????根據招股說明書，阿里巴巴的單一業務理由是：首席運營決策者是“由公司管理團隊成員組成的戰略委員會……公司只有一項運營業務需報告，即提供互聯網和移動商務及相關服務。雖然互聯網和移動商務及相關服務由阿里巴巴不同的業務部門組成，但提供給首席運營決策者的信息是收入層面信息。而且，阿里巴巴不在業務部門間分配運營成本或資產，因為首席運營決策者不會用這些信息來配置資源或評估業務部門的績效。”

????沒有一家公司愿意披露超出監管要求范圍的信息，尤其是業務細分信息。但是，即便是從表面上看，阿里巴巴給出的一維報告解釋仍存在一些問題。首席運營決策者/管理委員會只是按收入來分配資源或評估績效。也就是說資產與費用控制不在考量范圍內。唯一的內部約束機制就是擴大收入。但股東們對管理層的期待更多，比如明智的資本配置。如果管理者全都只盯著收入，就別指望這些了。

????同樣，華爾街也不會因為阿里巴巴管理者的資產配置技巧喜歡上這家公司。只談增長，不論代價。缺乏不同業務部門的重要信息，可能導致估值猜測淪為一場阿里式的七嘴八舌。（財富中文網）

????Jack T. Ciesielski是位于巴爾的摩的資產管理和研究公司R.G.Associates, Inc.的總裁，該公司為機構投資者出版研究服務資訊刊物《The Analyst’s Accounting Observer》。

????譯者：早稻米

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????Alibaba’s one-segment rationale, according to the prospectus: the chief operating decision maker is a “strategic committee comprised of members of the Company’s management team… the Company had one single operating and reportable segment, namely the provision of online and mobile commerce and related services. Although the online and mobile commerce and related services consist of different business units of the Company, information provided to the chief operating decision-maker is at the revenue level and the Company does not allocate operating costs or assets across business units, as the chief operating decision-maker does not use such information to allocate resources or evaluate the performance of the business units.”

????No company likes to disclose more than required, least of all segment information. Yet taking Alibaba’s explanation for one-dimension reporting at face value still raises troubling issues. The chief operating decision maker/management committee is using only revenue to allocate resources or evaluate performance. Forget about asset and expense control – the only internal discipline is to grow revenues. Yet shareholders ought to expect more from the managers running their company, such as wise allocation of capital. Don’t expect it if managers are focused only on the top line.

????Then again, Wall Street won’t be loving Alibaba because of its managers’ asset allocation skills. It’s going to be all about the growth, no matter what the price. And the lack of meaningful information about the different segments may make valuation guesses just so much Ali-babble.

????Jack T. Ciesielski is president of R.G. Associates, Inc., an asset management and research firm in Baltimore that publishes The Analyst’s Accounting Observer, a research service for institutional investors.