Jack ma characteristics as a leader

Running head: PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT 1

Jack Ma: Leadership Communication Skills Analysis

José A. Burgos González

Davenport University

January, 16, 2016

PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT 2

Abstract

Jack Ma is the founder of China's first Internet-based company, the Alibaba Group. Ma founded

the company back in 1995 and has grown to be renowned for his business methodology and

leadership qualities. Jack Ma portrays great and unique leadership qualities and characteristics

that differentiate him from other entrepreneurs and business leaders. Ma unites people under a

single goal. He foresees the future, and this gives him an upper hand over the competition. Ma is

fond of employing employees based on their skills. He hires those with superior skills. Ma has a

clear vision and knows exactly what he wants to achieve. The characteristics as mentioned

above, in addition to other personal characteristics, are the main characteristics that determine

the success of Jack Ma as the founder and CEO of Alibaba Group.

PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT 3

Jack Ma: Leadership Communication Skills Analysis

Jack Ma is a Chinese businessman a philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of the

Alibaba Group, one of the leading e-commerce web portals (Zhu, 2007). For the year ended

November 2014, Ma was China's richest man and was the 18th most generous person in the

world (Jung, 2015). He had a desire to learn English and this, he achieved by conversing with

foreigners and acting as a tour guide to tourists. Ma went to the U.S in the year 1994, where he

learnt about the internet and the year 1995 saw that he established an internet company. Starting

as a single company that created websites for other enterprises, the Alibaba Group grew to

become one of the leading internet-based businesses. For the success of a business or any

organization, it takes an individual who is devoted to working ethics and who maintains a clear

sense of perspective. His success has become an inspiration to owners of small businesses and

aspiring billionaires (Fannin, 2015).

Jack Ma is an excellent example of a leader who has shown exceptional leadership

communication skills. These qualities are seen in his ability to effectively communicate publicly

and his persuasion skills. As a leader, it is important to be persuasive and conquer people with

words. Though Ma knew little about software, he attracted a group of IT elite that would later

establish his business empire, the Alibaba Group. Additionally, in his quest to expand Alibaba's

global operations, he persuaded the founder of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, to invest in Alibaba

(Guo, 2006). These are among the various leadership communication abilities that Ma possesses.

Uniting People under a Similar Goal

PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT 4

Ma knows that convincing a single employee or a business partner is no easy task. This made

him adapt a new approach where instead of uniting people under the vision of one person, Ma

unites his employees under a common goal (Zhu, 2007).

Foreseeing

As a leader, Ma has the ability to foresee the future trends and anticipate the effects of his

current decisions towards the future of the business. This is a quality that takes time and one is

expected first to learn creative thinking skills. However, it is a quality that keeps Ma ahead of his

competition (Zhu, 2007).

He Is Tenacious

In addition to his foreseeing quality, Ma has a clear vision and knows what he wants to

achieve and has a drive that helps him chase it down. This inspires his employees to take pride in

their delegated jobs, working towards a common goal (Zhu, 2007).

Hiring People with Superior Skills

According to Jack Ma, the ability that separates leaders from employees is the ability to

employee employees who have superior technical skills than theirs. It is important to employ

individuals with the skills and comprehension of their delegated posts as it enhances the vision of

the organization (Zhu, 2007).

In addition to the above qualities, Jack Ma's personality is a source of inspiration to many

people. He loves life, and he thinks that people were not born to work, but to enjoy life instead.

He thinks that life is all about experiencing the world and helping out others. Another quality is

that Ma does not make enemies. According to Ma, his competitors are friends and people who

PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT 5

challenge him to achieve his full potential. This philosophy is built for success in this dynamic

business world.

Research Plan

I. Title: Jack Ma: Leadership Communication Skills Analysis

II. Investigators

[Name]

[Institution]

[Department]

III. Hypothesis

The goal of this project is to define different leadership communication qualities

depicted by Jack Ma, the founder and CEO of Alibaba Group.

IV. Background And Significance

Jack Ma is the founder of China's first Internet-based company, the Alibaba Group. Ma

founded the company back in 1995 and has grown to be renowned for his business

methodology and leadership qualities. Jack Ma portrays great and unique leadership qualities

and characteristics that differentiate him from other entrepreneurs and business leaders. Ma

unites people under a single goal. He foresees the future, and this gives him an upper hand

over the competition. Ma is fond of employing employees based on their skills. He hires

those with superior skills. Ma has a clear vision and knows exactly what he wants to achieve.

PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT 6

The characteristics as mentioned earlier, in addition to other personal characteristics, are the

main characteristics that determine the success of Jack Ma as the founder and CEO of

Alibaba Group.

PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT 7

References

Fannin, R. (2015). How i did it: Jack Ma, Alibaba. com.

Guo, J., Lam, I. H., Lei, I., Guan, X., Iong, P. H., & Ieong, M. C. (2006, October). Alibaba

International: Building a global electronic marketplace. In e-Business Engineering, 2006.

ICEBE'06. IEEE International Conference on(pp. 545-548). IEEE.

Jung, J. C., Ugboma, M. A., & Liow, A. K. (2015). Does Alibaba's Magic Work Outside

China?. Thunderbird International Business Review, 57(6), 505-518.

Zhu, K., Kraemer, K. L., & Xu, S. (2007). Jack Ma: CEO, The Alibaba Group.