题目内容

What kind of information does the writer advise the executive to look for?

A. Specific information.
B. Information concerning decision making.
C. Data for predicting the future.
Data crucial to the company.

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A.essentialB.majorC.primaryD.key

A. essential
B. major
C. primary
D. key

?For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
Over the past several years, I have interviewed dozens of senior executives of Fortune 1,000 companies and asked two questions: "Is there information that would help you run your company far better if you had it in real time, and, if m, what is it?" Without exception, they answered yes to the first question, then ticked off the one to three items they wanted. Dave Dorman at AT&T said he wanted real-time customer transaction information, such as contract renewals and cancellations. Rick Wagoner at GM wanted real-time progress reports on new vehicle development. Others on his senior team wanted certain narrowly defined data on product quality and productivity. Dick Notebaert at Qwest wanted customer satisfaction numbers. The CEO of a well-known services business wished he had real- time transaction volume data on a limited group of his best customers, while the CEO of an events business wanted to see minute-by-minute tracking of how much show-floor space has been sold.
Oddly, though, very few of the executives I've spoken with receive the real-time information they say they could use (notable exceptions include some of the executives mentioned above, who now get their data). Why aren't they getting it? Clearly, these managers could direct corporate resources toward acquiring any data sets they wanted. The answer is that neither they, nor those who support them, are asking the fight questions. Although they agree, when prompted, that they need real-time information, in practice their reflex is to respond to business events after the fact rather than detect them as they unfold. Instead of asking, "How can we react faster?" they should be asking, "What real-time information will allow us to detect critical events the instant they occur?"
The danger in asking the latter question, of course, is that the executive may quickly drown in a torrent of data. The solution is to carefully identify the precise and minimum information that's required — only those data that would cause the executive to change a judgment or a course of action (what accountants would call "material" information). Examples might include real-time sales results, new customer sign ups, shifts in petroleum prices, or any information that, if instantly available, would keep a CEO from getting in trouble with the board. My research suggests, and interviews with CEOs confirm, that one needs to receive only a very small amount of information in real time to avoid trouble or exploit an opportunity.
Here's an example. In eBay's early days, the company often received complaints about offensive items that were put up for auction, especially those tied to tragic news events. Maynard Webb, eBay's chief operating officer, told me that, in response, a team was created to conduct real-time news monitoring and to warn executives when problem items appeared. This real-tree detection and rapid response strategy have paid off in many instances, most notably after the collapse of the World Trade Center and the shuffle Columbia disaster. Webb and other senior executives were notified immediately when offensive items appeared (World Trade Center rubble showed up just 20 minutes after the first tower fell), and they had them removed before eBay's 1range could be harmed.
If you're not tracking real-time information already, start. Don't assume that it's too granular to merit your attention, that me else in the company is already monitoring it, or that it simply doesn't exist. Identify what it is that you need. Then ask for it.
In the first paragraph, the writer mentions the companies to show that real-time information

A. concerns customers and business transactions.
B. is helpful to these companies.
C. means different things in different professions.
D. provides practical information.

听力原文: Bruce Chizen is CEO of Adobe. He is offering some advice on following the founders' footsteps.
You've said you had an unusual rise to the top at Adobe. How so?
I was not an engineer. I didn't have a technical background. I had a funny east accent. Also I didn't have an MBA, but I think what John Warnock and Chuck Geschke did appreciate in me was my willingness to experiment, to try new ideas in the marketplace in the ways that they might not have.
When you were named CEO, there was some anxiety about the new boss. How did you bring around Wall Street and the employees?
Wall Street was easier than the employees because of my relationship with the financial community. Between 1998 and 2000, I had been doing most of the presentations to analysts, though John was certainly present. I had been meeting with key investors and visiting customers and employees. So when John and Chuck officially retired, Wall Street knew that I was already running the company in many ways. But I knew some of the employees had some anxiety about it. The critics were concerned that I didn't have John and Chuck's technical background. Who would drive the company's technical vision, considering that I wasn't a technologist and that Adobe had built its foundation on technological differentiation?
So at the first employee meeting I held as CEO, I made it very clear to the employees that I couldn't fill John and Chuck's shoes alone. I imagined a picture of myself in front of two very large shoes, and I told the employees that I would fill one shoe, but they had to fill the other one. I was counting on them.
How are you doing things differently from John and Chuck?
Adobe is going through a transformation. We are no longer a little company. We're a $1.2 billion company with a market cap of somewhere between $6 billion and $8 billion. And I think we can become a $5 billion company over the next several years. That requires a whole different way of doing business.
Any notable missteps along the way? Any lessons from what has happened?
John told me, when he was handing over the title, that the CEO's job is very lonely. While you have the board to speak to, the board is also your boss, and you really don't have any peers within the company. I think I was too slow to reach out and engage with other CEOs — to find a peer group to learn from. Over the past year and a half, I've joined a CEO group. We meet quarterly under non-disclosure agreement.
The other thing I would do differently is to confront the hard organizational and people issue quickly, especially around my executive staff. Because I was promoted from within, I was sometimes too "nice" at the beginning. I didn't want to disrupt the comfortable work environment. I allowed the present situation to persist longer than? should have. I knew that I needed to reorganize and eliminate those people who weren't fight for the positions.
What's your advice to executives who are to take over as CEO?
Be honest, open, and direct, and recognize that for every employee who might like what you are doing, there could be another who doesn't and you are not going to make everyone happy. Most important, make sure, if your ex-CEO is still going to be on the board, to have an agreement going in so that they are going to let you do the job.
? You will hear an interview with Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe.
? For each question 23-30, mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.
? You will hear the interview twice.
What qualities did John Warnock and Chuck Geschek appreciate in Bruce Chizen?

A. He was from the eastern part of US.
B. He is willing to try new ideas.
C. He is good at experiment.

The writer indicates eBay is a company that

A. hates to sell goods related to tragedies.
B. has got many good detectives.
C. knows how to make good use of real-time information.
D. utilizes real-time information to build corporate image.

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