MBAs Increasingly Turning To Jobs In Tech

Alibaba Is Hiring MBA Graduates

Twenty years ago, Alibaba was established in Jack Ma’s Hangzhou apartment. Now, the e-commerce grown into a $158 billion dollar company with more than 365 million customers and 50,000 employees across 200 countries.

Now, it is looking to hire MBAs as senior executives as it continues to expand.

Jonathan Moules, a writer at Financial Times, recently wrote a piece on the various ways Alibaba is seeking MBA talent.

“Ma’s company is focusing on an elite group — those who have studied at the world’s top business schools,” Moules says. “Business development managers from Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou are touring campuses, meeting careers teams at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois, and the London School of Economics in the UK. The message is clear: Alibaba is eager to hire graduates from masters in management courses and MBA programs.”

Ma hasn’t always been fond of MBA grads and he’s been outspoken about his criticisms. But the shift in his attitudes may reflect Alibaba’s growth towards a global impact. In 2014, the company’s shares began trading on the NYSE.

Alibaba Global Leadership Academy

The Alibaba Global Leadership Academy is a talent development program focused on training the future international leaders of the company. Accepted participants live and work in China for 12 months as full-time Alibaba employees.

“Through job rotations at Alibaba core business units combined with classroom and experiential training, AGLA participants will graduate equipped to serve as Alibaba’s global business leaders and cultural ambassadors, linking international markets with what is soon to become the largest economy in the world – China,” according to Alibaba’s website. “AGLA graduates will comprise the foundation for Alibaba’s international business expansion.”

After the program, graduates are assigned to a role in one of Alibaba’s global offices based on their interests and career alignment.

According to Moules, the competition for AGLA is tough.

“More than 3,000 people applied for 30 places on the first program, which started in 2016,” he says. “This year applications doubled for the same number of places.”

What Alibaba seeks in its talent

Brian Wong is a Wharton MBA graduate and the creator of the AGLA program. Wong tells Financial Times that while a number of AGLA participants are MBA grads, the program seeks work experience in fields such as logistics, ecommerce, and finance.

“It’s important not to think that just because you have an MBA, you’re instantly valuable,” Wong says. “You have to think about how to adapt those skills.”

According to Wong, his plan in creating AGLA was to incorporate MBA skills to senior management at Alibaba.

“Jack [Ma] used to say the people he disliked most were professional managers and MBAs, because they are really good at doing what they are told, but rarely do they take chances,” Wong says. “But if you flip it, the great thing about MBAs is they have very structured thinking and they have got strong analytical skills.”

There’s a certain confidence in taking risks you know will pay off. And that confidence comes with experience. Wong says that Ma seek individuals who are confident in taking chances and don’t simply do as they are told. For Ma, he has his own special way of seeking that talent.

“Jack says the best way to identify a leader is to throw them in the battlefield and see who comes back alive,” Wong says.

Sources: Financial Times, Alibaba Group