Alibabaās āSix Veinsā of Success
Ma launched Alibaba in 1999. China had only two million Internet users, a personal computer cost a prohibitive $1,500, and Chinese phone connections were expensive and slow.
āIn the earliest days of Chinaās economic reforms, entrepreneurship was viewed as a highly risky, even illegal undertaking.ā
Ma inculcated his corporate culture with Six Veins, the principles he considers crucial to success:
āCustomer firstā: While rivals Baidu and Tencent hire mostly technical workers, Alibaba seeks sales employees, reflecting its focus on customers.
āTeamworkā: Alibaba workers sing songs, play games, and join group outings. Alibaba focuses on peopleās efforts over their results. People meet their goals by breaking them down into small steps. High-performing teams receive generous bonuses as rewards.
āEmbrace changeā: Alibaba shuttles staff members between assignments. Chinese culture teaches that failure is āshameful,ā but Alibaba encourages workers to accept failure as part of life.
āIntegrityā: Corruption is endemic in China. Merchants who sell on Alibaba try to compromise the siteās overmatched āreferees.ā To maintain integrity, Alibaba rotates workers constantly, not only as part of its ethos to embrace change, but also to prevent them from establishing āalternative centers of power.ā
āPassionā: Employment at Alibaba requires hard work and dedication.
āCommitmentā: Ma tells his employees to āwork happily but live seriously,ā to reinforce their bonds with the company.