财经英语 - The Golden Rule Is Just as Good for Business as It Is for People

Business Ethics :商业道德：研究商业实践或理论背景下出现的道德对错问题的伦理学分支。
dustman: 清洁工人

The Golden Rule Is Just as Good for Businesses as It Is for People

By Melissa Powell

1 As children, we’re taught to treat others as we want to be treated. But when money is involved, what can encourage us to follow the golden rule and run ethical businesses?

当我们还是孩子的时候，就被教导要像我们希望被对待的那样去对待他人。但当涉及到金钱时，什么能够激励我们遵循这一黄金法则并经营有道德的企业呢？

2 When asked, we say: Yes, of course we all deserve the same standards. When it comes to business, though, I think we’ve focused too much on cutthroat leaders who can get away with nearly anything—as long as they’re charismatic or innovative enough. The golden rule is a way of improving emotional intelligence and increasing an awareness of ethics in every interaction, but it’s no match for the common figure or the rogue business genius.

当我们被问到时，我们会说：是的，当然我们都应该享有同样的标准。然而，在商业领域中，我认为我们过于关注那些能够几乎为所欲为的“冷酷无情”的领导者——只要他们足够“有魅力”或具有创新性。黄金法则是提高情商和增强每次互动中的道德意识的一种方式，但它无法与常见的形象或“不循常规”的商业天才相匹敌。

3 Just consider how lenient we are with individuals who are forging new ground, especially in areas such as technology or finance. And when businesses are unethical? Uber remains on top of the ride-hailing game in spite of terrible PR during the past two years. This all sets a bad precedent, and it can hold water for only so long before the dam breaks.

只需考虑一下我们对那些在新领域开疆拓土的人，尤其是在科技或金融等领域，是多么的宽容。而当企业行为不道德时呢？尽管在过去两年里公关状况非常糟糕，优步（Uber）仍然稳居打车服务行业的领先地位。这一切都树立了一个不良的先例，并且这种状况只能维持一段时间，直到最终问题爆发。

4 The golden rule always has been my motto. It holds especially true in the healthcare industry, where we can see the impact on patients and their families. As a COO, I must implement every decision in the context of both doing good (in accordance with the golden rule) and not simply doing well (for our bottom line). Mounting evidence suggests this is not just beneficial, but a growing necessity among consumers who won’t stand for much less.

黄金法则一直是我奉行的座右铭。在医疗保健行业中，这一点尤为重要，因为我们可以直接看到对患者及其家庭的影响。作为首席运营官（COO），我必须在做决策时兼顾做好事（遵循黄金法则）而不仅仅是做好业绩（为了我们的底线）。越来越多的证据表明，这不仅是有益的，而且正成为消费者日益增长的需求——他们不再接受更低的标准。

5 Here’s how (and why) I think all businesses can adopt this concept productively.

以下是我认为所有企业都可以有效地采用这一概念的方法和原因。

cutthroat: (割喉咙) ⇒ 严酷无情的,不讲道理(或原则)的
charismatic :有超凡魅力的,有号召力的
rogue: 离群的,行为失常的
lenient : 宽容的;仁慈的
forge :艰苦干成;努力加强
ride-hailing: 叫车服务
precedent: 先例
motto: 座右铭
mounting: 上升的

Slow Change Through Social Intervention
通过社会干预缓慢改变

6 Companies are beginning to realize that treating people well is essential to a long-term business strategy in our digitally connected world. Social media was the first wake-up call for businesses that quietly operated under unethical or simply poor values. The change is slow, but we are moving from the stick to the carrot, as the saying goes.

公司开始意识到，在我们这个数字化互联的世界里，善待人们是长期商业战略中必不可少的一部分。社交媒体成为了首个“警钟”，让那些在不道德或仅仅是低劣价值观下默默运营的企业受到了警示。这种变化虽然缓慢，但正如俗话说的那样，我们正在从“大棒”转向“胡萝卜”。

这段话强调了在当今高度连接的数字时代，企业行为的透明度和道德标准变得越来越重要。社交媒体作为一个强大的平台，能够迅速放大任何不当行为的影响，促使企业更加重视其社会责任和道德实践。此外，它还提到转变过程中的一个趋势：从惩罚性的措施（大棒）转向激励性的方法（胡萝卜），即通过正面的鼓励和支持来促进更好的企业行为，而不是仅仅依赖于对不良行为的惩罚。这种转变反映了社会对企业角色和责任认识的深化。

7 Before social media, advertising ruled. Wronged customers had two primary choices and little recourse otherwise: write a complaint letter or badmouth the company to friends, family, co-workers and anyone else who would listen. That usually was the extent of it. Social media, however, offers the opposite extreme. We now live in an era of information overload. It’s enough to make some people wish for the simplicity of early times, while others feel a sigh of relief that their complaints can make a difference.

在社交媒体出现之前，广告是主导力量。受到不公正对待的顾客基本上只有两种选择，而且几乎没有其他补救措施：写投诉信或向朋友、家人、同事以及任何愿意倾听的人说这家公司的坏话。这通常就是他们所能做的极限了。然而，社交媒体却提供了完全相反的极端情况。我们现在生活在一个信息过载的时代。这种情况足以让一些人怀念早期的简单时光，而另一些人则感到欣慰，因为他们的投诉现在可以产生影响。

8 Of course, each industry and its regulatory bodies have set forth their own standards. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) was formed in 1912—well ahead of its time, really—as a nonprofit organization that promoted honest advertising practices and resolved disputes between consumers and businesses. The BBB accepts complaints and serves as a mediator. Its truly revolutionary role, though, comes in the form of its business ratings. These scores consider the public’s input, among other factors. Regulating agencies, on the other hand, keep a filter in place. A wall prevents people from seeing exactly what another consumer has said about a company or service.

当然，每个行业及其监管机构都制定了自己的标准。美国商业改进局（Better Business Bureau, BBB）成立于1912年，实际上远远领先于其时代，它作为一个非营利组织，旨在促进诚实的广告行为并解决消费者与企业之间的纠纷。BBB接受投诉，并充当调解者的角色。不过，它真正具有革命性的作用体现在其对企业的评级上。这些评分考虑了公众的意见等因素。相比之下，监管机构则设置了一种过滤机制。这种机制像一堵墙一样，阻止人们直接看到其他消费者对某个公司或服务的具体评价。

9 Social media removes the barriers between customers and corporations. We now can see comments, ratings and even photographic evidence of bad behavior not only online but in real time. (Those same tools can expose unfounded customer complaints, too.) Treating customers poorly can have ripple effects. “United Breaks Guitars” is a viral, musical testament to poor customer service at United Airlines. It’s amassed more than 17 million views on social media platforms.

社交媒体消除了顾客与企业之间的障碍。我们现在不仅能够在线而且可以实时看到评论、评分，甚至不良行为的照片证据。（同样的工具也可以揭露那些没有根据的顾客投诉。）对顾客服务不佳可能会产生连锁反应。“United Breaks Guitars”就是一个关于联合航空公司糟糕客户服务的病毒式音乐见证，它在社交媒体平台上已经积累了超过1700万次观看。

wake-up call 让人警醒的事
wronged 被冤枉的,被委屈的
recourse 追索权
badmouth 说坏话,严厉批评
overload 超负荷,过量
regulatory 监管的
set forth 公布;陈述
mediator: 调停者
rating: 评定等级
photographic 照片的
ripple effect
viral 病毒式传播的
testament 证据,证明
amass 积累;积聚

10 Clearly, that’s the stick approach. But what about the carrot? And who leads the way? The list of innovative business leaders who have become major philanthropists includes Bill Gates,Richard Branson,Oprah Winfrey,Susan Alice Buffett and others.

philanthropist n.慈善家

Tangible Benefits

At first glance, the golden rule’s financial impacts are simple. In fact, many companies include something along these lines in their values statements:

Treat your employees as you would want to be treated, and they will work harder and stay with you.
Treat your customers as you would want to be treated and they will come back again.

乍一看，黄金法则的财务影响是简单的。实际上，许多公司在其价值观声明中都会包含类似以下的内容：
像你希望被对待的那样对待你的员工，他们将会更努力地工作并留在公司。
像你希望被对待的那样对待你的客户，他们将会再次光顾。

The golden rule provides guidance in hiring, too. Increasing numbers of employees want to work exclusively for organizations that have a positive impact on the world. As the millennial generation makes up an even larger proportion of workers in the coming years, companies will face mounting pressure to hold leaders and brands accountable—to associates and consumers alike.

millennial: 千禧年 一千年
associates : 合伙人 同伴
黄金法则在招聘方面也提供了指导。越来越多的员工希望只为那些对世界有积极影响的组织工作。随着千禧一代在未来几年中占据劳动力的更大比例，公司将会面临越来越大的压力，要求领导者和品牌不仅要对员工负责，也要对消费者负责。

When we treat our associates, customers and the world well, we can maintain and build the loyalty needed to succeed in the long term. An unethical workplace also is a less productive one. According to another survey, almost 90 percent of workers who experienced incidents of unethical behavior while on the job stated they were personally affected. It distracted them from focusing on the task at hand.

当我们善待我们的同事、客户以及这个世界时，我们可以维护并建立起长期成功所需的那种忠诚度。一个不道德的工作环境也是一个效率较低的环境。根据另一项调查，几乎90%经历过工作场所不道德行为事件的员工表示他们个人受到了影响。这些不道德的行为分散了他们对当前任务的注意力。

Moreover, an ethical business avoids the sunk costs and bad press that can come with resulting legal issues. Companies can achieve the golden rule in part through transparency—a factor that equates to employee happiness, health, productivity and ultimately, profit.

sunk costs : 沉没成本
bad press :公众批评：尤其是在媒体上出现时对某人声誉的损害。
此外，一个有道德的企业能够避免因法律问题而产生的沉没成本和负面新闻。公司可以通过透明度来部分实现黄金法则——这种因素等同于员工的幸福感、健康、生产力，并最终转化为利润。

A Reminder of Ethics

How, then, to make sure our businesses are on the right track? When we use the golden rule as a framework for all our decisions, we practice empathy—and that’s strongly tied to making ethical choices. Psychology Today contributor Mark B. Baer points us to several Harvard University studies and reports that attempt to understand the complex emotional connections between empathy and decisions.Those same sources uncover how fear and advertising can derail empathy.

derail: v.
（使）脱轨，出轨；阻挠，破坏
确保我们的企业走在正确的道路上，可以通过将黄金法则作为所有决策的框架来实现。当我们运用黄金法则时，实际上是在实践同理心——这与做出道德选择紧密相关。《今日心理学》（Psychology Today）的撰稿人马克·B·贝尔（Mark B. Baer）提到了几项哈佛大学的研究和报告，这些研究试图理解同理心与决策之间复杂的情感联系。同样的来源也揭示了恐惧和广告如何可能破坏同理心。

18. In the healthcare field, business decisions directly impact the quality of life for patients and their families. But businesses must turn a profit to continue, and profits can drive companies to cut corners and act badly. Applying the golden rule activates our entire suite of ethical relationship-making tools. This changes how we perceive the long view when weighing major direction-setting alternatives.

在医疗保健领域，商业决策直接影响患者及其家庭的生活质量。然而，企业为了持续运营必须盈利，而追求利润有时会促使公司采取捷径或不当行为。应用黄金法则可以激活我们全套的伦理关系构建工具，这改变了我们在权衡重大方向性选择时对长远视角的看法。

19. We owe it to our businesses and ourselves to keep the golden rule in mind at all times. Our associates, customers, bottom line and collective conscience will reap the benefits in due time. (1,073 words)

conscience: 良心,良知
确实，将黄金法则铭记于心不仅对我们的企业有利，也对我们个人有益。无论是对待同事、客户还是更广泛的社区，遵循这一原则都能带来长远的积极影响

Translation:
企业家要真正得到社会的认可，就必须做到对用户有感情、对产业有带动、对社会有回报。一是用心服务大众，与用户交朋友。人民对美好生活的向往，用户对高品质产品的需求，正是企业走高质量发展道路的动力与方向。“一个人可能走得快，但一群人能走得远。”大企业要以开放共赢的胸怀带动行业共同进步，传递社会温暖，在疫情当中、在灾害面前，许许多多的企业家积极捐款捐物，通过各种努力作出贡献。企业家不仅要慷慨解囊，还要积极传递社会正能量，助力建设绿色、低碳、可持续发展的健康向上的社会风尚。

For entrepreneurs to truly gain societal recognition, they must have affection for their users, drive the industry forward, and give back to society. First, they should serve the public with heart and befriend users. The people’s aspiration for a better life and users’ demand for high-quality products are precisely the driving force and direction for enterprises to pursue a path of high-quality development. “One person may walk fast, but a group can walk far.” Large enterprises should lead the industry towards common progress with an open and win-win mindset, spreading warmth in society. During the pandemic and in the face of disasters, many entrepreneurs have actively donated money and supplies, contributing through various efforts. Entrepreneurs should not only be generous with their resources but also actively spread positive social energy, helping to build a healthy, upward, green, low-carbon, and sustainable society.