Yahoo! in China: Local Problems for the Global Internet Giant
|
|
ICMR HOME | Case Studies Collection
Case Details:
Case Code : BSTR260
Case Length : 18 Pages
Period : 2000-07
Pub Date : 2007
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : Yahoo!
Themes : Business Strategy | International Expansion Strategies
Industry : Internet and e-Commerce
Countries : China
To download Yahoo! in China: Local Problems for the Global Internet Giant
case study (Case Code: BSTR260) click on the button below, and select the
case from the list of available cases:
OR
Buy With PayPal
|
Price:
For delivery in electronic format: Rs. 300;
For delivery through courier (within India): Rs. 300 + Shipping & Handling Charges extra
» Business Strategy Case Studies
» Case Studies Collection
» Business Strategy Short Case Studies
» View Detailed Pricing Info
» How To Order This Case
» Business Case Studies
» Area Specific Case Studies
» Industry Wise Case Studies
» Company Wise Case Studies
Please note:
This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.
Chat with us
Please leave your feedback
|
|
<< Previous
"We believe that to be successful in China, we absolutely
have to have strong local management, and Jack Ma and his team are the
best-of-breed Internet management team inside China."1
- Jerry Yang, Co-founder, Yahoo! Inc., in 2005.
"Yahoo still hasn't made a major impact in China."2
- Duncan Clark, Managing Director of Beijing-based
consulting firm BDA China Ltd., in 2006.
"Specialization is the key. If Yahoo! is going to win, it
has to do so in a new way. What's the point of building another Sina.com?"3
- Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba Group4,
in 2007.
Introduction
|
In January 2007, Jack Ma (Ma), CEO of the Alibaba Group (Alibaba), announced
that Yahoo! Inc.'s (Yahoo!) China portal (Yahoo! China) would be reorganized
into a business-oriented search engine5.
While announcing the new strategy, Ma admitted that Yahoo! China was not doing
well and also hinted at some key technological and organizational changes to
foster growth.
Ma was confident that the new strategy would help Yahoo! China gain leadership
and succeed in the highly competitive Chinese Internet market. Yahoo! was one of
the first international Internet companies to enter China (formally in 1999).
Initially, Yahoo!'s portal in China was modeled on the lines of its globally
successful portal.
|
|
But Yahoo! China found it difficult to compete with local
companies like Sina Corporation (Sina), Sohu.com Inc. (Sohu), and NetEase.com,
Inc. (NetEase), who together were popularly known as the "Big Three" Chinese
Internet firms. (Refer to Exhibit I for information on China's local Internet
companies).
|
|
In 2005, Yahoo! handed over the management of its
Chinese operations to Alibaba. As of 2006, Yahoo! China still lagged
behind local Chinese Internet firms like Sina and Sohu in popularity.
Even in the Internet search market, Yahoo! China's share was lower than
that of Baidu.com, Inc. (Baidu) and Google Inc. (Google). Yahoo! China's
move to target business customers was the outcome of an internal
research study, which found that while Baidu was the most favored choice
among college students, Google and Yahoo! China were preferred by
affluent and business-oriented customers. As part of its new strategy,
Yahoo! China's search results were to be directed more toward corporate
or business-oriented websites. |
Yahoo! in China
- Next Page>>
|
