单选题 If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills, American firms have a problem. Human resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labour is simply another factor of production to be hired--rented at the lowest possible cost--much as one buys raw materials or equipment.
The lack of importance attached to human resource management can be seen in the corporate hierarchy. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human resource management is central--usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm's hierarchy.
While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.
As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany ( as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can't effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.

单选题 Which of the following applies to the management of human resources in American companies?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[题眼] 首段设题
[解析] 选事实细节题。文章首段第二、三句提到，美国公司并不认为人力资源管理对在市场竞争中获得生存是至关重要的。技术的提高被看成是工人个人的责任。因此可确定[A]为正确答案。虽然第一段第四句提到在美国，雇工像购置原料和生产设备一样，只不过是生产过程中的一个环节，应以最低的价格雇佣，但未说可不考虑工人的技术水平，故[B]不是答案；文中未提及[C]、[D]两项。

单选题 What is the position of the head of human resource management in an American fn-m?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[题眼] 复杂句处设题
[解析] 事实细节题。由题干中the. position of the head of human resource management可知，答案可以从第二段第三、四句找（position和post的意思相同）。答案定位句提到，人力资源管理是一个专门性工作，其主管在管理层中无地位，在重大决策中也无决定权，更没有机会提升为总裁。因此[D]为答案，[A]与文意相反；文中未提及[B]和[C]。

单选题 The money most American firms put in training mainly goes to

单选题 According to the text, the decisive factor in maintaining a firm's competitive advantage is

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[题眼] 尾段设题
[解析] 推理判断题。题干中问的是一个公司保持竞争优势的决定性因素是什么。由此可将答案定位于第四段。该段主要谈论了美国公司目光短浅的作法会使公司失去竞争力。其中第三、四句谈到：对雇员的大范围的再培训会增加成本…其结果将…并最终影响全局。因此，[C]是正确答案。其他选项均无法推出。