who followed them—patterns that concerned disciplined people, thought and action.------------------------
Vocabulary Focus
nag (v)---- to cause persistent worry or concern
benchmark (n)---- a level of quality which can be used as a standard when comparing things
punctuate (v)---- to interrupt something repeatedly
Specialized Terms
stock return (n phr)---- 股票回报率 profit made from the sale of a part of the ownership of a company bought as an investment
Exercises for Today:
Discussion Question:
Share us something about your good－to－great personal occupation layout.
Dictation & Translation:
a) Dictation： 1st paragraph of today's text (5 missing words )
b) Translation： The last paragraph
文 本 下 载 参加讨论组 查看节目单 视频下载 学习方法
