Alibaba Group has announced its third executive changeYongming Wu will also serve as CEO of Taotian Group, as well as CEO of Alibaba Group and Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group。Ali said that this initiative aims to lead the transformation of Taotian through technological innovationEnsure that the group focuses on core strategic e-commerce and cloud, and achieves unified command and high-intensity continuous investment
At the same time,Dai Shan, former CEO of Taotian Group, will assist in the establishment of Alibaba Group's asset management companywith the goal of optimizing return on capital and enhancing shareholder value. Dr. Luo Rentong, an expert in the application and practice of digital economy, said that ** is Alibaba's core business, but in the face of changes in the domestic market, how to quickly adapt to the changing environment and how to ensure the healthy development of business lines without causing overexpansion and economic bubbles may be a problem that Alibaba Group must think about in the next stage.
Change formations in danger
This organizational change is a transformative move taken by Alibaba in the face of a business crisis. A few days after this year's Double 11, Ali's third quarter report for 2023 directly led to a share price of more than 9%. The core reason for this is the sluggish growth of Taotian's data, which has become the biggest negative for the stock price. According to the financial report, Taotian's revenue in the third quarter of 2023 will be 9765.4 billion yuan, an increase of only 4% over the same period last year. In addition to the wholesale business segment, which grew by 18%, the domestic retail business segment at the core of Taotian grew by only 3%.
Previously, Pinduoduo released an amazing third-quarter financial report, with revenue of 688400 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 94%, far exceeding market expectations. The news caused Pinduoduo's share price to soar and surpass Alibaba's market value the next day. Ma Yun replied to employees on the intranet: I firmly believe that Ali will change and change. "What is the logic of Pinduoduo's market capitalization surpassing Alibaba's, and its high growth for 6 consecutive quarters?".New Normal Consumption and Cross-Border
Chairman of Alibaba Group's Board of Directors, Joe Tsai, announced the appointment in a letter from all employees. In the letter, he said that in the face of a new era, a new strategy and organizational system change are needed. He believes that Alibaba, which has undergone this round of change, will complete its transformation.
Constant change
Dai Shan's last public appearance was at this year's Ali 11.11 party. In her speech, she reiterated Taotian's three major strategies:User-first, eco-thriving and technology-driven.
Dai Shan is Ali's No. 11 employee and one of Ali's veterans, affectionately known as "MM" by the staff. Dai Shan served as the president of the community e-commerce business group from March to December 2021, proving her strong fighting ability in the fierce competition. Since January 2022, she has served as the President of Alibaba China's Digital Business Sector, responsible for Taotian's business. Although there is a certain element of chance in her appointment, internal employees generally believe that she has real achievements.
Dai Shan took a series of decisive and commendable measures after taking office. She quickly halted the development model with GMV as the core growth goal, and asked Taotian to return to the style of consumer experience. She also emphasized the need to pay more attention to consumer experience and repurchase rate, and pay attention to content construction. These changes in the layout coincide with the main line of development of today's e-commerce, which can be described as forward-looking. "2023 Double 11 returns to "low price", what new pattern of e-commerce does the war report show?》
However,As Alibaba's mission shifts from collaborative development to responding to consumers' strong demand for low prices, Taotian is under increasing pressure. During this year's 618 period, Ali and Jingdong both launched big ** activities with low prices as the keyword. But on social media, more and more consumers say they can't buy the products they want. The short-term adjustment has a very limited effect on Ali to completely reverse the decline. Therefore, Dr. Luo Rentong, an expert in the application and practice of digital economy, believes that for Alibaba, low prices are not only a simple concession, but also a comprehensive transformation from the business and organizational level.
Old Ma Fuji
Just two days after Wu Yongming became the CEO of Taotian Group, he made a major personnel adjustment. Taotian Group issued a letter to all employees, announcing a major change of the entire core management.
The names of the original "SME Development Center", "Brand Business Development Center" and "Supermarket Business Development Center" have been changed, and independent sections such as content and product technology have been added, as well as the new growth apparel development department, and a total of six business divisions have been established.
In the internal letter, Wu Yongming said: The board of directors of Taotian Group announced the organizational decision and appointment: Wu Jia will lead the user platform business unit and Alimama business unit;Chen Weiye (nickname: Division) will lead the ** Business Division, Taotian Merchant Platform Department and Taotian Customer Satisfaction Department;Liu Bo (nickname: Jia Luo) will lead the Tmall business unit;Liu Yiman (nickname: Yiman) will lead the M2C Division;Wang Tingxiang (nickname: Shaoyou) will lead the Clothing Development Department;Cheng Daofang (nickname: Daofang) will lead the ** live broadcast and content division. Wu Yongming pointed out that the above responsible persons will report to him.
Judging from the background of these six "generals" who were entrusted with important tasks, two of them were transferred to Taotian Group from other business groups. Wu Yongming's key words for the management team's major change may be youth and ability.
As one of Jack Ma's early entrepreneurial partners, Wu Yongming has served as the technical director of Alipay, the director of P4P products and technology of Yahoo China, the president of Yitao.com, and the chairman of the board of directors of Ali Health. Prior to serving as CEO of Taotian Group, Yongming Wu served as CEO of Alibaba Group and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group.
When many outlets of the mobile Internet came, Wu Yongming played an important role. According to public information, Wu Yongming once single-handedly established the cash cow and advertising and marketing platform "Ali Mama" of Ali ecology.
This adjustment is also seen as a manifestation of Taotian Group's decision to let the younger management team take over in full swing. Wu Yongming once called on Ali people to reshape user value with the determination to start a business again, and emphasized that it is necessary to refresh the business management team through young main managers, and create a mechanism and cultural environment for more young Ali people to become the core force. Therefore, this adjustment is one of a series of initiatives to promote the rejuvenation of management.
However, some people in the market believe that in the past many years, the layout of the management represented by Daniel Zhang around Ali is based on consumption upgrades. Although Daniel Zhang is out,However, the ecosystem, merchants and business systems built by Alibaba for consumption upgrading are difficult to be overturned and rebuilt overnight.
Moreover, Ali obviously does not have the right talent to use at present, otherwise there would be no situation where Wu Yongming holds three positions. Dr. Luo Rentong, an expert in the application and practice of digital economy, pointed out that this is due to the long-term problems in the training of internal personnel in Ali, and there is no successor who can lead Ali to glory after Xiaoyaozi leaves office.
In contrast, as one of the most powerful technology companies in the world, Microsoft and Apple in the United States were able to select outstanding ** people from within after the departure of their founders. It's clear that their talent pool program has been very successful.
Forge ahead
Judging from Alibaba's history, every once in a while, the company will make certain organizational adjustments. However, adjustments as frequent and large-scale as those in 2023 are rare in history.
After the reform was initiated, Taotian's business structure seemed to become simpler and more flexible. The reporting relationship is also flattened as much as possible, so that Wu Yongming can have a comprehensive understanding of the situation and avoid excessive internal consumption.
When it comes to specific business ideas, Wu Yongming said something intriguing: "Taotian Group does not position itself as a retail company, but starts from the positioning of a consumer platform. In terms of strategy, we adhere to the perspective of user first, and take improving platform stickiness and customer retention as our core goals. "In terms of specific measures, Taotian will pay more attention to the purchase frequency of users, while the goal of GMV will be put on the back burner.
This can be understood as,Unlike in the past** and Tmall, which "bought and sold" at different merchant levels, the future Taotian Group will place more emphasis on content-based social operations with the blessing of AI technology, which is also a shortcoming of Alibaba.
In other words, Taotian Group pays attention to the best power, but is unwilling to be bound by low prices. At present, it seems that Alibaba's changes have not shown obvious improvement in user experience, but have caused heated discussions many times because of service problems.
Dr. Luo Rentong, an expert in the application of digital economy, added that although Alibaba continues to promote internal reforms, there are still many questions about whether it can truly embark on a pragmatic path, and changes to meet user needs may be more important than internal changes.
Whether Wu Yongming's series of value propositions and strategic layout can achieve initial results will be preliminarily answered in the coming 2024.
Attached is the 2023 Alibaba Group Organizational Transformation Journey
Alibaba's organizational change, Daniel Zhang in command of Alibaba Cloud, what new changes will there be?
Xiaoyaozi Daniel Zhang "got out of class" to do VC, and Alibaba's reform to respond to the crisis entered a new stage.
A new round of restructuring plan has triggered a stock price, can Alibaba bid farewell to its previous era in the midst of great changes?
InnovationCases are welcomeLike and share!~~
Free eBook:Structured Thinking |Thorny business paths|Ten Words of the YearInnovative Enterprise Cases |Blockchain Finance
Luo Rentong, an expert in the application and practice of digital economy, gave a lecture
Artificial Intelligence:"AI Trends", "ChatGPT".
Digital Applications:"Blockchain", "Metaverse", "Big Data".
Digital China:"Smart City", "Digital **", "Smart Building", "Smart Transportation".
Digital Transformation:"Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Industry", "Digital Transformation of Retail Industry", "Innovation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises".
Industrial Digitalization:"Tobacco Digital Transfer", "Banking Financial Technology", "Power and Energy Internet".
Macro & Trend:"Digital Economy", "2024 Macro", "Double Carbon".
Thinking & Skills:"Digital Thinking" and "Organizational Change".
Innovation & Entrepreneurship:"Entrepreneurial Mentor" and "Business Model".