This is Part 2 in a three part series about Alibaba and Ant Group. The focus was on Alibaba's ability to continually adapt to new markets, consumer behaviors, technologies and opportunities. The idea of adaptability and innovation are increasingly discussed as key competitive abilities. Part 1 is here.

To investigate that, I spoke with Martin Reeves, who is Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute. And has long written about adaptability and rate of learning as critical parts of strategy. Here is his summary from the BCG website:

"Since joining BCG in 1989, Martin has led a broad range of strategy assignments in the Financial Institutions, Consumer Goods, Industrial Goods and Health Care sectors. He has particular expertise in the areas of adaptive strategy, strategy for multi-business systems, sustainability strategies, ecosystem strategies, collective learning and innovation, corporate vitality, and trust."

Specifically, we spoke about his paper with Ming Zeng about Alibaba as a self-tuning enterprise. Although we did go off to other ideas pretty quickly. The main question was how Alibaba had been so successful for two decades in business after business.

You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.

Related podcasts and articles:

• How Ant Financial / Ant Group is Revolutionizing Finance (1 of 3) (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 47)
• How Big Will Ant Financial / Alipay Become? (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 28)

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 8, with a focus on:

• #32: Adaptation and Resilience

Concepts for this class. 

1. Adaptation and Resilience
2. SMILE Marathon: Sustained Innovation

Companies for this class:

• Ant Financial / Alipay / Ant Group
• Alibaba

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I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.

I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.

My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.

Note: This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers

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