????CEO的首要工作就是決定公司應(yīng)該經(jīng)營(yíng)哪種生意，而艾默生電氣公司（Emerson Electric）的大衛(wèi)?法爾正在改弦更張,。根據(jù)對(duì)全球趨勢(shì)的看法,，他決定加倍押注這樣一種生意，即能夠幫助全球制造商更高效,、更精準(zhǔn)生產(chǎn)產(chǎn)品的生意,，同時(shí)把重點(diǎn)放在冷卻技術(shù)之上——尤其是面向增長(zhǎng)迅速的數(shù)據(jù)中心。法爾拋棄了前景較差的生意,，甚至包括艾默生電氣最初的電動(dòng)機(jī)業(yè)務(wù),。

????過去59年中，今年58歲的大衛(wèi)?法爾僅是艾默生電氣公司（財(cái)富500強(qiáng)）聘請(qǐng)的第三位CEO,，他在2000年接替了傳奇的查克?奈特,。法爾為人熱情而健談，最近對(duì)華爾街分析師有些出言不遜,，不過在接受《財(cái)富》記者杰夫?科爾文采訪時(shí)倒沒有逾矩之舉,。他暢談了一系列話題，包括：為什么不是每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該上大學(xué),，重新調(diào)整公司方向的困難，中國(guó)碎污機(jī)等,。以下是訪談?wù)?/p>

????問：美國(guó)制造業(yè)是一個(gè)熱門話題,，它的前景如何？

????答：美國(guó)正面臨一次迎來制造業(yè)復(fù)興的獨(dú)特機(jī)遇,。它并不意味著很多工作崗位會(huì)回歸國(guó)內(nèi),，但我們正看到大量的創(chuàng)新和技術(shù)，它們將重建我們的制造業(yè)基地,，而這些基地此前一度已經(jīng)遷往別的國(guó)家,。

????這種復(fù)興的基礎(chǔ)是什么？

????石油和天然氣的大量涌入是其中一個(gè)基礎(chǔ)。大多數(shù)人都沒有意識(shí)到,，在制造業(yè)領(lǐng)域,，能源是我們最高的成本之一。如果考察一下艾默生電氣公司位于全球各地的制造工廠,，我們就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn),，能源目前是最大的成本。因此,，我們將從石油和天然氣的復(fù)興中看到大量投資的進(jìn)場(chǎng),。一般來說，都是非常倚重技術(shù)的投資,。

????例如,，南非石油公司薩索爾（Sasol）正計(jì)劃在美國(guó)投資200億美元，原因就在于天然氣,。這家公司擁有獨(dú)特的石油以及天然氣轉(zhuǎn)液體技術(shù),。所以，薩索爾公司正在路易斯安那州投入巨資興建兩處工廠設(shè)施,。這就是當(dāng)前可能發(fā)生在這個(gè)國(guó)家的那種可以創(chuàng)造許多獨(dú)特價(jià)值的投資,，薩索爾公司就是我所介入的客戶群中的一個(gè)代表。這些投資將推動(dòng)出口,，提升更高水平的教育,，增加就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)。制造行業(yè)的大部分廠商已經(jīng)對(duì)業(yè)務(wù)進(jìn)行了全球化改造,，現(xiàn)在留在（美國(guó)的）都是高端的技術(shù)性工作崗位,。

????對(duì)于制造業(yè)崗位或工廠，如今很多人的觀點(diǎn)似乎都過時(shí)了,。

????沒錯(cuò),，我就是在制造業(yè)工廠里長(zhǎng)大的，我的父親曾長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任康寧公司（Corning,，財(cái)富500強(qiáng)）的工廠負(fù)責(zé)人,，那時(shí)候工廠會(huì)雇傭很多工人。如今我們看到的則是工程技術(shù),，工廠更加以技術(shù)為導(dǎo)向,，自動(dòng)化程度更高。從上世紀(jì)80年代中期開始,，也就是日本人追上我們的時(shí)候,，美國(guó)就一直在經(jīng)歷這場(chǎng)革命。作為制造廠商,，我們已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)如何在全球范圍內(nèi)保持競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力,。如今我們處于最佳的位置,，一個(gè)由我們長(zhǎng)久把持的位置。

????你能招到適應(yīng)你們需求,、而又技藝精湛的熟練工人嗎,？

????這是我們目前面臨的頭號(hào)挑戰(zhàn)，我們已經(jīng)因?yàn)檫@個(gè)國(guó)家“每個(gè)人都上大學(xué)”的現(xiàn)狀而受到巨大沖擊,。錯(cuò),，并不是所有人都應(yīng)該去上大學(xué)。我們的工廠需要懂得焊接和修理東西的人,。技工學(xué)校江河日下,，我們一直向很多技校提供資金支持，因?yàn)槲覀冃枰菢拥募寄芙M合,。美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展和制造業(yè)面臨的頭號(hào)挑戰(zhàn)不僅在于工程技術(shù),，也在于支撐工廠運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的技術(shù)工人群體。你和我都無法讓工廠運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn),，我們需要技術(shù)工人,。

????A CEO's No. 1 job is deciding which businesses to be in, and Emerson Electric's David Farr is making changes. His view of global trends tells him to double down in businesses that help manufacturers worldwide produce their wares more efficiently and precisely, and to focus on cooling -- especially for data centers, which are multiplying fast. He has ditched less promising businesses, even the company's original one, electric motors.

????Farr, 58, is only the third CEO Emerson (EMR, Fortune 500) has had in the past 59 years, having succeeded the legendary Chuck Knight in 2000. Intense and voluble, Farr recently unloaded some adult language on a room of Wall Street analysts but behaved himself when he talked recently with Fortune's Geoff Colvin about why not everyone should go to college, the difficulty of redirecting a company, Chinese garbage disposers, and much else. Edited excerpts:

????Q: U.S. manufacturing is a hot topic. What are the prospects?

????A: The U.S. is facing a unique opportunity to have a renaissance of manufacturing. It doesn't mean you're going to see a lot of jobs flying back here, but what you're seeing is a huge level of innovation and technology that will rebuild some of the manufacturing base that has left the country.

????What's the basis of the renaissance?

????One will be the influx of oil and gas. Most people don't realize that in the manufacturing world, energy is one of our highest costs. If I look at our manufacturing facilities around the world, typically energy is the No. 1 cost by far. So from the oil and gas renaissance you're going to see a lot of investments going in -- very technology- based investments, typically.

????For example, Sasol (SSL), a South African oil company, is looking to invest $20 billion in the U.S. because of the gas -- it has unique technologies in oil and converting gas to liquids. So it's working in Louisiana to make two huge facility investments. That is the type of investment that can happen in this country right now that would create a lot of unique value, and that's the type of customer base that I'm involved in. These investments will drive exports, and they will drive higher education and jobs. Most of us in manufacturing have globalized the business, and now what we have left [in the U.S.] are the very high-end technology-based jobs.

????Many people seem to have an outmoded view of what a manufacturing job or plant is today.

????Yes. I grew up inside manufacturing facilities -- my dad was a plant manager for Corning(GLW, Fortune 500) for many years, and back then you'd see a lot more labor. What you see today is engineering. Facilities are more technically oriented; there's more automation. This country has been going through this revolution since the mid-1980s, since the Japanese came after us. We as manufacturers have learned how to be globally competitive. And we're sitting today the best we've sat in a long, long time.

????Can you find those highly skilled technology-apt workers you need?

????That is the No. 1 challenge for us right now. We've got a whole thrust in this country of "Everyone goes to college." Wrong -- not everyone should go to college. We need people in a facility who can weld, who can repair things. Technical schools have really dropped off, and we've been funding a lot of technical schools because that is a skill set we need. The No. 1 threat to growth and manufacturing in the U.S. is not only engineering but the technical base to run factories. You and I can't run a factory. You need the technical skills.