撮要

The objective of the case is for instructors to teach students how to analyze the strategic situation of a company and use this analysis to evaluate alternative strategic moves for a company.

China’s e-commerce market overtook the United States market and reported the highest online transaction value in 2013, growing at over 50% per annum. JD.com is the largest independent e-retailer, a key player in the industry, with a unique, differentiated position.

The case takes place just as JD.com is preparing for its IPO on the NASDAQ. The case presents the four developmental directions that JD.com CEO Richard Liu had laid out. The direct competitive threat is from Alibaba’s Taobao and its T-Mall marketplace, the 10-ton gorilla of China’s e-commerce sector. It also contains information on JD.com’s unique logistics backbone, its pre-IPO financials, and the company’s plans to become a public company.

学习目标

The case is designed to trigger a discussion on the elements to consider when deciding the strategic direction of a leading player in the e-commerce sector in China. Students learn by putting themselves in the role of the chief executive of the company, and come up with the sensible development direction given the market environment.

Sub-objectives are how to:

• analyze a new industry in a different country both as a static snapshot and dynamically over time

• analyze asymmetries between two competitors with different business models and use these to identify strategic and tactical moves that play to their own strengths

• use the adjacency model to generate and structure a long list of growth opportunities