Value Chain Analysis of Alibaba: A Business-to-Business Perspective

This discussion post provides an analysis of Alibaba's value chain, focusing on its operational model and competitive advantages. The assignment explores how Alibaba functions as a middleman between buyers and sellers, particularly through its online platform. It examines the value chain's role in creating a competitive advantage, emphasizing elements such as inbound and outbound logistics, operations, marketing, and sales. Furthermore, the assignment discusses why customers are willing to pay more for Alibaba's services, highlighting the company's ability to deliver superior customer value and its successful expansion in the Chinese market. The use of Alipay and its role in securing online payments is also discussed as a key competitive advantage. The post concludes with references to support the analysis, including sources on Alibaba's entrepreneurial growth and platform-based business strategies.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
International Business

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Table of Contents
Why and how does it work in your opinion?...............................................................................................3
Do you pay more for the service because it is good?...................................................................................3
References...................................................................................................................................................4

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Why and how does it work in your opinion?
My favorite service provider is Alibaba and it acts as a middleman among seller and buyer
through online as well as, provides the sale for products among two parties via its wider network
of websites. In my opinion, the value chain is a set of practices that a company can perform for
generating value for its consumers. The primary benefits and goal for value chain are to develop
and strengthens the competitive benefits (Anwar, 2017).
Along with this, Alibaba practices value chain assessment for attaining competitive benefits as
well as, boosting the profits. In my opinion, there are different primary value chain practices. By
assessing it, a corporation can make sure that high cost is spending on value chain activities for
creating high values such as inbound logistics, operations, marketing and sales, outbound
logistics, services, and operations (Zhang, et. al., 2017).
Do you pay more for the service because it is good?
I do pay more for the service because it is good in terms of delivering superior customer values
as well as, services at a lower cost. It is gaining its base of customers together with, leading for
sustainable expansion in highly competitive Chinese atmospheres. By developing Alipay,
Alibaba was competent for avoiding the issues regarding securing the online payments system in
Chinese atmosphere. It is one of the competitive benefits for Alibaba as well as, it is created
larger advantageous into Chinese atmosphere (Anwar, 2017).

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References
Anwar, S.T., 2017. Alibaba: Entrepreneurial growth and global expansion in B2B/B2C
markets. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 15(4), pp.366-389.
Zhang, W., Chen, M., An, W. and Zhang, J., 2017, July. The Key Success Factors in the
Development of Platform-Based Business in China-Case Study on Alibaba and Jingdong.
In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 185-193).
Springer, Cham.