Case Study

Technology’s Impact on Importing/Exporting

Alibaba Mini Case Study

Companies such as Alibaba have capitalized on technological advances and huge production potential of China to export products worldwide.  These exports range from small retail products to large B2B shipments.  Global buyers use Alibaba’s website to shop around for price and variety.

 Requirements

1. Visit Alibaba’s website (www.alibaba.com) and search for exporters of a B2B product; describe your experience.
2. If you are an importer, what are the advantages and disadvantages involved in using Alibaba?
3. Visit Amazon’s website (www.amazon.com); what is the difference between Amazon's and Alibaba's websites?
4. In a Forbes article: “Alibaba and the 40,000 thieves” it was alleged that Alibaba sells an unprecedented torrent of sham and counterfeit goods," and that neither the big brands manufacturers, nor the Chinese or American government pressure can do much about it. Forbes stressed that only Jack Ma, the man who oversees the world’s largest online retailer can; however, closing down the fakes would undermine his empire (Schuman & Ho, 2015, p. 100). Provide your take on that, and explain your rationale. What steps should Alibaba take, if it intends to dominate the global retail market?

Support your arguments in all posts with the data and concepts from the readings, videos, and scholarly / reliable non-scholarly research!

Respond to all topics in Session 6 Discussions. Start your discussion by midnight Saturday. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ comments. Complete your postings by midnight Tuesday.

Sources used in the development of the Alibaba Mini Case Study (not required reading!):

Anderson, C. (2006). The Long Tail: Why the future of business is selling less of more. New York, NY: Hyperion

Burinskiene, A. (2013). International trade, innovations and technological achievement in countries. DAAAM International Scientific Book, 795-812. doi:10.2507/daaam.scibook.2013.48

Evans, M. P. (2009). The aggregator blog model: How a blog leverages long tail economics. Journal of Information Science & Technology, 6(2), 3-21. Retrieved from www.jist.info/‎

Hinz, O., Eckert, J., & Skiera, B. (2011). Drivers of the Long Tail Phenomenon: An empirical analysis. Journal of Management Information Systems, 27(4), 43-69. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2753/MIS0742-1222270402

Kendall, T. D., & Tsui, K.B.E. (2011). The economics of the Long Tail. The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 11 (1), 1-18. doi: 10.2202/1935-1682.2845

Schuman, M., & Ho, J. (2015). Alibaba and the 40,000 thieves. (cover story). Forbes, 196(7), 100-101.

*No cover page needed

* Use subtitles for research

*Explain the reasoning for the product that you chose in question 1

*Cite and reference

*Try to use the references provided

*1 page single spaced/Reference seperate page