苹果180度转变，成中国环保先锋

    中国知名环保人士马军表示，苹果（Apple）已在短时期内从最不配合的电子公司变成了“最积极的IT供应商之一”。

    在于成都举行的财富全球论坛上，马军在关于供应链发展趋势的小组讨论中滔滔不绝的讲述了苹果态度的转变。他介绍称，其领导的北京公众环境研究中心最初联络了29家西方大企业，希望与它们在环保方面进行合作，除苹果以外的28家企业都做了响应。“[苹果相关人员]称该公司一直以来的政策是不与”[我们]这样的机构合作。在北京公众环境研究中心发布了两篇批评苹果的报告后，事情出现了转机。马军说：“苹果找到了我们，并表示他们需要[提升]透明度。”

    马军曾是一位知名记者，一直致力于中国的水资源问题。其团队收集关于中国公司污染的数据，并同西方企业分享该数据，以帮助后者更好的了解其供应商对环境造成的影响。马军表示，苹果不仅已经开始同公众环境研究中心合作，而且已经成为中国整个供应链生态系统中一股积极的力量。

    “他们在激励主要供应商方面走得最远。”马指出，就在中国实行先进环保政策而言，苹果已经变得比其它IT公司还要积极。

    苹果公司的态度转变如此之大，以至于公众环境研究中心于今年早些时候发布了第三篇报告，在报告前面部分描述了 “苹果的转型”。苹果已完成的大量工作始于2012年史蒂夫•乔布斯去世后。人们普遍认为，与乔布斯不同，苹果现任首席执行官蒂姆•库克支持苹果与环保组织合作。多年来，库克曾作为供应链高管多次来访中国。马表示，他没有见过库克，但与苹果其他高管进行了会谈。

    苹果向来坚称其在环保和维护劳工权益方面表现良好。而公众环境研究中心的报告显示，苹果对于讨论自身的过往表现以及面对批评的态度已经改变。这是一个引人瞩目的变化，从中可以看出苹果或将在其他方面也有所转变。苹果的保密性是出了名的严格。在不直接影响公司的产品制造和市场推广情况下，绝大部分大公司都会与别的公司、媒体以及其它团体进行互利的对话，苹果正向这个方向靠拢。

    在本届成都财富全球论坛上，与会者热议的一个关于中国的主题是，大国的转变是缓慢的。对苹果这样的大企业来说也是一样。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    Ma Jun, the noted Chinese environmental activist, says Apple has gone in a short period of time from being the most uncooperative of electronics companies to "one of the most proactive IT suppliers" of all.

    Speaking at a panel on supply-chain trends at the Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu, China, Ma practically gushed about Apple's change in behavior. He said that when his group, the Beijing-based Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, initially approached 29 big Western brands about cooperating with its environmental work, 28 responded -- all but Apple. "They said they had a long-term policy against" participating with such groups. Things changed after Ma's group published two reports critical of Apple. "They approached us," he said. "They said, 'We need transparency.'"

    Ma is a well-known former journalist who has devoted considerable energy to water issues in China. His group collects pollution data on Chinese companies and shares it with Western companies to help them better understand the ramifications of their supply-chain partners. He said Apple not only has begun cooperating with his organization, it has become a positive force on the overall supply-chain ecosystem in China.

    "They have gone the furthest in motivating key suppliers," he said, noting that Apple has become even more aggressive than its IT-industry peers in adopting progressive environmental policies in China.

    The change in attitude is so pronounced that Ma's institute published a third report earlier this year with an early section describing "Apple's Transformation." The bulk of the work Apple (AAPL) has done began in 2012, after the death of Steve Jobs. It is generally believed that Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has been traveling to China as a supply-chain executive for many years, has been supportive of Apple's cooperation with environmental groups in a way that Jobs was not. Ma said he has not met with Cook but that he has held meetings with other high-level Apple executives.

    Apple typically maintains that its environmental and labor-rights records have always been good. Yet the Chinese group's report makes clear that if nothing else, Apple's attitude toward discussing its record and opening itself up to criticism have changed. It's an intriguing window into how the company might change in other ways. It is notoriously secretive and closed to the type of mutually beneficial dialogues most other big companies conduct with each other, the press and other groups that don't bear directly on making and marketing their products.

    Empires changes their ways slowly, a topic that has been much debated about China at the Fortune conference in Chengdu. The same is true for Apple.