Alibaba

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Alibaba
Alibaba.png
Alibabahq.jpeg
"Alibaba Logo" Site
Type Technology company
Launch Date 1999
Status Active
Product Line E-commerce
Technology
Retail
Platform Cloud Service
Android Tablet
Android App
iOs App
Website www.alibaba.com/
A
libaba Group Holding Limited, or Alibaba,
is a Chinese multinational online ecommerce and technology company. Over the last year alone, Alibaba's online sites totaled $248 billion in transactions, making the website one of the fastest growing ecommerce stores.[1] Further, an estimated 80% of the Chinese online commerce markets is controlled by the Alibaba Group.[2] The website was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and 17 others in Hangzhou, China. Since the platform was open to everyone who had access to the Internet, the founders' philosophy was that the website would allow smaller companies and technological innovation to thrive in global markets.[3] Alibaba, in addition to maintaining Alibaba.com, also owns taobao.com and tmall.com, both widely used online shopping stores by the Chinese customer base.[4] Alibaba makes the majority of its revenue through hosting advertisements on its websites.[5]

Alibaba ranks 23rd on Forbes' Global 2000 2021 list, and 11th on the same magazine's Top 100 Digital Companies 2019.[6] The Alibaba Group made an estimated $200 billion yuan in the 3rd quarter of 2021, equivalent to about $31 million in USD.[7] Although recently, Alibaba has hit a decline in terms of profit, with the adjusted amount for the month of November 2021 being 28.52 billion. This 39% decline in profit was the company's first in 22 quarters. [8]

The technology company has been at the center of multiple ethical concerns. Alibaba has a reputation for hosting numerous counterfeit sellers on their websites, with an estimated 70% of all counterfeit goods originating from China.[9] Because millions of Chinese workers produce large quantities of counterfeit goods, the Chinese government abstains from persecuting the counterfeiting issue. In 2021, the Chinese government took steps in regulating Alibaba by issuing a $2.8 billion fine for violating anti-monopoly regulations. In response, the Alibaba Group did not deny the accusation, and resolved to paying the $69 billion fine, 4% of Alibaba's total sales in 2019.[10] Most recently, the ecommerce company is under fire for sexual misconduct allegations after a female employee wrote an 11-page essay detailing her experiences with assault in the firm.[11]

History

The founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, was born on September 10th, 1964.[12] Ma had originally wanted to become an English teacher, but after securing a teacher position and failing to attend Harvard University, he recognized a hole in the Chinese ecommerce market. Starting with $35 million, Jack and his group of 18 technological pioneers created Alibaba. Two years later, in December 2001, Alibaba.com surpassed 1 million registered users.[13] Eventually funded with more venture capital, the Alibaba Group added more websites to their roster like Taobao.com, Aliwangwang (a messaging application that made it easier to look up consumer goods), and Alipay. Later on in 2005, Alibaba was allowed to partner with the United States web service provider, Yahoo.[14] Since then, Jack Ma has stepped down as CEO of the group, as well as from his chairman position in 2019.[15] In his place, current CEO of the Alibaba Group, Daniel Zhang, will take his place as chairman. As recently as November 2019, the Alibaba Group was listed on the Main Board of Hong Kong's stock exchange.[16]

Website

Ethical Issues

Environmental Flaws

Alibaba and its logistics child company, Cainiao, have attempted to move towards environmentally friendly packaging techniques in the past, including using biodegradable plastics. Coming from the Western-targeted online magazine Sixth Tone in 2017, a toxics campaigner at Beijing's Greenpeace, Liu Hua, argued that the biodegradable plastics that Cainiao intended to roll out by 2020 would only biodegrade under specific circumstances.[17] The criteria involved in order for the packaging materials to biodegrade would lead to most of the packaging remaining in place in landfills. Cainiao's promotional material explained that the green materials will biodegrade in 180 days. Though, according to a researcher at the Rock Environment and Energy Institute in Beijing, Mao Da, the materials would only biodegrade in 180 days in a composting plant, of which are few in China.[18]

References

  1. WSJ.com News Graphics. (2019). What is Alibaba? The Wall Street Journal. https://graphics.wsj.com/alibaba/
  2. WSJ.com News Graphics. (2019). What is Alibaba? The Wall Street Journal. https://graphics.wsj.com/alibaba/
  3. https://www.alibabagroup.com/en/about/history
  4. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-29077495
  5. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-29077495
  6. https://www.forbes.com/companies/alibaba-group/?sh=7da42ff619f5
  7. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba-group-announces-september-quarter-112400052.html
  8. https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3156560/alibaba-net-income-plummets-87-cent-resulting-first-adjusted-profit
  9. https://fortune.com/2017/05/06/alibaba-jack-ma-donald-trump-owner-group-china/
  10. https://www.npr.org/2021/04/10/986112628/china-fines-alibaba-2-8-billion-for-breaking-anti-monopoly-law
  11. https://qz.com/2044385/alibaba-rape-allegation-prompts-reflection-on-toxic-work-culture/
  12. https://www.thestreet.com/world/history-of-alibaba-15145103
  13. https://www.alibabagroup.com/en/about/history?year=2001
  14. https://www.thestreet.com/world/history-of-alibaba-15145103
  15. https://www.investopedia.com/news/alibabas-jack-ma-step-down-year/
  16. https://www.alibabagroup.com/en/about/history?year=2019
  17. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001165/environmentalists-criticize-alibabas-green-packaging
  18. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001165/environmentalists-criticize-alibabas-green-packaging