Founded in 1999, Alibaba Group has quickly emerged

Case background: Founded in 1999, Alibaba Group has quickly emerged as the largest Chinese e-commerce company. The company primary operates in China and provides C2C (consumer-to-consumer), B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) sales services via web portals.

Founded in 1999, Alibaba Group has quickly emerged

Assessment 2 – Essay (Individual Assignment)

Weight: 30%

Due date: 5 pm, 9 October

Submission type: Essay

Estimated student workload: 20 hours

Task Overview:  The assessment requires students to conduct original research on a prescribed assignment question, which involves the collection and critical analysis of information from a range of sources, including academic journals, business magazines, newspapers and also other media outlets. Students should search the information (e.g. research articles, newspapers and other media outlets) relevant to the case and analyse the case question through reference to relevant concepts and frameworks introduced in the unit. The essay should be up to 2000 words.

Preparation/Instructions: 

Case background: Founded in 1999, Alibaba Group has quickly emerged as the largest Chinese e-commerce company. The company primary operates in China and provides C2C (consumer-to-consumer), B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) sales services via web portals.

Since its’ IPO (initial public offering) on NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) in September 2014, the company has been expanding into the global e-commerce market aggressively. Additionally, Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere.

As the founder and former chairman of Alibaba Jack Ma said:

“Today the Internet can help small businesses sell things cross the oceans, cross the nations. And I also hope that we can serve 2 billion consumers, we can help 10 million small businesses outside China.”

Case question: How Alibaba Group has made it easy to do business in China and hence achieved a great success? Additionally, can the company replicate its China strategies elsewhere as it expands into other countries and achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the global e-commerce market?

Search information (e.g. academic journals, books, business magazines, newspapers and other media outlets) relevant to the case and answer the case question through the application of relevant theoretical concepts and frameworks introduced in the lecture program.