How Strategy Works in an Interconnected, Automated World

Leaders already know that the classic approach to strategy--analyze, plan, execute--is losing relevance. But they don't yet know what replaces it. As everyone and everything becomes more interconnected and digitized, how do you operate, compete, and win?

Ming Zeng, the former Chief of Staff and strategy adviser to Alibaba Group's founder Jack Ma, explains how the latest technological developments, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the mobile internet, and cloud computing are redefining how value is created. Written especially for those outside the technology industry or the startup arena, this book introduces a simple, overarching framework to guide strategy formulation and execution in this data-rich and highly interactive environment.

Revealing the revolutionary practices that he and his team have developed at Alibaba, Zeng shows how to:

• Automate decisions through machine learning
• Create products informed by real-time data from customers
• Determine the right strategic positioning to maximize value from platforms and suppliers
• Repurpose your organization to further human insight and enable creativity
• Lead your company's transformation into a smart business

With insights into the strategies and tools used by leaders at Alibaba and other companies such as Ruhan and Red Collar, in a variety of industries from furniture making to banking to custom tailoring, Smart Business outlines a radically new approach to strategy that can be applied everywhere.

Dr. Ming Zeng serves as Chief Strategy Officer of Alibaba Group Holding Limited. Dr. Zeng serves as an Acting President of Yahoo Koubei. Dr. Zeng serves as Partner and Vice President of Shenzhen CDF-Capital Company Limited. He serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of Alibaba Group.

Dr. Zeng had been a strategy advisor for Alibaba Group since 2002, before joining full time in 2006. Dr. Zeng was the Professor of Strategy at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Beijing China from 2002 to 2006, and a faculty member at INSEAD, France prior to 2002. 

Dr. Zeng is a frequent contributor to the world’s leading management journals, including Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review and California Management Review. He has been an Independent Non-Executive Director of Longfor Properties Co., Ltd. since June 3, 2011. Dr. Zeng obtained his Ph.D in International Business and Strategy from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA in 1998 and a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Economics from Fudan University in 1991.

Source: Stanford University