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Abstract
The paper provides an analysis of Alibaba Groups relationships with external stakeholders in terms of legal aspects and possible ethical issues. The discussion of the impact of stakeholder perspectives on diversity is also presented in the paper. The analysis demonstrates that Alibaba Group pays much attention to aligning the organizational statements with the principles of the external diversity, but this area can be improved with the focus on expanding ethical and legal codes and standards followed in the company.
Introduction
The legal aspects guide the partnerships and relationships of modern companies with their external stakeholders (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2013). Alibaba Group is a business that has stakeholders globally, and each aspect of their relations should be regulated according to certain legal norms and standards, as well as ethical principles (Alibaba Group, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to identify external stakeholders with which Alibaba Group interacts, analyze the impact of relations with stakeholders on the idea of diversity in the company, and discuss the possible alignment of the legal and ethical principles followed by the company with the claimed organizational statements.
Alibaba Group External Stakeholders
The key external stakeholders of Alibaba Group as a business-to-business company are Yahoo and Softbank. These companies are shareholders and partners of Alibaba Group that support the spread of the companys services all over the world. The relationships with Yahoo and Softbank are regulated by contracts and the legal principles presented in the Alibaba Group Code of Business Conduct (Alibaba Group, 2016). However, despite the developed regulations, the issues of fraud and ignoring the contract statements were discussed in terms of extending the cooperation with Yahoo in 2010 and 2011 (Alibaba Group, 2016).
The other large group of stakeholders is suppliers. Alibaba Group specializes in e-commerce, and the company provides its services not only in China but also globally. As a result, the effective cooperation with suppliers is important to provide customers with required high-quality services and goods in time, without any delays, and dependence on the geographical factor. The principles of productive relationships with suppliers are also reflected in contracts and the Alibaba Group Code of Business Conduct (Alibaba Group, 2016). The external stakeholders also include logistics companies and trade agencies interested in developing relationships with Alibaba Group. The legal aspects of these interactions are reflected in the state and local legal codes and laws.
The Impact on Diversity
On the one hand, the cooperation with Yahoo and Softbank promotes diversity in terms of extending the areas where Alibaba Group can propose its services. On the other hand, such cooperation can be challenged in terms of adhering to legal norms. The business and legal cases associated with the development of Alibaba Group and Yahoos relationships provoke focusing on ethical and legal questions.
According to Karnes (2009), when an organization is so large and has unlimited resources, they can buy their way out of any predicament (p. 190). From this point, it is a typical challenge for companies to remain accountable in those situations when it is possible to ignore ethical and legal norms concerning stakeholders. While trying to promote diversity and respect ethical and legal rules, Alibaba Group follows the principle of accountability, meaning the willingness to be held responsible (Karnes, 2009, p. 190). Staying accountable and ethical is often a difficult task for large developed organizations.
The factor associated with diversity is the development of effective relations with suppliers from different regions of the world. In this context, the Alibaba Group needs to avoid ethical and legal conflicts with stakeholders (Baumann-Pauly, Wickert, Spence, & Scherer, 2013). Thus, according to Nelson, Weeks, Campfield, and MacLeod (2008), leaders need to decrease the possibility of developing ethical conflicts while applying ethical norms to their relationships and following legal standards. It is an important factor for promoting the positive relations between external stakeholders and the companys managers, as well as for supporting the principle of diversity.
Alignment of Alibaba Group Statements and External Diversity
Alibaba Groups relations and partnerships are characterized by a high level of external diversity. Nevertheless, this diversity needs to be supported by the principles presented in the organizational statements, such as mission, vision, and values. It is possible to state that Alibaba Group pays much attention to reflecting the idea of diversity in its statements, and the direct focus is on cooperation with diverse customers and suppliers (Alibaba Group, 2016).
The orientation of the Alibaba Group to diverse external stakeholders is determined by the character of the business and the markets in which the company operates. Therefore, it is important to note that the company focuses on reflecting the ideals of diversity in its statements and the organizational documents (Muller, Turner, Andersen, Shao, & Kvalnes, 2014). Thus, documents include the code of ethics and the code of business ethics that present the moral and legal principles according to which the relationships with stakeholders should be developed.
Alibaba Group focuses on developing positive relationships not only with internal but also external stakeholders. Karnes (2009) states that an organization who can prove to the employees that they are genuine can expect twofold returns in what employees are willing to produce for a good employer (p. 196). This statement also works for explaining the principles for interacting with external stakeholders when it is necessary to develop relations based on trust and integrity (Zheng, Luo, & Wang, 2014).
As a result, Alibaba Group concentrates on following legal norms and predicting ethical conflicts while describing all procedures for the cooperation and relationships with stakeholders in codes and organizational documents (Alibaba Group, 2016; Nelson et al., 2008). From this perspective, the statements of mission, vision, and values formulated by Alibaba Group can be discussed as aligned with the needs of developing the productive and ethical relationships with external stakeholders and addressing the principle of diversity.
Conclusion
It is possible to state that the Alibaba Group demonstrates successful results in developing working relationships with external stakeholders. The main stakeholders are companies that work as partners of Alibaba Group and have purchased the shares in the company, and the other group of stakeholders is represented by suppliers and organizations that assist the company in providing the services globally. Even though Alibaba Group tries to address the ethical and legal aspects of cooperation and development of partnerships, there are still issues in interactions of the company with such key stakeholders as Yahoo. Therefore, it is possible to state that the company works to promote diversity in relationships with external stakeholders, but more attention can be paid to formulating effective ethical and legal norms.
References
Alibaba Group. (2016). About the company: Overview.Â
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Karnes, R. (2009). A change in business ethics: The impact on employer-employee relations. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(2), 189-197. Web.
Muller, R., Turner, R., Andersen, E. S., Shao, J., & Kvalnes, O. (2014). Ethics, trust, and governance in temporary organizations. Project Management Journal, 45(4), 39-54. Web.
Nelson, W., Weeks, W., Campfield, J., & MacLeod, L. (2008). The organizational costs of ethical conflicts. Journal of Healthcare Management, 53(1), 41-53. Web.
Nickels, W. G., McHugh, J. M., & McHugh, S. M. (2013). Understanding business. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Web.
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