Alibaba employees working for the massive Chinese business-to-business ecommerce website have to be familiar with the tale Alibaba and The Forty Thieves, don’t they? You know the story where the main theme is to never be greedy or else thieves will find you and cut your body into pieces and then your family will sew your body back together to cover up your murder? Is that one not ringing a bell? Okay, well it’s the same story where the phrase “Open Sesame” comes from.
Apparently the important lesson about greed from Alibaba and The Forty Thieves was also overlooked by the Alibaba employees who willingly assisted or allowed fraudulent Gold Supplier accounts to be set up to defraud buyers. According to an Alibaba press release, about 2,300 accounts were used on Alibaba in the last two years to commit fraud, with the average claim valued at $1,200.
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Those in the supply chain field know that Alibaba isn’t just some run-of-the-mill online marketplace either. In the online world of purchasing and sourcing goods, Alibaba is THE website to be on. It connects thousands of suppliers, most in China, with buyers around the world. The range is widespread from small importers to major multinational retailers. China is undoubtedly the sourcing hotspot of the last decade, but Alibaba maintains a presence in 60 cities and regions including Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the UK and the US. Alibaba claims to have more than 56 million users. We use the word “claim” because that’s what happens in the wake of fraud claims at your company.
All kidding aside, we have to give Alibaba some credit because it launched the internal investigation and was the first to report it. In today’s society, it’s almost customary for a company (or celebrity) to admit guilt only AFTER the media reports it. Since Alibaba was proactive in handling this fraudulent crisis, it allows us to assume that the company is run with a certain level of transparency. It’s possible that more reports could follow, but the fact remains that Ma aimed disciplinary action directly at the top of the corporate ladder, instead of some low level peons, so Alibaba should be able to navigate this precarious situation.
But none of that will change that Alibaba.com dropped $933 million in market value, or 8.6 percent, in lieu of the fraud news and it will be attached to the company for the foreseeable future. We’ve seen companies collapse for a lot less. I think that Alibaba.com is probably too big and too important to fail, much like we saw with Boeing after it failed to deliver the 787 Dreamliner to customers by about three and a half years.
Alibaba.com will make a comeback no matter how many company Thieves it has to oust along the way.
Don't forget to check out our featured Top Ten entitled Ten Places You Shouldn't Park the Company Truck and as always don't forget to check out our Facebook and my personal account Brett Supply Chain
Apparently the important lesson about greed from Alibaba and The Forty Thieves was also overlooked by the Alibaba employees who willingly assisted or allowed fraudulent Gold Supplier accounts to be set up to defraud buyers. According to an Alibaba press release, about 2,300 accounts were used on Alibaba in the last two years to commit fraud, with the average claim valued at $1,200.
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Those in the supply chain field know that Alibaba isn’t just some run-of-the-mill online marketplace either. In the online world of purchasing and sourcing goods, Alibaba is THE website to be on. It connects thousands of suppliers, most in China, with buyers around the world. The range is widespread from small importers to major multinational retailers. China is undoubtedly the sourcing hotspot of the last decade, but Alibaba maintains a presence in 60 cities and regions including Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the UK and the US. Alibaba claims to have more than 56 million users. We use the word “claim” because that’s what happens in the wake of fraud claims at your company.
All kidding aside, we have to give Alibaba some credit because it launched the internal investigation and was the first to report it. In today’s society, it’s almost customary for a company (or celebrity) to admit guilt only AFTER the media reports it. Since Alibaba was proactive in handling this fraudulent crisis, it allows us to assume that the company is run with a certain level of transparency. It’s possible that more reports could follow, but the fact remains that Ma aimed disciplinary action directly at the top of the corporate ladder, instead of some low level peons, so Alibaba should be able to navigate this precarious situation.
But none of that will change that Alibaba.com dropped $933 million in market value, or 8.6 percent, in lieu of the fraud news and it will be attached to the company for the foreseeable future. We’ve seen companies collapse for a lot less. I think that Alibaba.com is probably too big and too important to fail, much like we saw with Boeing after it failed to deliver the 787 Dreamliner to customers by about three and a half years.
Alibaba.com will make a comeback no matter how many company Thieves it has to oust along the way.
Don't forget to check out our featured Top Ten entitled Ten Places You Shouldn't Park the Company Truck and as always don't forget to check out our Facebook and my personal account Brett Supply Chain
