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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Marketplaces today change at unprecedented rates. For your business to thrive in an unstable environment, it must constantly “retune” to customer demands. One company that has successfully navigated dynamic markets is Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Writing for The Boston Consulting Group, Martin Reeves, Ming Zheng and Amin Venjara detail Alibaba’s uncanny ability to function as a “self-tuning enterprise” and explain how the company has moved in surprising directions, few of which even existed at the time of its founding. getAbstract recommends this insightful report to CEOs, managers and human resource officers looking to ways to incorporate agility into their organizations .

Summary

Jack Ma founded the Chinese online retailer Alibaba in 1999 as a platform for business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Since then, it has shifted its focus to consumer sales and implemented a secure online payment system, merchant rating platforms, cloud computing, microfinance and smart logistics. Had Alibaba continued to operate strictly under its original B2B vision, the business would have stagnated. Part of Alibaba’s success comes from its ability to function as a “self-tuning enterprise.” Such businesses follow three “interlinked learning loops,” which your ...

About the Authors

Martin Reeves is a senior partner and managing director of the Boston Consulting Group. Ming Zheng is chief strategy officer of the Alibaba Group. Amin Venjara is the vice president of strategy and business development at ADP.


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