马云美国哥伦比亚大学商学院英语演讲

时间:2023-02-14 09:07:21

(单词翻译:单击)

  纽约当地时间9月21日,马云在哥伦比亚大学商学院发表演讲,向在场的学生和校友介绍了阿里巴巴集团业务及创立和发展的历程,做电商及外贸者必看。马云,阿里巴巴集团主要创始人之一。现任阿里巴巴集团主席和首席执行官,他是《福布斯》杂志创办50多年来成为封面人物的首位大陆企业家,曾获选为未来全球领袖。此为中国电子商务开拓者的马云先生在美国哥伦比亚大学商学院的精彩演讲。

  Alibaba Makes Internet Magic

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  Leadership

  Media and Technology

  World Business

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  You may not have heard of the Alibaba Group, but investors1, competitors and business leadersaround the world are paying close attention. Formed 11 years ago by high school teacher JackMa, Alibaba.com is China's largest B2B Internet marketplace for small- and medium-sizedcompanies. Other holdings include Alipay, an online payment service similar to PayPal; AlibabaCloud Computing2; and Taobao, a social networking and shopping site that Mr. Ma describes asa mash-up of Amazon, eBay and Facebook. But it's the flagship company, Alibaba.com, thathas been the incubator for his sometimes-unorthodox ideas on management and productdevelopment.

  "We don't think about making money," Mr. Ma said in September during the Sir Gordon WuDistinguished Speakers Forum3 at Columbia Business School, sponsored by the Chazen Institutefor International Business. "We think about creating value for society, for the people, and forthe customer. And because we don't think about making money, we make money."

  That might sound flippant coming from someone whose website raised $1.5 billion in 2007,making it the second largest Internet IPO in history (only Google's, at $1.67 billion, was larger).Today, market capitalization for Alibaba.com is nearly $10 billion, and Taobao has mushroomedinto China's largest retailer4 by some measures. That's all the more remarkable5 considering thatMr. Ma operates in a country with some of the most restrictive Internet censorship policies inthe world. Still, he has succeeded by adhering to one simple six-word tenet: customers first,employees second, shareholders6 third.

  The Early Days

  Dressed casually7 in canvas shoes and a white windbreaker, Mr. Ma recounted for the audiencehis childhood in Hangzhou, a major city in China's Yangtze River delta8. He was, he said, a fan ofwu xia (martial arts) novels, and often got into fistfights as a young boy. He picked up Englishon his own by acting9 as a tour guide for foreign visitors in exchange for language lessons, butbecause he had difficulty with math, he twice failed his general college entrance exams. On thethird try, he was admitted to the languages program at the local university, after which hebegan a career teaching high school English.

  But along the way, the entrepreneurial bug10 bit. He launched a translation service and washired by an American businessman, who was bankrolling construction of a local highway, totranslate negotiations11 with Chinese municipal authorities. Part of the deal-making called for himto travel to Las Vegas to meet some investors, and it was there, in 1995, that he first heardthe word "Internet." He then travelled on his own to Seattle to visit VPN, a small Internet serviceprovider with five employees. There he got his first look at the technology that would, within adecade, make him one of the most influential12 entrepreneurs in the world.

  Fee or Free?

  A key to his success, Mr. Ma said, was having a business model so simple that any customercould instantly understand it. Unlike eBay, which has a sliding scale of fees, plus commissionif the item sells, Alibaba.com charges nothing for up to 50 product listings. "Chinese SMEs[small and medium enterprises] want to sell their products abroad," he said. "We help themcreate revenue." But what about Alibaba's revenue? That comes largely from annualmembership fees that sellers pay to upgrade to "Gold Supplier" status, which gives themaccess to more buyers and an online storefront.

  "A membership fee is something all SMEs understand," he said. "If you talk about transaction[charges], our P/E [price to earnings13 ratio] would go up, but customers wouldn't understandus. Our business model should be simple and easy enough for customers to understand."Taobao, meanwhile, has also steadfastly14 adhered to the "no transaction fee" philosophy, whichcaused it to leak money for several years. Recently, though, it began selling ad space on thesite. Revenues have been high enough to push Taobao into the black, Mr. Ma said.

  For the first five years of Alibaba.com, Mr. Ma was the site's chief quality control officer. Everyfeature of the site was put to one test: if he couldn't figure out how to use on his own,without explanations or manuals, it didn't get implemented15. "I'm not a high-tech16 guy," he said. "My wife bought me an iPad and I still don't know how to use it." The site's design isdeliberately no-frills: Clicking on the "categories" tab, for example, pulls up an easy-to-scanalphabetical list of items for sale, everything from fresh garlic to pipe fittings. New requestsfrom buyers are prominently displayed and constantly updated. And for buyers who cringeat the thought of racking up a phone bill, there's a list of Chinese suppliers with toll-freenumbers.

  What's ahead for the Alibaba Group? Don't expect a foray into online gaming any time soon. "Idon't believe in online gaming," he said, noting that his son and his friends spend hours afterschool glued to a computer screen. "We could make a lot of money on gaming, but I just don'twant my kids to be focused online," he said. Instead, he said, the next big thing in China will beB2C commerce.

  “The world is changing,” he said. “With so many consumers, they can say ‘I want my productstailor-made.’ This will fundamentally change the Internet.”


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 investors dffc64354445b947454450e472276b99     
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
  • a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会
2 computing tvBzxs     
n.计算
参考例句:
  • to work in computing 从事信息处理
  • Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代(约1980年),他们就创办了软件公司。
3 forum cilx0     
n.论坛,讨论会
参考例句:
  • They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
  • The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。
4 retailer QjjzzO     
n.零售商(人)
参考例句:
  • What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢?
  • The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。
5 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
6 shareholders 7d3b0484233cf39bc3f4e3ebf97e69fe     
n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
  • the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任
7 casually UwBzvw     
adv.漠不关心地,无动于衷地,不负责任地
参考例句:
  • She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
  • I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。
8 delta gxvxZ     
n.(流的)角洲
参考例句:
  • He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
  • The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔,形成了一个三角洲。
9 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
10 bug 5skzf     
n.虫子;故障;窃听器;vt.纠缠;装窃听器
参考例句:
  • There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
  • The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。
11 negotiations af4b5f3e98e178dd3c4bac64b625ecd0     
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过
参考例句:
  • negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
  • Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。
12 influential l7oxK     
adj.有影响的,有权势的
参考例句:
  • He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
  • He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
13 earnings rrWxJ     
n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得
参考例句:
  • That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
  • Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。
14 steadfastly xhKzcv     
adv.踏实地,不变地;岿然;坚定不渝
参考例句:
  • So he sat, with a steadfastly vacant gaze, pausing in his work. 他就像这样坐着,停止了工作,直勾勾地瞪着眼。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
  • Defarge and his wife looked steadfastly at one another. 德伐日和他的妻子彼此凝视了一会儿。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
15 implemented a0211e5272f6fc75ac06e2d62558aff0     
v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效
参考例句:
  • This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革,经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句
16 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句:
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展,这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

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