Jack Ma built a business empire helping the masses — half a billion of them at the last count. Alibaba brought ecommerce to everyone, from small businesses trading on its online marketplace, to shoppers who use its Alipay service to buy groceries with a swipe of a smartphone.
When it comes to hiring senior executives, however, Mr Ma’s company is focusing on an elite group — those who have studied at the world’s top business schools. Business development managers from Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou are touring campuses, meeting careers teams at the China Europe International Business School (Ceibs) in Shanghai, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois, and the London School of Economics in the UK. The message is clear: Alibaba is eager to hire graduates from masters in management courses and MBA programmes.
This marks a change for Mr Ma who, despite completing the chief executive programme at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing in 2006, has in the past been critical of MBA graduates in interviews. But his new interest reflects the fact that Alibaba now has global impact, with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange.