Submitted To

Prof. Aqeel
Lecturer

BB-IT

University Of Okara

Submitted by
Ali Jan 1015
Haroon 1025
Abdullah 1031
Ali Husnain 1016
University of Okara

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Case study (The Alibaba Group):

Introduction:

Alibaba is an online, mobile, retailer, wholesale and interactive market platform. It was first
incepted in China and has since found numerous users globally. With revenues of about $13
billion in the year 2016, the company can be said to be on a steady growth. The identity of senior
management is avoided in most of the company reports. Owing to this, there is relatively low
information coverage about departmental leadership roles played at the company. However,
Alibaba is a platform that enables buyers and seller to converge in sort of online market. Sellers
can showcase the products they have on display while outlining the prices and features of various
products. Buyers, on the other hand, have a platform to view exhibited products and the prices
they require. In many ways, Alibaba is observed to be like eBay and OLX; other selling and
buying platforms known across the world in other regions. Consequently, Alibaba is observed to
serve most of China and about 10% of the international market. The international market revenue
yields about $1.5 in revenue annually.

Background of the Study:

Different employees will have different jurisdictions and various procedures to function.
Consequently, within a collective organization, there may be several spheres of jurisdiction and
more than one set of procedures to perform work under. For this reason, employees are expected
to act and conduct business according to jurisdictional ties and procedures. The most
fundamental of the procedures and jurisdiction is set up by the constitution system. A company
like Alibaba has a set constitution that controls the collective behavior in the whole organization.
Secondly, it specifies the power procedures to be followed by the organization and the legitimate
exercise of the powers. It encompasses the basic powers of the organization and its employees.
That is, for any references, the constitution system is used. In essence, the idea of having
constitutional systems is pushed by having solid policies. Consequently, decisions made on the
spot tend to be not so good decisions that have received significant prior thinking. For this
reason, the philosophy of structuring policies in Alibaba involves management level being able
to determine problems that may occur in the future and finding solutions for them in advance.
Alibaba gives such risks as server overloads; website crashes electronic failures. It is observed

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that decisions made in advance are better because they consist of more data, more analysis and
can be better incorporated into the company. In essence, the probability of better management
starts with structuring proper policies in the beginning.

Understanding the role of different policies and behavior patterns in an organization will aid in
understanding the structure of Alibaba as a technology company. The first role of policy is to
facilitate better decisions in making strategy. In essence, a company like Alibaba requires
significant foresight when planning their online service. Owing to the number of customers
served in China and the United States as well as other countries, the company is expected to have
significant planning and policies to handle the growing market that is the newly acquired
customers and employees across the globe. One important role of proper planning is the ability to
predict different situations or different manifestations of impending risk. In essence, some
authors put it that when the roles of employees are properly discussed in policies, the
predictability of desired organizational behavior is observed in said employees consistently and
effectively. A company like Alibaba requires sufficient channels for deliberation of problems. A
technology company requires significant coherence and coordination in its operations. Alibaba
structures its departments in ways that conceptualize each of them to a particular function. In
essence, policies play a big part in the encouragement of co-ordination and integration of
operations in a company. When functional areas of a company are integrated properly, the
decisions made in different departments are seen to be coherent with the organization’s
objectives. In essence, a policy should be structured in ways that dictate both behavioral
procedures in the company and in ways that are tailored to meet the company’s objectives. In
this case, the best this Alibaba could do is to incorporate all departments in the general policies
formulations.

Methods and Methodology:

This research uses various methods to gather information on Alibaba employees and service
provision. Secondary sources of information like available literature on organizational behavior
and company policy were used to collect data on other institutions solutions to the problem. In
this way, about thirty sources were utilized including various articles on management. Another
guideline on organization qualitative research methods puts it that three types of measures should
be put into consideration during quality improvement efforts these are given as outcome

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measures; process measures and balancing measures. Although the methods comprise of
empirical data, some of the sources are evaluated in theory and from the theory, conclusions are
made. It is therefore important to mention that extrapolation is done for some of the observed
data.

In this case, empirical and theoretical data is complemented to give the best exploration of
available resources. That said the limitations of both methodologies are addressed as the topic
exploration methods are expanded. According to research on organizational behavior ranges
from a comprehensive description of the company and people’s perceptions toward the company
and a measure of the effectiveness, efficiency, appropriateness, and cost of the services available.
Investigating implication of delays falls under the measures of appropriateness and efficiency.
The basic method used to collect information is the questionnaire method. The questions
consisted of both open-ended and closed questions. The method was observed to be the most
appropriate in collecting vital information on the Alibaba company leadership about customer
service center, the staff communication with a customer, leadership in organization and learning
in the organization.

Findings and Analysis:

Some practices suggested for effective Organizational behavior:

 Understanding where the other is coming from. This simply means that subordinates
should seek to understand their bosses’ perspective while understanding that bosses have
more responsibility. In the same way, bosses should understand the diversity of their
workers and exploit them appropriately.
 Subordinates should seek to show their value to their bosses. Showing value enables the
boss to designate important tasks and expect effective results from their workers.
 Bosses and subordinates should paint each other in the best light in order to maintain
cordial relationships to each other and other departments. Everybody wants only their
best sides exposed, for this reason; bosses should appreciate their subordinates and expect
the same from them.
 Appropriate communication channels and procedures should be set between bosses and
subordinates. This includes shared schedules and office plans.

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  Frequent feedback between bosses and subordinates is necessary in order to improve
relationships, set clear working guidelines and mitigate any underlying tension or
disagreement between the two parties.

Literature Analysis:

The analysis shown in this section represents three types of methods used. The methods used are
meant to improve the organization a single structure. All provide some treatment of structures
and processes of stability and dynamics, of causes and effects and forms and functions. The
similarities are meant to show the significance of the analysis for a company like Alibaba. An
interactional analysis, from interacting with the employees was meant to examine the
organization from point to point view of the constituent bodies making the company. It was
meant to demystify the various operations of various departments in Alibaba. On the other hand,
the organizational analysis is meant to be done by understanding the whole body. Both methods
have been employed in the above literature analysis. In the method of interactional analysis, the
organization was taken as a body constituting of different parts that can be viewed
independently.

In essence, the independence of each part is stressed. The organization in this method is viewed
as a network of social relations that are created by constituent bodies to enable them to exchange
utilities and function with each other. An example is the evaluation of top management and
lower management in the questionnaire. Each of the constituent bodies in this method is
expected to serve its requirements through the network. The existence of each part is observed to
be tied to the proper function of the same action is being taken in all situations without
considering mitigating the circumstances after, the policy structure is observed to be too specific.
In another case, the company practice may not be consistent with set policies; this is an
indication that the policy is being circumvented and is not in proper use. An example is the
policies set by no discrimination by sex, nationality, religion, or age. In essence, the recruiting
policy showed that the non-discrimination clause was not serving as a guide to action. It was a
policy that stated things and not any action to be taken. A proper evaluation of the policy would
be to increase the result gotten from such a policy statement. The third and final consideration
made is to test company policies on behavior is the consideration of practicality of the policy
compared to real-world situations.
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Most of these policies instruct acquisition and mergers by other companies. In essence, Alibaba
would refer to its acquisition policy to know the feasible steps to both hiring high management
personnel and in acquiring smaller companies to expand their market. The above tests on
adequacy have shown the resources laid out for evaluating policies are as important as
structuring new ones. The most important thing to note is whether the policies touch on the areas
that the company feels are most important to it. Periodical analysis of the company policy also
translates to effective behavior through the effective policies. Interactional, functional and
organizational methods are used to structure the questionnaire due to their complementary
natures. In essence, taking Alibaba apart from these constituents enables us to direct attention to
empirical conditions that vary with considerable independence to each other. Organizational
analysis method depends on the observations that are intended to be made. In essence, an
organizational analysis is used to make a proper understanding of collectivity. It is also done to
make various relations to the operations of a company. In essence, the method used in this paper
show the culture, personalities and the system of behavior upheld at the Alibaba Company

Conclusions and Recommendations:

Organizations are characteristically segmented that is they consist of different bodies of different
sizes performing varied functions. The various departments also have different leaders which
makes them polysepalous to other organizations and its departments. Segmentation and the
presence of different leaders occur because organizations require increasing functionality and
consolidating power effectively. An organization’s goals are influenced by its managers. In many
instances the decisions made by senior management conflict with those of the organization. An
importance of structured policies is observed in this case because the decisions are easily
rectifiable and in the same way, the behavior of the employees like the managers can be rectified
accordingly and in a consistent, fair manner. Alibaba has structured itself as a company expected
by society to offer more than goods and services. The company should be an embodiment of
good company policies and commendable behavior. To properly tailor its policies to the behavior
strategies, the company is required to structure its functions accordingly, to meet the set
standards. The major steps to take are a proper indication of the company’s social responsibility
and the various positions about the set social responsibility standards. Essentially, policy
formulation is essential in trying to determine the problems that will occur in the operation and

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administration of a company. The two important aspects of policy in organizational behavior are
therefore to one, act as guides in making the necessary judgment. Two is to act as standby plans
for recurring situations and to offer relative consistency in decision making. Organizations with
proper policies in implementing behavioral change adopt them to make the company survive.
The policies make the set behaviors significantly hard to change and difficult to suppress. Proper
policies contribute to the system’s reliability and diversity. In a very significant way, problems
are easily solved through the proper policy system. In essence, the different segments are
observed to act coherently both in behavior and company objective.