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  3. What does a firm depend on if it wants to develop and not to be thrown out of the markets? You may say the firm should have some

What does a firm depend on if it wants to develop and not to be thrown out of the markets? You may say the firm should have some

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问题      What does a firm depend on if it wants to develop and not to be thrown out of the markets? You may say the firm should have some advantages of its own to stand still in the fierce competitive battle field of the commerce. And this is quite true. If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work force skills, American firms have a problem. Human resource management is not traditionally seen as the centre to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labor is simply another factor of production to be hired/rented at the lowest possible cost--must as one buys raw materials or equipment.
     The lack of importance attached to human resource management can be seen in the corporate pecking order. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer. By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human resource management is central--usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, is the firm’s hierarchy.
     While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work force, in fact, they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.
     As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Ger many than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the bottom half of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can’t effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.
What is the position of the executive of human resource management in an American firm?
选项 A、He is one of the most important executives of the firm.
B、His post is likely to disappear when new technologies have been introduced.
C、He has no say in making important decisions of the firm.
D、He is directly under the chief financial executive.
答案C
解析 事实细节题。根据信息词“executive”可以确定答案在第二段。文章第二段第四句内容是“担任人才管理部经理一职者在公司作重大决策时从未被咨询过”。这和选项C内容完全相符。选项C中酌“say”是名词，意思是“发言权”。选项A和D与文章内容不符。选项B文中未提到。
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