【标题】The MBA, disrupted | 状态下滑的MBA

主题：MBA现在状况不佳

观点：不破不立，改革才能带来新生机

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We have obtained a copy of a recent letter to a business dean 

Dear Dean Whiteboard,

【dean】Dean is a title employed in academic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. 院长

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第一段：常规信件的开头，说既有好消息也有坏消息，好消息是我校进入世界排名前一百

On behalf of the trustees of the Gordon Gekko Business School, I write with a helicopter view onour beloved institution. There is good news and bad. First, congratulations are in order. Under your leadership, GorGeBS has again been named by The Economist as one of the world’s top 100 business schools. 

【on behalf of】done for another person’s benefit or support, or because you are representing the interests of that person. 代表某人

She gave witness on behalf of the accused person. 

她替被告作证。

【Gordon Gekko】文中的商学院实际上是不存在的，因为Gordon Gekko是一个虚构人物，在电影《华尔街》中饰演反派，其名言是“Greed is good”。想了解更多可以看看拓展材料1。

【a helicopter view】a general description or opinion of a situation, rather than a detailed one. 概览，通观

You need to take a helicopter view.

你需要有大局观。

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第二段：坏消息是学校MBA课程申请人数大幅下降，且全美都是这样的状况

The bad news is that our best-of-breed status is in jeopardy because the very business model of our school faces tectonic challenges (see Business section). Demand is plunging. Our MBA applications are down by a quarter. Across America, applications to business schools have fallen for five years in a row. Even at Harvard, they are down this year by about 6%.

【in jeopardy】likely to be damaged or destroyed 处于危险状态

His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy. 

他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。

【tectonic】[tek'tɑnɪk] very significant or considerable 意义重大的

The last decade has witnessed a tectonic shift in world affairs.

过去十年世界事务发生了重大的转变。

【plunge】[plʌndʒ] to decrease suddenly and quickly 暴跌

His weight began to plunge.

他的体重开始锐减。

【in a row】In a continuous, uninterrupted series. 连续;一连

They have won five championships in a row. 

他们已经5次蝉联冠军。

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第三段：下降的原因——国际申请者因移民政策减少；收费过高，性价比低

One reason is a drop in international applicants, many of whom are put off by America’s anti-immigration policies. But before you rush to blame all those law graduates staffing up government departments, the bigger factor is that we are charging too much. Our MBA costs nearly twice as much as it did a decade ago, but nobody believes we are delivering twice as much value.

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第四段：学校也没有跟上科技潮流——线上课程

We are also failing to grapple with techno-logical disruption.

固执守旧可能不是一个好主意，线上教育能够传遍世界

The time（I spent getting my MBA on our leafy campus by the fountainhead of the River Rand ）constituted two of the best years of my life. Even so, I am beginning to think that your dogged defence of a bricks-and-mortar strategy is wrong-headed. Online business education can deliver world-class thought leadership, too.

【grapple with】to deal with a problem 应对难题

we must grapple with the issue of anonymousspeech. 

我们必须解决匿名发表言论的问题。

【dogged】['dɔɡəd] showing determination; not giving up easily 坚持不懈的

They have gained respect through sheer dogged determination. 

他们完全是凭借顽强的毅力赢得了尊敬。

【bricks-and-mortar strategy】传统面对面教学方式

The term "brick and mortar" refers to a traditional street-side business that offers products and services to its customers face-to-face in an office or store that the business owns or rents. 

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第五段：更糟的是，学校的相关课程设置也受到了质疑

Worse, the relevance of our curriculum is being challenged.

学生不再是以前那些只为争取学位的社会达尔文主义者

The students roaming our hallowed halls today are not the red blooded, Darwinian capitalists who used to strive for business degrees.

他们思想与之前也不同，要求学校超越传统的教义

They are in a very different mind space, demanding that we go beyond our traditional teachings on the primacy of shareholder value to embrace stakeholder value.

【hallowed】['hæloʊd] that has been made holy 神圣（化）的

The hallowed portals of academe were slowly and grudgingly opening to women. 

大学神圣的大门缓慢又勉强地向女性敞开。

【red blooded】[.red 'blʌdəd] full of strength and energy, often sexual energy. 充满活力的

Hers is a body which every red-blooded male cannot fail to have noticed. 

她的身段每一个血气方刚的男人都不可能视而不见。

【shareholder value vs stakeholder value】股东利益 vs 利益相关者价值

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第六段：未来，有三个需要首先解决的问题。①控制成本

Going forward, we need three priorities.

我们学校的五星级食宿和福利都是一流的

First, to get costs under control. The soup-to-nuts cost for an MBA at Stanford is $232,000—out of our ballpark. The five-star accommodation, gourmet cuisine and other perks on our campus are way over the top.

我们的人工成本也非常高

So are some of our packages, even if we haven’t got quite as carried away as Columbia Business School, which, it was recently revealed, paid over $420,000 a year to a professor teaching three classes a year and $330,000 to untenured junior faculty.

【soup-to-nuts】covering every detail or part of something 完整的

It looks like she brought everything from soup to nuts. 

看来她好像把所有的东西都带来了。

【ballpark】[ˈbɔlˌpɑrk] an area or a range within which an amount is likely to be correct or within which sth can be measured. （数额的）变动范围；可量范围

I can't give you anything more than just sort of a ballpark figure.

我只能给你一个大概的数字。

【perk】[pɜrk] something you receive as well as your wages for doing a particular job. 补贴

One of the perks of being a student is cheap travel. 

当学生的好处之一是旅行购票可以优惠。

【package】在外企，薪资福利往往是一个 Package，有点类似打包薪资，叫做 Remuneration package。它由两部分构成：一部分是 Pay，也就是实打实拿到手的钱；一部分是 Benefit，福利等。

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第七段：②拥抱科技

But that is low-hanging fruit. We also should embrace technology.

我们的课程应深挖雇主想要的技术，将软技能和硬技能相结合

Some schools offerhybrid degrees, mixing the soft skills learned on campus with the convenience of digital delivery. Boston University’s Questrom School of Business has gone the whole hog and now offers its full MBA online for just $24,000. If we do not adapt it will eat our lunch. And we need to get better at teaching technology. Our curriculum ought to drill down on the technical skills employers want, to deal with artificial intelligence and data analytics.

而且公司自己本身也在加速发展，抢占我们的地位

No wonder firms themselves are stepping up. Accenture alone spends $1bn training staff in-house; the Silicon Valley giants spend even more. Those investments are cannibalising executive education, our cash cow.

【 low-hanging fruit】a target that is easy to achieve, or a problem that is easy to solve. 容易摘到的果子

The company was "low hanging fruit" , he said.

他说，“这家公司唾手可得。”

【go the whole hog】to do sth. wholeheartedly or completely and without restraint. 全力以赴

If we start it, we shall go the whole hog. 

要是着手干的话, 我们就干到底。

【eat our lunch】slang To defeat one. 生动形象地说“抢饭碗”

I've been practicing really hard because I refuse to let my nemesis eat my lunch again.

我一直在很努力地联系，因为我拒绝让我的对手再打败我一次。

【cannibalise】to reduce the sales of one of its products by introducing a similar new product. 竞食，冲击（另一种类似产品的销售）

A website need not cannibalise existing sales. 

网站并不妨碍目前的销售。

【cash cow】在之前的文章【15】【Economist】阿尔茨海默病：是绝妙至极还是徒劳无功？中出现过，其实只要扩大阅读量，任何你想了解的单词，你都会再次遇到它。

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第八段：③应对资本主义的强烈抵制

The trickiest challenge is dealing with the backlash against capitalism.

我们必须在协调好各方利益团体需求冲突的同时履行对股东的责任

As future ceos, our charges must manage the conflicting demands placed on firms by myriad interested parties while still fulfilling their fiduciary duties to shareholders.

课程设置也应从依赖一维的案例分析变为三维立体回顾分析方案的取舍

The curriculum can no longer rely on one-dimensional case studies. We need to be better at playing back the trade-offs facing bosses navigating a 3d environment.

【backlash】['bæk.læʃ] a strong negative reaction by a large number of people, for example to sth that has recently changed in society. 强烈抵制

The proposal not only failed, but also triggered a political backlash.

这项提案不仅以失败告终，还招致政治上的强烈抵制。

【myriad】['mɪriəd] an extremely large number of sth. 无数

They offered no solution for all our myriad problems. 

对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。

【trade-offs】取舍

As an economist I'm aware that life is full of trade offs. 

作为一名经济学家,我知道,生活充满了权衡。

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第九段：威胁是事实存在的，应该跳出固有思维，引领下一次的革命

The threat is existential.

In the past five years, nearly a tenth of the full-time MBA programmes in America have disappeared. From Florida to Iowa, business schools have stopped offering the degree altogether. If we are to survive, never mind elevate GorGeBS to the top of the rankings, we need to start thinking outside the box and spearhead the next management revolution.

【spearhead】['spɪr.hed] a person or group that begins an activity or leads an attack against sb/sth. 先锋

American troops formed the spearhead of the attack. 

美军是这次进攻的先头部队。

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第十段：让我们尽快触底反弹

Let’s touch base offline soon. 

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拓展材料

1、Gordon Gekko

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gordon-gekko.asp

https://wallstreet.fandom.com/wiki/Gordon_Gekko

2、2020年商学院MBA项目排名

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings

3、Brick and Mortar

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brickandmortar.asp

4、eating someone's lunch

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/eatingoneslunch.asp

下次见~