More from these Authors

• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2018 (Revised March 2019)

  Nissan and the Automotive Industry in Post-Brexit Europe

  Juan Alcacer, Jessica A. Gover and Kerry Herman

  Citation:

  Alcacer, Juan, Jessica A. Gover, and Kerry Herman. "Nissan and the Automotive Industry in Post-Brexit Europe." Harvard Business School Case 719-427, December 2018. (Revised March 2019.)  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase

  Related

• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2019 (Revised February 2019)

  Rural Taobao: Alibaba's Expansion into Rural E-Commerce

  Tarun Khanna, Ryan Allen, Adam Frost and Wesley Koo

  Alibaba's Rural Taobao initiative had been launched in 2014 as a public service initiative to increase e-commerce adoption in China’s remote rural areas. In the first two iterations of the initiative, dubbed “1.0” and “2.0”, Alibaba had partnered with local businesses and young returnees to operate village stations. Village stations served as logistical and educational hubs to help villagers make online purchases. Despite significant growth in sales through village stations, the business model was operating at a loss, and competitors JD and Pinduoduo were growing quickly, threatening to challenge Alibaba by claiming the rural e-commerce markets. Bill Wang, the head of the initiative, was tasked with designing and implementing the next model for Alibaba’s future expansion into rural areas. The decision centers around whether Alibaba should copy the successes of competitors JD and Pinduoduo, escalate commitment to its original value proposition (hands-on service to villagers), or embrace an entirely new model. The case highlights the competing pressures of financial performance, CSR and corporate mission, government relations, and long-term competitive positioning that are common to major strategic decisions.

  Keywords: strategy; Business growth; ecommerce; corporate social responsibility; Business and Government; emerging market; Market Platforms; Online Technology; Emerging Markets; Rural Scope; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Decision Making; China;

  Citation:

  Khanna, Tarun, Ryan Allen, Adam Frost, and Wesley Koo. "Rural Taobao: Alibaba's Expansion into Rural E-Commerce." Harvard Business School Case 719-433, January 2019. (Revised February 2019.)  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducators

  Related

• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | February 2019

  Talent@Tencent

  Tarun Khanna

  Late in 2016, two senior human resources (HR) executives at Tencent Holdings (Tencent), China’s leading Internet services firm, are assessing the effectiveness of the company’s talent management practices in responding to Tencent’s sustained hypergrowth. Over the preceding decade, Tencent’s revenues and earnings had grown at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 38% and 44%, respectively. Its staff grew at a 25% CAGR, primarily by hiring recent college graduates. At the time of the case, the average Tencent worker was 29 years old, and worked at the firm for an average 3.24 years. Headquartered in the booming city of Shenzhen, China, Tencent benefited from rich pools of local entrepreneurship, capital, and skills, yet also lost employees to other opportunities catalyzed by those resources. The company therefore must do its utmost to attract, develop, and retain top talent: rivalry with its primary Chinese competitors, Alibaba and Baidu, is intensifying, and all three firms are increasingly looking to cultivate enterprise customers and to develop and sell products driven by new technologies, both in China and abroad.

  Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Employees; Retention; Web Services Industry; China;

  Citation:

  Khanna, Tarun. "Talent@Tencent." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 719-466, February 2019.  View Details

  CiteView Details

  Related