Onlya few business books stand the test of time: the companies they examine fadeaway, the economic circumstances they analyse change, and the people theyidolise turn out to have fatal flaws.

只有少數(shù)商業(yè)書籍經(jīng)得起歲月的考驗(yàn)：它們研究的公司會(huì)消逝，它們分析的經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境會(huì)變化，它們推崇的人物會(huì)被證明有致命缺陷。

Whethera book’s insights will endure is one criterion for the FT and McKinseyBusiness Book of the Year. To launch the 2016 award, open for submissions fromApril 11, FT columnists pick one business book they believe is worth rereading.

一本書的洞見能不能歷久彌新，是英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》/麥肯錫年度商業(yè)圖書獎(jiǎng)(FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year)的評(píng)選標(biāo)準(zhǔn)之一。2016年的評(píng)獎(jiǎng)從4月11日起開始提交候選圖書。為了拉開序幕，英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》的專欄作家們各自挑選了一本他們認(rèn)為值得重讀的商業(yè)圖書。

MartinWolf, chief economic commentator: Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuitof Progress, by Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1958)

馬丁•沃爾夫(MartinWolf)，首席經(jīng)濟(jì)評(píng)論員：《帕金森定律》(Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress)，西里爾•諾思科特•帕金森(CyrilNorthcote Parkinson)著，1958年

Whydo companies fail? Part of the answer is that they are bureaucracies. Indeed,they are supposed to be bureaucracies. As the late Nobel-laureate economistRonald Coase pointed out, we have companies because command-and-control isfrequently more efficient than markets. Broadly, that is the case where thetransaction costs created by the latter are higher than the costs of controlinherent in the former.

企業(yè)為何會(huì)倒閉？部分答案是，它們是官僚機(jī)構(gòu)。的確，它們理應(yīng)是官僚機(jī)構(gòu)。就如已故的諾貝爾經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)得主羅納德•科斯(Ronald Coase)所指出的，企業(yè)之所以存在，是因?yàn)槊�令和控制體系常常比市場(chǎng)更有效率。大體上，在市場(chǎng)帶來(lái)的交易成本高于命令和控制體系固有的控制成本的情況下，確實(shí)是這樣。

Parkinson’slaw — based on the idea that “work expands so as to fill the time available forits completion” — explains why the solution Coase correctly identifies createsits own difficulties. Bureaucracies have malignant tendencies: not least, notedParkinson, because “an official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals”and “officialsmake work for each other”.

帕金森定律基于“工作會(huì)不斷擴(kuò)充直至占滿完成這項(xiàng)工作可用的時(shí)間”的理念，解釋了為何科斯正確指出的解決方案會(huì)產(chǎn)生其自身的困難。官僚體制有惡變的傾向：尤其是正如帕金森所言，“一個(gè)官員想要增加下屬而不是對(duì)手”以及“官員們會(huì)給彼此制造工作”。

Tothese should be added the natural tendency towards conservatism of allsuccessful organisations.

此外還應(yīng)該加上一點(diǎn)：所有成功的組織都有趨向保守的自然傾向。

Theseare among the iron laws of bureaucracy. Managers should read —and beware.

這些都是官僚體制的“硬道理”。管理者應(yīng)該閱讀——并且銘記心中。

JohnThornhill, innovation editor: Andrew Carnegie, by David Nasaw (2006)

約翰•桑希爾(JohnThornhill)，創(chuàng)新編輯：《安德魯•卡內(nèi)基傳》(Andrew Carnegie)，戴維•納索(David Nasaw)著，2006年

Thereare two reasons to read David Nasaw’s monumental,800-plus page biography of Andrew Carnegie.

有兩個(gè)理由閱讀戴維•納索逾800頁(yè)的傳世之作《安德魯•卡內(nèi)基傳》。

First,it provides fabulous insights into the practices of one of the greatestbusiness geniuses of all time. For good and bad, every executive can learnsomething from the ruthless way Carnegie invested early in promisingtechnologies, created and exploited new markets and crushed the competition.

首先，本書精彩地表現(xiàn)了有史以來(lái)最偉大的商業(yè)天才之一的商業(yè)實(shí)踐。不論是好是壞，每個(gè)高管都能從卡內(nèi)基在早期投資有希望的技術(shù)、開創(chuàng)和發(fā)掘新市場(chǎng)以及粉碎競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的那種冷酷無(wú)情的方式中學(xué)到一些東西。

Second,Nasaw deftly tells the riveting human tale of how an immigrant Scottish boybecame the richest man in the world and then gave away his vast wealth, more orless inventing modern philanthropy. Business history on this scale is hard tobeat.

第二，納索駕輕就熟地講述了一個(gè)引人入勝的人物故事：一個(gè)蘇格蘭移民小子如何成為世界首富，然后捐出自己的巨額財(cái)富，在很大程度上開創(chuàng)了現(xiàn)代慈善事業(yè)。這樣鴻篇巨制的商業(yè)史難覓敵手。