奢侈与谎言
Beware chief executives with big yachts 要小心那些有大游艇的主管
GETTING to the top of the corporate ladder is hard work. But once there, chief executives can at least console themselves with the perks of the rich and powerful. An afternoon glugging Armand de Brignac on your yacht can make a lifetime of climbing the greasy pole seem worthwhile. And while it may not be very seemly, some businessmen believe that appearances count. “Maintain an elegant address even if you have to live in the attic,” Aristotle Onasis, a shipping magnate, once advised potential business titans.
沿着公司的阶梯爬到高层是件苦差事。但是你一旦爬上去了，高管们至少能用处于高位能获得的特权来宽慰自己。在豪华游轮上待上一个下午，畅快地品尝着香槟酒，会让你觉得用一生攀上这样的高位都是值得的。有些商人相信获得这些表象是值得的，虽然看起来不是非常得体。“即使你住在阁楼上，也要保持你的好姿态。”轮船巨商Aristotle Onasis曾经对有潜力成为商业巨擘的人说道。
But according to research to be published in the Journal of Financial Economics, bosses who enjoy the finer things in life can be bad for their companies. The researchers hired private investigators to uncover the personal assets of a sample of American chief executives. They then compared those who own trinkets such as a yacht, a $75,000 car or a super-expensive house against a list of companies cited for fraudulent accounting by the Securities and Exchanges Commission. After controlling for things such as its size, the probability that a firm with a flashy CEO will commit fraud, they found, increases by 6% a year for every year that he is at the helm. At firms run by more frugal heads, on the other hand, the likelihood of fraud decreases by 61% every year.
但是根据一篇将要在《金融经济》期刊上发表的研究表明，喜欢享受精致生活的老板们对他们的事业来说是不利的。这些研究者聘用了一些调查员去揭露一群美国高管的个人资产。然后，他们将拥有游艇，75000美金的豪车或者是超级昂贵的豪宅的人与证券交易委员会查出的存在商业欺骗的公司进行对比。控制了样本的大小因素，研究人员发现一个有时髦的CEO的公司会进行商业欺骗的可能性会根据该CEO任职年份而发生变化，每年发生的概率增长6%。而由一个节俭的领导运营的公司，每年发生商业欺骗的可能性会以61%的比例下降。
Interestingly, this is not because ostentatious bosses feel pressure to maintain their lifestyles. Indeed, such CEOs are no more likely to be fraudulent than their parsimonious peers. Rather it is underlings who cook the books. This might be because such CEOs tend to hire executives with a similar mindset to their own. The study found, for example, that a chief financial officer is more likely to own a yacht if his boss does. They also tend to socialise more with directors at the firm—at country clubs and the like. Being part of such a pally clique means they are less likely to monitor what the others are up to, thinks Aiyesha Dey of the University of Minnesota, one of the authors.
有趣的是，这不是因为喜欢炫耀的老板们觉得必须要维持这种生活水平。事实上，这些CEO不会比其他遵从节约的CEO们跟可能去欺骗别人，而是因为他们的下属们会因此做假账。这可能是因为他们会聘用跟他们有相同爱好的管理者。例如，这个研究发现，如果老板有一辆游艇，那么这个公司的财务总监拥有游艇的比率也会很高。他们也更加倾向与跟公司的其他董事社交，比如在乡间俱乐部或者是其他类似的地方。作为亲密小团体中的一员意味者他们更加不可能监控其他人在忙什么。
Bosses with expensive lifestyles are also more likely to introduce equity-based incentive schemes, the report finds. Closely linking remuneration to the share price may encourage staff to caress the figures. Furthermore, says Ms Dey, such CEOs tend to run businesses the way they do their personal lives, prone to showy acquisitions and less regard for the long-term consequences.
该研究也发现，过着奢华生活的老板们也更加有可能引进股权激励方案。与股票的密切关系可能鼓励员工对公司的业绩数据更加关注。另外，Ms Dey认为这些CEO倾向于按照自己的生活方式来打理公司，容易进行华丽的收购而忽视长期的效果。
So should firms measure the size of a candidate’s yacht before appointing him to the top job? Not necessarily, says Ms Dey. Although they make fraud more likely, they may have other traits firms are after, such as an appetite for risk. Better to be aware of the pitfalls and more closely monitor braggarts than ban them from the boardroom altogether.
所以公司是否应该在任命一位高管的时候要将他游艇的大小列入考虑之列呢？“不需要。”Ms Dey说道。虽然他们更有可能做出欺骗行为，他们可能有其他公司所需要的特质，比如对风险的爱好。做到警惕陷阱，更加近距离的察觉出大话会比一味将他们拒绝出管理层之外好。
文章的写作逻辑：
场景想象（引入话题）--展示调查研究的结果---带来的坏的影响---带来的好的影响---要怎么做
GETTING to the top of the corporate ladder is hard work. But once there, chief executives can at least console themselves with the perks of the rich and powerful. An afternoon glugging Armand de Brignac on your yacht can make a lifetime of climbing the greasy pole seem worthwhile. And while it may not be very seemly, some businessmen believe that appearances count. “Maintain an elegant address even if you have to live in the attic,” Aristotle Onasis, a shipping magnate, once advised potential business titans.
沿着公司的阶梯爬到高层是件苦差事。但是你一旦爬上去了，高管们至少能用处于高位能获得的特权来宽慰自己。在豪华游轮上待上一个下午，畅快地品尝着香槟酒，会让你觉得用一生攀上这样的高位都是值得的。有些商人相信获得这些表象是值得的，虽然看起来不是非常得体。“即使你住在阁楼上，也要保持你的好姿态。”轮船巨商Aristotle Onasis曾经对有潜力成为商业巨擘的人说道。
But according to research to be published in the Journal of Financial Economics, bosses who enjoy the finer things in life can be bad for their companies. The researchers hired private investigators to uncover the personal assets of a sample of American chief executives. They then compared those who own trinkets such as a yacht, a $75,000 car or a super-expensive house against a list of companies cited for fraudulent accounting by the Securities and Exchanges Commission. After controlling for things such as its size, the probability that a firm with a flashy CEO will commit fraud, they found, increases by 6% a year for every year that he is at the helm. At firms run by more frugal heads, on the other hand, the likelihood of fraud decreases by 61% every year.
但是根据一篇将要在《金融经济》期刊上发表的研究表明，喜欢享受精致生活的老板们对他们的事业来说是不利的。这些研究者聘用了一些调查员去揭露一群美国高管的个人资产。然后，他们将拥有游艇，75000美金的豪车或者是超级昂贵的豪宅的人与证券交易委员会查出的存在商业欺骗的公司进行对比。控制了样本的大小因素，研究人员发现一个有时髦的CEO的公司会进行商业欺骗的可能性会根据该CEO任职年份而发生变化，每年发生的概率增长6%。而由一个节俭的领导运营的公司，每年发生商业欺骗的可能性会以61%的比例下降。
Interestingly, this is not because ostentatious bosses feel pressure to maintain their lifestyles. Indeed, such CEOs are no more likely to be fraudulent than their parsimonious peers. Rather it is underlings who cook the books. This might be because such CEOs tend to hire executives with a similar mindset to their own. The study found, for example, that a chief financial officer is more likely to own a yacht if his boss does. They also tend to socialise more with directors at the firm—at country clubs and the like. Being part of such a pally clique means they are less likely to monitor what the others are up to, thinks Aiyesha Dey of the University of Minnesota, one of the authors.
有趣的是，这不是因为喜欢炫耀的老板们觉得必须要维持这种生活水平。事实上，这些CEO不会比其他遵从节约的CEO们跟可能去欺骗别人，而是因为他们的下属们会因此做假账。这可能是因为他们会聘用跟他们有相同爱好的管理者。例如，这个研究发现，如果老板有一辆游艇，那么这个公司的财务总监拥有游艇的比率也会很高。他们也更加倾向与跟公司的其他董事社交，比如在乡间俱乐部或者是其他类似的地方。作为亲密小团体中的一员意味者他们更加不可能监控其他人在忙什么。
Bosses with expensive lifestyles are also more likely to introduce equity-based incentive schemes, the report finds. Closely linking remuneration to the share price may encourage staff to caress the figures. Furthermore, says Ms Dey, such CEOs tend to run businesses the way they do their personal lives, prone to showy acquisitions and less regard for the long-term consequences.
该研究也发现，过着奢华生活的老板们也更加有可能引进股权激励方案。与股票的密切关系可能鼓励员工对公司的业绩数据更加关注。另外，Ms Dey认为这些CEO倾向于按照自己的生活方式来打理公司，容易进行华丽的收购而忽视长期的效果。
So should firms measure the size of a candidate’s yacht before appointing him to the top job? Not necessarily, says Ms Dey. Although they make fraud more likely, they may have other traits firms are after, such as an appetite for risk. Better to be aware of the pitfalls and more closely monitor braggarts than ban them from the boardroom altogether.
所以公司是否应该在任命一位高管的时候要将他游艇的大小列入考虑之列呢？“不需要。”Ms Dey说道。虽然他们更有可能做出欺骗行为，他们可能有其他公司所需要的特质，比如对风险的爱好。做到警惕陷阱，更加近距离的察觉出大话会比一味将他们拒绝出管理层之外好。
文章的写作逻辑：
场景想象（引入话题）--展示调查研究的结果---带来的坏的影响---带来的好的影响---要怎么做
