Opened, Sesame! Alibaba Files for IPO in the U.S.

Papers were filed May 8 for what is being called the biggest initial public offering in U.S. history. The catch? The IPO is for a Chinese company.

Alibaba – no, not the character from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights – but the Chinese company specialized in online and mobile sale, has suddenly emerged as the talk of the money town.

The IPO announced by Alibaba Group was for $1 billion. Analysts argue that much more will be raised. Specifically, it is expected that, in the upcoming process extending from three to four months, the company could raise over $16 billion. This sum would beat what Facebook raised in its IPO two years ago.

Information on Alibaba Group

Reuters reported that Alibaba currently makes up four fifths of all online commerce. It is the largest Chinese corporation to have sought a home on U.S. exchanges. While Yahoo Inc and Softbank own 22.6 percent and 34.4 percent of it respectively, Jack Ma owns 8.9 percent.

This former English teacher turned third richest man in China, founded the online retailer in 1999. Just twenty years earlier, China required its citizens to use ration tickets to buy supermarket items. Today, Ma’s creation allows costumers to buy and sell products online through Taobao (similar to eBay), to buy items from major brands through Tmall and make transactions through Alipay (similar to PayPal).

Alibaba broke sales on China’s Singles Day (November 11) last year, generating over $5.75 billion on Alibaba-owned platforms

USA Today described Alibaba as an Internet middleman, charging sellers for marketing and advertising. Such a business scheme will be continue to be lucrative as the online market continues to grow in China. Chinese consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for purchases, with the growing popularity of smartphones facilitating such transactions. According to Alibaba, about 618 million Chinese used the Internet in 2013, but the number will rise to 790 million by 2016.

The news about the Alibaba IPO once again helps turn heads towards the East.

Western-based companies are often taken for granted as the example to follow or watch, but it is time to start looking a different way.

Before last week, Amazon and eBay were regarded as the heads in online retail. This IPO has shed light on the fact that Alibaba made $240 billion in sales last year. Guess what? That’s more than Amazon and eBay combined. Yet the world is still taken aback.

The Economist released a conclusion at the end of last month that did not seem to get enough attention. It announced an important verdict: China will overcome the U.S. and become the world’s largest economy by the end of 2014. You read that right. Not by the end of 2020 or the end of 2017, but by the end of this year. At least according to The Economist.

Maybe we should start reading up on other Chinese companies before the next one yells “open sesame”.

Is Samsung Really a Hallmark of South Korean Globalization?

A global leader in industrial design, Samsung Group, the largest South Korean business conglomerate, is widely known as a major icon of Korean culture. Although it is relatively globalized and does benefit from globalization, some say that Samsung cannot be an effective force for advancing Korean economic interests and society on the international level.

The Korean bobsleigh team meets the Jamaican bobsleigh team at Winter Olympics in Sochi

The chief reason: in Korean politics, globalization is not a very popular issue. Many Koreans feel that the country should be more concerned about its citizens than about foreigners; thus, Samsung is hesitant to support an issue that is so controversial. It wants to be socially responsible and does not want to strongly advocate a matter that could alienate its primary customers and supporters. Unless globalization is a means for nationalism, it will continue to be deprioritized.

Another major limitation of Samsung’s role as the foremost “globalizer” of Korean society is that Samsung has other, more important interests. Although Samsung wants to export as much as it can, its real goal is to monopolize the Korean market. Only when it’s confident that it can keep its domestic market will Samsung exert real effort in globalizing.

The Apple iPhone, the main competition for many smartphones

Additionally, why Samsung seemingly can’t be an effective force for globalization is because it’s completely “Korean”. Samsung produces everything on its own and dominates hardware production. Although Samsung can increase production quickly and take advantage of the latest technology, the company is so dependent on one source of production.

As well, one of the biggest problems is Samsung’s corporate governance: its top management members are all Korean. While we can debate what it means to be an Asian man in the Western business world, the influx and variety of ideas and perspectives are relatively limited and localized as those in charge are of Korean heritage. Samsung itself is not globalized: through and through, it’s a Korean company, from the top to the bottom of its structure.

This leads to yet another significant limitation: Samsung’s success. Ironically, Samsung has become so successful in recent years (partly through globalization) that many people in Korea feel that change is unnecessary. Why are foreigners needed when Koreans, by themselves, are doing so well? This leads to a situation where Korean society and Samsung are in a standstill: the lesson that many Koreans have extracted from Samsung’s success is that the Korean way is the best way.

Some question Samsung’s sustainability as a truly global company because it is based on Korea’s authoritarian culture, where a company worker can earn a lot of money in the “system” – as long as he follows the rules and focuses steadily on the ladder. Related to its uncertain future, Samsung’s design is also a potential concern, as it is for many companies who compete with the coveted Apple sleekness.

Regardless, Samsung is a stronghold in Korea, and it’s rapidly growing internationally. We can only wait to see what’s next in its development.