たまたま、書棚を整理していると、数年前に口頭英作文で使っていたテキストが出てきました。
テキストには正の字で音読の回数が書いてあり、どの英文も当時５０回は読み込んでいたようです。
私はこのテキストをぱっと開き、そこにあった英文を即座に日本語に出来るか口頭英作文をしてみました。
あれ？えーと～、あれ？何だっけ？
当時も毎日毎日英語を勉強していたのですが、単語もすっかり忘れてしまっていて、少し悲しみを覚えてしまいます。
さて、今日は気を取り直して、次の記事について、オンライン英会話の講師とディスカッションスタイルで話し合ってみました。
What Companies Should Do to Prepare for a Recession
https://hbr.org/2019/05/what-companies-should-do-to-prepare-for-a-recession?ab=hero-subleft-1
以下は講師から事前に届いていた、記事に関する質問です。
また、私がレッスン前に自習して英文を作っておきました。
以下の英文は講師の添削がまだなので、意味不明な部分もあると思いますが、（絶対あるはず）記載しておこうと思います。
How did the last recession impact your country?
The last recession started in 2008 from the US. The impact spread all over the world and lots of contractors were laid off. I still remember that several hundreds of unemployed workers got together at a park in Tokyo to get foods the end of the year, which meant those had the hopeless beginning of 2009. At that time I just changed my job and entered an American company. Unfortunately, even full-time employees in the company had to leave the company and I realized that this is how US-based company managed the recession. And also, with a weak US dollar, Japanese Yen became stronger, hitting the export industries.
How important is S&P’s rating?
I think S&P’s rating is useful for investors to judge the market condition. It is also used to make a decision when we are thinking of stock purchases.
Why do you think is the role of the low GDP growth in China?
I think the Chinese GDP is still high compared to other developed countries. I think China is a big country and has a significant influence on the world economy, so they should have a responsibility for it. Bad economy in China is not the only problem in China because a lot of people or companies have invested in China. I expect China to keep its GDP number to maintain the global economy. In case the economy gets into recessions, I hope China spend much money to stimulate the economy quickly.
How do you think a company can choose the business/branch that it’d divest?
I think it basically depends on their strategy. If a company want to move away from slow growth segments, they might decide to sell off the business. On the other hand, if a company wants a low growth business with stable revenue, they might keep the business.
What do you think of Hyundai’s loyalty program?
I think this is a good idea. Customers don’t need to worry about the debt in case they are unemployed. This can urge potential customers to buy Hyundai’s car and show Hyundai really cares customers. I just wonder how good Korean cars are. I have seen just one or two Korean cars in Japan.
Do you agree that employee activism is increasing?
So far, I don’t see the increase in employee activism in Japan. Japanese employees are well trained to follow the company’s direction or we are just afraid of unfair treatment if activism fails. Some big Japanese companies have employee union, but I don’t think it can take action against the companies because I heard that the unions have strong ties with companies, like a union leader can get a high position at the company in the future.
Do you think companies should address the issue of income inequality?
I think salary can vary based on employee’s ability and effort. If there are two workers who can work in the same way and achieve the same things, their salary should be the same even if one is a regular employee and the other is a contractor.
However, when it comes to CEOs salary, the story is different. I think some CEOs receive too much money than what they actually do. For example, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos needs nine seconds to earn his employees’ annual salary. Although CEOs have taken a risk to manage the company, how come they can receive such money. No wonder Amazon employees think they are underpaid. The riches are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Therefore, I think there’s room to reexamine the pay standard by big companies first and this can fill the income gap among people.
Do you agree that advanced analytics should be used by companies?
Yes, I agree. Because data analysis can give us different aspects from what we think. For example, in a manufacturing process, when a company has a quality issue and the production manager has no idea how to solve it, they might be able to find the root cause of the issue by tracking the manufacturing date, workers, materials and so on. Another example is the production of Japanese Sake. The taste of Japanese Sake changes every year because the manufacturing condition is different every year, such as humidity, temperature, rice quality and so on. If the Sake factory records the data during Sake production and accumulates the data every year, they might find the best way to make the best Sake. Therefore utilizing data analysis should be used by companies.
以下、自分のメモ書きです。
be constrained to : ~するように強いられる。
I was constrained to tell a lie. 私はやむなく嘘をついた。
industry peers:同業者
lead: advantage
本文中ではwiden their leads. expanded their cost leads.として使われている
