经济学人371:法国商业 由外到内

　　French business
法国商业
Outside in
由外到内
France just might be growing more tolerant of disruptive outsider
法国也许会对外来的破坏分子越发纵容
THE French do have a word for “entrepreneur”, pace George Bush, and more than 500,000 new businesses in 2013 to prove it. What they struggle to translate precisely¹ is “outsider”.
在法国有一个词是用来描述“企业家”的，在乔治·布什的书籍《步伐》中，以及在2013年有超过五十万的新业务证明了这一点。而他们难以用精确的语言来翻译的这个词语便是“外来者”。
法国商业.jpg
Patrick Drahi, a Moroccan-born, Swiss-resident, Franco-Israeli billionaire who has just won a bitter takeover battle for SFR, a telecoms operator, happens to be both. It was a striking victory over the Bouygues family, a powerful industrial clan² at the heart of the establishment, who were backed by a clutch of other well-connected family businesses, a state investment agency, a big union, and above all by the industry minister, Arnaud Montebourg. This is quite a feat³ in a country where disruptive newcomers have rarely been made welcome at the big-business high table.
帕特里克·德拉希，一位摩洛哥出生，定居于瑞士的以籍法裔亿万富翁，于不久前赢得了一场发生在收购SFR的恶战,SFR是一家电信运营商。这是一场出人意料的战役，因为它战胜了布依格家族，这个强大工业帝国的核心，是由以众多其他出生名门的家族企业为靠山构成的，它不仅拥有政府投资，而且拥有一个巨大的联盟，其中以工业部部长，Arnaud Montebourg为首。在一个具有破坏性的外来者在大企业的谈判桌上是不被欢迎的国家，这是一个相当了不起的壮举。
Mr Drahi attributes his win to the simple fact that his was a better project than Bouygues Telecom's, and logic⁴ prevailed. Others argue that the board of Vivendi, the media group that was selling SFR, is stiff with unusually independent-minded men whose backs were put up by the public pressure that the Bouygues family and their chums brought to bear.
Drahi把他的胜利归结为一个简单的原因：他比布依格电信公司拥有更周全的计划，因此理应胜利。还有一些人认为这是因为试图出售SFR的维旺迪董事会（Vivendi SA；又译威望迪，前名为维旺迪环球（Vivendi Universal）是法国一家巨型媒体跨国集团。业务范围包括音乐、电视、电影、出版、电信、互联网和电子游戏等行业。）出人意料的是因为无党派人士背后有布依格家族以及其同盟所施加的社会压力。
Even so, it is not implausible to see in it the beginnings of a sea-change in French capitalism⁵. The long-standing assumption that with the state's blessing⁶, the destinies of entire industries should be overseen⁷ by a charmed circle of interconnected people from the grandes ecoles and the haute bourgeoisie seems to be wearing thinner these days. One line in Mr Drahi's CV implies he is part of that circle—he attended the elite⁸ ecole Polytechnique—but rather than continuing on the usual route via public service and politics to the top of a giant French corporation, the son of humble⁹ Moroccan teachers pursued a rather Anglo-Saxon career as a buyer, seller and stitcher-together of cable and telecoms companies around the globe, alongside buy-out firms.
即便如此，法国资本主义史上这样一个如此重大的变革依然是令人难以置信的。一个长期存在的猜想就是在国家的庇佑下，法国整个实业的前途应该是在一些来自grandes ecoles以及haute bourgeoisie（法国中产阶级上层）的互通有无排外团体的严密监管之下的，这些些日子，他们看起来似乎衣着单薄。从Drahi先生的简历看来他似乎也是也是这个团体之中的一部分——因为他参与了整个的法国高等工商学院的整个精英班的学习——但是比起沿着通过公共服务以及政治活动等成为法国的巨头企业这一条寻常之路，这位摩洛哥普通老师的儿子追随了盎格鲁-撒克逊的道路作为一个买家，卖家和有线电视遍布全球的电信公司，他与全面收购并驾齐驱。
Not many such disruptive outsiders have risen to the very top, but there are a few. One is Xavier Niel, founder¹⁰ of Iliad Group, a mobile-phone operator that has grown fast by drastically undercutting its rivals' prices. The co-owner these days of Le Monde, a newspaper, and partner of the daughter of Bernard Arnault, boss of LVMH, a luxury group, Mr Niel is being clasped to the establishment's bosom¹¹. Another iconoclast¹² is Jacques-Antoine Granjon, the billionaire co-founder of an early online-retail business, Vente-privee.com.
并没有很多这样具有颠覆性的局外人达到如此顶端之高度，但也不是没有。其中之一便是Xavier Niel，Iliad Group的创始人，一位增长迅猛与竞争对手议价能力极高的移动电话运营商。这些日子他成为了《世界报》的合伙人以及LVMH这个奢侈品集团老板Bernard Arnault女儿的合伙人，Niel先生已经紧紧扣住了当权者的心扉。另一个打破常规的人便是Jacques-Antoine Granjon，这位亿万富翁是Vente-privee.com.这个早期网上零售商的共同创始人。
More shaking-up is on the cards. France's business climate is changing as its flagship companies go global. Some are now run by foreigners—for example, Sanofi, a pharmaceuticals¹³ giant with a German chief executive, its first non-French boss. Others have shifted senior management overseas: Essilor, the world leader in corrective lenses, is mainly overseen from Texas these days. And foreign investors¹⁴, with their Anglo-Saxon expectations of corporate¹⁵ governance, own around half the shares of the biggest firms, the CAC-40.
巨变即将来临。当其旗舰企业走向国际的时候法国商业环境就已变化。其中一些企业现在还是由外国人经营的，例如Sanofi，这家制药业巨头有一个德国的首席执行官，这是非法籍人士的首次担任公司最高层。其他的一些公司也开始雇佣外籍人员作为公司高管：Essilor，矫正视力业内的领头羊，大体上已经处于特克萨斯州的监管下了。并且外国的投资者带着盎格鲁-撒克逊的法人管理期望值，大约拥有这家最大公司一半的一半份额，从CAC-40指数来看。
There is another reason, too, why France is set to become more open to entrepreneurs, outsiders and disrupters. “France's back is to the wall economically,” says Mr Drahi, “President Hollande has realised that only enterprises create jobs and Manuel Valls, the new prime minister, is already pushing that line.” Just as Fran?ois Mitterrand, elected president in 1981 on an intensely socialist¹⁶ platform, had to change tack¹⁷ to woo back business and save the economy, so Fran?ois Hollande has begun to do the same. Among the 1980s returners, from self-imposed exile in America, was Mr Arnault, a disruptive force in his day. Helped by the French state, he acquired the kernel¹⁸ of what was to become the world's largest luxury group.
同时还有另一个原因，为什么法国对于企业家、外来者、以及颠覆者的设定变得更加开放。“法国背靠经济墙，” Drahi先生说道“奥朗德总统已经实现了只要企业能够创造了就业机会并且Manuel Valls，这位新总理已经在推广这条线。”正如Fran?ois Mitterrand，于1981年在强烈的社会主义平台中竞选总统，认为必须改变策略招商引资以挽救经济，所以奥朗德也开始着手做同样的事情。在十九世纪八十年代的在美国自我放逐的回归者中，是Arnault先生，一个破坏者，得到了法国的帮助，由此他获得了世界最大奢侈品集团的核心。

1 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

2 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

3 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

6 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

7 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

8 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

9 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

10 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

11 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

12 iconoclast   

n.反对崇拜偶像者

参考例句：

• Cage was an iconoclast.He refused to be bound by western musical traditions of harmony and structure.凯奇是个反传统的人，他拒绝接受西方有关和声和结构的音乐传统的束缚。
• But he shows little sign of being an iconoclast.但他表现出他是一个信念很强的人。

13 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 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。

16 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

17 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

18 kernel   

n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心

参考例句：

• The kernel of his problem is lack of money.他的问题的核心是缺钱。
• The nutshell includes the kernel.果壳裹住果仁。