The author of this article: Mu Sheng, the head picture from: Visual China
On January 6, Dai Shan, President of Alibaba Group's China Digital Commerce Division, released an internal letter announcing the new organizational structure of the former Taobao Tmall business. Among them, the most concerned adjustment is that, on the basis of adhering to the dual brand operation of Taobao and Tmall, the industrial operation and development center, the platform strategy and operation center, and the user operation and development center are newly established.
This adjustment seems to confirm the saying that "for a long time, it will be divided, and it will be divided for a long time." The last split occurred in 2011, when Taobao, Taobao Mall (later renamed Tmall Mall) split into independent companies and operated separately, with the aim of differentiating operations.
Ali said that this merger is not just a simple physical merger of Taobao and Tmall's industry operation capabilities, but an upgrade of consumer and merchant service capabilities.
Ali's organizational adjustment this time is a very typical construction of "business middle office" and "data middle office", which has typical reference significance for many enterprises. It is necessary to interpret it:
1. Merchant domain adjustment
Dai Shan's email disclosed: "In the business domain, an industrial operation and development center will be established, which will integrate the respective industry operations of Taobao and Tmall, and move from industry operation to industrial operation, providing global merchants with full-life cycle consumer operation and commodity operation capabilities for small and medium-sized businesses." A customer experience evaluation team will be established under each vertical industry, with customer satisfaction as the yardstick for the level of industry operation. ”
This part of the change has three implications:
First, it can be "reduced" at the merchant end. In the past, merchants with a little scale would open Tmall and Taobao stores at the same time, and they needed to deal with two sets of platform rules and match two sets of operational logic. Because the two sets of platform rules come from different teams within Alibaba, it is easy to fight between the rules, and most merchants have to establish two operation teams. Now, due to Alibaba's integration in organizational structure, although the two platforms of Taobao and Tmall are still maintained, the platform rules and operational logic should be able to be pulled through, the organizational structure and personnel of merchants can be streamlined, and the cost will naturally be greatly reduced.
Second, it can be "reduced" on the enterprise side. The two platforms of Taobao Tmall integrate their accumulated service capabilities and no longer repeat the "construction of chimneys", which belongs to the construction of business middle offices. Image point is a bit like assembling a larger "bucket" with their respective longboards and sharing the "water" in the bucket. This will undoubtedly streamline institutions and reduce costs.
Third, it can achieve deep empowerment and enhance merchant stickiness. Divided by vertical industries and customer (merchant) satisfaction as the standard, this refines the granularity of empowerment and strengthens the depth of the industry, which is undoubtedly a long-term choice.
To put it bluntly, this adjustment is Ali from the past "me-centered", shaping its own platform rules, to "merchant-centered", to achieve in-depth services. In the early stage of the industry, "me-centered" is necessary, the needs of merchants are strange, only based on their own understanding of the industry, taking the largest common divisor of merchants' needs to build a platform is the most efficient approach.
However, this "self-centered" also takes into account the needs of different types of customers and is not a "one-size-fits-all".
Alibaba's decision at that time was to divide customers into two categories: small merchants and large merchants, and established Taobao and Tmall platforms around two types of needs, respectively, in terms of organizational structure, naturally two teams took over and established different operating rules.
At that time, the initial rise of e-commerce business, the two types of merchants are obviously separated, how to take the largest common divisor in the needs of each type of merchants, and quickly build the two platforms, is the most important. Now that the two platforms have been established and matured, and there are more and more merchants operating across the platform, Ali must consider the consistency of the logic of the two platforms.
Chaotic warfare has entered a protracted war, and naturally guerrilla warfare can no longer be fought, but group armies are needed to fight.
Second, the user domain adjustment
Dai Shan's email disclosed: "In the user domain, a user operation and development center was established to optimize the consumer experience link and launch more simple, smooth and easy-to-use user products." ”
The adjustment of this step is also about to come out. Because, not only the cross-platform operation of merchants has produced an embarrassing experience, but also the cross-platform consumption of users has also produced an unpleasant experience. For example, during the double 11 period, consumers who purchase products on Tmall and Taobao need to calculate the full rebate separately. Therefore, while the logic of the merchant platform is pulled through, the logic of the user platform should also be pulled through.
It should also be noted that merchants are relatively more tolerant and users are more sensitive. Simply put, it is impossible for merchants to open a Taobao store today and close the store tomorrow to leave the platform, but users can go to Taobao today and go to Pinduoduo tomorrow, there are too many choices. In the eyes of users, your own internal division of Ali is your own business, I came to Ali to buy things, what I want is experience.
In fact, Ali attaches great importance to users strategically, and they have always been deeply anxious about traffic. At the 2015 Taobao Seller Conference, Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang clearly regarded the development of community, content and local life as the three major directions of Taobao's future. Every direction is actually a reflection of this anxiety.
In terms of hugging users, Ali's response has been very fast. Data speaks, only with JD.com as the competition, Ali is in a leading position in many actions (pictured).
In August 2016, Jingdong only went online to find good goods, which were nearly two years late than Taobao's; in November 2016, Jingdong launched the Jingdong Express, which was 21 months late compared to Taobao headlines; in May 2017, Jingdong launched Jingdong Live, which was 13 months late than Taobao Live; in December 2017, Jingdong launched Beijing at 8 pm, 16 months late compared to the second floor of Taobao... In the current live e-commerce, Ali has also won the opportunity.
Chart: Timeline of content-based and social layouts of the two major e-commerce giants (2014-2018)
Source: Compiled by Mu Sheng Enterprise Management Consulting Office
The user operation and development center established this time is also a kind of business middle office. It unifies the management of the user interface and also concentrates more innovative resources.
I have always believed that after the ecosystem matures, user management must be integrated.
3. Platform domain adjustment
If the above two adjustments belong to the "organizational", another information disclosed by Dai Shan is more meaningful in the digital era: "In the platform domain, the establishment of platform strategy and operation center, responsible for the design of platform mechanisms and rules, through the upgrading of platform mechanisms and the application of intelligent technology, accelerate innovation, create a variety of products and services required for business operations, and provide strong service support for platforms, industries and merchants." ”
Innovation, on the one hand, comes from the insight of users on the demand side, which is the driving force; on the other hand, it comes from the internal mechanism of the supply-side platform, which is the driving force. In this day and age, to gain this impetus, the platform must be highly digital, and it must be able to transfer this digital capability to the users of the platform.
The adjustment of Alibaba's establishment of the platform strategy and operation center can be called the highlight of this organizational adjustment in my opinion. To put it bluntly, the first two adjustments are in line with the trend and have to be done, and this adjustment is a bit of a forward-looking strategic layout.
This part can be understood as a comprehensive promotion of digitalization, and I further speculate that the establishment of the platform strategy and operation center is to support the construction of the data (digital) middle office with a physical organization. This department has two major functions - "upgrading platform mechanism" and "intelligent technology". The former is more like pulling through the mechanisms and rules of different platforms, so that data can flow endlessly on Ali's large platform and form more "data production materials"; the latter is based on this "data production materials" to carry out data technology (Ali often mentions DT) mining and form more business possibilities.
Interestingly, the value of the two functions of the platform strategy and the operation center is described as "accelerating innovation, creating a variety of products and services required for business operations, and providing strong service support for platforms, industries and merchants." This means that Ali realizes that innovation should be empowered by the platform, and then realized by the participants of the platform.
Subsequently, based on the empowerment of the data middle office, Alibaba's business middle office and front office departments, merchants on the platform, and ecological partners involved in the platform by merchants will share data and intelligent dividends.
This may be a sunny avenue for Ali in the era of deterrence (the era of regulation) after the disappearance of the Internet industry dividend.
Fourth, write at the end
In the past, Ali has been running wild in the industrial dividend and has grown into a well-deserved Internet first-line giant. But I've always believed that they can't be called benchmarks in terms of organizational management.
Many of Ali's organizational adjustments are in line with the trend, and there is not much innovation. In fact, there is nothing shameful about this, and following common sense is also a kind of "stability"; making big words and embarrassing innovation is a kind of "adventurous". What is the difference between the two, what kind of chain reaction will be triggered in the surrounding area, at this point in time, a considerable number of people should understand it.
The organizational adjustment of Ali is also a milestone.
On the one hand, the development of large enterprises to this stage, the internal department wall, insulation layer, process barrel, vacuum cover, the emergence of the emergence, can be made organizational adjustments.
On the other hand, with the disappearance of traffic dividends and demographic dividends, the changes in the consumer Internet and industrial Internet, and the rise of e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo... In an environment where challenges are greater than opportunities, Ali must strengthen the organizational ability to match the environment, and organizational adjustment has reached the time of "having to do".
In fact, alibaba in the past solved the problem of platform separation by supervising Tmall by Taobao president Jiang Fan, but this is only a "symptom". Today, Dai Shan's adjustment is to "cure the root cause."
The "China Digital Business Sector" belongs to Alibaba's profit pool, and its importance to Alibaba is self-evident. Dai Shan officially took the helm of this important town in January 2022, and then sacrificed a big hand of organizational adjustment, and in any case, her courage is worthy of admiration.
But at this point in time, to open up a new situation through organizational design, Ali and Dai Shan need not only to follow common sense, but to break through innovation. If they've made a difference in the construction of business middle offices and data middle offices, they are the undisputed benchmark for organizational innovation.
Let's wait and see.