经济学人下载:雅虎 谷歌前高管出任雅虎新总裁

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商业报道

Yahoo!
雅虎

Googling a new boss
谷歌前高管出任雅虎新总裁

Marissa Mayer takes on one of the toughest jobs in tech
玛丽莎·梅耶尔找了科技领域最棘手的一个工作

SHORTLY after news broke on July 16th of her appointment as the new chief executive of Yahoo!,
7月16日，玛丽莎·梅耶尔被雅虎任命为新CEO。

Marissa Mayer revealed that she is expecting her first child later this year.
消息刚传出不久，她便透漏，自己的第一个孩子下半年要出生了。

Long-suffering shareholders are hoping that Ms Mayer, who left a senior job at Google to take up her new role, will produce a new Yahoo! as well.
长期煎熬的雅虎股东都盼望着梅耶尔—这位离开谷歌的女高管，能担任起她的新角色，让雅虎也焕然一新。

But that will not be easy.
但这并不容易。

After losing their mojo, formerly high-flying tech firms rarely recover it—with a few notable exceptions,
之前高速发展的科技公司，一旦失去他们的魔法，很少有恢复元气的。

such as Apple after Steve Jobs's second coming as boss in 1997.
但也有些例外，比如苹果公司:1997年史蒂夫·乔布斯重返苹果，接任总裁。

Often, ailing companies lurch from one leader and rescue plan to another while their fortunes fade.
通常情况下，一旦光华褪去，身处困境的公司就会不停地撤换领导、更改营救计划。

That has been the fate so far of Yahoo!,
这就是雅虎目前的命运。

which is now on to its fifth chief executive, including two interim ones, in three years.
它将迎来三年内的第五任CEO，其中包括两名过渡期CEO。

The size of the challenge facing Ms Mayer was highlighted by the company's second-quarter results, published on July 17th.
雅虎公司7月17日发布了第二季度报告，这让公众认识到梅耶尔面临的挑战有多么艰巨。

Overall revenue, at 1.2 billion, was stuck at last year's level and net income fell slightly, to 227m.
整体收入在去年水平上停滞不前，仍为12亿美元。净利润稍稍下滑，为2.27亿美元。

The firm's share of online-ad revenues in America has also plummeted, falling from 15.7% in 2009 to 9.5% in 2011, according to eMarketer, a research firm.
研究机构eMarketer的调查显示，雅虎美国的网络广告收入所占份额也直线下降，从2009年的15.7%跌到2011年的9.5%。

Can Ms Mayer stop the rot? Her fans in Silicon Valley claim that the 37-year-old has the talent to do so.
梅耶尔能力挽狂澜吗？她在硅谷的粉丝声称，37岁的梅耶尔是有这个能力的。

She brings know-how from Google,
她带来了谷歌的技术诀窍。

where she was the 20th employee and was involved in many areas, from its search engine to gmail and Google Maps.
身为第20名谷歌员工，她曾参与多个领域的工作，从搜索引擎、谷歌邮箱，到谷歌地图，都有涉及。

She is also a software engineer by training, which should lend her credibility among Yahoo!'s geeks.
她还是一名受过专业培训的软件工程师，这有助于她在雅虎极客中树立威信。

Throw in that she is an über-networker whose schmoozing skills can charm ad clients, and she seems a good fit.
作为一名超级网络人，又能说会道，吸引广告客户，看起来她非常合适。

But not a perfect one.
但她并不是完美的候选。

Although Ms Mayer ran a sizeable team at Google, she has never had to turn round an ailing corporate juggernaut with 700m users.
尽管梅耶尔在谷歌管理的是一个相当大的团队，可她从不需要扭转公司局面，更何况还是一家拥有7亿用户、杀伤力极强的大公司。

Nor has she overseen a huge ad-sales operation and managed a complex international alliance like the one Yahoo! has with Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce behemoth.
她也从没监管过大规模的广告销售运营，没处理过国际联盟间的复杂关系，就像雅虎和中国电子商务巨头阿里巴巴。

This is in the process of being unwound, but still needs careful handling.
这是一个解除合作关系的过程，但仍需谨慎处理。

Small wonder, then, that Yahoo!-watchers were stunned by news of Ms Mayer's recruitment.
这样看来，雅虎的关注者对任用梅耶尔的消息震惊不已，也不足为奇。

Many had expected Ross Levinsohn, the firm's interim boss and global media head, to get the top job.
很多人曾预测，担任代理CEO的全球媒体业务主管罗斯·列文索恩会转正。

Yahoo!'s choice is perplexing, says Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group.
美国市场研究机构Pivotal Research Group的布莱恩·维塞尔说，雅虎的决策令人费解。

He thinks Ms Mayer will try hard to keep the talented Mr Levinsohn on board.
他认为梅耶尔会努力挽留列文索恩这个的人才。

To have a hope of pulling off a Jobs-like turnaround, she will need to tackle three vital tasks fast.
要想像乔布斯那样扭转乾坤，她需要迅速处理三件重大任务。

First, she must clarify what kind of company Yahoo! wants to be.
第一，她必须明确方向：雅虎想成为什么样的公司。

Some of its former bosses, including Mr Levinsohn, emphasised its plentiful content in areas such as sports and finance.
几位前任CEO，包括列文索恩在内，都强调雅虎在体育和财经等方面内容丰富。

Others trumpeted its whizz-bang technology. This flip-flopping has confused customers and employees.
其他人则吹捧雅虎的科技卓越一流。如此朝秦暮楚，顾客和员工早就糊涂了。

Second, Ms Mayer must show how Yahoo! can conquer promising new areas such as the mobile web.
第二，针对大有前景的新兴领域，如移动网络，梅耶尔必须向雅虎展示它该如何征服。

This could involve, say, snapping up firms such as Foursquare, which offer services based on a person's location, an area that Ms Mayer knows well from her time at Google.
这可能涉及到抢购公司，比如四方。它是以人的地理位置为基础来提供服务的。梅耶尔在谷歌呆过，这个领域她是很了解的。

The third task is to restore battered morale while simultaneously boosting productivity.
第三，重振士气，同时还要提高生产率。

At Google Ms Mayer had a reputation for prickliness,
在谷歌，梅耶尔的脾气是出了名的暴躁，

but also for nurturing talent and helping staff to cope with heavy workloads.
但她培育人才、帮助员工应对高负荷工作，也获得了不错的声誉。

Earlier this year she even gave several public talks about the risks of burnout, urging people to discover the rhythm that helps them work hard for long periods without losing their drive.
今年年初，她甚至做了几次公开演讲，谈论过度疲劳的风险，敦促大家找到自己的节奏，好有助于大家保持充足的动力，全身心投入工作。

Yahoo!'s employees will need to find their own rhythms fast.
雅虎的员工可要抓紧了，得赶快找到自己的节奏。