Middle managers at Toyota Motor have a new plan to revive sales and morale at the flagging car company: between now and March, some 2,200 of them will be exhorted to buy a new vehicle.
Organisers of Toyota's bucho no kai – a semi-formal fraternity of general managers, the highest non-executive rank in the company – devised the plan in response to a projected 15 per cent drop in sales volume in the current business year. Although technically voluntary, members said most of the group was likely to comply.
The show of solidarity in the face of hard times – the same managers had already seen their 2008 year-end bonuses cut by 10 per cent – comes as Toyota prepares to name a scion of the founding Toyoda family as its next chief executive.
Analysts said the selection of Akio Toyoda, 52, seemed designed in part to evoke traditional Toyota values such as sacrifice and kaizen – constant improvement – during a period of painful change.
參考譯文：
豐田汽車(Toyota Motor)中層經(jīng)理人員為振興衰退中的汽車銷售和士氣，提出一項(xiàng)新的計(jì)劃：從現(xiàn)在開(kāi)始到三月份，將建議中層經(jīng)理人員大約2,200人購(gòu)買(mǎi)新車。
這一方案由豐田總經(jīng)理級(jí)干部的半正式互助會(huì)的組織者設(shè)計(jì)(在日本公司中，總經(jīng)理級(jí)干部為中層經(jīng)理)，以應(yīng)對(duì)本商業(yè)年度預(yù)期15%的銷售額下跌。雖然嚴(yán)格地講，買(mǎi)車自愿，但會(huì)員們說(shuō)，他們大多數(shù)很可能服從這個(gè)建議。
在困難時(shí)刻，經(jīng)理們顯示團(tuán)結(jié)的同時(shí)(這些經(jīng)理們?cè)?/SPAN>2008年底的獎(jiǎng)金已被消減10%)，豐田公司準(zhǔn)備任命豐田家族的一名后人擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行官。
分析家指出，選擇52歲的Akio Toyoda，看來(lái)是要在痛苦的轉(zhuǎn)變時(shí)期，在某種程度上喚起豐田的傳統(tǒng)價(jià)值，如犧牲精神和進(jìn)取精神。
（轉(zhuǎn)載）
