Corporate Planning and Innovation in an Economic Reform Context: The Case of Alibaba

Reference is made to the use of a historical approach in economics and the growth and power of modern corporations to systematize the contextual dimensions that form corporate planning practices and innovation. I show the dimension that contributes to the growth of Alibaba—the Chinese e-commerce giant in online trading of consumer products—by demonstrating that its corporate behavior and technostructure are actually aligned and interacting with the elements of an evolving social fabric. These elements include the government and its policies, social advancements in the community, and technology under a public planning policy for economic reform. As a private corporation in its own right, the ability of Alibaba to transcend the boundaries of public planning by using its own resources (especially in shadow banking activities) seems inevitable. However, in the context of an economic reform, the Chinese government clearly has the authority to reduce the gap between growing corporate power and public interests.