Text 5

Japanese firms have achieved the highest levels of manufacturing efficiency in the world automobile industry. (46) Some observers of Japan have assumed that Japanese firms use the same manufacturing equipment and techniques as United States firms but have benefited from the unique characteristics of Japanese employees and the Japanese culture. However, if this were true, then one would expect Japanese auto plants in the United States to perform no better than factories run by United States companies. This is not the case. (47) Japanese-run automobile plants located in the United States and staffed by local workers have demonstrated higher levels of productivity when compared with factories owned by United States companies.

Other observers link high Japanese productivity to higher levels of capital investment per worker. But a historical perspective leads to a different conclusion. (48) When the two top Japanese automobile makers matched and then doubled United States productivity levels in the mid-sixties, capital investment per employee was comparable to that of United States firms. Furthermore, by the late seventies, the amount of fixed assets required to produce one vehicle was roughly equivalent in Japan and in the United States. Since capital investment was not higher in Japan, it had to be other factors that led to higher productivity.

A more fruitful explanation may lie with Japanese production techniques. Japanese automobile producers did not simply implement conventional processes more effectively, they made critical change in United States procedures. (49) For instance, the mass-production philosophy of United States automakers encouraged the production of huge lots of cars in order to utilize fully expensive, component-specific equipment and to occupy fully workers who have been trained to execute one operation efficiently. Japanese automakers chose to make small-lot production feasible by introducing several departures from United States practices, including the use of flexible equipment that could be altered easily to do several different production tasks and the training of workers in multiple jobs. (50) Automakers could schedule the production of different components or models on single machines, thereby eliminating the need to store the spare stocks of extra components that result when specialized equipment and workers are kept constantly active.

參考譯文

46. 一些日本觀察家認為，盡管日本公司使用與美國公司一樣的制造設備和工藝方法，但卻由于日本雇員和日本文化的獨有特征而受益匪淺。

47. 設在美國并雇用當地工人的由日本人開辦的汽車廠，與美國公司擁有的汽車廠相比，其生產效率要高得多。

48. 20世紀60年代中期，兩家最大的日本汽車制造商開始與美國的生產效率并駕齊驅，而后來則為美國生產效率的兩倍，而每位員工計算的資金投入卻與美國不相上下。

49. 例如，美國汽車制造商的規模生產的經營方針鼓勵大量生產汽車，以便充分利用價格昂貴的零件專用設備并使受過培訓、高效操作某一生產程序的工人不停的干活。

50. 汽車工人能夠在一臺機器上安排生產不同零件或不同型號的部件，這樣就不必額外儲存部件作為備用件，而當專用設備和專業工人不停的工作時，就必須有這種備用件的儲存。

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The technological revolutions of the last two decades have placed a severe burden on the concept of technology transfer. It is quite clear that the concept has serious limitations; with time, it is not at all clear that its methods have improved or its result progressed.

(1)The underlying assumption in “technology transfer” is that the application of new discoveries to the development of new technology by the developed countries produces results which are applicable to underdeveloped countries. Although this assumption has never really been put to a true global test, it is by now clear that this cannot be the main means of technological progress in developing areas such as Africa, Southeast Asian and Latin America, irrespective of its possible utility elsewhere. (2) The question is whether such an outcome is inevitable and inherent in the process or whether it merely reflects the shortage of resources and improper management. It is my contention that “technology transfer” as a vehicle of progress for the developing countries is irreparably flawed and cannot succeed.

The fundamental flaw is that “technology transfer” is cast in the die of a colonial process whereby developed countries do things in ways that they find acceptable for their former colonies, the developing countries. (3) Whether the development process is carried out by citizens of the recipient nation or not is irrelevant; the philosophy upon which” technology transfer” is based, beginning with training and ending with application, is composed of a set of socio-culturally and economically determined values within the institutionalized fabric of science, which select the questions found to be meaningful, dictate the preferred research plans and evaluate the significance only of the results obtained.

Clearly, technology based on the set of determinants is not likely to be very relevant to the vastly different economic and socio-cultural conditions of developing countries. It will hardly get to the needs of the developing countries, perhaps even serving to slow progress.

(4) This situation must be replaced by a new process which might be called “basic knowledge transfer” as part of growth of a forefront science in the developing countries. This approach contains the following features:

• Given full access to new scientific discovery at the cutting edge of science, that is, at the region of high intensity transfer from basic to applied knowledge, the scientists of developing countries can create their own technology transfer from basic to applied.

• Scientists in the developing countries, in active dialog with other elements such as government, community and industry, can identify and prioritize problems and develop a practical situation.

(5) The problem of internal “technology transfer” will require for each country or region a suitable number of trained scientific specialists; means for maintaining the competency of these leaders will need to be developed by each nation or region.

參考譯文

1．“技術轉讓”的基本設想是：發達國家利用新發現開發技術會給發展中國家帶來適用的成果。

2．問題在于：這種結果是不是轉讓過程中不可避免的、固有的；是不是僅僅反映了資源的缺乏和管理不當。

3．這種殖民主義方式不考慮其發展過程是否能被“技術轉讓”接受國的人們執行。“技術轉讓”始于培訓，終于應用，其哲學基礎是由制度化的科學結構內的一整套社會文化和經濟所決定的價值觀所構成的。這些價值觀選擇那些被認為有意義的問題，決定優先的研究計劃，評估所取得的成果的意義。

4．這種情況必須用一種新的方法予以取代，作為發展中國家前沿科學發展的一部分。這種方法即所謂的“基礎知識轉讓”。

5．內部的“技術轉讓”要求每個國家或地區有一定數量的訓練有素的科學家；每個國家和地區都需要創造方式，以保持帶頭人能始終勝任工作。