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Yahoo!
雅虎
Googling a new boss
谷歌前高管出任雅虎新總裁
Marissa Mayer takes on one of the toughest jobs in tech
瑪麗莎·梅耶爾找了科技領域最棘手的一個工作
SHORTLY after news broke on July 16th of her appointment as the new chief executive of Yahoo!,
7月16日，瑪麗莎·梅耶爾被雅虎任命為新CEO。
Marissa Mayer revealed that she is expecting her first child later this year.
消息剛傳出不久，她便透漏，自己的第一個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.
長期煎熬的雅虎股東都盼望著梅耶爾—這位離開谷歌的女高管，能擔任起她的新角色，讓雅虎也煥然一新。
But that will not be easy.
但這并不容易。
After losing their mojo, formerly high-flying tech firms rarely recover it—with a few notable exceptions,
之前高速發展的科技公司，一旦失去他們的魔法，很少有恢復元氣的。
such as Apple after Steve Jobs's second coming as boss in 1997.
但也有些例外，比如蘋果公司:1997年史蒂夫·喬布斯重返蘋果，接任總裁。
Often, ailing companies lurch from one leader and rescue plan to another while their fortunes fade.
通常情況下，一旦光華褪去，身處困境的公司就會不停地撤換領導、更改營救計劃。
That has been the fate so far of Yahoo!,
這就是雅虎目前的命運。
which is now on to its fifth chief executive, including two interim ones, in three years.
它將迎來三年內的第五任CEO，其中包括兩名過渡期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日發布了第二季度報告，這讓公眾認識到梅耶爾面臨的挑戰有多么艱巨。
Overall revenue, at 1.2 billion, was stuck at last year's level and net income fell slightly, to 227m.
整體收入在去年水平上停滯不前，仍為12億美元。凈利潤稍稍下滑，為2.27億美元。
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.
研究機構eMarketer的調查顯示，雅虎美國的網絡廣告收入所占份額也直線下降，從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.
梅耶爾能力挽狂瀾嗎？她在硅谷的粉絲聲稱，37歲的梅耶爾是有這個能力的。
She brings know-how from Google,
她帶來了谷歌的技術訣竅。
where she was the 20th employee and was involved in many areas, from its search engine to gmail and Google Maps.
身為第20名谷歌員工，她曾參與多個領域的工作，從搜索引擎、谷歌郵箱，到谷歌地圖，都有涉及。
She is also a software engineer by training, which should lend her credibility among Yahoo!'s geeks.
她還是一名受過專業培訓的軟件工程師，這有助于她在雅虎極客中樹立威信。
Throw in that she is an über-networker whose schmoozing skills can charm ad clients, and she seems a good fit.
作為一名超級網絡人，又能說會道，吸引廣告客戶，看起來她非常合適。
But not a perfect one.
但她并不是完美的候選。
Although Ms Mayer ran a sizeable team at Google, she has never had to turn round an ailing corporate juggernaut with 700m users.
盡管梅耶爾在谷歌管理的是一個相當大的團隊，可她從不需要扭轉公司局面，更何況還是一家擁有7億用戶、殺傷力極強的大公司。
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.
她也從沒監管過大規模的廣告銷售運營，沒處理過國際聯盟間的復雜關系，就像雅虎和中國電子商務巨頭阿里巴巴。
This is in the process of being unwound, but still needs careful handling.
這是一個解除合作關系的過程，但仍需謹慎處理。
Small wonder, then, that Yahoo!-watchers were stunned by news of Ms Mayer's recruitment.
這樣看來，雅虎的關注者對任用梅耶爾的消息震驚不已，也不足為奇。
Many had expected Ross Levinsohn, the firm's interim boss and global media head, to get the top job.
很多人曾預測，擔任代理CEO的全球媒體業務主管羅斯·列文索恩會轉正。
Yahoo!'s choice is perplexing, says Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group.
美國市場研究機構Pivotal Research Group的布萊恩·維塞爾說，雅虎的決策令人費解。
He thinks Ms Mayer will try hard to keep the talented Mr Levinsohn on board.
他認為梅耶爾會努力挽留列文索恩這個的人才。
To have a hope of pulling off a Jobs-like turnaround, she will need to tackle three vital tasks fast.
要想像喬布斯那樣扭轉乾坤，她需要迅速處理三件重大任務。
First, she must clarify what kind of company Yahoo! wants to be.
第一，她必須明確方向：雅虎想成為什么樣的公司。
Some of its former bosses, including Mr Levinsohn, emphasised its plentiful content in areas such as sports and finance.
幾位前任CEO，包括列文索恩在內，都強調雅虎在體育和財經等方面內容豐富。
Others trumpeted its whizz-bang technology. This flip-flopping has confused customers and employees.
其他人則吹捧雅虎的科技卓越一流。如此朝秦暮楚，顧客和員工早就糊涂了。
Second, Ms Mayer must show how Yahoo! can conquer promising new areas such as the mobile web.
第二，針對大有前景的新興領域，如移動網絡，梅耶爾必須向雅虎展示它該如何征服。
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.
這可能涉及到搶購公司，比如四方。它是以人的地理位置為基礎來提供服務的。梅耶爾在谷歌呆過，這個領域她是很了解的。
The third task is to restore battered morale while simultaneously boosting productivity.
第三，重振士氣，同時還要提高生產率。
At Google Ms Mayer had a reputation for prickliness,
在谷歌，梅耶爾的脾氣是出了名的暴躁，
but also for nurturing talent and helping staff to cope with heavy workloads.
但她培育人才、幫助員工應對高負荷工作，也獲得了不錯的聲譽。
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，她甚至做了幾次公開演講，談論過度疲勞的風險，敦促大家找到自己的節奏，好有助于大家保持充足的動力，全身心投入工作。
Yahoo!'s employees will need to find their own rhythms fast.
雅虎的員工可要抓緊了，得趕快找到自己的節奏。
