One Month in Alibaba as a Global Intern

One Month in Alibaba
Jeff Tang, 2013/09
Copyright © 2013 Jeff Tang, HKUST. All rights reserved.

Absolutely more than this…

More than this as well…
* Incomplete agenda Copyright © 2013 Jeff Tang, HKUST. All rights reserved.

Agenda
• The program
• The company
• Tmall & my work
• Observations
• It’s fun time
• Summary

1. THE PROGRAM
Good to be the “first” class.

Global Interns Program (全球实习生项目)
Conceived the plan
3 years ago…
戴珊（集团CPO）：the
ultimate program manger
曲洋（资深总监）：
Class coordinator
out of 10K+ applications http://e.weibo.com/1897953162/A3mxL3AWa
陆兆禧
（集团CEO）
彭蕾
（小微CEO）
Many others…
Goal & an unwritten law

A bit more about this program…
Group Activities
• Opening
• Campus visits
• Weekly gathering
• Top mgmt sharing
• Graduation
The best way to taste Aliway （阿里味儿） is to work with Alipeople （阿里人）.
1-on-1 mentorship in BUs

2. THE COMPANY
BUs are working independently together... 形散而神聚

A quick view of its business in 2013
25 BUs constitute “Alibaba Group”,
but it only means 1/3.
* Org chart after restructuring on
2013/01/10, maybe outdated..

A quick view of its business in 2013
Alibaba Small and Micro Financial
Services Group (under formation)
彭蕾 - CEO
国
内
事
业
群
国
际
业
务
事
业
部
共
享
平
台
事
业
群
创
新
金
融
事
业
群
樊路远
（木华黎）
彭翼捷
（翼捷）
井贤栋
（王安石）
胡晓明
（孙权）
China Smart Logistics Network

The structure looks familiar?
Key Concepts of Supply Chain Management
Alibaba Group
Cainiao Network
Alibaba SMFS
Group
Alibaba’s E-commerce
Territory

3. TMALL & MY WORK
C2B is the future, but has a long way to go..

China B2C market is huge and still growing fast

Tmall is Asia’s largest B2C online retail platform

Tmall: Online Shopping Landmark in China
Tmall allows brand owners, channel partners (distributors, authorized sellers)
to sell quality, brand name goods to consumers in Greater China region.

Tmall is featuring more and more (high-end) brands
70,000+ merchants, 80,000+ brands, 400,000,000+ buyers. (as of 2013/07)

Organizational Structure of Tmall
张勇（逍遥子）
总裁
物流事业部大客户部天猫事业部航旅事业部
国际业务及
商家成长部
产品技术部网站运营部客户满意部新业务部
服装服饰
家装生活
美妆个护
时尚生活
数码电器
商家成长培训部
服务商运营
进口业务部
整合营销
商家互动部
国际招商（BD）
国际品牌管理
商家成长体系
整合营销
流量拓展部
品牌及行业合作
网站及规则
无线
商业分析部
品牌站
品牌街
五大垂直类目
Merchant Growing System

Team of Merchant Growing System
Intelligent Product &
Service System
智能化产品与服务体系
Policy & Communication Service Platform
• 天猫早知道：the only official portal for information
disclosure and communication, (rules, updates,
solutions, training course, online registration etc) .
• 天猫规则解读：interpretation of rules for merchants
selling goods on Tmall – Dos & Don'ts.
Data-driven Operational Capability
Enhancement Plan for Merchants
• Diagnostic reports.
• Structured SOP after diagnosing.
• Data tools for regular operations and special
events.
• Knowledge system.
• Track merchant’s growing roadmap.

What did I do with the team?
* Part of my first & last bi-weekly report.
This page is intentionally left blank.

Knowledge System Framework
Goal: to better assist category operations specialists (类目运营小二) to
diagnose individual stores, identify root causes to any problem, and push
customized operational enhancement solutions.

Knowledge System Framework
It will be integrated into current data-
driven store enhancement plan.
Merchants, Tmall, and consumers are on the same boat!
Only when merchants grow, Tmall grows.

“Double Eleven”
2013 2012
US Cyber
Monday
~95
China’s Singles’ Day (光棍节)
Chinese Online Shopping Carnival

Challenges behind the prosperity
It’s an extreme stress test for the whole ecosystem…
2012/11/11Before After
Merchants
Tmall
Prod. planning
Inv. planning
Marketing
Biz innovation
Order fulfillment
Logistics
Traffic mgmt
After-sale serviceAlipay cap.
Real-time service
CRM
Sales
volume = Website
UV × Click-
thru-rate × Purchase-
thru-rate × Avg buyer
spending
Cust. service
Huge QPS
Real-time tracking
Order processing

“Double Eleven” Preparation Whitebook
Tmall rules, page template, etc
Operational planning
CRM techniques
Marketing channels
Customer service
Warehousing & distribution
Organizational readiness
Planning
I will be proud of this year’s success…

C2B: Future of E-commerce
Consumer-driven
Make-to-order
(以销定产)
Personalization
(个性化定制) Personalized
marketing
Socialized (open)
supply chain
collaboration
Flexible manufacturing
Cloud computing
Personalized needs

Tmall: Alibaba’s frontline for testing C2B initiatives
Pure Sales Platform
Consumer
Connection Platform
Tmall Strategies (2013)

Presales: Tmall’s first step to educate the market
Tmall
presales
Pick & pack
to order
Shipping
Delivery to
doorstep
原产地直供，时令最新鲜
* captured on 9/4

Customization? Category by category, even item by item.
Products like
furniture, home
appliances are
much easier to
do customization
than clothes.
Event-based;
Right cust. scope;
Group buying;
Attractive price;
* captured on 9/4

Customization? Category by category, even item by item.
* captured on 9/5

It takes a long way to fully roll out. Shopping experience is key.
Item Store Brand/Category Platform
Personalized Marketing
• Tag-based CRM tools
(product, demographic,
customer behavior, etc)
• Brand watch + subscription +
SNS + Mobile Internet 
seller-buyer interaction (O2O)
• “千人千面” (PC & Mobile) and
push personalized feeds
Low-hanging fruit

Implications of Tmall C2B initiatives on my research
Product (line) launch
Planning Stage Operation Stage Time
Product Portfolio
Planning
Flexible Feature
Commitment
Customer Choice
Behavior Modeling for
Mass Customization
Multi criteria need to be
considered when
merchants are planning
products to sell.
Even if fitting customer individual needs
is an extra selling point for MC, price is
still (oftentimes) the most important factor
for customer’s choice decision-making.

4. OBSERVATIONS
It is truly unique, value-driven, and organized to win.

Simple logic for strategic planning
20
80
SOE / Big enterprises
SME
(屌丝：underprivileged losers)
Internet technology
Significantly lower
entry barriers and help
the 80% grow
Matthew Effect often occurs..

It could be applied to virtually any industry…
Supply Demand
C2BTmall/B2C
Taobao
MarketplaceAuction
Focus Position

Business Nature  Organization  Corp. Culture
Organization Hierarchy Innovation Value/Intensity
Strategies
Tactics
Operations
Great Executors
Great Thinkers
Great Managers
Alibaba is almost purely driven by business model innovation until ~2009.
How to manage
22K+ employees??

大理段氏的最高武学
客户
第一
激情
诚信敬业
拥抱
变化
团队
合作
Alibaba Value System
Detailed interpretation of 6 values could be derived for different functions.
客户是衣食父母
共享共担，平
凡人做非凡事
专业执着
精益求精
诚实正直
言行坦荡
迎接变化
勇于创新
乐观向上
永不放弃

金庸武侠中最高深的
武学宝典，此功佛道
相参，刚柔并济。
Alibaba Leadership Model
胸怀
眼光
超越
伯乐
会看
会Sell
有结果
领导者是寂寞的
胸怀是被冤枉撑大的
心态开放，能倾听，
善于换位思考
找对人
养好人
养成人

These are not just slogans… they are like blood running through
employees' veins, and embodied by what they think, what they
say, and what they do.
武侠文化：capable, righteous, idealistic, realistic
(Chinese Chivalrous Culture)
风
清
扬

武侠文化
嗨，我是
三丰！
姜鹏
（集团SVP）

武侠文化

家文化：feel at home, emotional bond, brotherhood
(Home Culture，人情味儿)
Dress comfortably Trust, Simple, Happy

You
Are
Cared!

有情有义

Why Alibaba puts so much effort in developing
such unique organizational culture?
Hard Power Soft Power
Vision
Mission
KPI
Code of Conduct
Incentives
Penalties
Value System
Org. Culture
No perfect system.
It always has some holes.
Complementary
互补法律道德
……

Organization Hierarchy Innovation Value/Intensity
Strategies
Tactics
Operations
Great Executors??
Great Thinkers
Great Managers
Alibaba is almost purely driven by business model innovation until ~2009.
How to adapt the
organization??
Since Aliyun & “de-IOE” scheme, more technology innovation is taking place.

Alibaba redefines the role of HR
行军打仗，政委有担当！
集团OD平台&Staffing
组织与人才发展
组织文化与沟通
业务HR
组织成长与关怀
HR
General
Join business
decision-making!!
Make sure right
people at right place
Empower the teams
Training
Education
Organizational
Development
Organizational
Culture
What traditional HR professionals should do
(mostly paperwork) has been outsourced..
Change champion

Alibaba redefines the role of HR
It’s possible in Alibaba!
彭蕾：阿里小微金服CEO

3 Words I Heard Most Often in Alibaba
沉淀
共创
落地

Words of Wisdom in Alibaba
平凡人做非凡事
快乐工作，认真生活
今天的表现是明天最低的要求
马上做！做精彩！
心要大，脚要实。
刚工作的几年比谁更踏实，
再过几年比谁更激情。男人的胸怀是被冤枉撑大的
你感觉不舒服的时候，就是成长的时候。
教是最好的学
……

but, it must be a happy one
Problems/Challenges
• Manage post-90s employees
• Limited bottom-up innovations
• Make 360°assessment really work
• Still a question mark for its social-media
roadmap
• ……
Alibaba is by no means a perfect company

5. IT IS FUN TIME
Happy working, live earnestly... 快乐工作，认真生活

It’s Fun Time!
Day 1: Half-day Opening Ceremony

It’s Fun Time!
DH12 & Tmall’s president in a joint
marketing event in Hangzhou
Day 2: Tmall mentor team & intern team
were syncing expectations from both sides

It’s Fun Time!
Sharing on Alibaba (华蕾, one of the
earliest Alibaba employees) & Alipay
Yanjin’s sharing on fashion

It’s Fun Time!
Sharing on Alipay business &
technologies, by 井贤栋, President of
共享平台事业群（阿里小微金服）
Cross-departmental brainstorming session
on 2013 11-11 live broadcasting

It’s Fun Time!
First day (8/21) of Alibaba’s move to its new
campus, Taobao City, in Yuhang District.
Visits to Binjiang
Campus, Taobao City,
& Hupan Garden, Jack
Ma’s apartment, where
Alibaba was born.

It’s Fun Time!
A whole-day painstaking journey for
deep reflection on our life & dreams.
Dundun Academy（盾盾学堂）: industry
sharing by outside speakers
(VP of Tianhong Fund, Director of Youku)

It’s Fun Time!
Self-torture like challenge – 10hr walking tour
(~27KM) around West Lake under summer sun.

It’s Fun Time!
Dialogue with 王民明 (VP of OC), and
李俊凌(VP of Strategy, former Jack Ma’s PA)
Dialogue with 彭蕾
(CEO of Alibaba
SMFS Group)

It’s Fun Time!
Small group luncheon meeting with
蔺相如(VP of Alipay)
Brainstorming session for connecting Qingzhi’s
social enterprise project with Taobao

It’s Fun Time!
Dinner with Group CEO for best
performance of marketing 来往
Talk with the founder, Jack Ma, through
Alibaba’s own mobile IM client - 来往

It’s Fun Time!
Our video clip for graduation ceremony

6. SUMMARY
& some final words…

Takeaways from one month in Alibaba
Know Alibaba better
Know post-90s better
Know myself better

Jack Ma on the Company

If you work for making money, it’s just a job.
If you work for self-actualization, it could be a career.
If you work for pursuing some dream, it’s answering a calling.
-- Jeff Tang, 2013
My updated thoughts on work & life

Thanks for your attention!
“Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re gonna get.”
Contact: ghtang#ust.hk (replace # with @)
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One Month in Alibaba as a Global Intern

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