Sustainability At The Core Of What We Do
A Focus On What Matters Most Our Esg Priorities
Alibaba Group was integrated in 1999 by Jack Ma that is a holding company in China as an online commerce having businesses and millions of users. The availability of online shopping market offers products and services, and technology across the globe. Further, the services provided by the company are cloud computing, media and mobile entertainment, and other services related to innovation advantages. Alibaba’s mission is to transform the business by selling, improving and operating competencies while providing marketing reach and technology structure to help dealers, brands and new technology for upgrading in relation to operations and customers (Kim, 2018). The framing of business model by Alibaba is to be responsible socially for supporting and participating in projects that to charitable and socially among their core values and mission.
This executes the charitable environment while focusing on technology for the company’s profits expansion through the abilities of technology. It is for helping instantly to achieve the zero hunger goals under the “UN World Food Programme (WFP)” across the globe using Alibaba’s technology. In China, Alibaba provides support to rural development, job opportunities, contribution in environmental sustainability, execution of poverty relief related programs, and providing services and contributions to charitable public. UN WFP and Alibaba Group support the efforts by merging to achieve “SDG (Sustainable Development Goal)” globally for zero hunger helping to attain the protection of environment (Alibaba Group, 2014). In this report, the characteristics of sustainability are covered in relation to the company Alibaba Group with analysis of approaches related to sustainability as commenced by the company.
In today’s business world, it is essential to have knowledge about the society covering social learning, technology and environment. Sustainability is discovering future in relation to technology development and carbon emissions reduction covering social, political and economic factors. These factors provide awareness based on new legislation and job opportunities for options in growth. It consists of protecting environment, renewable fuel sources, and the planet balancing with the innovation to human health. Moreover, it is essential when improvements are made in urban and rural areas with technology and economic changes asking for protection and needs while competing (Rahdari, Sepasi, & Moradi, 2016). The development to fulfil the needs helps in making decision for future where sustainability is crucial for the issues related to economic development.
In business, those are legal requirements and incentives, employment, and extensions and jobs. Further in developing countries, economic development offers to fulfil the needs of people by enhancing the living standard while compromising quality and to reduce the burden financially. The people are required to be aware and protected legally for not making the business harm essential in relation to pollution and other activities. Moreover, proper checking and programs related to legislation is done in developed countries to take care of individuals’ heath and wealth while protecting without compromising the living standard’s quality in case of social development. Nowadays, the major concern is to building and housing sustainably by having better homes with sustainability (Howes, et al., 2017). It is possible by providing individuals the education they need and encouraging for being the part of the environment and protecting them while teaching about environment to achieve the goals among UN. The protection of environment is crucial to reduce the power consumption, pollution by not using vehicles, and to recycle.
Further, the structure of businesses are established to keep discharging of carbon low and pollution minimization by installing sources related to renewable power at industries and homes. It is necessary to protect the environment to save the air quality, ecosystems, reliability and resources sustainability, and stress elimination for future. So, the execution of innovative technology is for making development in future greener and saving the same from the possibility of damages. The achievement of goals is important for sustainable development that helps in working towards poverty reduction at universal level (Chitescu & Lixandru, 2016). Also, economic growth, better education and health, gender equality is required to achieve for providing growth by strong economy and job opportunities with living standard improvisation and handling of climate change while helping overall planet. The universal problems are helped through sustainability by solving environment’s management and consumption. The sustainability goals are provided by Alibaba by executing projects related to charity while making technology as a focus point. Moreover, it is helpful in removing the future obstacles related to trade to provide contribution and benefits to economic and social development with environmental practices positively (Beesley, 2016).
Sustainability is for social, environmental and financial outcomes that help in making decision and balancing for long and short terms. The company’s responsibility is to make decisions and take actions for the interest of stakeholders and welfare to the society. Further, the business practices of Alibaba Group consists of responsibilities related to social, environment and economic for the issues and changes improved by shareholders, media related issues, and the pressure of government. It is possible by attaining customers’ alliance, competitive advantage, non-regulatory effective company, and globalization (Zeng, 2018). The main objective of the company is achieving growth with providing sustainability accessibility to social responsibility investment, online marketplace and system expansion of distribution for describing overall profit through social responsibility of the company.
Alibaba faced several challenges as well that influence the conduct of employees, inequality between urban and rural, impacts of offline retail, under China governance compliance with laws being unclear, manufacturing and distribution infrastructure, one-trade focus, and safety through “Alibaba Intellectual Property Protection Platform”. The improvements are needed by removing implications related to cost, business profits being unproven, and without high importance to the company (Matthews, 2018). Majorly, the focus is on business goals, issues reduction by development and positive public relations for increase in better performance and cost reduction of workforce maintenance and equity funds. Alibaba’s strategic intent established to help SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises) through covering and financing dependency, training, and technology on advertising profits.
The company requires being concerned about the good in economy for sustainability and that shows some concentrated characteristics in the organisations required and not as a business practice generally. The identification of the characteristics was by (Suzanne, Melissa, & Tim , 2018).
In the market, the outward-looking of the companies work with sustainability settling by making them according to the situation. The company’s interaction and stakeholder’s impact for identifying best practices are adopted. There is a need to communicate within the company’s stakeholders and environmental scanning attained continuously according to learning positioned in an organisation. The problems related to economic, social and environmental impact the sustainability of the company and checking contribution of improvements to environmental operations.
It is important for the company to be flexible and innovative for social, economic and environment challenges balance for achieving business not only based on policy terms that is difficult. Also, needs innovation in the company as a whole with constant change required to manage processes, people and products. It is done for groups and customers involvement to restructure through new thinking and creativity with new ideas(Carley & Christie, 2017).
There is a requirement of qualified employees and experts in the company for attaining sustainability even if the challenges are faced to pollution risks minimization and gaining opportunities. The problems are required to deal with for the company’s performance and profitability maintenance among continuous development and knowledge through programs by mentors and trainers for new employees recruitment and opportunities creation while knowledge sharing.
It is essential for the company to think about innovation considering sustainability as the main standard. Further, there is a need of systems enhancement instead of approaching problems processes without being concern related to paralysis or confusion, and disorder of the company regarding sustainability. The achievement of particular goal by the company not requires being sustainable but finding the right path is important while looking at the objectives. Further, there is need of high performance and no low base for making improvements in flexibility, quality, operations and costs easily without making any compromises. The additional investments are attained to remove the restrictions to make choices accordingly(Salas-Zapata, Ríos-Osorio, & Cardona-Arias, 2017). At all the levels, the company need working to clear the issues while achieving sustainability with legal structures, and groups, customers, and employees security.
There is a need for real aspirations to make decisions and being responsible about right ones approving responsibilities and values within the company. The employees’ protection is crucial including their consumers, groups and environment dignity. The short-term benefit is relied on efficient use justified from the aspects of resources for sustainability. Other than this in short-term, economic gains are also required to stop pollution and security costs. However, long-term companies are the aspect of investments in actual.
In the long-term, sustainability is when they are prepared to face the action’s influence taken by the company due to would-be damage that is actions to be appropriate in nature. Further, the practices help in preventing the recurrence and major issues causes. It is not so tough to make big investments and high returns earning while in short-term, the decisions are compromised with the environment’s quality and living in future resulting in possible burdens and harming the company’s image with forcing of higher cost.
In short-term, there is a need of discipline in the companies where outcomes are not approaching to attain sustainability followed and gained knowledge while taking actions in relation to delivery returns in long-terms and capability increment. The measuring requires systems for providing feedback and conducting sustainability helping in the company to maintain the operational performance at a supreme level. In companies, the success is achieved by following standard practices with all employees for not to compromise the quality while improving sustainability to generate comfort in the company(Sun, Yu, Xiao, Song, & Sun, 2018).
Alibaba Group planned to help the society in problem-solving by taking responsibility so that the business can be managed with opportunities and risks across the globe. It consists of social, economic, and environmental factors to attain the goal of the company that is profitability from 2018-2036 for activating consumers from 642M-2BN. Also, SMEs with 10M of profits and 36M of job opportunities where there is a possibility of 100M indirectly or directly (ESG Report, 2018). Moreover, the company is devoted to remove obstacles solving the customer’s problems where Alibaba is always taking care of its stakeholders. It is done by maintaining trust of the public and supporting while doing business possible anywhere through achieving sustainability. Also, it helps in earning profits after solving problems and growth for long-term as well.
The company makes employees and consumers their priority by doing the right thing without influencing economic, social and environmental factors through business. Both internal and external stakeholders helps in solving the issues where corporate governance take responsibility of the society and make decisions by policies, processes and rules for balancing risks and achieving profit with the leaders in management of the company. Alibaba’s Board of Directors in long-term is responsible for achieving consisting of selecting chairman and CEO, monitoring strategy, directing code of conduct, independent directors nomination, and execution management (Zhou, Chen, & Li, 2018). In China, the company uses corporate structure for making the members and employees to obey applied laws, rules and regulations in online business for governing foreign investment.
The performance and commitment of Alibaba is protecting its data, rights and cyber-security if making priorities as rational property for crucially trusting customers, traders, partners, and regulatory authorities. Though, the work is done for keeping operations sustainable and healthy for business performance in the online marketplaces. Alibaba’s authorization is shown with the brand quality products and stakeholders’ interest protection counting consumers. There is a proactive approach applied by the company to aim at identifying the issues before the complaints are received with the safe and healthy working environment maintenance as a responsibility. The transparency of the company fosters the communication through stakeholders with “AACA (Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance)” and coordinating investigations offline implementing the law as well (Asih & Windiani, 2018).
The focus of the alliance is on monitoring and building, consumers’ awareness programs, enforcement, sharing and court practices where traders are problematic with important stakeholders. In e-commerce, it is important in business to have security and accuracy while making transactions as a main priority providing satisfaction to the customer. E-commerce platforms are secured by such practice to ensure of sustainability in business with fraud and risks minimization. Alibaba ensures about data protection of consumers being a sustainable organisation with procedures control and using advance technology. The responsibility is guaranteed by the company to handle systematic data protocols for the privacy of user. The services required to the “EU’s General Data Protection Regulation” are fulfilled (Zhao & Chen, 2019). There are the expectations of the society by having qualified people from the company.
Alibaba works with desire and values using technology to solve society’s problems considering 86,833 approximate talented, able and trained employees. They operate in the market having high competition while moving with long-term business through technology for success in the company. Moreover, career development opportunities are clearly defined by the company having different workforces to solve issues globally (Business Wire, 2018). The company maintains an environment by working like a family with change acceptance and respect, positively and perfectly. The company’s focus is mainly on small businesses enabling, empowering women, and gaining consumer’s trust for social influence on the working of Alibaba. The employees are forced in the company for devoting time to cause social influence and make a purpose of providing social services while charitable companies are making Alibaba earn over US$ 50M in 2018 with traders of around 1.7M consisting over 360 million users ready to donate and employees to volunteer of around 482,601 (ESG Report, 2018).
Alibaba Group is related with an environment universally with the carbon mark reduction and applicability of innovation to deal with the challenges in terms of sustainability. Further, keeping environment clean is possible with basic scarce resource where the company’s duty is to reduce the impact on environmental sustainability in the business by making innovation. The company works on the best practices in business and with the help of informing strategies for long-term informs to adjust the systems in future. In the companies, the technology used in the environment effectively is related to the hardware infrastructure consumption that requires minimization. Thus, Alibaba decided to use Cainiao Network as its process for building “green logistics parks” that will be powered by the solar energy (Wu & Lin, 2018). It makes the people to avoid carbon emissions of over 1 million tons annually.
Conclusion
It is to conclude that Alibaba Group is a sustainable corporation based in China making day-to-day strategies while communicating with stakeholders for getting influenced by the society being a global investment company to generate future success. The risks face and opportunities provide to the company for its sustainability in business are for long-term, also determined for the “Alibaba Digital Economy”. The company’s major agenda is for resolving the cyber-security, corporate governance, social-contribution, IPR protection, human capital, data protection process, and environment considering economic, social and environmental characteristics. Lastly, the issues are taken seriously by the company’s stakeholders based on their importance of groups and financial performance responsible for business culture and model.
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