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.