????隨著經濟形勢開始好轉，公司高管們再次將目光投向能為公司帶來增長的機遇與挑戰。投資者也在尋找能獲得持續高利潤增長的公司——光靠削減成本可是遠遠不夠。

????我敢肯定你們中的大多數人在考慮增長時，都會注意兩個方面：內生性增長和收購型增長。公司獲得新能力的途徑無非兩條，要么內部發展，要么從別處收購。

????這樣的想法其實忽略了第三條途徑：杠桿型增長。

????這里的杠桿并不是指金融杠桿——在資產負債表中加入越來越多的債務，這種做法導致一些公司在金融危機時深陷泥潭。我們所討論的另一種完全不同的杠桿——有能力接觸并利用其它個人與機構，從而幫助你的顧客。

????無論是蕭條期還是繁榮期，這種杠桿都能起作用。如果使用得當，它能帶來回報，而且能避免收益遞減的困境。在傳統增長模式下，公司通常會遇到這類困境。其特征是公司在經歷了一段時間的爆發式增長后，業績會迅速趨于平穩。

????執行杠桿型增長戰略是個很大的挑戰，尤其是目前僅有少數幾家公司，可作為范例供大家參考。

????以蘋果（Apple）和谷歌（Google）為例，他們在智能手機界迅速確立了領導地位，很大程度上是依靠其開發的平臺，在此平臺之上，第三方開發者能制作出自己的應用程序。另一個例子是中國的利豐貿易服務公司（Li & Fung），該公司的服裝生產商全球網絡目前已匯集一萬多家商業合作伙伴，并因此獲得飛速增長。

????在這篇專欄以及我們接下來的文章里，我們將探索杠桿型增長的潛力，以及杠桿型增長如何才能為股東帶來重大價值。

????以下是與杠桿型增長有關的四個關鍵要素：

1. 杠桿型增長能提升一家公司的財務業績

????無論我們談論的是自然型增長還是收購型增長，都會遇到傳統增長模式帶來的問題，這就是前期需要大量投入，隨后又需要很長時間等待投資產生效果。傳統投資方法的另一個問題是無法確定投資是否有回報，而且也無法確定回報的大小。隨著全球競爭愈加激烈，這種投資方法沒有太大的吸引力。

????杠桿型增長能顯著改變這種投資模式：初期投資會顯著降低，而且其后的增長方式能根據公司收到的反饋進行調整。

2. 商業生態系統的重要性

????所謂商業生態系統就是，兩個以上的參與者之間不斷互動，最后達到資源互通的目的。這種生態系統包羅萬象，從簡單的供應鏈到數千家合作伙伴參與的巨型全球網絡，都被囊括其中。它可以是一個競爭平臺，許多人在此展開價格競爭；也可以是一個中介平臺，中間商們利用它聚集起合作伙伴，共同協作完成某項任務。

????公司高管們都明白，商業生態系統正變得越來越重要。不過，針對這種生態系統經常被論及的松散性，他們私下里表達了不少困惑和擔憂。

????與不同類型的生態系統打交道需要很不一樣的管理風格。不過高管們通常需要自行挑選管理風格，然后慢慢去發現哪種風格更有效。

????此外，并非所有的生態系統都是平等的，現在很多公司都陷入了嚴重影響自身發展的合作關系。

3. 選擇某個商業生態系統中最佳的運作方式

????高管們經常擔心加入一個商業生態系統，會導致其失去對公司的掌控。不過這種情況完全可以避免。生態系統需要積極地參與和管理，這樣才能為參與者創造最大的價值。

4. 杠桿型增長能從新技術中獲益

????現在成功的杠桿型增長例子非常少，尤其是大公司。因為如果所有參與伙伴之間缺乏密切溝通，這種增長策略就很難實施。

????不過，現在有了云計算、社交軟件、傳感技術和移動技術，它們對生態系統產生了重大影響。例如，現在可以在全球化的商業生態系統里，監控參與者們的復雜設備，不管這些參與者在哪里，都能為其提供實時更新。就在幾年前，這樣的協作還根本無法大規模實現。

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????以上四點讓我們不由想到蘋果和谷歌，這兩家公司熟練利用了那些心甘情愿、滿懷渴望的開發者，由于技術進步，后者現在能通過虛擬市場銷售自己的“產品”。在之后的專欄文章里，我們將詳細闡述上文中提到的所有與杠桿型增長有關的機會和問題。

????本文作者約翰?海格三世是Deloitte Center for the Edge的聯席董事長。約翰?希利?布朗是該公司的獨立聯席董事長。Deloitte Center for the Edge位于硅谷，其研究旨在促進企業增長。

????譯者：項航

????As the economic outlook begins to brighten, executives are turning once again to the opportunities and challenges of growth. Investors are looking for companies that can deliver high levels of sustained profitable growth -- but cutting costs can only do so much.

????We will wager that when most of you think of growth, you tend to focus on two options: organic growth or acquisition-driven growth. A company can either build new capabilities internally or buy it.

????This mindset misses a third path: leveraged growth.

????We don't mean leverage in terms of financial leverage -- adding more and more debt to the balance sheet -- that is what got quite a few companies into trouble during the downturn. We are talking about a different kind of leverage -- the ability to access and take advantage of other individuals and institutions in ways that help your customers.

????This is a leverage that can work in bad times as well as good times. If done in the right way, it can generate returns and avoid the dilemma of diminishing returns that is common with traditional growth initiatives, which are characterized by a burst of growth followed by a rapid leveling off.

????Implementing leveraged growth tactics can be deeply challenging, especially since there are only a limited set of companies that one can look to for examples of how to put this into practice.

????Consider how Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) quickly established leadership positions in the smartphone world largely by developing a platform for third party developers to make their own apps. Or look at the phenomenal growth of Li & Fung, a Chinese company, now orchestrating over 10,000 business partners in their global network of apparel manufacturers.

????In this column and the contributions that will follow from us, we will explore the potential of leveraged growth and what is required to make it a significant contributor to shareholder value.

????Here are four key opportunities and issues associated with leveraged growth:

1. Leveraged growth can improve a company's economic performance

????Whether we talk about growing organically or through acquisitions, traditional growth initiatives require significant upfront investment followed by long waiting periods for these investments to deliver. Both traditional approaches also come with considerable uncertainty about the probability and size of the return on investment. In an increasingly competitive global economy, this kind of uncertainty is not very attractive.

????Leveraged growth can modify this pattern in significant ways: the initial investment can be much more modest and the growth approach can be modified as a company receives feedback.

2. The importance of business ecosystems

????A business ecosystem is any set of more than two independent players that interact with each other on an ongoing basis to access resources from each other. This covers everything from a simple supply chain to vast global networks with thousands of participants. An ecosystem can be a contest where large numbers of people compete for prizes or a scenario where a broker helps to bring together partners to work together on a specific task.

????Executives understand that ecosystems are becoming increasingly important. But, in private, they express significant confusion and frustration regarding the loose way that these ecosystems are often discussed.

????Working within different types of ecosystems requires very different management styles, but executives are often left to their own devices to figure out which style to choose and discover what works as they go along.

????Not all ecosystems are created equal and many companies today are trapped in partnerships that significantly limit their growth opportunities.

3. Choosing the best way to work within a business ecosystem

????Executives often fear that joining a business ecosystem means that they will lose control of their business. But that doesn't have to be the case. Ecosystems demand active involvement and management so they can deliver the most value to their participants.

4. Leveraged growth benefits from new generations of technology

????There are so few examples of successful leveraged growth today, especially for large companies, because these kinds of tactics are very difficult to implement without very close communication between all the participating players.

????Today, however, cloud computing, social software, sensor technology and mobile technology, are changing the game in profound ways. For example, it is now possible to monitor the complex equipment of participants in a global business ecosystem and deliver real-time updates to participants wherever they are in the world -- coordination that would have been impossible to achieve at a large scale just a few years ago.

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????The four items above bring us back to Apple and Google, companies that have deftly taken advantage of an army of willing, hungry application developers who can now sell their wares on virtual markets thanks to technological advances. We'll take a closer look at each of the opportunities and issues related to leveraged growth mentioned above in future columns.

????John Hagel III is co-chairman and John Seely Brown is independent co-chairman of the Silicon Valley-based Deloitte Center for the Edge, which conducts research to support corporate growth.