All new employees, even experienced ones, require training. Colleen Fagan is a “visual manager” who worked at smaller boutiques before coming to Uniqlo. Although she has spent years presenting clothes, she says, “I pretty much learned everything over when I got here.”
所有Uniqlo新進員工，即便已經是業界熟手，仍然需要接受訓練。Colleen Fagan在來到Uniqlo之前，曾在較小規模的服裝店擔任視覺經理，雖然已在服飾業多年，她表示「來這裡幾乎是重新學一遍」。
Take folding, which Uniqlo treats as if it were a scholarly discipline, with specific rules, best practices, and mandated times for completion. Employees at most retail stores fold with the assistance of a plastic board, but Uniqlo employees are taught the “body fold” technique and are expected to fold six shirts in one minute. The staff is told to practice this on their own, after work, until they get it right.
Cashing out is a timed art at Uniqlo, too; advisers must complete every transaction in less than 60 seconds. The other week after work, Lauren Venatucci, a manager in the women’s department, ran a cash-out contest. Advisers competed to ring up clothes while properly deploying the six standard phrases. The prize was an iPod, and the winner clocked in at 40 seconds.
摺衣服在Uniqlo是一門學問，包括怎麼摺、最好的摺法，以及多久之年摺好。Uniqlo的員工必須在1分鐘內摺好6件襯衫，不熟的下班後自行練習到學會為止。結帳是另一項在Uniqlo必須計時完成的藝術，每件結帳必須60秒內完成。 有一回女裝部經理Lauren Venatucci參加結帳比賽，參賽者必須在最短時間內說完Uniqlo六句箴言，而且完成結帳。優勝者可以得到一支iPod，比賽第一名的40秒就完成。
Uniqlo的客服人員都要重複這六句箴言，而且配對重複練習，每一位入店的客人起碼要聽到四句。
1. “Hello, my name is Uniqlo, how are you today?”
2. “Did you find everything you were looking for?”
3. “Let me know if you need anything. My name is Uniqlo.”
4. “Thank you for waiting.”
5.“Did you find everything you were looking for?”
6.“Good-bye, we hope to see you again soon.”
柳井生創造了Uniqlo，他也製造了一些問題。公司的高層說，儘管柳井是個出色的戰略家，有著驚人的時尚觸覺， 但是未能做到職務分派。公司大小決策都由柳井生一人決定，包括樣品和顏色的批准。對此柳井生先生辯解道：一個好的管理者必須注重細節。
A brilliant strategist with uncanny fashion instincts, he is also unable to delegate, say Fast Retailing executives. He controls all decisions, down to approving samples and colors. Mr Yanai defends his meddling. “A good business manager”, he says, must “pay attention to the details.”
This micromanaging has pushed talented executives to quit the firm, leaving no obvious successor to Mr Yanai, who plans to step down as boss (but remain chairman) in four years, at 65. Previous attempts to cede day-to-day control have been aborted.
這樣的事必躬親的管理流失了許多出色的主管，使得柳井生顯得有些後繼無人，雖然他計畫65歲時也就是四年以後退任社長（仍是董事長）。儘管先前曾嘗試過轉由其他人負責日常細節的管理，但如今這一嘗試也終止了。
When pressed, Mr Yanai says that he has decided not to hand the company over to his sons. They will be big shareholders with board seats, but will not take operational roles. In this, he once again defies traditional Japanese business practices. Firms that rely on primogeniture, he notes, perform poorly. So, in the long run, do those that rely on a domineering leader.
有人問及接班問題，柳井生說他不會把公司交給兒子。他在董事會裡選擇一些大股東，但是他們不會負責公司的運營。就這點他再次打破了日本企業的傳統模式。他說，由長子繼承的企業都運營的很差。長期來看，那些依靠一人獨裁的企業其實也好不到哪裡去。
Key points:
pretty much
大概、幾乎。一般我們想到幾乎或差不多時，會用nearly或almost。pretty much是一個很口語化的詞語，像"pretty much the same"老美很常用。把以下例句多唸幾次，它也能變成你的口語用字。
l His comments has pretty much hit the nail on the head.
他的評價說得很中肯。
l You can pretty much throw in whatever you want.
你可以加入任何東西，只要你願意。
l She kept pretty much to herself.
她老是獨來獨往的。
micromanage
micro-作為首碼，常常表示“微觀的”，如microeconomics微觀經濟學，microscope顯微鏡，但micromanage說成“微觀管理”就不易懂了。
micromanage在辦公室場合代表那種事無巨細、管頭管腳的管理方式，與flexible彈性制的管理方式相對。對於要求自由空間的員工來說，micromanager常常被用來作為批評上司的一個字眼。In business management, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of his or her subordinates or employees.
例句：
l He is such a micromanager!
他可真是一個管頭管腳、事必躬親的上司啊！
l The team leader likes micromanaging everything in the office.
團隊領導人喜歡在辦公室裡事無巨細樣樣都管。
(此文同步刊登於99/10/23工商時報”世界公民Weekly”)
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