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熱衷婚外情的員工更具創造力大綱

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The hacking last year of the Ashley Madison adultery site caused embarrassment to millions.

熱衷婚外情的員工更具創造力

婚外情網站“阿什利•麥迪遜”(Ashley Madison)去年遭黑客攻擊,讓數百萬用戶陷入難堪境地。

But for business school academics at Tulane and Michigan State universities, the hacked data presented a research opportunity: how many of the site’s customers used their work email addresses and what did this say about the companies that employed them?

但對杜蘭大學(Tulane University)和密歇根州立大學(Michigan State University)商學院的研究人員而言,泄露的數據給他們提供了一個研究機會:該網站的註冊用戶中有多少使用了自己的工作電子郵箱,而這對聘用他們的公司來說意味着什麼?

The researchers looked beyond the people who had inactive Ashley Madison accounts. Someone else could have registered them as a joke.

研究人員並未在意那些不活躍的阿什利•麥迪遜賬戶。有些人可能抱着鬧着玩的心理註冊了這些賬戶。

Instead, they examined those who had actively used their accounts between 2002 and 2014 — buying credits to send messages, start chat sessions or send virtual gifts.

他們研究了那些2002至2014年期間表現活躍的賬戶——購買點數以發送信息、發起聊天會話或者贈送虛擬禮物。

They found 47,000 people who had used their work email addresses on the site. The practice was not widespread. At those companies where people had used a work address, the number who had done so averaged only 5.4.

他們發現有4.7萬人使用自己的工作郵箱在該網站註冊。這種做法並不普遍。在那些工作郵箱被用於註冊該網站的公司,平均只有5.4名員工有此類行爲。

But, the researchers said, “our hypothesis is that these accounts are the tip of the proverbial iceberg . . . They provide a (potentially noisy) signal of cultures that are ‘lax’.” These are companies, they said, that did not “emphasise integrity”.

但研究人員表示:“我們的假設是,這些賬戶只是冰山一角……它們提供了一個關於(可能有些雜亂)‘鬆懈的’企業文化的信號。它們表明,這些公司並不“強調誠實正直的品質”。

In their paper “Fifty Shades of Corporate Culture”, the researchers looked at some characteristics of the companies where these Risk-takers worked. The results were startling.

在他們題爲《企業文化五十度灰》(Fifty Shades of Corporate Culture)的論文中,研究人員歸納了這些冒險者所在公司的一些特徵。結果令人震驚。

The companies with would-be adulterers were more likely to have been disciplined by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for accounting irregularities.

有婚外情傾向的員工所在的公司,更有可能因會計違規行爲遭受過美國證券交易委員會(Securities and Exchange Commission)的處罰。

They had a higher record of being involved in bribery and fraud scandals, tax disputes, human rights violations and product quality problems.

他們在涉及賄賂和欺詐醜聞、稅務糾紛、侵犯人權及產品質量問題方面的不良記錄更多。

Except this wasn’t the only set of findings. The companies employing Ashley Madison members also appeared to be more inventive and creative. They had made more successful patent applications, and those patents had covered a wider range of technologies. The companies tended to be in high-growth sectors.

只是這並非唯一的結論。員工在阿什利•麥迪遜註冊會員的公司似乎也更善於創新、更富創造力。它們成功申請的專利數量更多,而且這些專利涵蓋更加廣泛的技術領域。這些公司往往處於高增長行業。

The researchers suggested that the two sets of findings were perfectly compatible. Rule-breaking and creativity often went together.

研究人員認爲,這兩組結論一點都不違和。打破成規與創造力通常相伴相隨。

“Creative thinkers are able to find creative, but potentially unethical loopholes to solve difficult problems, and they are able to invent creative rationalisations for dishonest behaviour,” they wrote.

“有創造思維的人能夠找到有創意、但可能不道德的漏洞來解決難題,他們能爲不誠實的行爲找出有創意的合理解釋,”他們寫道。

The researchers accepted that there were creative and inventive people who were scrupulously ethical. But theirs was not the only study showing a link between creativity and dishonest behaviour. Other researchers had found the same.

研究人員承認,很多有創意、善於創新的人士都恪守道德準則。但不只是他們的研究發現了創造力與不誠實行爲之間的關聯。其他研究人員也發現了這種關聯。

“Our results suggest that there is a trade-off between an ethical, rules-driven, process-oriented culture and a culture that encourages innovation and risk-taking,” they wrote.

“我們的研究結果表明,合乎道德、規則驅動、流程導向的文化與鼓勵創新與冒險的文化之間存在消長關係,”他們寫道。

At a time when companies’ ethical behaviour is under particular scrutiny, these are uncomfortable conclusions. Do companies have to accept that, if they want to employ creative people, some of them are going to cheat, and not only on their spouses?

在公司的道德行爲受到特別審視的時代,這些結論會令人不適。如果企業希望聘用有創造力的員工,難道就不得不接受其中一些人將來會做出不誠實之事(不只是對自己配偶)嗎?

The problem with this acceptance of rule-breaking is that we have seen where it leads. It is not just about creativity. Unethical staff can damage companies.

接受違規行爲帶來的問題在於我們已經看到其會帶來什麼後果。這不僅僅關乎創造力。員工不道德的行爲會讓公司蒙受損失。

Look at Volkswagen, where a reputation for probity has been shredded by employees who were creative with diesel emission tests.

看看大衆汽車(Volkswagen),其誠信的名聲已被那些在柴油車排放測試方面有創造力的員工撕得粉碎。

Look at the banks that have been laid low by traders manipulating interest rate benchmarks. And look at Enron, a company apparently entirely devoted to risk-taking that was destroyed by it.

看看那些被操縱利率基準的交易員拖累的銀行。看看安然公司(Enron),這家明顯完全致力於冒險的公司最終毀於此道。

Some may be bristling at these examples. These were not instances of creativity but of criminality. There are plenty of creative companies where people manage to come up with bright ideas without breaking the law or offending anyone’s moral code.

有人可能會對這些例子感到不滿。這些不是關乎創造力,而是關於犯罪的事例。有許多富有創造力的公司,它們的員工既有奇思妙想,又沒有違法或者觸犯任何道德準則。

This is true, but the Michigan State/Tulane research shows that cheaters often prosper. If you run a company of cheaters, you may succeed, but your luck will not last for ever, as the examples above show.

這是事實,但上述研究表明,弄虛作假的人往往容易發達。如果你的公司裏都是不誠實的員工,你或許能成功,但運氣不會永遠陪伴着你——正如上文的事例所示。

Honest corporate leaders who employ creative people but don’t want to destroy the company need to be alert to how far their rule-breakers are likely to go and when they need to rein them back.

聘請有創造力的員工、但又不想掉公司的誠實的企業領導者需要保持警惕,注意他們那些喜歡打破規則的員工可能做出什麼事,以及何時需要讓他們懸崖勒馬。

As with all effective management, that means learning and relearning every corner of the business. Constantly repeating the rules is not enough. Risk takers — and adulterers — pay no attention to that.

同所有有效的管理一樣,這意味着要了解、不斷地瞭解企業的每一名員工。不停地複述規則是不夠的。冒險者——以及熱衷偷情的員工——纔不管。