Customers first, employees second, and shareholders third.
Interpretation
Prioritizing customers and employees leads to a better business outcome than simply focusing on profits for shareholders.
Jack Ma's quote emphasizes the importance of placing customers and employees at the forefront of business priorities. By nurturing customer satisfaction and employee well-being, a company can foster loyalty and productivity, which ultimately benefits shareholders in the long run, making them the third priority in this framework.
In practice
During a conference on corporate responsibility, this quote can be used to highlight a company's commitment to ethical practices.
Hong Kong people say Hong Kong needs to preserve its uniqueness. I say Hong Kong's uniqueness is in its diversity, its tolerance of difference cultures... China does not want to see Hong Kong in decline. I have full confidence in its future.
If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat tons of them.
It's not that other countries steal jobs from you guys. It's your strategy. Distribute the money and things in a proper way.
Helping doing business easier, we choose the name Alibaba because it is a global company. It is founded in China, but it was created for the world.
In the beginning I just wanted to survive. For the first three years, we made zero revenue. I remember many times when I was trying to pay up, the restaurant owner would say, 'Your bill was paid.' And there would be a note saying, 'Mr. Ma, I'm your customer on the Alibaba platform. I made a lot of money, and I know you don't, so I paid the bill.'
Even if your competitor is still small in size or weak, you should take him seriously and treat him as a giant. Likewise, even if your competitor is massive in size, you shouldn't regard yourself as a weakling.
By simply capitalizing on core strengths and knowledge, companies and entrepreneurs can engage in an emerging business model that will enable them to create - and demonstrate - real, sustainable social impact in society.
We used to think that the enterprise was the hardest customer to satisfy, but we were wrong. It turns out, consumers are harder than the enterprise because the consumer will not give you a second chance.
There's nothing worse that you can do than create an aura about a company that's not substantiated by fact. It's not only ineffective but actually harmful to the company. You can create an image or whatever, but it won't stick.
The idea that you can create a template that will work forever doesn't happen in any business. There's some really, really bright people in this business. You can't do the same thing the same way and be successful for a long period of time.
Look after the customer and the business will take care of itself
To make a pleasant and friendly impression is not alone good manners, but equally good business.
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