MODERN BUSINESS LEADER ANALYSIS

BUSINESS LEADER —JACK MA

COURSE: MBA 51-605-60: ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND BEHAVIOR

(CRN-16775)

FALL – 2014 (TERM 1)

INSTRUCTOR: MR. C.P. GANATRA, P.E.

 

 

PRESENTATION BY

JOE LIANG – (D10372956)CHENG ZHAO – (D10347652)DINESHKUMAR M H – (D10429970)

INTRODUCTION

• CHINA-BASED B2B E-COMMERCE: PLATFORM FOR FACILITATING E-COMMERCE

BETWEEN BUYERS AND SELLERS

• ALIBABA.COM HOLDS 50% OF CHINA’S ONLINE E-COMMERCE

MARKET

• CURRENTLY SERVES MORE THAN 79 MILLION CUSTOMERS FORM OVER 240

DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.

• ALIBABA GROUP HAS 12 SUBSIDIARIES, WHICH INCLUDE B2B AND C2C (TAOBAO),

B2C(TMALL).

1998: JACK MA STARTS ALIBABA ONLINE

1999: 18 PEOPLE, $60,000 ALIBABA GROUP

2000: SOFTBANK AND GOLDMAN SACHS BECOME JOINT VENTURE BANKERS

2002: BREAK EVEN ALIBABA.COM BECOMES PROFITABLE

OVER 1 MILLION REGISTERED USERS

2003: 1 MILLION RMB PROFIT DAILY ~ $150,000/DAY ($54,750,000/YEAR)

2004: ALIPAY

2006: RESTRUCTURING FOR IPO

2007: 2ND LARGEST INTERNET IPO (HKSE) AFTER GOOGLE, $1.7 BILLION

ALIBABA GROUP VALUED AT $25.6 BILLION

2010: ACQUISITION OF VENDIO (ONLINE AUCTION AGGREGATOR);

ACQUISITION OF AUCTIVIA (AUCTION MANAGEMENT)

2014: LARGEST IPO (NYSE) IN THE HISTORY, VALUING IT AT $200 BILLION

• JACK MA IS THE FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF ALIBABA GROUP

BOARD AND ALSO THE FOUNDER OF TAOBAO AND ALIPAY (WHICH IS THE

BIGGEST WEBSITE FOR ONLINE SHIPPING AND THIRD-PARTY ONLINE

PAYMENT PLATFORM IN CHINA).

• IN MARCH 2014, THE AMERICAN BUSINESS MAGAZINE “FORTUNE” RANKED

THE WORLD’S 50 GREATEST LEADERS, AND JACK MA WAS RANKED 16TH.

MǍ YÚN (JACK MA)

• VISIONARY

• CHARISMATIC

• 1995: STARTED CHINA PAGES: CHINA’S FIRST INTERNET-BASED COMPANY

• 1998: HEAD OF CHINA INTERNATIONAL ELECTRONIC COMMERCE CENTER

• 1999: STARTED ALIBABA ONLINE

• “ TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS AND TAKE ACTION IN THE FORM OF

STARTING BUSINESSES TO COPE WITH THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

RATHER THAN WAITING FOR GOVERNMENT OR BUSINESS

TO HELP YOU” – JACK MA, 2009, ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETING

• “EBAY MAY BE A SHARK IN THE OCEAN, BUT I AM A CROCODILE IN THE YANGTZE RIVER. IF WE

FIGHT IN THE OCEAN, WE LOSE – BUT IF WE FIGHT IN THE RIVER, WE WIN.” –JACK MA, 2005

JACK MA’S BACKGROUND

• BORN ON SEPTEMBER 10, 1964, IN HANGZHOU PROVINCE, CHINA.

• HAILING FROM A FAMILY OF THREE KIDS, JACK MA WAS THE SECOND SON.

• HAD TOUGH LUCK WITH HIS COLLEGE ADMISSIONS (OFTEN FACED REJECTION)

• AFTER HE GRADUATION, HE JOINED HANGZHOU ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY COLLEGE AS A

TEACHER.

• THE HANGZHOU GOVERNMENT HIRED JACK MA AS BUSINESS CONTRACT NEGOTIATOR

TO GO TO USA.

• IT WAS THEN JACK MA WAS INTRODUCED TO THE INTERNET BY STUART (SON IN LAW

OF HIS FRIEND BILL).

• In Feb 21, 1999 Jack Ma with his wife, his friends and his students

set up an internet company in his apartment in Hangzhou, with the

name Alibaba.

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

• JACK MA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OVERALL STRATEGY AND FOCUS OF ALIBABA GROUP.

• HE IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS A FEISTY LEADER WITH KEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL INSTINCTS.

• “MAKING MONEY IS ETHICAL. AND A BUSINESS THAT ISN’T MAKING MONEY IS

REGRETFUL. YOU MIGHT AS WELL DO A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE. WE MAKE MONEY BECAUSE

WE WANT TO SERVE MORE PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE.

• A STRONG ADVOCATE OF THE KANTIAN PHILOSOPHY WHICH MEANS “FOLLOWING THE

HIGHEST PRINCIPLE OF DUTY”, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE OUTCOME OF THE SITUATIONS

• FOLLOWER OF THE PYGMALION EFFECT

• BELIEVES IN SHARING HIS SUCCESS AND VIVIDLY EXPRESSES HIS PHILANTHROPIC

SIDE BY CONTRIBUTING TO THE SOCIETY.

• BASES HIS MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHIES ON VERY RENOWNED MODELS, INCLUDING

FISH IN A POND AND GOLD BARS FALLING FROM THE SKY.

• HIS OWN STYLE, HE SAID, COMBINES PRECEPTS FROM TAOISM, BUDDHISM,

CONFUCIANISM, AND TAI CHI

ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JACK MA (AS A LEADER AND AS AN INDIVIDUAL)

• JACK MA WAS ADMITTED INTO WHAT HE CLAIMS TO BE THE WORST UNIVERSITY IN

THE ‘HANGZHOU’ PROVINCE.

• HE WAS UNDETERRED AND STILL PURSUED TO BECOME AN ENGLISH TEACHER.

• HE BORROWED $2,000 TO SET UP HIS FIRST COMPANY.

• SET OUT TO START HIS OWN E-COMMERCE COMPANY (ALIBABA) IN 1999 WITH 18

PEOPLE AND $60,000 INITIAL INVESTMENT.

• BY 2002 ALIBABA SAW MORE THAN 1 MILLION CUSTOMERS.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF JACK MA IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

• 2004: JACK MA WAS CHOSEN AS ONE OF THE “TOP 10 BUSINESS LEADERS OF THE YEAR” BY

CHINA CENTRAL TV AND ITS VIEWERS.

• 2005: JACK MA WAS GIVEN THE TITLE “YOUNG GLOBAL LEADER” BY THE WORLD ECONOMIC

FORUM AND WAS ALSO NAMED AS ONE OF THE “25 MOST POWERFUL BUSINESSPEOPLE IN ASIA”

BY FORTUNE MAGAZINE.

• 2007: HE WAS SELECTED AS “BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR” BY BUSINESSWEEK MAGAZINE

• 2008: JACK MA WAS AWARDED ONE OF THE 30 WORLD’S BEST CEOS BY BARRONS’

• 2009: MA WAS INCLUDED IN THE TIME 100 LIST OF 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE BY TIME

MAGAZINE.

• 2010: AWARDED ONE OF ASIA’S HEROES OF PHILANTHROPY BY FORBES’ ASIA MAGAZINE

LESSONS YOU PERSONALLY LEARNED FROM JACK MA AS A LEADER:

• AN OBSERVANT LEADER, THUS ENABLING HIM TO LEARN QUICKLY AND EASILY IDENTIFY

OPPORTUNITIES.

• COMMANDED RESPECT NOT THROUGH ORDER BUT THROUGH GOOD WILL AND ACTIONS.

• JACK MA WAS DESCRIBED TO BE A VISIONARY AMONG HIS FRIENDS.

• JACK MA NEVER FACED PROBLEMS WITH HAVING AN EXPANDED OFFICE NETWORK.

• YOU CANNOT UNIFY EVERYONE’S THOUGHTS, BUT YOU CAN UNIFY EVERYONE THROUGH

A COMMON GOAL.

• “YOUR EMPLOYEE SHOULD HAVE SUPERIOR TECHNICAL SKILLS THAN YOU.

IF HE DOESN’T, IT MEANS YOU HAVE HIRED THE WRONG PERSON.”

• JACK MA OFTEN TELLS THAT THE DUTY OF A LEADER IS TO BE DILIGENT

HARDWORKING AND AMBITIOUS THAN OTHERS.

CONCLUSION

TODAY

• 17,000 EMPLOYEES IN MORE THAN 50 CITIES

• 75 MILLION USERS

• 240 COUNTRIES

• JACK MA’S STORY IS A TRUE RAGS TO RICHES STORY AND THUS HE AMONG ALL OTHER INFLUENTIAL

CEOS CAN HAVE A GREATER EFFECT ON THE ASPIRING YOUNGER GENERATION OR THE BUDDING

ENTREPRENEURS

• HE HAS CONSISTENTLY SHOWN HIMSELF AS A LEADER WHO IS PERSISTENT IN GROWING BIG AND BEING

ORIGINAL

• TO CONCLUDE JACK MA MAY NOT BE THE BE THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY LEADER THE WORLD HAS EVER

SEEN BUT AGAIN THE WORLD HAS YET TO SEE MUCH FROM HIM.

REFERENCES:  

• RUSSELL FLANNERY, 2014 FORBES: “INSIDE ALIBABA: VICE CHAIRMAN JOE TSAI OPENS UP ABOUT WORKING WITH JACK MA AND JONATHAN LU”

HTTP://WWW.FORBES.COM/SITES/RUSSELLFLANNERY/2014/01/08/INSIDE-ALIBABA-VICE-CHAIRMAN-JOE-TSAI-OPENS-UP-ABOUT-WORKING-WITH-JACK-MA-AND-JONATHAN-LU/

 

• RUSSELL FLANNERY, 2014 FORBES: “INSIGHT INTO ALIBABA’S JACK MA”

HTTP://WWW.FORBES.COM/SITES/RUSSELLFLANNERY/2014/01/08/INSIGHTS-INTO-ALIBABAS-JACK-MA/

 

• REBECCA FANNIN, 2008 INC. MAGAZINE “HOW I DID IT: JACK MA, ALIBABA.COM”

HTTP://WWW.INC.COM/MAGAZINE/20080101/HOW-I-DID-IT- JACK-MA-ALIBABA.HTML

 

• JONATHAN KAIMAN 2014, THEGUARDIAN: “JACK MA PROFILE – ALIBABA'S POWERFUL BUT HUMBLE BILLIONAIRE”

HTTP://WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM/BUSINESS/2014/SEP/19/JACK-MA-PROFILE-ALIBABA-POWERFUL-HUMBLE-BILLIONAIRE