后喬布斯時代，蘋果變了
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????亞當?萊辛斯基的著作《蘋果解密》（Inside Apple）雖然只有240頁，但比起656頁的《喬布斯傳》，前者更能讓我們理解蘋果（Apple）作為一家公司的運作情況。最近，萊辛斯基為本期《財富》雜志英文版撰寫了封面文章：《蒂姆?庫克如何改變蘋果》（How Tim Cook Is Changing Apple）。 ????萊辛斯基的文章涉及了此前已經被媒體曝光的一系列基礎問題，包括新股息、中國與華盛頓特區之旅、在高盛（Goldman Sachs）科技與互聯網大會上的發言等等。 ????除此之外，他還點明了一些我們前所未聞的微妙的內部變化，它們日后可能產生深遠的影響： ????比如，擁有MBA學歷的員工數量增加。“幾年前，高盛銀行家艾德里安?佩瑞卡幾年前加盟蘋果時，他還是唯一一位除了撮合交易外別無所長的高管，”萊辛斯基寫道。“當時，蘋果的兼并與收購事務幾乎由史蒂夫?喬布斯一手包辦。如今，佩瑞卡執掌著一個部門，三位企業發展方面的專業人士受他領導，還有一群員工支持他們的工作，因此蘋果有能力同時處理三項交易。事實上，用一位蘋果前員工的話來說，總體氣氛是蘋果正變得‘傳統了很多’，意味著公司有了更多的MBA畢業生、更復雜的流程與更豐富的架構。（事實上，除去專賣店從事零售業務的員工，蘋果約有2.8萬名雇員，其中有2,153人的商務社交網站LinkedIn資料上寫明自己是MBA，而他們當中有一半以上都是在過去兩年內才剛剛加入蘋果的新人。）” ????另一個變化是提高了對執行效率的重視?！翱雌饋硭兂筛鼮楸Ｊ氐膱绦幸?，而不是不斷挑戰極限的工程引擎，”蘋果前工程副總裁馬科斯?派里（曾為蘋果效力長達14年，2011年末離職）表示?！坝腥烁嬖V我說，如今任何重大會議總是有項目管理和全球供應鏈管理的負責人參與，”他說?！拔疫€在蘋果的時候，工程部門決定蘋果想要的是什么，產品管理與供應鏈管理人士的職責則是實現這個目標。如今優先順序發生了變化。” ????蘋果老臣們往往對此憂心忡忡，懷疑這些變化表明老東家已經變得“越來越普通”，失去“蘋果特色”。但它們也可能意味著蘋果正趨于成熟。 ????點擊此處閱讀萊辛斯基的文章《蒂姆?庫克如何改變蘋果》（英文）。 ????譯者：小宇 |
????Adam Lashinsky, whose 240-page book Inside Apple taught us more about how Apple (AAPL) works as a company than 656 pages of the Steve Jobs biography, has the cover of the current issue of Fortune: How Tim Cook Is Changing Apple. ????Lashinsky touches all the bases that had previously been reported -- the new dividend, the trips to China and Washington, D.C., the Goldman Sachs presentation, etc. ????But he also identifies some subtle, internal changes we hadn't heard about, and which could turn out to be significant: ????? More MBAs: "When Adrian Perica, a former Goldman Sachs (GS) banker, joined Apple several years ago, he was the only executive whose sole remit was dealmaking," Lashinsky writes. "Steve Jobs basically ran M&A for Apple. Today Perica heads a department with three corporate-development professionals under him and a staff supporting them, so that Apple can work on three deals simultaneously. Indeed, the vibe, in the words of a former employee, is of an Apple that is becoming "far more traditional," meaning more MBAs, more process, and more structure. (In point of fact, 2,153 Apple employees reference the term "MBA" in their LinkedIn profiles out of a nonretail workforce of nearly 28,000. More than half the employees who reference "MBA" have been at Apple less than two years.)" ????? More emphasis on operational efficiency: "It looks like it has become a more conservative execution engine rather than a pushing-the-envelope engineering engine," says Max Paley, a former engineering vice president who worked at Apple for 14 years until late 2011. "I've been told that any meeting of significance is now always populated by project management and global-supply management," he says. "When I was there, engineering decided what we wanted, and it was the job of product management and supply management to go get it. It shows a shift in priority." ????Old Apple hands tend to worry that changes like these mean that the company is becoming more "normal," less "Apple-like." ????But they could also mean that the company is growing up. ????You can read Lashinsky's piece here. |
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