(单词翻译:单击)
Corporate rituals: From the public to the private, ceremonies pervade business life
公司仪式：从公开的到私密的，仪式在商业生活中无处不在。
For a public demonstration of the importance of ritual, the coronation of King Charles III on May 6th will be hard to beat. The ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been crowned since William the Conqueror in 1066.
在向公众展示仪式的重要性方面，国王查尔斯三世在5月6日的加冕礼将是无可匹敌的。仪式将在威斯敏斯特大教堂举行，自1066年征服者威廉登基以来，君主一直在这里加冕。
There will be anointing, homage-paying, oath-taking and all manner of processing. In any other circumstances this kind of behaviour would warrant a medical diagnosis.
到时候将有涂油、致敬、宣誓等各种程序。在任何其他情况下，做出这种行为的人都有理由接受医学诊断。
But the alchemy of tradition means that it will instead call forth a sense of continuity and the idea of shared history.
但传统的神秘力量意味着，这种行为却将唤起一种延续感和历史认同感。
Rituals are also a big part of corporate life. There is nothing to match coronation levels of weirdness, much as some chief executives might like the idea of robes and a throne.
仪式也是企业生活的重要组成部分。没有什么能比得上加冕仪式的怪诞程度，尽管有些首席执行官可能喜欢长袍和王冠。
But firms have their own ceremonies and rites. Some are internal: the repetitive rhythms of performance reviews and weekly meetings, budget processes and farewell cards are all ritualistic.
但公司有自己的仪式。有些仪式是内部的：周而复始的业绩评估、周会、预算流程和离别贺卡都是例行的仪式。
Others are more public, from investor days to conference calls with analysts. The pandemic spawned a host of new customs, from regular events designed to lure people into the office to dedicated times of the week devoted to concentrated work.
其他仪式则更加公开，从投资者日到与分析师的电话会议。疫情催生了一系列新的习俗，从旨在吸引人们来办公室的定期活动，到一周中专门用于集中工作的时间。
Business rituals can arise spontaneously --- those informal games of office bingo for when the boss uses their favourite bit of jargon. They can also be entirely private.
商业仪式可能是自发出现的——当老板使用他们最喜欢的行话时，可以玩办公室宾果这种非正式的小游戏。仪式也可以是完全私密的。
No rule exists to say that, on entering a hotel room, the business traveller must check the minibar; that if the hotel manager has written a letter welcoming him, he must feel absurdly pleased; that if there is a plate of fruit, he must immediately eat all of it.
没有规定说，在走进酒店房间时，出差的旅客必须检查一下小冰箱；如果酒店经理给他写了一封欢迎信，他必须感受到受宠若惊；如果有一盘水果，他必须马上把水果都吃掉。
Yet all of these things are as if ordained.
然而，所有这些似乎都是规定好了的。
The prime example of the set-piece ceremony is the annual shareholders’ meeting. As a way of getting things done, this format is dreadful. Any information that shareholders actually need is available to them elsewhere.
这种固定仪式的一个典型例子就是一年一度的股东大会。作为一种完成工作的方式，这种形式糟糕透顶。股东真正需要的信息都可以在其他地方获得。
Many people delegate their voting rights to others. Plenty come just for the sandwiches.
许多人已经将投票权委托给其他人了。还有很多人来开会只是为了吃三明治。
But as a ritual it matters. The board of directors enter and sit on a podium; some of them may say absolutely nothing. The bosses give presentations to show that shareholders could not wish for a better set of managers.
但作为一种仪式，这种大会很重要。董事们进入会场并坐在讲台上，其中一些人可能一句话都不说。然后老板们汇报工作，表明股东们不可能指望找到更好的经理人了。
A succession of small shareholders then take the microphone and harangue the company’s management for being totally useless.
然后，许多小股东接二连三地拿起麦克风，义愤填膺地指责公司管理层毫无用处。
It is performative, to be sure, but a bit of a performance doesn’t go amiss for something as bloodless as corporate governance. The annual meeting offers a useful physical reminder of who is accountable to whom.
这当然是一种表演，但对于像公司治理这样冷酷无情的事情来说，有一点表演也没什么大碍。年度会议实实在在地提醒人们，谁对谁负有责任。
