Swatch has published a version of its annual report in the Swiss-German dialect for which there is no standard written form, the latest act of rebellion from the watchmaker which has long enjoyed provoking the Swiss business establishment.
The move to publish in dialect rather than standard German — one of Switzerland’s four official languages including French and Italian in which the report was also issued — was meant to underpin Swatch Group SA’s Swiss roots and values, chief executive Nick Hayek told a media conference.
It results in a succession of spelling changes, such as geschaeftsjahr, or “results year,” becoming gschaeftsjohr and ausblick, or “outlook,” becoming usblick, giving approximations of the language familiar to inhabitants of Swiss-German parts of the country.
Explaining the move, Swatch chairwoman Nayla Hayek said in her letter to shareholders, “This act of true Swissness was done partly to shake up our compatriots who — in their fondness for what is safe — sometimes allow themselves to follow a rather conventional, prudent and comfortable path.”
The move highlights an increased awareness among Swiss companies of the cachet attached to Swiss-made products, while also being intended by the company to cement its reputation as a corporate “enfant terrible” in Switzerland, where a sober or staid tone dominates most parts of business and finance.(Reuters)
鐘錶公司Swatch最近用瑞士德語公布其年度財務報告，瑞士德語並沒有標準的書寫方式，這也是這家向來樂於激怒瑞士商界的鐘錶公司最新反叛之舉。
Photos: Bloomberg
照片：彭博社
該公司執行長尼克‧海耶克在記者會上表示，使用瑞士德語而非標準德語來公布財報，目的是要凸顯Swatch集團的瑞士根源和價值。標準德文為瑞士的四種官方語言之一，Swatch的財報同時也提供法文和義大利文等其他官方語言版本。
如此一來導致這份財報出現許多拼音上的變化，例如把結算年度geschaeftsjahr拼成gschaeftsjohr，或把公司展望ausblick拼成usblick等，使用最接近瑞士德語區居民所熟悉的語言。
Swatch公司董事長奈拉．海耶克在致股東函中解釋說：「這項表達真瑞士精神的行動，部分目的是要喚醒我們的同胞，他們太過愛好安全，導致他們有時寧可遵循傳統、謹慎和舒適的道路。」
此舉凸顯出瑞士企業對瑞士製產品的地位愈來愈有自覺，Swatch同時也企圖藉此強化其身為瑞士企業界中的「頑童」名聲，瑞士商界與金融界多以嚴肅、穩重著稱。
（路透／翻譯：俞智敏）
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