China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Insights from Jack Ma’s abdication
There’s more to Alibaba chairman Jack Ma’s globally celebrated decision to abdicate in favor of CEO Daniel Zhang than meets the eye, I’d like to believe.
Subtlety comes into play. That’s the real message, which should matter more to Chinese companies, whose global footprint and influence are fast expanding through acquisitions, stake buys and tie-ups. They are expected to be brand ambassadors for China.
Ma’s retirement statement has three enlightening points. One, he would like to return to teaching English.
He probably enjoys education more than making billions, or blazing the technology trail, or parachuting Chinese brands into the collective consciousness of the world’s consumers.
Two, Ma would like to emulate Microsoft founder Bill Gates and pursue bigticket philanthropy. Three, he would like to oversee a “smooth and successful transition’’.
The three points are loaded with meaning, a considered response to things said and written of late. Ma seems to be setting a benchmark for China’s corporate chieftains: “Hey, guys, snap out of your obsessive pursuit of profit, glory, power, breakthrough innovations … There’s more to life. Life’s short. Reprioritize. Know what is true success.”
Ma isn’t the first billionaire to get inspired by fellow billionaire-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates. Legendary investor Warren Buffett willed his massive fortune to the Gates Foundation.
When Gates’ and Buffett’s magnanimity sparked global discourse on the meaning and purpose of wealth, some Chinese as well as Siva Sankar Western columnists wondered if China’s/Asia’s super rich are selfish, indifferent to the world around them, and obscenely focused on amassing more and more wealth for its own sake. Ma seems to be challenging that notion.
Succession planning, Ma said, took a decade. This was done to ensure “the next level of corporate governance” and “sustainable growth”. Companies, he implied, must be “built on systems of organizational excellence and a culture of talent development”, not “individuals”.
When you go global or plan to expand worldwide, you have to embrace the best corporate practices, honor highly regarded norms and benchmark yourself against widely accepted standards. If you don’t, you won’t be perceived well nor welcomed; consequently, you’ll likely fail.
Succession planning and CSR initiatives alone don’t constitute best corporate practices. Full and transparent disclosures, effective media and public relations, sincere customer service, and environmentally friendly and ethical approach to business … all these are but a few facets of good corporate citizens.
Ma’s abdication highlights them. Global-minded Chinese companies can ill afford to ignore them.
If you are a bank — don’t make customers wait for hours to accomplish a simple task.
If you are a telecom carrier — don’t disconnect annual subscribers’ lines frequently without issuing a warning in the preferred language first.
If you are a ride-sharing service provider — don’t discontinue services without offering leads to alternatives well in advance; don’t introduce new features with privacy implications without addressing concerns and without offering an opt-out choice to users either.
If you are an online marketplace, a food delivery app or an entertainment ticketing platform — be multilingual; make it easier, not difficult, for your patrons to communicate with you directly in the preferred language; don’t hide behind the sellers on your platform.
If you are a company — have a fully fledged media relations department that will field queries, any queries, from journalists, and offer any information sought promptly. If you claim a 500 percent surge in sales or profit, back it up with authentic absolute figures; don’t cite business confidentiality to decline elementary information.
Globalization is a game-changer because it has spawned things like cross-border e-commerce, free trade zones and tariff disputes. Foreign investors now buy mainland securities; Chinese companies list on bourses abroad; Chinese investors fund startups overseas. All this means globally accepted standards and practices are inescapable.
Lest we forget, some experts are already warning that a potential global financial crisis bigger than the 2008 GFC is looming due to overleveraged debt everywhere.
Only the best and the cleanest will likely survive from now on. “Back to the basics” is the clarion call I hear in Ma’s exemplary move. I hope Chinese companies hear it too.