I have just joined a Fortune 500 company in the human resources department and realise that the company spends huge amounts of money sending managers to business school, effectively as a very expensive perk. There is no attempt to justify the cost or measure the impact of the courses on the way the company operates. What, if anything, can I do to change this?
我刚刚加入一家《财富》(Fortune) 500强公司的人力资源部。我很快意识到，这家公司花了很多钱派管理人员出去读商学院，实际上这是一项非常昂贵的额外福利。谁也没有试着检验这钱花得值不值，或者衡量一下商学院课程对公司运营方式产生了多大影响。总之，我能做些什么去改变现状呢？

First, you need to understand how the company views HR. If you are seen as a tiresome meddler by the top brass, then I suggest you lie low. Questioning perks handed out to senior people is going to do no good at all and will only harm you.
首先，你需要弄清楚，这家公司是如何看待人力资源部门的？如果你被最高层视为令人讨厌的管闲事者，那我建议你放低姿态。对高级职员获得的福利提出质疑，对你没有丝毫好处，只会害了你。
There will come a time when the company will probably decide to send people on online courses instead. That won’t come from a careful weighing of pros and cons but from a cost-cutting edict. Until such a time, I suggest you devote your efforts to asking to be sent on such a course yourself — and then you’ll be better placed to judge what value, if any, they really have.
有一天，公司可能将决定让员工就读商学院在线教育项目。但那不会是出于仔细的利弊衡量，而是因为上头命令削减成本。到那时之前，我建议你把心思花在向公司申请就读这类项目上——那样你就能更好地判断此类项目价值的大小，如果真有价值的话。
I have just been promoted and given additional line responsibility in my company. Traditionally, those who were promoted to this position were sent on a two-week business school programme in the US. Instead, I have been offered access to the same programme from the same university, but in an online format. I feel short-changed. Am I right to do so?
我刚获得晋升，在公司里增加了其他分管业务。在传统上，晋升到这个位置上的人会被派往美国参加两周的商学院项目。但是，公司虽然让我就读同一大学的同一项目，却是在线版。我感到公司对我不公正。我这么想对吗？
I feel your pain. The online version is the worst of all worlds — you have to do all the boring work without any of the fun and without getting any contacts at the end of it.
我感觉得到你的痛苦。在线版商学院项目是最糟糕的东西——你得完成所有枯燥的功课，毫无乐趣可言，结束时不能增加一丝一毫的人脉。
Unfortunately, I doubt whether there’s much you can do about it, assuming this is a general change of policy that applies to everyone. Your company has noticed the difference to its bottom line and acted accordingly — which makes perfect sense.
遗憾的是，我觉得你对此基本无能为力，如果这是适用于所有员工的总体政策调整的话。你的公司注意到了两者对公司利润的不同影响，并相应地采取了行动——这么做是合情合理的。
However, if it turns out to be only you who has been short-changed in this way, then there is no harm in kicking up rough. Tell them about all the wonderful contacts you would make for the business and how you love learning from others. And tell them it’s not fair. In my experience people who make a huge fuss tend to get their way.
然而，如果事实证明只有你一人在这方面受到了不公正待遇，激烈反抗没有害处。告诉他们，你将为公司结识绝妙的人脉关系，以及你是多么地喜欢向其他人学习。还要告诉他们，这是不公平的。就我的经验而言，大闹一场的人通常得到了自己想要的结果。
I enrolled in a short programme thinking it would enhance teamwork and networking. However, quite a few participants are from the same company and do not seem interested in the rest of us. What can we do to make sure they do not ruin it for everybody else?
我加入了一个短期项目，认为它能增强团队精神，扩大关系网络。然而，有好几个学员跟我来自同一公司，他们对别人似乎不感兴趣。我们怎么才能确保不让他们几个坏了其他所有人的事呢？
You need to enlist all the others who don’t work for that company. Together you are much more powerful than you are on your own. Either form a splinter group or, as a group, challenge the others. Tell them this isn’t working for you — and can’t be working for them either, as they might as well still be in the office. Even if they continue in their exclusive ways, comfort yourself with the thought that you are still learning something valuable that can be widely applied in almost all corporate situations: how to interact with people who aren’t interested in you.
你需要赢得你公司以外的所有学员的支持。你们团结在一起，跟你单打独斗相比，力量要大很多。或者形成一个小派别，或者你们所有人一起，挑战那帮人。告诉他们，他们的做法对你不管用，对他们也不可能有好处，因为他们大概也还得在公司工作。即便他们仍自行其是，你也可以安慰自己，你是在学习对几乎所有公司场合都适用的有价值经验：如何跟那些对你不感兴趣的人打交道。
There is much talk of online courses replacing campus-based executive education. I am annoyed. In the past I have enjoyed immersing myself in study away from the office and mixing and networking with the other participants. Can it ever be possible to replace face-to-face contact effectively on an online course?
有关在线高管教育项目取代校园项目的说法太多了。我都烦了。过去，我很喜欢脱产学习，跟其他学员交流，建立关系网。在线项目有可能真的取代面对面交流吗？
It depends what you think is the purpose of these courses. If it is to learn basic accountancy or to whip through a few case studies, online learning is just as good — and probably better as it’s faster and considerably cheaper.
这取决于你如何看待就读商学院项目的目的。如果目的是学习基础会计知识，或者很快做完几个案例，在线项目跟校园项目同样有效，很可能会更理想，因为它耗时更少，花费也少得多。
But that is hardly ever the point of such courses. The point is that they are a perk and a reward. They are a badge that shows your employer rates you and is giving you permission to strut your stuff among others who have been equally favoured. So no, this contact can never be replaced. Whether that means these courses survive long-term is not certain, although it is likely, as those who control the purse-strings tend to be the same people who have benefited from such courses themselves.
但是，这根本不是商学院项目的关键。关键是，它是额外待遇和奖励。它是一枚“徽章”，表明雇主认可你，允许你跟其他受到看重的人一样用它炫耀自己。所以，在线项目绝对取代不了实际交流。这是否意味着校园项目将长期存在还很难说，尽管有这种可能性，因为控制钱袋子的人通常也是曾亲身从此类校园项目中受益的人。
Other participants on my course do not seem to like working with those who are junior to themselves. I am starting to feel like a second-class participant. What should I do?
跟我参加同一项目的其他学员似乎不愿跟资历不如他们的学员合作。我开始感觉自己就像是一个二等学员。我该怎么办？
You could try telling yourself that anyone who is so status-conscious is unlikely to be worth bothering with. But I doubt if you’ll convince yourself.
你可以尝试告诉自己，任何太过关注地位的人，可能都不值得你为之烦恼。但我怀疑你是否能说服自己。
Corporate life is hierarchical, no matter how hard it pretends not to be. One of the most important things is learning how to survive on the lower rungs of the ladder. Alas, it means you simply have to try harder than those above you, who are taken seriously by dint of their seniority. By contrast, you have to perform, and perform visibly.
在公司里，人是分三六九等的，无论怎么假装否认也不行。最重要的事情之一，是学会如何在职场阶梯的较低层生存。可惜，这意味着你就是得比资历高于你的人更加努力——他们被重视是因为资格老。对比之下，你必须有所表现，并且是大家看得见的表现。
You have to learn to think of things that are intelligent, original or funny to say. You have to earn respect — they get it handed to them as a matter of course. It’s not fair or nice, but it is how it works. Good luck.
你必须学会想出一些睿智、新颖或有趣的事情讲给大家。你必须赢得尊重——而他们是自然而然获得尊重的。这不公平，也不美好，但事情就是如此。祝你好运。