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Alibaba Looks More Like GE than Google

Harvard Business Review

Alibaba, the Chinese internet titan that filed for an IPO in the U.S. last week, could be the largest tech IPO in history. Instead, it operates more like GE. The exhibit below, from the 2013 HBR piece, describes how Alibaba and firms like it handle strategy, in light of such a distributed approach: with a “group center.”.

IPO 12
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What Spinning Off a GE Business Taught Me About Managing Ultra-Fast Change

Harvard Business Review

Major organizational changes, covering everything from recruiting and branding to regulatory approvals and marketing, happened in rapid succession, with a hard deadline of 12 months to get it all done for the IPO — and 18 months from the IPO until our full separation from GE. Change management certainly tested us.

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Why Financial Statements Don’t Work for Digital Companies

Harvard Business Review

On February 13, 2018, the New York Times reported that Uber is planning an IPO. Twitter reported a loss of $79 million before its IPO, yet it commanded a valuation of $24 billion on its IPO date in 2013. Its value growth is powered by the network in place, not by increments of operating costs.

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A Simple Way to Test Your Company’s Strategic Alignment

Harvard Business Review

For example, as it grew, Facebook found that its early “move fast and break things” culture had to be funneled into focused technical teams and product groups to make its product development process faster and less erratic, and for it to have a chance of meeting the demands of its new public shareholders following its IPO.

Banking 14
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Every Fast-Growing Company Has to Combat Overload

Harvard Business Review

In 2000, with more than $100 million in negative cash flow, the company agreed to be acquired by Star Cruises, a leading cruise operator in Asia. That’s because overload is a surmountable crisis—under the right leadership. Fortunately, these failures didn’t spell the end for the company. Codify best practices.

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60 Countries’ Digital Competitiveness, Indexed

Harvard Business Review

India, with its 462 million internet users , has a digital economy representing arguably the greatest market potential for global players ; however, it operates in multiple languages and multiple infrastructure challenges, despite the government having taken sweeping actions that affect the digital market.