Bachelor Thesis

The impact of organizational

culture on the success of the
company
--The case of Alibaba company

Author: Wang Tianyi

Supervisor: Shqipe Gashi Nulleshi

Examiner: Viktorija Kalonatyte

Term: VT20

Subject: Entrepreneurship

Level: Level 1

Course code: 2FE28E

Abstract
This thesis describes the influences of organizational culture on the success of
Alibaba company. In this thesis the influence of organizational culture on the
success of Alibaba is explored from 4 aspects. These four aspects include: a)
the definition of organizational culture, b) the characteristics of organizational
culture, c) the effect of organizational culture on employees, d) the
organizational culture model. This thesis uses the case study and interview to
explore the relationship between the organizational culture and the success of
Alibaba company. The result of the thesis is basic on the answer to the
interview from the employees of Alibaba company. The author found that the
reason of Alibaba becoming a successful company is its' established
organizational culture based on the value of all employees. All the employees
believe and trust the organizational culture and they use organizational culture
to demand oneself whatever in the company or life. The organizational culture
pushes the company and employees' development and growth, which is the
main reason for Alibaba company to be a success.

Key words
Organizational culture, Alibaba company, Employees，the characteristics of
organizational culture, the effect of organizational culture on the employees,
the organizational culture model
Acknowledgments
I would like to appreciate to several individuals who have contributed greatly
to the creation of this bachelor’s thesis.

Firstly, we would like to thank our supervisor, Shqipe Gashi Nulleshi and
Professor Viktorija Kalonaityte, for their generous support and advice
throughout the entire research process.

Lastly, I would like to appreciate our families, loved ones, and friends for your
continuous encouragement during this semester, but also throughout our
university studies. It is the beautiful recollection which we are unable to forget.
Table of contents
1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Problem Description 2

1.3 Research Question 3

1.4 Purpose and Delimitation 3

2. Methodology: 5

2.1 Research Approach 5

2.2 Research Strategy 6

2.3 Research Design 6

2.4 Data Collection 7

2.4.1 Secondary Data 7

2.4.2 Semi-structured interview 8

2.4.3 Case study 8

2.5 Data Analysis 9

2.5.1 Research Ethics 9

2.5.2 GDPR 9

2.5.3 Coding 10

3. Literature Review 11

3.1 Organizational culture 11

3.1.1 The Definition of Organizational Culture 11

 3.1.2 Characteristics of Organizational Culture 12

3.1.3 The Effect of Organizational Culture on Employees 15

3.1.4 The organizational culture Models 16

3.2 Company Background 19

4. Empirical Finding 21

4.1 Empirical Finding 21

4.1.1 Case Study of Alibaba 21

4.1.2Interview 22

5. Analysis 34

5.1 The organizational culture 34

5.2 The characteristic of organizational culture 35

5.3 The Effect of Organizational Culture on Employees 39

5.4 The organizational model 40

6. Conclusion and Contribution 44

6.1 The answer to the research question 46

6.2 Contributions summary 46

6.3 Implication for future research 47

Reference: 48

Appendix: 1
1 Introduction
This chapter is an explanation of the introduction to the chosen subject. The
background connects with problem description and purpose of the research, which is
based on the exploration with a simple literature review. This part also brings up
practical delimitation and explanation of the structure of the thesis.

1.1 Background

During recent decades, the digital economy has rapidly grown all over the world. Due
to the fast development of the Internet and the mobile infrastructure, several “young”
firms quickly became national market leaders and have moved into international
markets (China Daily, 2016). As a leader in e-commerce companies, its success cannot
be ignored.

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) refers to economic activity that occurs online. The
types of e-commerce are including retail shopping, banking, investing and rentals.
Under this business model, the internet because one of the most important uses in the
world of commerce （Molla and Licker, 2001）. And with the development of the
internet, more and more people or companies choose e-commerce to develop their
business （Riggins and Rhee， 1996）.

Chinese e-commerce website Alibaba has had a transformative effect on the lives of
many of its users. It matches buyers with sellers in the same way as eBay, has grown
into an internet behemoth (Sullivan, 2016). Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma
and now it already became the largest e-commerce company all over the world.

According to Pavie (2016), Retail News Asia (2016) and Sun (2015), one of the main
reasons for Alibaba to be a successful company which is Alibaba has a strong
organizational culture to lead the company and all of employees’ continuous
development and breakthrough.

Alibaba is one of the most famous Chinese companies, Jack Ma as the founder of
Alibaba who created a good organizational culture for Alibaba and his employees. In

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Alibaba, all the staff is treated equally and be seen as the family members in the Alibaba
family (Liu, 2018). All of them have the right to express their opinions even they are
working at a different level. The reason of why Alibaba can develop fast is this company
can open to diverse criticisms and good advice from their employees.

In this organizational culture, the creativity and innovation ability of Alibaba

employees are also outstanding. As China's largest e-commerce platform, Alibaba has
advanced technology and rich sense of innovation, which is also produced under the
influence of its strong organizational culture.

1.2 Problem Description

In an increasingly competitive global market, organizational culture plays an important

role in maintaining the core competitiveness of business development (O'Reilly＆
Chatman，1996； Schein，1985). Organizational culture is the foundation of the
company’s core competitiveness, which forms and accumulates in the long-term
development of the company (Chatman & Jehn，1994). The organizational culture also
plays a role in sharing values and regulating employee behavior in the process of
enterprise development (O'Reilly ＆ Chatman ， 1996 ； Schein ， 1985). A good
company needs to work with a strong organizational culture (Wang, 2010), a strong
culture is a common denominator among the most successful companies.

Organizational culture is not just a set of beliefs; it is comprised of values, patterns of

behavior, and accounts and narratives that reinforce those values (Nelson, 2013). The
leader of the company communicated and reinforced organizational culture through
various methods in order to shape and lead employees' perceptions, behaviors and
understanding (Ashworth, 2015). It means that a good organizational culture which can
motivate employees to coordinate their behavior towards a vision and specific
performance goals because the members of the organization agree upon and care
seriously about the same organizational values.

Especially, the organizational culture plays an important role in the process of business
development in the different companies, and it also has been considered as the factor

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which can influence the company to be successful (DeMers, 2015; Upadhaya et al.,
2018). This implies that in different companies the organizational culture is different
when the leader develops their business.

However, in China, the concept of establishing an organizational culture is sometimes

overlooked by companies, but many large companies have a strong and comprehensive
corporate culture (Upadhaya et al., 2018). Organizational culture is an important factor
for company's development and success, and it lays the foundation for the company's
values and mission (Alvesson, 2002). The difficulty for most Chinese companies is they
try to copy the contents of the book and cannot establish their own organizational
culture (Wang, 2010). Therefore, there is limited research to explore organizational
culture in the Chinese company and how the organizational culture influences business
success in China.

As the economy continues to develop, Chinese companies are gradually becoming

successful through continuous learning. Establishing an organizational culture suitable
for the development of the company has gradually become a goal that Chinese
entrepreneurs’ value (Wang. 2010). As a company representative with excellent
organizational culture, Alibaba's development and success are inseparable from its own
organizational culture (Qiao, 2019; Wang, 2010). Therefore, the author wants to take
the Alibaba business model as an example to explore the reason for how organizational
culture influences business success.

1.3 Research Question

RQ: How organizational culture influences the overall performance of the company?

1.4 Purpose and Delimitation

The purpose of this thesis is to review the existing literature related to the relationship
between organizational culture and the success of the company. And then to discuss
implications of this relationship to the study of the influence of organizational culture
on Alibaba development. This study is based on the current circumstances of Alibaba
company as a case study and interviews with the employees of Alibaba company to

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explore how the organizational culture is an important factor to influence the overall
performance of the company

This study focuses only on the organizational culture that explores how organizational
culture is relevant to the success of the company. Due to the COVID-19, all the
interviewees will be conducted with the managers who work in Alibaba company
within (include department) in China. Due to previous studies, this research will focus
on the influence of organizational culture on the Alibaba company from an employees
(internal) perspective. Meanwhile, the nature of the company is not under consideration
due to its irreversibility. Furthermore, in order to better understand organizational
culture from the interviewee’s viewpoint, the format of the interview used is semi-
structured. The author will listen to the information of interviewees then raise questions
followed the introduction.

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2. Methodology:

In this chapter the methodological approach will be discussed, methods and techniques
applied in this study, and the data gathered are explained below in detail.

2.1 Research Approach

There are three different types of research approaches: deductive, inductive and
abductive approach (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The deductive approach is an approach
which is based on the existing theory, develop hypothesis and design research strategy
and guide the process of collecting data to test the hypothesis (Saunders, Lewis and
Thornhill, 2016). This type of research approach usually connects with the quantitative
study, the numerical data is collected and analyzed for accepting or previously stated
hypotheses related to an existing theory. Babbie (2010) put forward that If a causal
relationship or link is implied by a specific theory or case, then it may turn in some
situations. A deductive design may test whether a more extensive case of a relationship
or a link can be obtained. And deductive research can be quicker to complete, albeit
that time must be devoted to setting up the study prior to data collection and analysis
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2016).

Inductive approach is also known in induction reasoning. It starts from collecting data
to explore a phenomenon and generate or build theory (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill,
2016). The step of inductive approach is “involves the search for pattern from
observation and the development of explanations – theories – for those patterns through
series of hypotheses” (Bryman and Bell, 2011). It is important to emphasize that
inductive methods do not imply that the theory is ignored in the development of
research questions and objectives. This is the case, the method aims to generate
meaning from the collected data to identify patterns and relationships to establish the
theory; however, induction does not prevent researchers from using existing theories to
develop research topics (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2016).

According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2016), The author thinks this research
starts with theory and developed from relative academic literature and design a research

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strategy to test the theory. The author decides to use the inductive approach in this thesis
to construct the relationship between theory and research. The motivation for choosing
the inductive approach is to explore a phenomenon based on existing theories examine
perspectives using qualitative data.

2.2 Research Strategy

There are two types of research methods which are qualitative and quantitative.
According to Bryman and Bell (2011), qualitative research is common in social and
behavioral sciences. They can help researchers to understand human behavior and
functions. It is more subjective because it does not use numerically analyze to involves
information. That means it connects with the reality is relative to location time, culture,
situation and value of a society. The purpose of the qualitative research is to understand
the human nature and behavior; for example- social sciences.

Quantitative research is using gathering numerical data and generalizing it across

groups of people. It is more objective and scientific than qualitative data because the
quantitative research involves the implication can be researched through be quantified
and measured (Bryman and Bell, 2011). Where Bryman and Bell (2011) described that
quantitative research is basic on the number and it can be expressed by some numerical
value.

In this thesis, the author chose qualitative method because the qualitative method is
more useful to explore the research question through previous studies, experience,
meaning, and perspective (Bryman & Bell, 2015), it uses the ‘factual’ data to help the
author find the result, these data are usually not amenable to counting or measuring. In
this research, the author will use semi-structured interviews to seek views on a focused
topic to collect data, thus collect background information of the target group.

2.3 Research Design

Research design is proposed to help find the result of research questions comprised of
a series of activities (Saunders et al. ,2016). Qualitative research prefers to use the case

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study and interviews to collect data and information, whereas, the quantitative research
is devoted to the hypotheses testing and measuring through statistical data (Hair Jr, et
al., 2015).

In this study, the influences of organizational culture on the success of Alibaba

company is explored through the literature review, case study and interviews. Therefore,
the qualitative research design is adopted.

2.4 Data Collection

2.4.1 Secondary Data

Secondary research which through collecting existing data or information to help

researchers save cost and time (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Secondary data is based on the
data what collected and processed by others. When using secondary data, it is important
to define the topic, because it can easier to use the keyword to search for information
and find relation to the topic to ensures that useful information will not be missed. When
secondary data was collected, which should take into all the data is credible. Therefore,
secondary data must be done correctly and find reliable sources (Armstrong et al., 2015).

Since the author is interested in the importance of employees' personal creativity and
innovation, secondary research was used since the author is efficient when gathering
bigger quantities of data provided by different sources (Armstrong et al., 2015).
Furthermore, taken the cost and the project schedule into consideration, secondary
research made it easier to get access to valid information about the topics related to
employees' personal creativity and innovation through different electronic search
channels on the Internet. Once this was finished, a clearer overview of the
organizational culture develops and fasts employees' personal creativity and innovation
based on the sources found. Sources were also checked, by seeing if proper referencing
was used. The information found was then summarized, to guide the author to explore
the influence of organizational culture on the employees' personal creativity and
innovation

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2.4.2 Semi-structured interview

The semi-structured interview is a qualitative interview. The interviewer may prepare

a list of questions but does not necessarily ask them all, or touch on them in any
particular order, using them instead to guide the conversation (Bryman and Bell, 2011).
The semi-structured interview allows for the objective comparison of candidates, while
also providing an opportunity to spontaneously explore topics relevant to that particular
candidate (Bryman and Bell, 2011). And it gives an opportunity for the interviewer to
probe into the topic for a deeper understanding (Bryman and Bell, 2011).

The author conducted semi-structured interviews with several employees who work in
Alibaba company at the (XXXX department) and in some way directly or indirectly
contribute to how the organizational culture affects their company development. The
interviews brought forward the status quo of the organizational culture from the
employees' perspective. Individuals interviewed are employees from the same
department in Alibaba company. The interviews were to collect as much information
as possible on the topic that may have been overlooked by the stakeholders and the
author. Therefore, the interview questions are designed based on the literature review.
(See the interview questions in Appendix)

2.4.3 Case study

The case study is a researcher based on a single case to detailed and intensive analysis
(Bryman and Bell, 2011). The case study research is concerned with the complexity
and particular nature of the case in question (Stake, 1995). The case study approach is
a popular and widely research design in qualitative research (Eisenhardt and Graebner
2007), and it usually was used in some business and management research. The case
can be a single organization, a single location, a person or a single event (Bryman and
Bell, 2011).

The author chose the case about how Alibaba uses the existing organizational culture
to develop their company. Alibaba, as the most famous and biggest e-commerce
company with a comprehensive organizational culture (Wang, 2010), the author will
use one case which can show Alibaba's organizational culture to analyze how the

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organizational culture help Alibaba to be successful. The case is the existing story, the
author will analyze the case with theories of organizational culture and connect the case
and interview to get the result of the research question.

2.5 Data Analysis

2.5.1 Research Ethics

The thesis circles around the effect of the organizational culture on creativity and
innovation. This would mean that during data gathering, the research methods would
be carried out mostly with the interview and prior research. During the collection and
analysis data, the ethical concerns need attention. There are four main areas of ethical
perspective, they are (1) Whether there is harm to participants, (2) Whether there is lack
of informed consent, (3) Whether there is the invasion of privacy and (4) Whether
deception is involved. These principles are more relevant for a qualitative research
strategy (Bryman and Bell, 2011).

In qualitative research, the ethical issue cannot be ignored, it also brings in the role of
business and management research studies. The ethical perspective influences the
qualitative research whether to possess the integrity of the research. The author ensures
that the privacy of all interviewees will not be violated.

2.5.2 GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a Data Protection Ordinance use in all
EU countries since 25 May 2018. The ordinance asks all process of personal data must
follow the fundamental principles described in the Data Protection Ordinance and
processing the personal data must have a justified cause and followed the time limitate
to guarantee the data security.

Personal data can be used to identify personal information, including name, address,
personal identity number and so on, in order to better keep and process. Processing of
personal data including data collection, registration, structuring, processing,

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compilation, and deletion. The person who decides the purpose and the measures for
the processing of personal data has the responsibility to protect data and follow GDRP.

In order to legally use data, the author will follow five rules to process data, 1) the data
should be processed in a legal, correct and open way to use; 2) guarantee stated and
justified purposes to collecting data; 3) the data should be adequate and consider the
limitation of data; 4) the data should be correct and if necessary updated; 5) during the
data processing, which needs guarantees adequate protection of personal data.

During this research, the author will follow the GDRP to collect data and processing
data. This thesis will collect data by interview, the author will require the interviewees’
consent. And for personal data, all the data collection has used the research of how to
develop creativity and innovation from mangers' perspectives. All the data will be
registers in Linnaeus University, the other people who want to use this data need to
required consent of the data owner.

2.5.3 Coding

Due to those open questions in the semi-structured interview, those collected data will
be analyzed by categorization, tagging and thematic (Saunders et al, 2007), and due to
the huge amounts of transcribed data could increase the complexity of analysis.
Therefore, coding for this data is necessary for research findings in the interview.

According to Saldaña (2013), coding for qualitative open questions is the word or short
phrase which could symbolize the attributions for those language-based data. In this
study, answers for the interview questions are output into the Microsoft word document
to get better analysis.

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3. Literature Review
In the following chapter, a literature discussion will be presented regarding the
organizational culture. Particularly, the definition of organizational culture, the
characteristic of organizational culture, the effect of organizational culture on the
employees and the organizational culture model. These four aspects in this chapter are
based on the prior literature review.

3.1 Organizational culture

3.1.1 The Definition of Organizational Culture

The definition of organizational culture is “a social control system … based on shared

norms and values that set expectations about appropriate attitudes and behavior for
members of the group” (O'Reilly & Chatman, 1996; Schein, 1990). Even if these norms
and values are not popularizing to the public, but these still can be as the factors which
influence the attitudes and behaviors of employees because these can be seen as the
strong and informal control system (Schein, 1985; O'Reilly & Chatman, 1996; Hogan
& Coote, 2014). According to the research from Chatman and Jehn (1994), the
necessary factor in every organization is the core values, when the members of the
organization share these values the time of organizational culture exists. The shared
norms and values direct the members of the organization to adopt the attitude and
behavior that is consistent with its culture (O'Reilly & Chatman, 1996; Schein, 1985).

Although the organizational culture has been defined in various ways (Linnenluecke &
Griffiths, 2010), there are some common themes, such as beliefs, norms, and values,
which are considered important for understanding organizational culture (McKinnon et
al., 2003; O'Reilly & Chatman, 1996; Linnenluecke & Griffiths, 2010). A majority of
existing research studies have focused on values to measure organizational culture
(O'Reilly et al., 1991; Hofstede, Neuijen, Ohayv, & Sanders, 1990). As the result, a
number of survey instruments that can measure organizational culture have been
developed over the past few decades (Jung et al., 2009; Ashkanasy, Broadfoot, &
Falkus, 2000).

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Organizational culture has been an important theme in the business and management
literature for some two decades. One reason for this is that organizational culture has
consistently been seen as having the potential to affect a range of organizationally and
individually desired outcomes. Ritchie (2000) notes that, from the time of the earliest
writers on organizational culture (Deal and Kennedy, 1982, and Ouchi, 1981), “it has
been suggested that organizational culture affects such outcomes as productivity,
performance, commitment, self-confidence, and ethical behavior”. Similarly, more
recent writers have repeated the assumption that “organizational culture impacts
significantly on an organization, its employees’ behavior and motivations and,
ultimately, that organization’s financial performance” (Holmes and Marsden, 1996).

The organizational culture is the key to a successful organization, which basic on a

strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs that are supported by strategy and
structure (SHRM, 2020; Kohll, 2020; Deloitte, 2018), when the organization has a
strong culture, there are three things will happen: first, employees will be followed the
same way to solve the question with the top management; second, employees will trust
the expected response is the proper one; third, employees will understand their
organization's values can bring the rewarded.

3.1.2 Characteristics of Organizational Culture

There are 7 characteristics of organizational culture, in different organizations, these

characteristics have a distinct value (iEduNote, 2017; Chang and Lu, 2007; Schein,
1990). The values of the characteristics of organizational culture will be judged by
members of the organization, and then adjust their behavior to match this perceived set
of values. According to iEduNote (2017), characteristics of organizational culture are
including: Innovation (Risk Orientation), Attention to Detail (Precision Orientation),
Emphasis on Outcome (Achievement Orientation), Emphasis on People (Fairness
Orientation), Teamwork (Collaboration Orientation), Aggressiveness (Competitive
Orientation) and Stability (Rule Orientation).

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Innovation (Risk Orientation): companies with the organizational culture what place a
high value on innovation, they encourage their employees to take risk and innovation
in the performance of their working process. Courses.com (2020) shows that companies
with the innovation culture are more flexible and adaptable and they are easier to
experiment with new ideas. And due to the high value is placed on new product
innovation, it is the foundation for winning in the marketplace (James, 2018; Chang
and Lu, 2007).

Attention to Detail (Precision Orientation): this characteristic of organizational culture

dictates the degree to which employees are expected to be accurate in their work. The
company with an organizational culture that places a high value on attention to detail,
which expects its employees to perform their work with precision (Courses.com, 2020;
James, 2018). This characteristic emphasis on measures, performance, and accuracy
indicates there is a high value on attention to detail (Chang and Lu, 2007; Arad, Hanson,
and Schneider, 1997).

Emphasis on Outcome (Achievement Orientation): this characteristic was described to

emphasize achievement, results, and action as important values (James, 2018; Schein,

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1990). This characteristic holds employees and managers have responsibility for
success, and under the situation, the company rewards tied to performance indicators
as opposed to seniority or loyalty. Research indicates that organizations that have a
performance-oriented culture tend to outperform companies that are lacking such a
culture (James, 2018; Chang and Lu, 2007; Arad, Hanson, and Schneider, 1997).

Emphasis on People (Fairness Orientation): this characteristic emphasizes treat

employees with respect and dignity in the company, which means organizational
culture values fairness, supportiveness, and respect for individual rights (James, 2018).
The company with organizational culture has a greater emphasis on and expectation of
treating employees with respect and dignity.

Teamwork (Collaboration Orientation): the embody of this characteristic on the

company with a positive relationship with their coworkers and managers (Chang and
Lu, 2007; Arad, Hanson, and Schneider, 1997; Schein, 1990). The company with this
characteristic of organizational culture emphasizes cooperation among employees. In
the company, there is a systematic training to facilitates a good relationship during the
teamwork to tend more positive relationships with their coworkers and particularly with
their managers.

Aggressiveness (Competitive Orientation): This characteristic of organizational culture

dictates whether group members are expected to be assertive or easygoing when dealing
with companies they compete within the marketplace (James, 2018; Schein, 1990).
Companies with an aggressive culture place a high value on competitiveness and
outperforming the competition at all costs (iEduNote, 2017; BizEdu, 2017).

Stability (Rule Orientation): the company with stability as the characteristic of

organizational culture is the rule-oriented (iEduNote, 2017). These types of companies
typically provide consistent and predictable levels of output and operate best in non-
changing market conditions (iEduNote, 2017; BizEdu, 2017).

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3.1.3 The Effect of Organizational Culture on Employees

According to DeMers (2015), organizational culture is heralded as one of the most

important factors for a business’s long-term success. The first job of building
organizational culture is to establish a clear set of priorities that align with the
company’s overall goals because, for large companies, the purpose of the company also
suited to their employee and the company expected to do all the “right” they can at their
respective levels (DeMers, 2015; Hatch and Schultz, 1997; Yücel, Karataş and Aydın,
2013).

This process of the organizational cultural transmission work on both a top-down and
bottom-up level, which means employees through organizational culture keep the core
mission at heart and follow during their working life to achieve that help company to
stay on with its identity and purpose (DeMers, 2015; Hatch and Schultz, 1997; Schein,
1990). Therefore, a company with a strong organizational culture that may able to
encourage their employees to keep the mission at heart.

A good organizational culture also can help companies attracting new talent to join
(DeMers, 2015; Yücel, Karataş and Aydın, 2013). Every organization needs enough
talent to stay afloat and development, even the long-established companies, attracting
talent also is the challenge for their development (Schein, 1990). Therefore,
organizational culture plays an important role when the company wants to hire
professional recruiters or headhunt at professional networking events (DeMers, 2015;
Hatch and Schultz, 1997). The reason is the talent want to choose a company where
worth them to embody their values. People tend to choose the company with the
organizational culture which meshes well with their personalities, rather than only focus
on the higher salary. And the company also will choose talent who can suit with the
organizational culture (Yücel, Karataş and Aydın, 2013).

The organizational culture does not only help the companies attracting talent but also
can help companies retaining employees (Schein, 1990). For the company, it is hard to
build a successful company if employee turnover is excessive because of training and
integrating the new employee will spend a lot of time cost and money and lead to lower
overall morale in the company (DeMars, 2015).

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However, a strong organizational culture is key to help the company keeps its
employees. According to DeMers (2015), employee retention and organizational
culture have a kind of self-sustaining relationship. The stronger organizational culture
is, the less likely employees are to leave. Similarly, the more employees stick around,
the stronger organizational culture will become (Schein, 1990). Therefore, it is
important to find a good organizational culture which fit for employees and develop
company with happy and consistent employees.

The roles of organizational culture are not only giving people an ideal cultural
environment for preventing them from quitting but also help employees feel truly
invested in their job (DeMers, 2015). For the employees, a good organizational culture
which can make them feel that the office is an extension of their home and will feel
both excited and passionate about the work they’re doing (iEduNote, 2017; McLaughlin,
2020; Embee, 2019). A good cultural environment can make employees get more
passion, which means the product, creativity and innovation will increase. In a way, an
organizational culture is a tool that keeps employees feel happy and motivation during
their working life, which helps the company has more opportunities to push new
boundaries and tread new ground (DeMers, 2015; iEduNote, 2017; McLaughlin, 2020;
Embee, 2019).

The organizational culture also providing employees a sense of identity with the
organization (Embee, 2019). In the organization, the organizational culture is different,
the culture of every organization is unique, being the part of the organization gives
employees a sense of identity that is shared only by the people who belong to that
organization (iEduNote, 2017; McLaughlin, 2020). According to Embee (2019), the
organizational culture also cultivates a sense of belonging and commitment towards the
corporation and develops a sense of unity in the workplace.

3.1.4 The organizational culture Models

Edgar Schein was one of the leading researchers in culture when cultural theory
emerged in the early 1980s. According to this theory, culture is a metaphor for the
organization of the company. He shines theory is in what we call the functional
perspective, where culture serves as a particular function in the organization (Schein,

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1999). He mentions two functions of organizational culture. The first is to create a
community among the employees and create a plan atmosphere in the daily work and
the second is to adapt the organization to the external surroundings to survive and grow
(Schein, 1999).

Schein (1999) explains that, in shines understanding of culture, there is no difference

between talking about an organization or group culture occurs between a larger or a
smaller group of people who have something in common, whether it can be called that
an organization or a group does not matter in this context.

The way the members of the organization act concerning values, norms and terms
define the culture of the organization (Schein, 1999), culture is just a way of explaining
the organization's being.

Schein offers the following definition of organizational culture, a pattern of shared basic
assumptions that the organization learned, as it solved its problems of external adaption
and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid
(Sechein,1999). And therefore, to be taught to new members of the organization as the
correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.

As a functionalist Schein (1999) first regards culture as something that is everywhere

in the organization and characterizes its members. He divides culture into three levels.
The upper level is artifacts and behaviors which are visible. The middle level is
espoused values which are less visible, but the various level is basic assumptions
(Schein, 1999). These three levels take place at the unconscious level among the
members and their thoughts invisible.

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 Visibl

Espoused Values

Basic Assumption

At the upper level, which has artifacts and behaviors. Artifacts are the first thing people
see when they visit a company for the first time, both from the outside and internal enter
the company (Schein, 1999). It can be the company's buildings and facade, the logo,
the way employees dress, the interior design, such as furniture, selection and deck all
the art on the walls, the reception desk and the way the front staff perceives you.

This physical evidence is an essential part of the artifacts, but also the way the
employees talk to each other, as well as how they speak to customers or employees, in
person and on the phone are part of the artifacts. The artifacts provide an insight into
how the organization wants to appear at first sight, and how it appears to the public
(Schein, 1999). The interpretation of artifacts is subjective, and we look at them from
our point of view (Schein, 1999), people relate them to the world of life and associated
values.

At the next level, we have espoused values. They are the organization's stated values
and norms and purpose sent the form of rules under which the organization works
(Shein, 1999), the management of the company determines the values and form of the
framework for the work. These values include, for instance, the company's website, the
organizational structure, annual reports, brochures and other written materials. The
espoused values are fast the expressed publicly announced principles and values that
the members of the organization claim to live by (Shein, 1999).

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At the bottom level, we have the basic assumptions of the company. This level
represents the core of the organization. If a basic assumption is firmly rooted in group
members will perceive any behavior based on any other basis as incomprehensible
(Schein, 1999). Basic assumptions are routines and norms in everyday life, that it
neither be challenged nor debated and are therefore extremely difficult to change.

This is where culture has real power and there is a correlation between the three levels
(Schein, 1999). Therefore, when analyzing a given culture, it is essential to compare
the expressed values with the basic assumptions. Organizational culture can be
considered as an important tool for the managers, leaders can consciously influence the
culture in the design direction.

3.2 Company Background

Alibaba is the most famous Chinese e-commerce company, based on its common
mission, vision and value system, Alibaba company and its subsidiaries have
established a strong organizational culture as the cornerstone of their business (Wang,
2010; Hai, 2009; Liu, 2018). Alibaba's business success and rapid growth depend on its
respect for entrepreneurship and innovation, and consistent attention and satisfaction of
customer needs (Alibaba, 2008). According to the codes of conduct of employees of
Alibaba (2017), when new employees join the Alibaba company, they need to
participate in comprehensive induction training and team building courses at the
Hangzhou headquarters. The course focuses on the company's mission, vision and
values, and Alibaba will re-emphasize these contents in regular training, team building
training and company activities (Alibaba, 2008). No matter what stage the company
grows to, this strong common value allows Alibaba to maintain a consistent corporate
culture.

Wang (2010) shows that, Alibaba has three great visions: to be the first platform to
share data; to be the company with the highest happiness index, and to be a company
that has survived for 102 years. Alibaba Group has a large amount of market
information and statistical data and strives to become the first enterprise to provide free
market data for all users. Alibaba hopes to let them analyze the data, grasp the market

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opportunities, and then adjust their strategies to expand their business (Hai, 2009;
Alibaba, 2008; Liu, 2018). At the same time, Alibaba hopes to become the company
with the highest employee happiness index and become a "live 102 years" company,
spanning three centuries (Alibaba was established in 1999).

Alibaba has unique values. The company adheres to the principle of "customer first,
employees second, and shareholders third" to develop the company (Wenku, 2016,
Wang, 2010). Alibaba also has six core values. They are the cornerstone of Alibaba's
organizational culture and an important part of the company's DNA (Liu, 2018). If the
organizational culture is the atmosphere created by this company, then the values are
the company's work standards and codes of conduct.

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4. Empirical Finding

In this chapter, the empirical finding will be presented by case study and semi-
structured interviews. This chapter is divided into four parts, which are based on the
prior literature review.

4.1 Empirical Finding

4.1.1 Case Study of Alibaba

Although many companies realize the importance of cultural construction and spend a
lot of energy to produce slogans to organize team-building activities, and promote
corporate values, it still has many people think organizational culture is nothing more
than a brainwashing tool or a formality (Wang, 2010). However, Alibaba has managed
to root culture in the blood of every employee. What did Alibaba do right?

In Alibaba, there is a special day called "Ali Day", which belongs to all employees of
Alibaba. "Ali Day" originated from SARS in 2003, the reason was that after the Canton
Fair in 2003, an employee was "suspected to be SARS." During the quarantine period,
employees are not only didn't give up their job but also their performance did not
decrease but increased. The reason was since all of the employees working at home,
they still kept the mission and values in their heart, even their parents picked up the
phone at home, their first sentence is "Hello, this is Alibaba". And in 2005, employees
proposed to set up a festival (Ali Day, May 10) to commemorate the spirit of everyone
in Alibaba's very difficult period and thank the employees and their families and
advocate the values of Alibaba to the people who have to connect with Alibaba.

During "Ali day", Alibaba organized the following activities: 1. Invite family members
to participate in activities (many employees bring pets); 2. Arrange interactions
between company executives and employees ’family members to share company
development and achievements; 3. Organize group weddings (102 pairs, in line with
the vision of "Alibaba wants to becomes an enterprise with102-year"); 4. Expand
Alibaba's interest associations. The significance of Alibaba's holding of festivals is to
inspire employees to not forget the spirit of fighting side by side in the company's

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difficult times, to fear hardship, to thank customers, and to thank their families for their
contributions to the company and employees.

As Jack Ma said (2005), the festival is to make an ordinary day sparkle and let the small
kind of goodwill come together. Through the design on "Ali Day", the organizational
culture of Alibaba was promoted (Wang, 2010). “Ali Day” wants to tell all of the
employees of Alibaba is: 1. When faced with a crisis, the team will be united and go up
against the current; 2. Advocate a value and keep in mind customer service, which was
refined as the customer first in 2004; 3. Advocate for a grateful heart to thanks the
families of employees for the support and assistance of the work. It is not only a fixed
ceremony and festival, but also a psychological contract spread to a wider range (Ali
employees' family members and customers).

General organizational culture take place internally, while “Ali Day” spreads to a larger
area. Alibaba also made the company's humanity more specific. Every year on Ali Day,
group weddings are also the most popular and attractive events. Last year, Jack Ma not
only witnessed the marriage, Alibaba also held a grand collective wedding for these
newlyweds and provided Chinese custom-made dresses and arranged a wedding room
for them. Many Alibaba employees who have participated in the group wedding will
register as volunteers for the next group wedding, hoping to pass on the warmth and
heart to more employees.

“Ali Day” is not just a Memorial Day; it has now evolved into an "open day". In addition
to commemorative activities, group weddings, friendship with friends, and reunion with
former employees, it also plays a role in infecting new and old employees internally
and exporting foreign culture (Qiao, 2019).

4.1.2 Interview

4.1.2.1 Organizational culture

Alibaba pays great attention to spread and influence the organizational culture to
employees in different departments. Interviewee 1 emphasized:

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 "In order to better implement Alibaba's organizational culture in the
various departments of the company, the company's HR department will
play an important role. In Alibaba, HR not only needs to do its own part
for the human resource management, at the same time, but they also act
as "political commissars" in various departments and play a supervisory
role in implementing Alibaba's organizational culture."

If the company wants to better implement and spread organizational culture to

employees, the company's senior management also needs to implement the
organizational culture. As mentioned by interviewee 3:

" Even the company's senior management, the company's HR and

employees can still monitor their words and deeds. If they act contrary
to the company's organizational culture, they will receive more severe
punishment. Not only that, but Alibaba also requires senior management
to set an example for employees at all times. They should lead
employees to better implement Alibaba's organizational culture."

Not only that, but Alibaba also requires its employees to respect the opinions of
customers and maintain the image of Alibaba anytime and anywhere. The interviewee
1 and 3 introduce that:

“When the family’s member of employees picks up the phone at home

during the quarantine time in 2003, Alibaba still wants to keep a good
impression to their customers because it is hard to judge which phone
number is come from customers. Therefore, although these behaviors
could influence, Alibaba still asks its employees and their families to
follow that to serve their customers. This also reflects that Alibaba
maintains and protects its cultural values all the time. Alibaba
maintained the external image of Alibaba through the behavioral
requirements of employees and their families, which made Alibaba's
performance not affected by SARS, even if the employees needed to be
quarantined at home.”

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4.1.2.2 The Characteristics of Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is composed of seven characteristics that range in priority from
high to low. Every organization has a distinct value for each of these characteristics.
These 5 interviewees explained their understanding of organizational culture to the
author. All the 5 interviewees believed that Alibaba's cultural values promoted
company and product innovation. The interviewee 1 said：

"Alibaba's main values are to better serve customers and help customers
solve problems. In this process, employees must constantly seek some
innovative ideas and methods to solve problems."

And the interviewees 3 told author that：

“Alibaba encourages employees to be bold in exploration and

innovation, and supports employees to put forward their ideas, including
suggestions for improvement. Employees who have innovative ideas
will also be accepted by their superiors. I think this is the best way for
employees to maximize their creativity and innovation."

Alibaba promotes employees' innovative behavior from their daily work, at the same
time, employees are encouraged to speak up their own ideas, which lays a further
foundation for Alibaba's innovation. The interviewee 2 concurred with this view, by
stating that:

“Alibaba encourages employees to be brave to break the class

restrictions within the company. Employees can cross the leadership of
their own departments to communicate with the company's top
management and share their ideas boldly. I think this is why Alibaba can
have a steady stream of new ideas.”

This is also emphasized in Alibaba’s cultural values. Alibaba requires employees to

learn to embrace change, meet changes and be brave in innovation (Wenku, 2016;
Alibaba, 2008). As the interviewee 1 pointed out:

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 “Alibaba requires its employees to adapt to the company's daily changes
rather than complain about problems. When we faced with changes,
employees must treat them rationally and communicate fully with the
organization to cooperate in good faith.”

The interviewee 2 added:

" When we face the difficulties and frustrations caused by changes,

Alibaba asks us should try to adjust ourselves and positively influence
and motivate our colleagues. And during our work, Alibaba hopes us
have a forward-looking awareness and can establish new methods and
new ideas to solve problems. I think Alibaba hopes we can create change
and bring breakthrough performance improvements.”

Alibaba also is a company which attention the details. In order to allow employees to
do their best in the details, Alibaba not only requires employees to be professionally
dedicated and their own work in the work process, but also to strive for excellence. As
the mentions from interviewee 2 said:

“When we receive a task, the leader will ask us to refine the content of
the work, so as to ensure that our work can be foolproof. Even if there
is a gap in the work, we will be asked to review every step of our work,
find the cause of the error and correct it.”

Coming from an interviewee, his view of Attention to Detail is different, he claimed

that Alibaba's control of details is also shown elsewhere:

“I think Alibaba's attention to detail can also be reflected in Ali Day. During
Ali Day, in order to take care of the children entering the park, Alibaba
supports the protection services which includes, for example, Alibaba
canceling the sale of food that may burn the children in the park, the
supermarket in the park mobilized the baby's diapers in advance to prepare
for unexpected needs and formulated a detailed plan to prevent the children

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 lost with parents when they playing in the park. This behavior made the
interviewee feel that Alibaba is a large careful and attentive group. This
humane move has taken me determination to stay at Alibaba.”

Relative to the attention to detail, Alibaba also pays attention to the results. This
performance is often reflected in the company's performance and rewards for
employees (James, 2018; Schein, 1990). Interviewee 1 explained his point of view:

"There is a slogan in Alibaba, "The best performance today is the lowest

requirement tomorrow." This slogan started a performance appraisal
system. This system shows the B2B salesperson’s Performance
determines their commission percentage, and the base of their
commission is based on their next month’s performance, which drives
sales staff to continuously strive to achieve performance growth."

Not only that, but Alibaba also pays more attention to the people. The interviewee 3
described his feeling of being valued and mentioning his experience as one example:

"Every year, Alibaba hosts a different but equally grand group wedding
on Ali Day. This behavior is unique, but it is something everyone should
look forward to. This behavior not only conveys Alibaba's concern and
attention to them but also treats employees as family members. "

At the same time, the interviewee 2, interviewee 4 and interviewee 5 also mentioned
their feeling for the Alibaba's group wedding, but what impressed the interviewees was
Jack Ma's blessing in the group wedding. Interviewee 2 offered his view: “I believe that
Jack Ma's congratulations are very novel and interesting every time, and also very close
to life.” This makes the interviewee 2 feels that Jack Ma, as the founder of Alibaba, is
no longer stand high above the masses, he understands and compassionate to his
employees, and can be together with employees.

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The interviewee 1 thinks the senior management team to share experience and motivate
employees which also can show Alibaba is extremely emphasis on people. He published
his views:

" On Ali Day, the CEO and CPO of Alibaba will give speeches on every
"Ali Day" to build more communication with employees. Let the
leadership communicate and contact employees better, like the speech
of Jack Ma at Alibaba and at the wedding are very affinity. In Alibaba,
there will be no deliberate actions to improve the identity of leaders.
Alibaba advocates equal treatment and mutual support among
employees. "

Alibaba also is a company which good at the teamwork. The Interviewee 2 pointed out
his view about the teamwork:

"Alibaba hopes all of the team members to jointly undertake rewards

and responsibilities and do a good job within their own responsibility.
When I joined Alibaba, HR told me that every employee who join
Alibaba should actively integrate into the team, be willing to accept the
help of colleagues, and cooperate with the team to complete the work."

The interviewee 1 told the author his experience:

"Before our need to making a decision, employees can actively express

constructive opinions and fully participate in team discussions and after
we make a decision, regardless of whether the individual has any
objections, employees must fully support the organization's decision
from words and deeds."

This means that within Alibaba's team, team members must maintain the same opinion
on the outcome of the decision to achieve team harmony. Not only that, Alibaba also
asked the team members to help and support each other. The interviewee 4 mentioned
that:

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 “Alibaba encourages employees to proactively share business
knowledge and experience and proactively give colleagues the
necessary help and be good at using the power of the team to solve
problems and difficulties in the work. This provides effective help for
good teamwork, which makes me feel that the team is united and
consistent.”

The interviewee 1 also told the author that Alibaba developed an organizational culture
that is conducive to teamwork in the hope that members of the team can have the same
values. At the same time, due to the same values, there is a more tacit understanding
among team members.

Aggressiveness is also an indispensable characteristic of organizational culture. Almost

all interviewees underlined that Alibaba is a uniquely competitive company in the
industry. The interviewee 1 emphasized that:

“The reason of why Alibaba can succeed and continue to develop is the
unique cultural values, it as the organizational culture of Alibaba and the
core competitiveness pushing all employees working towards the same
goal.”

Similarly, the interviewee 4 mentioned her view about the competitiveness of Alibaba:

"Alibaba's cultural values are the core competitiveness that helps

Alibaba develop and even succeed. The content that Alibaba conveys to
all employees is that they want to use their best ability to achieve
innovation and breakthroughs under the condition that everyone is equal.
The cultural values of Alibaba are leading everyone to the same goal."

The interviewee 5 also pointed out the importance of organizational culture as the
competitiveness in Alibaba by stating that:

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 "Alibaba is the third company I work for. Before coming to Alibaba,
although my company was large in scale, it did not systematically spread
and promote the concept of organizational culture to employees. At
Alibaba, all employees will act according to the company's
organizational culture and values. In the past few years at Alibaba, I
have seen the progress of myself and my colleagues in implementing
organizational culture. I believe that this rate of progress is difficult for
other companies to catch up with."

Alibaba asks its employees to understand the company's development status, pursue the
company's development but do not make a profit as the first goal (Wang, 2010), this
behavior shows the Stability in the organizational culture. According to this
characteristic, the interviewee 2 mentioned that:

“Alibaba will formulate long-term and short-term goals and

development plans according to different departments. As an employee,
I know the situation in my department very well and know what I want
to do now and later.”

The interviewee 3 added that:

“Alibaba has standardized management of the products it produces.

When the product quality reaches the standard, the company will also
adjust the product according to the market situation, which ensures that
the product can be widely used in the market.”

4.1.2.3 The Effect of Organizational Culture on Employees

With the continuous growth of Alibaba, Alibaba employees have been continuously
improving under the influence of organizational culture. And the unique organizational
culture has also played an important role for Alibaba to recruit talents and retain
employees. “The reason I chose to work at Alibaba was because of its organizational
culture. I hope to find my value in a good working atmosphere.” [The interviewee 2]

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The organizational culture can be one of the reasons to collect and recruit talents to take
part in Alibaba, which can help Alibaba stay afloat and development.

But not only that, the organizational culture also affects employees in other aspect. One
of the effects of organizational culture on the employees is to retain employees while.
The interviewee 4 mentioned an example: “I feel that I am valued by the company,
especially Ali Day. Alibaba makes me think that I am a member of Alibaba's big family,
and this idea not only makes me feel recognized, but also my family members have this
idea.” And he also explains the reason for that:

“In Ali Day, all of employees can bring their families and friends to visit
and play in Alibaba ’s work park on “Ali Day”, family members can
further understand the working environment and conditions of the
employees and can also play well.”

During the employee's work, Alibaba will conduct corresponding assessments based on
the implementation of the employees' cultural values. The interviewee 2 mentioned that:

“Employees who can work in Alibaba for a long time are all people who
can pass the assessment of cultural values. After the trial period, Alibaba
will also assess employees on a quarterly basis based on Alibaba ’s
cultural values. Colleagues will all get along and work with the same
values, it makes our working environment is very harmonious. Who
would not want to work in such a working environment? "

Alibaba's popularization and development of organizational culture have also increased

employees' sense of identity with the organization. Respondent 3 pointed out:

"In Alibaba, employees have the same values and abide by the same
organizational culture, which provides us with a good working
environment and atmosphere. And many of the company's
organizational culture is also formulated for the better development of
employees. This made me feel a sense of identity with the organization."

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Respondent 5 added:

"Not only that, but Alibaba will also pay attention to the feelings of
employees while promoting organizational culture. The company will
find the most acceptable way for employees to penetrate the
organizational culture into the hearts of employees."

4.1.2.4 The organizational model

At Alibaba, employees and customers can also see and use the artifacts with the
organizational culture in their daily work and communication. Although Alibaba has
no clear clothing requirements, the Alibaba logo is everywhere in Alibaba's work park.
The interviewee 1 mentioned that:

"In China, when you see a logo with an orange cartoon figure, then you
think of Alibaba. On the desk we work on, you can see the different dolls
of different sizes and shapes. These are all Alibaba ’s mascot”.

The interviewee added that:

“In Alibaba, our office appliances are also printed with the Alibaba logo,
and the company’s cultural values are also printed on the wall of the
office, reminding us to take time to follow Alibaba's cultural values. "

Alibaba's organizational culture also has a great influence on employees' work and their
values. Interviewees stated that Alibaba's cultural values also play a guiding role in their
work. The interviewee 5 also told the author that Alibaba's organizational culture has
also driven their enthusiasm for work.

"Because working at Alibaba, everyone's cultural values are unified.

This is because everyone has a better tacit understanding of the work
process, and they are more comfortable in their work, and their work
enthusiasm has also increased accordingly."

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This answer also reflects the impact of organizational culture on teamwork. The
interviewee 3 also told the author that:

"when the cultural values of the members of the organization are unified,
the efficiency and direction of the entire organization are also unified,
and the degree of tacit understanding and completion of teamwork is
also higher."

The interviewee 3 pointed out:

“Due to the influence of cultural values, Alibaba ’s employees will

consider the interests of customers. In the process of synergy with
customers, Alibaba ’s employees will think more and consider
comprehensively.”

The interviewees believe that Alibaba's cultural values are an important basis for
Alibaba's success. The interviewee 2 mentioned that:

"Alibaba has six core values, namely customer first, teamwork, embrace
change, passion, integrity and commitment. These values are printed in
the minds of all Alibaba employees and they have become our
subconscious thoughts to help us to practice in our work, even in life. "

The interviewee 3 added:

“In the process of educating children, I will unconsciously spread

Alibaba's cultural values to my children. It has slowly penetrated into
my life. For example, I will educate my children to treat others with
integrity in daily life and be passionate about life. These values are
actually what I learned from Alibaba's work.”

Interviewees responded differently to Alibaba ’s existing organizational culture. The

interviewee 4 said that:

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 "I think organizational culture is the soul and foundation of a company
and the driving force for employees to move forward. Alibaba's
organizational culture can play a good role in driving employees and let
us move towards the same goal. ".

The interviewee 1 said, "Alibaba's organizational culture is very specific and will
clearly tell us what to do and what not to do." The interviewee 5 also mentioned that:

“For me, Alibaba ’s organizational culture is leading. This is not only

helpful for our work but also plays a significant role in our lives. In terms
of education for my kid, sometimes I will use the values of Alibaba has
conveyed to me to guide the development of children. "

Basic on the interviews, the author understands that Alibaba's activities to spread and
develop organizational culture also have a positive impact on employees' work. The
interviewee 1 told the author, “As I work longer at Alibaba, I am more and more
convinced that the company is practicing its cultural values.”

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5. Analysis

In this chapter, analysis of the empirical study will be presented together with the
theoretical points of departure. The analysis is based on the previous choices
concerning methodology and is examined in accordance with the stated problem and
the purpose of the thesis.

5.1 The organizational culture

Organizational culture is a toll help company can stand on society for a long time, the
team is at the core of cohesion (Wang, 2010; Schein, 1985; O'Reilly & Chatman, 1996;
Hogan & Coote, 2014). No matter how good the product is, the innovative business
model will be overwhelmed by history. The team that only depends on the interests will
eventually break down. Only the organizational culture in order to pass on endlessly.
Alibaba has made the most of the application of organizational culture to develop their
company (Wang, 2010).

Alibaba proposed its own organizational culture in the early stages of development. By
the time of the SARS period in 2003, Alibaba strengthened its awareness and
understanding of organizational culture. In 2004, the establishment of Alibaba was
another cultural upgrade. During the SARS epidemic, Alibaba mobilized employees'
family members to answer the phone from the company's perspective, which reflected
Alibaba's basic values-customers are the first (Wang, 2010). Even in special times,
Alibaba still puts customers first and provides detailed services. This behavior of
Alibaba fully shows the influence of Alibaba's organizational culture on the
development of the company. It uses its own cultural values to influence employees'
attitudes and behaviors (Schein, 1985; O'Reilly & Chatman, 1996; Hogan & Coote,
2014). Alibaba regards its cultural values as an important factor for the development of
the organization. Through the sharing and implementation of cultural values, Alibaba
employees can adopt behaviors and attitudes consistent with the organizational culture
even in special periods.

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The most effective way to shape organizational culture is from top to bottom (Schein，
1990). Within the Alibaba organization, the company has been implementing the
company's organizational culture from top to bottom (Wang, 2010). The company's
senior management should take the lead in the implementation of organizational culture,
and lead employees to implement and abide by the company's organizational culture.

For better financial organization culture promotion and influence employees, Alibaba
has set up a variety of scenarios for the development and spread of its organizational
culture (Wang, 2010). "Ali Day" is one of the most famous. In addition to "Ali Day",
Alibaba also has its own anniversary, company annual meeting, and other activities.
Alibaba's senior management believes that organizational culture should be slowly
integrated and precipitated, but cultural activities must be fanfare, and employees must
be integrated into it through rich and diverse forms and different scenarios to better
understand their organizational culture (Wang, 2010). The cultural activities are a tool
to help employees to experience and feel. These activities provide employees with an
ideal cultural atmosphere and place and provide employees with a basis of belief (Kohll,
2020; Deloitte, 2018). These beliefs also give employees support and motivation for
working in Alibaba.

5.2 The characteristic of organizational culture

The characteristic of organizational culture which identifying a set of values that might
be used to describe an organization’s culture helps people identify, measure, and
manage culture more effectively (Schein ， 1990). Through interviews, the author
learned that Alibaba combined the characteristics of organizational culture with its own
organizational culture. This process enables Alibaba employees to better understand
and implement the company's organizational culture.

Innovation is the basis for leading the organization's progress and development
(Adelekan, 2016), a good organizational culture also influences the style and quality of

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management and determines the climate for innovation. One of Alibaba’s
organizational culture is Embrace change, it asks all employees to meet changes and be
brave in innovation (Wenku, 2016; Alibaba, 2008).In order to help employees innovate
better, Alibaba provides employees with a good working atmosphere and environment
to help them achieve innovation. At work, Alibaba encourages employees to be good
at discovering changes in their industry and company, to think, understand and actively
accept changes (Wenku, 2016; Liu, 2018). When facing difficulties, the company
encourages employees to constantly try new methods and new ideas to find the best
way to solve the problem (Liu, 2018; Wang, 2010).

Angel (1989) discusses enabling innovation factors in the organization, which

highlights the importance of information flows in the organization. While Information
flows dependent on the organizational climate and culture, which means the
organization culture can use effective communication to influence innovation.
Alibaba's behavior of supporting employees' courage to explore and develop new things
promotes the enthusiasm of employees in Alibaba's organization and also increases
employees' sense of identity with the company (Wang, 2010). In Alibaba, employees
can freely express their opinions and also provide a good atmosphere and environment
for innovation. Employees can boldly put forward their own ideas, ignoring the
company's hierarchical restrictions. This rule gives employees more space to develop
their vision and thinking and provides more space and opportunities for innovation
(Wang, 2010).

Alibaba also requires employees to have good control over the details of their work,
because this characteristic of organizational culture determines the degree to which
employees expect their jobs to be accurate (Chang and Lu, 2007; Arad, Hanson, and
Schneider, 1997). Alibaba's attention to detail and outcome allows the company's
managers to focus more on the shaping of team values and culture (Wenku, 2016; Wang,
2010), even in Alibaba's difficult times, the company reflects from various subtle
aspects the influence of Alibaba's organizational culture on the company's development.

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Interviewees agreed that Alibaba's move highlights the company's emphasis on
organizational members, which is in line with the characteristics of organizational
culture--Emphasis on People, it is organizational culture values, supports, and respects
the personal rights and interests of company members (James, 2018), while Alibaba
pays attention to employees The emphasis is on respecting employees and treating
employees and management equally. Employees and practices can have equal and face-
to-face communication on "Ali Day". Ashworth (2015) said that strong communication
is key. In organizations where good communication is encouraged, where upper-level
executives freely communicate with lower-level employees and vice versa with respect
and without judgment, the company often implements an open-door communication
policy with their employees. Therefore, when a company has good communication
between its employees, it can often avoid conflict as employees work through
challenges (Ashworth, 2015).

One of the characteristics of organizational culture is to emphasize the equality between

people in the organization, and Alibaba uses this feature freely. Alibaba's cultural
values mention the emphasis on employees. Alibaba ranks the interests and needs of
employees in front of shareholders, which allows employees to get more equal
treatment in their work and to make their roles easier.

Alibaba's application of organizational cultural characteristics is also reflected in its

emphasis on teamwork. In an organization, good teamwork has a positive impact on
the development of the organization (Chang and Lu, 2007; Arad, Hanson, and
Schneider, 1997; Schein, 1990), this positive impact not only exists within the team but
also exists between employees and managers. In order to better achieve harmony within
the team, Alibaba requires employees must be good at cooperating with different types
of colleagues and do not bring personal preferences into the work process. Alibaba
employees must have a sense of ownership, positively and positively influence the team,
and improve team morale and atmosphere (Wenku, 2016). This also improves the
cooperation within the team.

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Aggressiveness is one of the characteristics of organizational culture which measures
the degree of the people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing（James,
2018; Schein, 1990; iEduNote, 2017; BizEdu, 2017）. Organizational culture reflects
the common pursuit, common values, and common interests of the organization as a
whole (Shine, 1990; Dastion, 2017), once this kind of cultural concept is formed, it will
generate strong cohesion and guide all employees to the overall goal of the organization.
Alibaba has been disseminating and practicing the company's cultural values to all
employees, and has made cultural values the company's core competitiveness, making
employees work hard for it. Under the guidance of cultural values, the enterprising spirit
of employees will also increase, and the company's competitiveness will become
stronger and stronger.

Stability measures the degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining

the status quo in contrast to growth (iEduNote, 2017; BizEdu, 2017). Whether the
organizational culture has stability plays a vital role in the survival and development of
the company (Shine, 1990; Dang, 2014). Organizational culture affects the values and
behavior patterns of all employees and it requires stability. This stability also affects
the psychological, thinking, and behavioral habits of most employees. Alibaba has
firmly imprinted the company's cultural values, product specifications and company's
development goals in the hearts of employees through the dissemination of
organizational culture. Through continuously deepening employees' understanding of
organizational culture, the company's values also affect employees' daily behavior.

Alibaba realized the combination of Alibaba's organizational culture and organizational

cultural characteristics when implementing organizational culture so that Alibaba's
organizational culture could be better used in the company's development and laid the
foundation for Alibaba's success.

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5.3 The Effect of Organizational Culture on Employees

Alibaba has established the company's organizational culture since its establishment in
1999, which is relatively advanced compared to its contemporary Internet counterparts
(Wang, 2010). Organizational culture has both a mandatory guiding role and a subtle
guiding role for employees' behavior. Good organizations will use their own unique
organizational culture for management (Cheng, 2018). Organizational culture can train
employees that meet the needs of the organization. The role of organizational culture is
to allow all employees to use their talents, and an excellent organizational culture can
do more with less (Cheng, 2018). Organizational culture Reduce friction between
employees, employees and managers, departments and departments through the
common values of all members. The more commonality among employees, the easier
internal communication and coordination.

The central task of organizational culture is to value people's value and strive to create
conditions for people to realize their value (Cheng, 2018). Alibaba's behavior of
inviting family members to "Ali Day" not only hopes to share the company's
development and success with employees' families but also to thank family members
for their support in their work. This is Alibaba's humanized expression and a way to
prove employees' value. In a good cultural atmosphere, employees can better develop
their talents, let employees be passionate about their work and actively face the
difficulties in their work.

According to Cheng (2018), organizational culture can mobilize employees' enthusiasm

and initiative, and affect their evaluation of society, organization, and individuals, and
directly affect their job satisfaction. Alibaba’s organizational culture fully starts from
the perspective of employees and provides employees with a good working
environment and atmosphere. Alibaba also makes employees feel the company's sense
of identity and the value of their work through a series of behaviors and activities. With
the further deepening of organizational culture, employees also actively participate in
the construction of organizational culture. Alibaba improves employee satisfaction with

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the company by providing employees with a relaxed and comfortable working
environment, thereby reducing employee turnover.

Through interviews, the author learned that in Alibaba, when a new employee enters
the job, the department head will want the employee to introduce Alibaba's cultural
values. According to Shi (2007) shows that when an organization needs to establish and
consolidate the culture, it is possible to train members of the organization to understand
the new culture of the organization. Learn how to change your behavior based on the
new culture of the organization. The deeper the organizational culture penetrates among
employees and the wider the diffusion, the stronger the cohesion of the organization,
and the higher the performance and satisfaction of employees (Cheng, 2018). As
Alibaba continues to consolidate its employees’ organizational culture, employees’
values will gradually become unified. When old employees face new employees, they
will play a guiding and training role in spreading the company's organizational culture.

A good organizational culture will form a unique cultural atmosphere for the company,
and a good organizational culture can provide support for the development of the
organization (Cheng, 2108). Organizational culture also plays a fundamental role in the
establishment of employees' personal values, and helps employees realize their personal
values at work. The establishment of organizational culture plays an important role in
providing employees with adequate physical and mental protection, thereby retaining
talents for the company (Cheng, 2018). Alibaba’s organizational culture plays a role in
regulating behavior for the company’s managers and employees. Under the influence
of the company’s cultural values, employees have increased their enthusiasm for work
and loyalty to the company, which has contributed to the development of Alibaba.

5.4 The organizational model

Edgar Schein divides the elements of organizational culture into three levels to help
organizational leaders better understand and apply organizational culture. Schein (1999)

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believes that organizational culture is constantly improved during the development of
the organization, and culture is a series of basic assumptions that work well and are
quite effective.

Observable Artifacts, as the upper level of organizational culture, are those explicit
cultural products that can be seen, heard and touched, but they are not easy to
understand by people (Schein， 1999). Observable Artifacts are the most obvious to
external members, but these "material forms" reveal some important characteristics of
the company (Schein，1999).

As Schein (1999) shows that the interpretation of artifacts is subjective, there are
different views to look at it from different perspectives, the internal people of the
organization relate them to the world of life and associated values. Alibaba puts those
logos and symbols which can represent the company in a prominent position in various
departments of the company. For customers who visit and negotiate cooperation, these
logos only can represent Alibaba, but for Alibaba's internal employees, these logos can
remind them to always observe and realize Alibaba's organizational culture.

According to Shein (1999), the next level of organizational culture is espoused values.
The organization formulates stated values and norms and purpose sent the form of rules
under which the organization works. As one of the important components of
organizational culture, values play an important guiding role in the behavioral norms,
moral preferences and beliefs of organizational members (Shein, 1990). In order to
guide the further development of employees, Alibaba regards the company's cultural
values as an important part of Alibaba's organizational culture. These values have
played a guiding role for Alibaba employees in their work and even in their lives.

In Alibaba's organizational culture, an indispensable value is "passion". Alibaba hopes

that its employees can maintain an optimistic attitude and never give up. At the same
time, Alibaba hopes its employees also be full of love for the company, work and
colleagues. In order to implement this value, what Alibaba has done is to give feedback
to the employees and their families for the company’s efforts, and this feedback has

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also driven employees to work enthusiasm. Working in a company with a sense of
cherished and gratitude, this working atmosphere is also one of the reasons for
promoting employees' motivation to work.

The foundation of organizational culture is the core values of the organization, which
affects the attitudes and behaviors of organizational members (Chatman and Jehn, 1994;
O'Reilly & Chatman, 1996; Schein, 1985). Shein (1999) shows that what is hidden
under the artifacts is the organization's "faith and value". They are the organization's
strategy, goals, and philosophy. Alibaba integrates organizational culture with the
company's cultural values so that employees can understand and implement them in
their work and life. Jack Ma once said in a speech that " Maintaining a uniform between
deeds and thoughts is the most critical implementation of culture." Alibaba's values and
organizational culture are closely linked. This is not only Alibaba hopes that its
employees can have the same method and principles during their work but also hope
that they can achieve their goals under the guidance of Alibaba values in work and life
(Wang, 2010).

The basic assumptions mean that the core or essence of organizational culture is
unconscious assumptions, values, beliefs, norms, etc. that have long taken root in
people's minds. Because most of them are from an unconscious level, it is difficult to
be observed (Shein, 1999). Due to Alibaba's value system is very perfect and sound
(Wang, 2010). All five interviewees can brief the author on the cultural values they
have been instilled in.

Basic Assumptions exist in people's natural attributes, interpersonal relationships

and activities, reality and facts (Shein, 1999). This penetration of values also
coincides with what Alibaba has done (Wang, 2010). What Alibaba does is not
only to spread the company's organizational culture to the hearts of every Alibaba
employee, but also to use the organizational culture to have a positive impact on
employees' work, life and values (Wang, 2010).

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Through interviews, the author knows that Alibaba's cultural values have played an
important role in the development and success of Alibaba. Values are the criteria used
by members of an organization to guide and evaluate behavior. It is a screening
benchmark that guides people to choose from various possible goals (Schein, 1999).
An organization’s values are reflected through people’s behavioral orientation,
evaluation and attitudes towards things (Schein, 1985; O’Reilly & Chatman, 1996;
Hogan & Coote, 2014). The attitude, methods and style of doing things are the culture
advocated by this organization.

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6. Conclusion and Contribution

In this chapter, a summary of the contributions of this thesis is going to be discussed.

Meanwhile, the research question is going to be answered based on the practical result
and theatrical context.

This thesis dissertation has been focused on the discussion of the organizational culture
and the success of the Alibaba company. Organizational culture plays an important role
in promoting the company's development. The importance of organizational culture
comes from its influence on enterprise and enterprise's business results (Lukic et al.,
2014). In recent years, Alibaba has been a representative company that promotes the
implementation of organizational culture. For a long time, Alibaba's development and
success are inseparable from the organizational culture and values it has been practicing.
Alibaba, as the leading Internet business service platform in China and even in the
world, has strengthened its own connotation construction closely around its own
organizational culture since the day of its creation. It has an inestimable effect on the
growth of enterprises and the improvement of competitiveness.

It is evident that employees who took part in the interview are aware of how Alibaba
company applying the organizational culture. Even if the company needs to adjust the
organizational strategy, the employees still can follow with the new culture to be with
their work. Therefore, employees in this company always adopt workably and
understand the organizational culture of their company. It is a common practice at
Alibaba that the organizational culture is disseminated top-down, by senior
management, including middle managers as well as lower-level employees. The
organizational culture is firmly embedded in all levels of the company, which narrows
the differences in the understanding of the organizational culture within the company.

The organizational culture formulated by Alibaba also fully uses the characteristics of
organizational culture. Each distinctive feature of the characteristics of organizational
culture can be found in Alibaba's organizational cultural values. Especially the

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influence of organizational culture on company innovation, teamwork and
competitiveness. These characteristics of organizational culture have played a decisive
role in the development of Alibaba's products and technologies and the working
enthusiasm of the employees.

Furthermore, management also often shares the impact of organizational culture on

them, and employees also have more opportunities to speak freely at work. For Alibaba
employees, this is an advantage and resource that also increases the enthusiasm of
employees to work and has a positive impact on retaining talents for the company.
Under the effect of the organizational culture, more talents will be attracted by Alibaba's
working environment, which provides more talent demand for Alibaba's development.
Under the guidance of the same organizational culture, employees' sense of
identification with the organization will also increase, thereby enhancing the cohesion
within the company. In order to better realize the spread of organizational culture within
the organization, Alibaba also often trains and evaluates employees, so that Alibaba's
cultural values can penetrate into the hearts of employees.

Furthermore, Alibaba has also realized the construction of an organizational culture

model. From the top-level, Observable Artifacts, Alibaba revealed its cultural products
to employees and customers through some "external features". For Espoused Values of
the company, Alibaba's organizational cultural values have also become the company's
strategic goals and philosophy. Under the guidance of organizational cultural values,
Alibaba employees further enhance their personal business level and attitude to life.
This also proves that Alibaba has realized the bottom level--Basic Assumptions of the
organizational culture model. The core or essence of the organizational culture takes
root in employees' minds, which makes Alibaba's organizational cultural values play a
guiding role in the lives of employees.

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6.1 The answer to the research question

Research question:

How organizational culture influences the overall performance of the company?

Here, in this thesis, the author taking an example as Alibaba company explores the
relationship between the organizational culture and the success of the company. Basic
on the result of the interview, all the interviewees believe that the success of Alibaba is
inseparable from the company that has been implementing and applying the
organizational culture to employees. This means Alibaba has always attached great
importance to the company's organizational culture construction and practice and
established a standardized system to evaluate the employees' organizational culture.

The characteristics of organizational culture, the effect of organizational culture on

employees and the organizational culture model are the aspects that the author wants to
explore in this thesis. From these three aspects, the author found that organizational
culture not only can be applied in the employees' work but also influence their social
life and children's education. As the core of the company's development, organizational
culture unifies the values and behavioral norms of employees, laying a foundation for
the company's standardization and unified thinking. Played a guiding role for the
company's overall performance in the direction of positive. Therefore, organizational
culture influences the company's overall performance and help the company to be
successful through its nature, characteristics, and impact on employees.

6.2 Contributions summary

This thesis has investigated the influence of the organizational culture on the success
of company, especially focusing on the employees' perspective. The main contributions
of this research are: This research has investigated the feedback of the employees of
Alibaba company to the organizational culture, which does not have enough surveys
and researches before. The result of the research has proved the influence conditions
and effect of organizational culture on the employees by conducting the interview and
it also proves the organizational culture as the main reason influence the success of
Alibaba company.

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6.3 Implication for future research

According to this research, the author found that organizational culture influences the
success of Alibaba and helps Alibaba company and its employees’ development. A
follow up of the situation at Alibaba would provide valuable knowledge and insights.
For future research, the author has some suggestions for the other researcher who want
to study in the organizational culture and Alibaba company. First, future researchers
can study how organizational culture influence company development from the
managers' perspective. By doing so, it would also be possible to investigate how the
organizational culture impacts management and how the organizational culture
influences the management making decision.

This research study in Alibaba has applied the company's organizational culture well in
the company's development process, and employees have also benefited a lot. However,
this study only analyzed the positive impact of Alibaba's organizational culture, and the
interview questions did not cover negative information. Therefore, the second
suggestion is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Alibaba's organizational culture.
As Lukic et al. (2014) discovered that the organizational culture has two sides, the
author is advising future researchers to study and consider the organizational culture
from different angles.

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Appendix:
Interview Questions：

1. What are the reasons that you joined Alibaba?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages working in Alibaba?
3. Can you give me an example when you have participated in organizational
activities at Alibaba? What was your experience in being a part of a team
in building an organizational culture?
4. After you took part in this activity which can embody the organizational
culture of Alibaba, have you seen some change on you or your colleagues?

The characteristic of organizational culture:

5. Can you tell me your experience on the influence of Alibaba's

organizational culture on your innovation behaviors?
6. Can you tell me what has changed in the details of your work after you
participated in these activities?
7. Can you tell me what has changed in your working achievement of your
work after you participated in these activities?
8. Can you tell me how do you think the company values you?
9. Can you tell me what has changed in your teamwork after you participated
in these activities?
10. Can you tell me why you think Alibaba is competitive?

The effect of organizational culture on employees

11. Can you tell me how the organizational culture of Alibaba helps you keep
the mission of your work?

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12. Can you tell me the reason why you want to stay in Alibaba?
13. Can you tell me what do you think of your current working atmosphere?
14. Can you tell me how you feel a sense of identity when working at Alibaba?
15. Can you tell me what is the reason make you are full of passion and
motivation to work at Alibaba?

The organizational culture models:

16. Can you tell me how Alibaba reflects its artifacts and behaviors in daily
work to make its visible?
17. Can you tell me what values Alibaba insists on?
18. Can you tell me what specific routines and norms there is in Alibaba?

19. What other impacts do you think Alibaba's organizational culture has on
employees?
20. In your opinion, what influence does organizational culture have on the
development of Alibaba?
21. How do you think Alibaba's existing organizational culture?
22. Do you think Alibaba's existing organizational culture needs improvement?
Where does it improve?
23. What do you think Alibaba's organizational culture has to do with the
company's development and success?

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