Unit-6

Legendary Leader-Final version

Prashanth Reddy Poola
Globe University/Minnesota School of Business
MSM Information Technology
Politics of Leadership in Global Economy
Professor: Dr. Frank Plachecki
November 12th , 2015

Billionaire Jack Ma, the founder and ex-CEO of Alibaba Group, as well as one of the
most successful Chinese Internet entrepreneurs, shares his wealth of experiences.

Early Life(Beginning to Success):

Jack Ma Started Alibaba in his apartment in 1999 along with 17 other founders. Jack admitted
that it was only in 1998 when he first learned to use a computer. With a start up of only
$60,000 in 1999, Alibaba is now worth billions of dollars. Jack has helped Alibaba evolve
into a market leader for all the functions of e-commerce in China. Jack formulated a business
plan that pushed investors like Goldman Sachs and Softbank Japan to invest 21 million in
1999. Jacks original idea was to help Chinese entrepreneurs get off of the ground and into
the expanding online market.

Alibaba Market Leadership:

The first large B2B company in Asia. Alibaba are the worlds leaders in B2B E-commerce
They manage the leading auction website in China. Largest payment service provider in
China with 62 million registered users. The leading B2C site in China. 53.5% control of the
largest classifieds listings company in China. The most intuitive features for businessmen and
the best B2B search engine. Suppliers and contacts in over 200 countries.

Company Information:
Founded in China, Alibaba now has a presence in over 200 countries. Over 7,000 +
Employees Net Profit for 2007 was US$137,192,000. Alibaba has created and obtained
several more companies in the other fields of e-commerce.

Alibaba Six Core Companies:

Taobao.com : Founded in 2003 again in Jack Mas Apartment
Alipay: Founded in 2004
Alisoft: Founded in 2007
China Yahoo!: Obtained in 2005 From Yahoo in a Strategic Joint Venture
Alimama : founded in 2007
Industry Profile:
Intra Industry:
Trade key
Global Sources
EC21
Made-In-China Barriers to Entry
Its lower sunk costs mean lower barriers to entry than a retail store.
Threats of Substitution:

Baidu
eBay China
Amazon China
Global Sources

Information Technology:
The company it IT based as e-commerce is a newer form of IT. They use Lyris, a top Email
Marketing and Marketing software. John Wu says: Alibaba rode a technology innovation
wave with an adaptive, evolutionary and incremental approach. They have developed Alipay
which is the most popular payment method between businesses on Alibaba. They have
developed Alisoft which is their own software technology. They have redeveloped their
website, Alibaba.com several times throughout its 9 year history.
Jack Mas Traits that have contributed to his Success:
Strong English capabilities:
People who are familiar with Jack Ma know that he was only able to study at a teachers
college after failing the national university entrance exam twice. Even though he had a low
score in the math portion of the exam, Ma compensated by doing extremely well in English.
When people ask him about his language capabilities, Ma says he picked up his English skills
by giving free tours of Hangzhous West Lake to foreign tourists. Relying on his excellent
language skills, Ma was able to begin his entrepreneurship by establishing the first translation
and interpretation agency in his hometown Hangzhou. Later, he constructed the China
Yellow Pages, a website publishing information on Chinese business-related organizations
and companies.

2. Chivalrous spirit
Jack Ma is a fan of martial arts fiction written by Chinese writer Jin Yong. Under Jin Yongs
influence, he has formed a chivalrous spirit; even since childhood, Ma has not been afraid

to fight for his friends. Because of this chivalrous spirit, Jack Ma has maintained a cohesive
group of partners. Eighteen original founders have followed Jack Ma from the establishment
of the translation agency to the construction of Alibaba. Even when Hangzhou Telecom
offered well-paid positions to Mas team after merging with the China Yellow Pages, the
whole team chose to stick together and start a business over from the very beginning instead.

3. Market intuition
Jack Ma had been an English teacher for six years before creating his business startup. He
decided to make the change after working a part-time job creating a website for the local
government. He found that working for the government was difficult; more opportunities
could be created by cooperating with the newly established small and medium companies that
accounted for 85 percent of Chinas enterprises. Rather than using the B2C model of Amazon
or the C2C model of eBay, models geared towards big enterprises with their own channel of
distribution and huge advertising expertise, Ma began to establish his own new online model.
The creation of the Chinese B2B model was geared towards small and medium enterprises
who have nothing, making them the real custom designers of the internet. Mas Chinese B2B
model led a revolution in online business on behalf of these smaller enterprises.

4. Public speaking and persuasion skills:

If a leader wants to persuade people, he must first conquer them using his words. He must
let people know that he is doing and what he is going to do; the failure to convey ideas to
others indicates weak leadership capabilities. Jack Ma, who knew nothing about software,
attracted a group of IT elite to establish his business empire Alibaba. He also successfully
persuaded Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, to invest 20 million dollars in Alibaba to

expand its global operations. A successful leader not only requires professional knowledge to
gain footing in the commercial world, but outstanding communication skills to attract
investment and expand in the market.
Alibaba Future Plans:

Implement Koubei.com, one of the largest classified listings sites in China into

their marketing plan.

Partner with Intel to launch a special B2B computer.
Design new software and features to create new streams of Revenues to obtain

maximum profits.
Invest over 1.3 billion to go global and integrate the company in other hot

B2B Markets such as in India, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan

Aim for a Net Profit of 1.57 billion yuan for 2009 (967 million yuan in 2007)
Secure Local Partners in international locations and promoting

entrepreneurship
Double their workforce by march 2009 in Japan
Integrate all sectors linked to e-commerce

Jack Ma Quotations :

Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after

tomorrow will be sunshine.

The lessons I learned from the dark days at Alibaba are that you've got to
make your team have value, innovation, and vision. Also, if you don't give up,
you still have a chance. And, when you are small, you have to be very focused

and rely on your brain, not your strength.

When I am myself, I am happy and have a good result.

Help young people. Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young
people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up,

they will change the world.

When you have one million dollars, you're a lucky person. When you have 10
million dollars, you've got trouble, a lot of headaches. When you have more
than one billion dollars, or a hundred million dollars, that's a responsibility
you have - it's the trust of people on you, because people believe you can

spend money better than the others.

You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die.
I try to make myself happy, no, because I know that if I'm not happy, my
colleagues are not happy and my shareholders are not happy and my

customers are not happy.

The very important thing you should have is patience.
I don't want to be liked. I want to be respected

Jack Ma: What does a leader have that an employee doesnt?

A leader should never compare his technical skills with his employees. Your employee
should have superior technical skills than you. If he doesnt, it means you have hired the
wrong person.
What, then, makes the leader stands out?
1. A leader should be a visionary and have more foresight than an employee.
2. A leader should have higher grit and tenacity, and be able to endure what the
employees cant.
3. A leader should have higher endurance and ability to accept and embrace failure.
The quality of a good leader therefore is his vision, tenacity, and his capability.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ma
http://www.forbes.com/profile/jack-ma/
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-inspiring-life-story-of-alibaba-founder-jack-ma-2014-10
http://www.investopedia.com/university/jack-ma-biography/
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jack_ma.html
http://affairstoday.co.uk/4-traits-jack-ma-success/#sthash.BqJ9RCrD.dpuf