ALIBABA & ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

ALIBABA & ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

The Alibaba Group : Today our class started with a discussion on the Alibaba Group.  It is a privately owned Hangzhou-based family of Internet-based E-Commerce businesses that cover business-to-business online marketplaces, retail and payment platforms, shopping search engine and data-centric cloud computing services. The founder of Alibaba is Jack Ma.

                                                                     

Objectives of AliBaba:

1.   Empower SMEs through the power of the internet.

2.   At least 80% of these SMEs who are working with AliBaba MUSTgrow unimaginably.

3.   0.0001% of the shares of AliBaba must be enough to support generations together.

The company was based on the simple realizations that Jack Ma had:

    1. I don't have a plan.

    2. I don't have the money. 

3.      If you can't use the internet in this age, you are useless.

The result is- AliBaba's consumer-to-consumer portal Taobao (similar to eBay) features nearly a billion products and is one of the 20 most-visited websites globally. Alibaba Group's sites account for over 60% of the parcels delivered in China.  

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE :

                                                                       

Organizational culture is the behavior of humans who are part of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.

Organizational culture are of several types. The one discussed in class are as follows:

  1. Open Culture – In an Open culture the employees are motivated to voice their values-driven concerns regarding problematic business practices. An open culture helps to counteract any occasional lapse into passivity at the board level or on the part of institutional investors.

2. Safety Culture - A safety culture is one were all employees are proactive in ensuring safety at work place. People immediately report any perceived short comings in the work place safety and in the safety of products given to customers or clients.

3. Quality Culture – In a Quality  culture utmost importance is given to the quality of the product or service being rendered. Volume takes a back seat. So does cost. Batch recalling of cars/computers when defects are found is a good example of the quality culture.

4. Performance Culture – Also known as OUTCOME ORIENTED CULTURE it  emphasizes on achievement, results, and action as important values. A good example of an outcome-oriented culture may be the electronics retailer Best Buy.

                                                             

5. Ethical Culture - A culture where great importance is given to ethical business practices and this importance is seen at all levels in the organization. We see that in such organizations, ethics are given precedence even if being so may lead to a loss of business and profit. The TATA Group is a good example to note.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE & LEADERSHIP STYLE :

Charles Handy, a leading authority on business culture, defined four different kinds of culture:

Each of these four cultural styles is summarised below:

Power Culture

Key features of Power Culture:

• Control radiates from the centre
• Concentrates power among a few
• Few rules and little bureaucracy
• Swift decisions are possible
• Frequently found in smaller, entrepreneurial organisations

Role Culture

Key features of Role Culture:

• People have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure
• Hierarchical bureaucracy
• Power derives from a person's position
• Little scope exists for expert power

Task Culture

Key features of Task Culture:

• Teams are formed to solve particular problems
• Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise
• No single power source
• Matrix organisation
• Team may develop own objectives (a risk)

Person Culture

People believe themselves to be superior to the business
Business full of people with similar training, background & expertise
Common in firms of professionals – e.g. accountants & lawyers
Power lies in each group of individuals
Handy also made a link between the corporate culture and an appropriate leadership style:

Cultural Type	Most Suitable Leadership Style?
Power	Autocratic
Role	Autocratic or paternalistic
Task	Paternalistic / democratic
Person	Democratic

Healthy organizational culture:

Organizations should strive for what is considered a "healthy" organizational culture in order to increase productivity, growth, efficiency and reduce counterproductive behavior and turnover of employees. A variety of characteristics describe a healthy culture, including:

·         Acceptance and appreciation for diversity

·         Regard for and fair treatment of each employee as well as respect for each employee’s contribution to the company

·         Employee pride and enthusiasm for the organization and the work performed

·         Equal opportunity for each employee to realize their full potential within the company

·         Strong communication with all employees regarding policies and company issues

·         Strong company leaders with a strong sense of direction and purpose

·         Ability to compete in industry innovation and customer service, as well as price

·         Lower than average turnover rates (perpetuated by a healthy culture)

·         Investment in learning, training, and employee knowledge

Thanks for reading.