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Alibaba
ICMR Case Collection
Icfai Center for Management Research

Alibaba: Competing in China & Beyond
BSTR288-Teaching Note

2008The Icfai Center for Management Research. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means- electronic or mechanical, without permission.
To order copies, call 0091-40-2343-0462/63 or write to Icfai Center for Management Research, Plot # 49,
Nagarjuna Hills, Hyderabad 500 082, India or email info@icmrindia.org. Website: www.icmrindia.org

BSTR/288

Alibaba: Competing in China & Beyond
TEACHING NOTE
CASE SUMMARY
This case discusses the success of Alibaba.com Corporation (Alibaba) in China under the leadership of Jack Ma (Ma), its founder. It talks about the transformation of Alibaba into one of the most successful e-commerce companies in China and also analyzes its business portfolio. The case explains in detail the rationale behind Ma starting an e-commerce website and his efforts to bring about the growth of the company.
Alibaba had emerged as the largest e-commerce company in China. The company tailored its strategies to meet the needs of the customers and made a mark because of its understanding of the
Chinese language and culture. However, some experts have also raised doubts over the sustainability of Alibaba‟s business model.
The case highlights how Ma successfully competed with foreign e-commerce companies like eBay
Inc. (eBay) by establishing a rival website, Taobao.com, in the online auctions market. However,
Alibaba lagged behind in the Chinese web search market despite acquiring Yahoo! China‟s operations in 2005. Moreover, with Baidu.com (Baidu), China‟s leading search engine announcing its plans to foray into the rapidly growing e-commerce market in 2008, the competition was expected to intensify for Alibaba. After a successful IPO, the company was preparing to strengthen its competitive



References: 2. Justin Deobele, “B2B for the Little Guys,” www.forbes.com, July 24, 2000. 3. “Alibaba’s Magic Carpet is Losing Altitude,” www.businessweek.com, April 9, 2001. 4. “eBay and EachNet Team up in China,” www.investing.ebay.com, March 17, 2002. 5. “Alibaba is to Land at Japan, as Planned,” www.resources.alibaba.com, October 17, 2002. 7. Susan Kuchinskas, “Jack Ma, CEO, Alibaba,” www.venturetdf.com, October 22, 2004. 8. “eBay Outlines Global Business Strategy www.investor.ebay.com, February 10, 2005. 9. Justin Doebele, “Standing up to eBay,” www.forbes.com, March 18, 2005. 11. “Open Sesame to the Net Highway,” www.crienglish.com, April 17, 2005. 13. “Meet Jack Ma, Who Will Guide Yahoo in China,” www.bdachina.com, August 12, 2005. 14. Bill Powell and Jeffrey Resner, “Why Ebay Must Win in China,” www.time.com, August 22, 2005. 15. Ina Steiner, “Alibaba Calls on eBay to Make China Site Free, eBay Responds,” www.auctionbytes.com, October 20, 2005. 16. “Alibaba’s Chief Vows to Beat Google in China,” www.blog.searchenginewatch.com, November 17, 2005. 17. “Watch Jack Ma,” www.battellemedia.com, November 19, 2005. 18. Chua Chin Hon, “Yahoo! Jack Wants it to be No.1 in China,” www.asiamedia.ucla.edu, April 28, 2006. 19. “Taobao.com Launches B2C Services,” www.resources.alibaba.com, May 10, 2006. 21. John Heilemann, “Jack Ma Aims to Unlock the Middle Kingdom,” www.money.cnn.com, October 2, 2006. 22. Matt Marshall, “China Wars: Zhou Fights Back, Says Alibaba’s Ma is Desperate,” www.venturebeat.com, November 5, 2006. 23. “eBay’s Exit from China Opens the Door for News Corp.,” www.seekingalpha.com, December 21, 2006. 24. Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, “Spotlight: Jack Ma, Co-founder of Alibaba.com,” www.iht.com, January 5, 2007. 25. Christopher Bodeen, “Yahoo China Portal to Be Reorganized,” www.washingtonpost.com, January 8, 2007. www.ecommercetimes.com, January 11, 2007. 28. “Alibaba.com,” www.lupaworld.com, May 29, 2007. 29. “Taobao.com Triples to Beat eBay,” www.chinaeconomicreview.com, July 25, 2007. 30. Simon Burns, “Going Local No Help for eBay in China,” www.vnunet.com, August 23, 2007. 31. “CNNIC Reports Baidu with 74.5% Market Share,” www.chinatechstory.blogspot.com, September 25, 2007. 33. “Alibaba.com Opens its First European Office in Geneva,” www.alibaba.com, October 2, 2007. 34. “Alibaba IPO Approved in Hong Kong,” www.tagedge.com, October 6, 2007. 35. Bei Hu and John Liu, “Alibaba.com Offers $1.3 Billion Share Sale,” www.iht.com, October 15, 2007. 36. “Baidu to Enter Chinese E-Commerce Market,” www.baidu.com, October 17, 2007. 37. “Baidu Faces off Alibaba in Online Trading Market,” www.ict.tdctrade.com, October 18, 2007. 38. Karen Cho, “Alibaba Bumps up IPO Price,” www.chinadaily.com, October 23, 2007. 39. Mark Lee and John Liu, “Alibaba Shares Triple in Hong Kong Trading Debut (Update8),” www.bloomberg.com, November 6, 2007. www.resources.alibaba.com, November 7, 2007. 41. “Alibaba IPO Boosts Yahoo!” www.seekingalpha.com, November 7, 2007. 42. Fara Warner, “Alibaba.com’s Helm,” www.forbes.com, November 26, 2007. 43. Clay Chandler, “China’s Web King,” Fortune, December 10, 2007. 44. “China’s Alibaba.com Aims to Expand in Europe through Acquisitions – CEO,” www.forbes.com, December 28, 2007. 45. “Internet in China: Taobao Transaction Volume Tripled in First Half of 2007,” www.designative.info, 2007. 46. Elmer W Cagape, “Baidu Corners 61.5% Market Share in China Search Engine Market in Q3,” www.seo-hongkong.com, 2007. 47. “210 Million Internet Users in China,” www.english.peopledaily.com, January 21, 2008.

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