STEP 1

From the discussion regarding topic selection, all the group members have come to an agreement to choose Jack Ma as our research figure, who is the founder of Alibaba rose from humble origins and became a role model for other entrepreneurs globally. His evolution from an English teacher to an e-commerce empire builder can become an ideal inspiring case study to all of us. In this regard, we will look into his life experience, leadership qualities and his solutions in facing challenges.

Jack Ma

Biography

Childhood and education

Jack Ma was born on September 10, 1964, as Ma Yun in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. He and his siblings grew up at a time when communist China was increasingly isolated from the West, and his family didn't have much money when they were young. Jack Ma became interested in the English language as a young boy and started studying English at a very young age. At the age of 9 years, Jack Ma travelled 27 kilometers on his bicycle to visit the city's main hotel, offering visitors tours of the city in exchange for English lessons. The nickname "Jack" was given to him by a tourist he befriended.

After high school, he applied to go to college but failed the entrance exam twice as his weak point was mathematics. He finally passed on the third try, going on to attend Hangzhou Normal University (earlier Hangzhou Teachers Institute) in 1984. In 1988, Jack Ma graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He also revealed that he has been rejected from Harvard Business School for 10 times during the World Economic Forum in 2016.

Career

Jack Ma applied for 30 different jobs but faced rejection. He went for a job with the police and was told that he is not good. He went to KFC with 24 other people, everyone was selected except him.

After completing his graduation from Hangzhou Normal University, Jack Ma started teaching English and international trade at Hangzhou Dianzi University (earlier Hangzhou Institute of Electronics and Engineering) from 1988 to 1993.

In 1994, Jack Ma heard about the Internet and started his own company 'Hangzhou Haibo Translation Agency'.

In the year 1995, Jack Ma visited to the United States and with his friends' help he got introduced to the Internet. During his first encounter he searched the word "beer". He found information related to beer from several countries except for China. He was surprised to find no general information about China on the Internet. Thus, Jack Ma along with his friends created an 'ugly' website related to China and launched it at 9:40 AM. By 12:30, Jack started receiving e-mails from several investors.

In April 1995, Jack Ma started his second company with He Yibing named 'China Pages'. On May 10, 1995, Jack Ma and He Yibing registered the domain of the China Pages in the US 'chinapages.com'. Within 3 years, the company's worth was 800,000 USD. After the success of China Pages, Jack Ma started building websites for different Chinese companies. However, in 2010, Jack Ma revealed that he never wrote a code nor made any sale to the customers.

During 1998-1999, Ma was the head of an IT company established by the China International Electronic Commerce Center, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. In 1999, Jack Ma resigned and founded 'Alibaba' with his 18 friends.

In October 1999 and in January 2000, Alibaba won a total $25 million foreign investment twice. To improve the global e-commerce system, Jack Ma founded Taobao Marketplace, Alipay, Ali Mama and Lynx. After its huge success, eBay offered to purchase Taobao but Ma turned down the offer. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang invested $1 billion in Taobao.

In November 2012, Alibaba's online transaction exceeded one trillion yuan. In September 2014, Alibaba was rising on the New York Stock Exchange over $25 billion in IPO and became one of the most valuable technology companies in the world. This was the largest initial public offering in US history. Jack Ma served as executive chairman of Alibaba Group, which holds-- Alibaba.com, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall, eTao, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Juhuasuan, 1688.com, AliExpress.com, and Alipay.

On January 9, 2017, Jack Ma met US President Donald Trump and discussed 1 million job openings in the coming five years in favour of Alibaba. In the same year, Jack Ma made his acting debut with kung fu short film Gong Shou Dao.

On September 2018, Jack Ma announced that he will step down as Alibaba Group's executive chairman. After his announcements, several reports emerged that he was forced by the Chinese officials to step down, which the later denied citing that he wants to focus on philanthropy.

Philanthropy

In 2008, Alibaba donated $808,000 after the Sichuan earthquake caused destruction. In 2009, Jack Ma was appointed as the trustee of The Nature Conservancy's China program, and in 2010, became one of the Directors of the organization.

In 2015, Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation was launched to support the entrepreneurs of Hong Kong to help grow their business. The same year, Alibaba funded for the construction of the houses damaged by the earthquake in Nepal.

In 2018, Jack Ma started the philanthropic organization ‘Jack Ma Foundation’ which focused on improving education, environment and public health, followed by the announcement of his retirement from Alibaba citing several reasons-- educational work, philanthropy, and environmental causes.

In 2020, Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation launched several initiatives to ease the distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Both the foundation donated medical supplies to several countries-- the United States and in the countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Awards, achievements and honours

In September 2005, he was nominated as a “Young Global Leader” by World Economic Forum

In 2007, he was equally selected as a “Businessperson of the Year” by Businessweek.

He was also chosen in 2008 by the same organization among the 30 “World’s Best CEO’s.”

In 2014, Jack Ma was selected among the “Top 10 Business Leaders of the Year” by the China Central Television and its viewers.

In 2017, Fortune ranked Ma second on its World's 50 Greatest Leaders list.

In 2019, Forbes awarded him the 'Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award' for his help to the underprivileged communities - China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. He was also listed as 'Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy'.

Personalities

He enjoys the life

“I always tell myself that we are born here not to work, but to enjoy life. We are here to make things better for one another, and not to work. If you are spending your whole life working, you will certainly regret it.” This sentiment lies at the heart of Jack Ma’s lifestyle. He also said that if money is your goal, you have to change your mindset.

Performer at heart

At Alibaba’s company celebration events throughout the years, Ma has dressed up in outlandish costumes and performed by singing and dancing to pop songs.

He cares about the environment

“If we don’t have a healthy environment, no matter how much money we make we will still face environmental disaster. That’s our concern. Six years ago, the Alibaba group donated .3% of revenue every year to encourage young people to find innovative resolutions to the environmental issue. We should take action together.”

He values the attitude

Jack Ma gives utmost importance to attitude instead of theoretical skills. He describes how when he founded Alibaba, he told his team the highest level of achievement they could get is hiring executives from outside. However, he soon realizes that it was a mistake and since then he values the passion and attitude of the person.

He avoids making enemies

One the most unique aspects of Jack Ma’s business philosophy is the idea of making the competition friendly. Jack Ma does not see his competitors as his enemies, rather they are friends whom he can learn from and who challenge him to achieve his full potential.

He never gives up

According to Jack Ma, “giving up is the biggest failure”. He values people who try their luck in making something happen and give their best shot in achieving their goal. Jack Ma believes that a person is able to learn the most from his mistakes, obstacles in life, and the hardships. The key to success is to never lose hope, despite how depressing or difficult the situation gets, and learn from the past. With the success of Alibaba, Jack Ma proved this right time and time again.

Leadership

Authenticity

Jack Ma has a strong sense of character which makes it easier for him to get a loyal and strong foundation. It helps Alibaba to grow. He believes that leaders don’t have to make themselves too strict or too serious because they are in charge.

Tenacity

Jack Ma is a leader with tenacity and clear vision. He says that leaders should be tenacious and have a clear vision. He knows what he wants to achieve, and he knows how to chase it down. He believes this will bring him success and it will inspire people around him to work hard for achieving the goal.

Foresight

Jack Ma believes that good leaders should be foresight. Without this, no one can stay one step ahead as compared to the competition and anticipate the decisions. He said when people complain, the leader is required to look for opportunities. Hence, it’s important to build solutions and find ways to answer to the questions.

A clear mind

Jack Ma knew from the beginning what his aspirations for Alibaba were, and how to turn them into reality. Leaders should have a clear mind before getting their feet wet with any venture. A cluster of ideas can muddle up the way ahead and blur your sight. Jack Ma solely focused on making Alibaba a B2B portal in the start, and only after that vision was realized did, he strive to turn it into B2C and C2C as well. That happened because he was clear about when to change tracks and how.

Unifying

Jack Ma has the understanding that it’s hard to convince everyone to trust him or believe what he is saying. Following his vision is still far from, so he adapted and changed his approach. He unites employees, partners, and investors under a common goal instead of approaching people to make his goal come true.

Humility

Jack Ma hires people with superior skills. Hiring employees with technical skills makes Jack Ma’s company successful. When he was asked what separates a leader from an employee, he said and emphasized that it’s important to hire suitable people even if they are not the best one. They should have superior skills than you, if they don’t have them, then you are hiring the wrong people.