Fatma Al-Balushi

UoB: 13028275

The main mantra to become a successful entrepreneur in today’s competitive world is to have the
experience, the expertise and this could be learned by following a boss or a leader who teaches
you at every stage of it is. Eentrepreneurship is about creating and managing vision and
communicating the vision to other people. this essay will discuss Jack Ma success in business in
the light of Timmons Theory

(BrightHub, 2013)

Timmons Model supports the Entrepreneurs who are looking for a chance in order to keep
looking for more opportunities in order to expand their business. The method that is highly
recommended to be used by the entrepreneurs is the bootstrapping method. Bootstrapping helps
the business to reduce the promotion cost, helps the organization to identify the resources that
could be available at a cheaper cost and can benefit the organization.
Fatma Al-Balushi
UoB: 13028275

Founder

Internal locus
Need for of control Need for
achieve independ
ment ence
Acceptance of Creativity,
measured risk innovation
and and
(Burns, 2011)

Jack Ma is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in today’s era. He comes from a poor
family. Jack Ma is the owner ofAliBaba, Taobao, TMall, AiExpress and aliyun.com. He then
joined 'Hangzhou Teacher's Training Institute' and went on to get a Bachelor’s degree in English
Language. (YouTube, 2016). Jack has left no opportunity unattended, as he had applied for
various jobs but failed to get the job and he got rejected. Ma had no experience with computers
or coding, but he was fascinated by the internet when he used it for the first time during a trip to
the US in 1995.(The Inspiring Life Story of Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, 2013). This shows Jack
Ma had the vision and the drive to do something different to do something out of the box, which
was his mindset he was motivated in facing the problems in order to reach his goal. (Cheng,
2013).

The Big Five Model will help analyze Jack ma’s business management skills :
Fatma Al-Balushi
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Need for achievement: Jack Ma face many obstacles, as is what he is today, he wanted to
change the phase of the internet world so all the suppliers and customers are well interconnected
with each under one roof using a platform which was easy to use and could be accessed and used
by anyone and everyone. (Cheng, 2013). Jack Ma came up with many ways he could make
Alibaba a social enterprise that is with the vison of the company is to build future infrastructure
of commerce, and gain customers as we could help the customers grow, work and have a long-
lasting relationship with the companies. As a result of this, jack Ma was a model of inspiration to
the young employees working in Alibaba.

Acceptance of measured risk and Uncertainty: In 1998 when Jack Ma started working for
China International Electronic Commerce Center, he worked as the IT Manager in the
government company, he learned the internet inside out as he was a fast learner before he started
the company Alibaba.

Creativity, innovation and opportunism: Jack is one of the most successful businessman of all
times, Jack Ma has used all the opportunity that came his way, which he varied and used them to
its fullest possibility.

Need for independence: When internet was had just started to become popular, he saw it as a
stepping stone, where he could change the face of the world, most of them denied and
discouraged him at the beginning. Ma had no experience with computers or coding, but he was
captivated by the internet when he used it for the first time during a trip to the US in 1995. (The
Inspiring Life Story of Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, 2013). This shows Jack Ma had the vision and
the drive to do something different to do something out of the box, which was his mindset he
was motivated in facing the problems in order to reach his goal.

Locus of Control: Jack Ma believed in the Locus of Control to a certain extent by having his
trust placed in the people that are working for him. Jack Ma was determined to take AliBaba
group of companies to higher to height with his believes and the trust with the employees.
Fatma Al-Balushi
UoB: 13028275

Opportunity

Market Innovation

OPPORTUNITY
Strategy People
SELECTION

Investment Learning

The main purpose of Jack Ma starting Alibaba was to create a market for b2b customers which
would connect Chinese companies to the world. Jack Ma knew the market by then as Alibaba
was a success. The opportunity selection model would help understand the opportunities that
were taken by Jack Ma.
Market: Jack Ma had the market as Alibaba was a huge success, Jack Ma then wanted to
increase his market share as he knew people would use it as it was during the time where the
internet was booming and was the next new technology in ways people did business.
Innovation: According to CTO John Wu, the company was breaking even during that time and
company did not have much funds to invest in another website, he took the risk even though Jack
Ma knew it would be a huge gamble as he knew the investment required for a site that is
benefitting the local people wouldn’t be a difficult job. Nonetheless Jack Ma started “Taobao”
An online site Where business for Chinese people could be done easily. (The Inspiring Life Story
of Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, 2013).
Fatma Al-Balushi
UoB: 13028275

People: Jack Ma made sure the people he recruited had the same idea of Jack Ma which was to
start their own business, Jack Ma puts his trust in the Young generation as they are building their
career and they will do all kinds of work that would help them gain experience.

Learning: As Jack ma Started this company in order to increase competition for EachNet, which
is now part of Chinese eBay. The irony being, logo of Taobao was an ant, which proves some
intuition that Jack Ma’s favorite thing was to compete with his rivals. As Jack Ma likes to say:
eBay is the shark in the Global market, but in local market Taobao could fight eBay and was the
winner in all aspects. (Cheng, 2013).

Investment: The investment option were a major issue when Jack Ma started Taobao, as
Alibaba had started picking up in the market and was becoming popular, Jack Ma decided to
start Taobao only for the Chinese community, as it was difficult for some of the local Chinese
companies to get in touch with international companies.

Strategy: Initially when Taobao was launched, for many years the website was free as EachNet
was charging commission on auctions. Using the Opportunity that Jack Ma was successful in the
risk he took as Jack Ma learnt, as per the reaction of the Chinese people, Taobao was able to
capture 70% of the online market share. Jack Ma had a vision that he could outrun in the Chinese
market.
Fatma Al-Balushi
UoB: 13028275

Resources

Knowledge

Technology
Finance

ALIBABA

Access Materials

Knowledge

Jack Ma had the resources to as Jack Ma was a person who was willing to take the risk which he
had calculated, as the internet age was booming and he though “why not use this as a platform to
unite all the people around the world who wants to do business.” According to the FORT model,
Jack Ma looked for the opportunity as Jack Ma had the knowledge and even with limited
resources and with technology availability that Jack Ma could work with the same access for the
internet as he had a team and resources that would help him use make the utmost use of the
technology and grabbed the opportunity, Jack Ma had recently started a translation business and
made the trip to help a Chinese firm recover a payment, which made use of his knowledge of
learning two languages which Jack Ma turned into a business. Jack Ma was very fascinated with
the technology that he used only once and for the first time. It was then that Jack Ma decided to
found an internet company for the main purpose of uniting the buyers and suppliers under one
roof. The main argument being Jack was never afraid to compete with anybody as he had his
own confident he could beat anyone. As Jack Ma was not the type of the person who would keep
Fatma Al-Balushi
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90% of the equity for himself and keep the money all to himself. Even having fewer resources
Jack ma managed to take his group of companies to the height that no other person imagined.

Team
Jack Ma started the company with 18 people, at the beginning and now it’s a multi-billion
company with many co companies. He believed in the simple ideology to invest in young people.
He believed that the young people have the potential to work hard and come up with innovative
idea in order to make the website a great success. Jack Ma then went on to create a website that
was more consumer friendly. He had motivated the employees with the mentality of the
ownership, where he could improve the performance and get the best out of his team. Jack was
all about team working which he believed that is the key for him to succeed.

Conclusion
In Conclusion, according to Jack ma believed in his employees for the success of the
organization. He was one of the most successfully person, he grabbed the right opportunity and
at the right time. Jack Ma was confident enough self-confidence and his employees to support
him. The risk taken eventually made the biggest company. Jack Ma has great entrepreneurial
skills.
Fatma Al-Balushi
UoB: 13028275
Fatma Al-Balushi
UoB: 13028275

References

 Bright Hub. (2013). The Timmons Model of Entrepreneurship: Your Guide to

Entrepreneurial Success. [online] Available at:
http://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/73336.aspx [Accessed 4 May
2017].
 Cheng, D. (2013). 5 Entrepreneurial Lessons from Alibaba’s Jack Ma, the Crocodile of
the Yangtze. [online] Framework. Available at: http://gusto.com/company-news/5-
entrepreneurial-lessons-alibabas-jack-ma-crocodile-yangtze/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2017].

 diego, a. (2013). “TIMMONS” Model of the Entrepreneurial Process. [online]

arienclairediego. Available at:
https://arienclairediego.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/timmons-model-of-the-
entrepreneurial-process/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2017].

 Illuminatus!, (2015). Alibaba founder - Jack ma's greatest speech. [image] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5X1s-QiyuM [Accessed 8 Apr. 2017].

 The Inspiring Life Story Of Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, N. (2013). The Inspiring Life
Story Of Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, Now The Richest Man In China. [online] Business
Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-inspiring-life-story-of-alibaba-
founder-jack-ma-2014-10?op=1/#e-ipo-may-have-made-ma-an-extremely-wealthy-man-
but-he-hasnt-made-any-flashy-purchases-yet- [Accessed 6 Apr. 2017].

 Thefamouspeople.com. (2015). Who is Jack Ma? Everything You Need to Know. [online]
Available at: http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/jack-ma-6221.php [Accessed 6
Apr. 2017].

 YouTube, (2016). Best of Jack Ma - Motivation for Success: Amazing Interview &
Business Insights. [image] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUrNlmbSZs4 [Accessed 7 Apr. 2017].
Fatma Al-Balushi
UoB: 13028275