Question

1. For the first question please discuss at least three success factors Alibaba has.

A. After discussing the three of them, how can they use these for a competitive advantage in the future?

B. Looking at the industry and market competitors, which of these can you see eroding and why?

C. Looking at the future of Alibaba, what are two new success factors you would suggest to them and support why?

2. The New York Stock Exchange was not Alibaba’s first attempt to do an initial public offering (IPO), for this question please do the following:

A. Please describe the issues Alibaba had with listing on the Shanghai stock exchange, and support whether Alibaba should have made the changes to list on that exchange or not.

B. Besides being more flexible on the rules, list a couple of other reasons it was advantageous to list on the New York Stock Exchange. (make sure to support)

C. How can a company create a climate of trust between potential stock holders and the company? (Using examples of other companies and what they have done would be beneficial to answer this question)

3. The structure of Alibaba is unique to western society. Please do the following:

A. Find another Chinese company who has used a similar structure for sharing profits and selling shares, has it been successful? What were some of the pitfalls? (might look at exhibit 2 for assistance)

B. If you are an outsider looking at the inner working of Alibaba, what are three potential pitfalls to this type of arrangement? (Think of the organizational structure and how corporate governance is handled)

C. After looking at the pitfalls, what are three advantages to this structure?

4. Since this case study was published, please research and do the following:

A. Has this IPO helped Alibaba on an international level, or has it been a disadvantage? Please make sure to support your answer, either way, with a couple of examples.

B. In general terms, please discuss at least three challenges any company has when they go from a private company to a public company.

C. After looking at this case study, do you see any areas for Alibaba to diversify their operation? If not, what can they do to continue to grow their business?

As with all of the case study questions, make sure to do outside research, and support your answers.

Answer 1

Ans1=Scale of operations : One of the strengths of Alibaba is the sheer scale of operations & the marketplace in which it chiefly operates. China is the most populated nation in the world & is one of the leading economies & to possess a strong hold in such a marketplace is not a small feat. This kind of a success tale is sure to go a long way in sculpting  Alibaba’s growth trajectory.

Visionary Leader : Another strength, although qualitative in nature, is the presence of Jack Ma at the helm of the firm. He is a visionary like Steve Job’s and Alibaba owes its success to him to quite an extent

Good relation with partners : Alibaba gives quite a conducive environment to all those who participate in sculpting its success. Merchants, customers, 3^rd party dealers etc. all obtain access to financial schemes, cloud storage, scalable platforms, & actual time access to all info. This renders it rather attractive for even more partners to join hands with Alibaba

Ans a=Alibaba’s aggregator- based arrangement aids it lessen expenses & keep its procedures lean. This presents a prospect to replicate this model in other markets.

Ans b=Firstly, Alibaba’s model which levies no listing fees & has no stockrooms to keep inventories makes it quite likely to be replicated by others—much simpler than Amazon’s model.

Secondly, China’s Internet economy is rather competitive, with new rival firms entering rapidly & corroding operation margins.

Ans c=With the Taobao application, users can share commodity reviews, watch webisodes, & live-stream makeup/ cooking tutorials. This content operates to Alibaba's advantage as it keeps users engaged longer.

The 2^nd key to Alibaba's future growth is the new Taobao interface . The app ascertains which interface to present to a utilizer based upon its customer insights, driven by Artificial Intelligence.