A Chinese employee enters the headquarters of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, 25 June, 2014. [Photo/IC]

More recently, in a letter to investors, Ma replaced his dream with a bigger one: "In the past decade, we measured ourselves by how much we changed China. In the future, we will be judged by how much progress we bring to the world."

This brand of entrepreneurial confidence has won Ma plenty of followers across the tech industry and beyond. All employees who spoke to China Daily Online pointed to him as the underpinning of all institutional attitudes.

"Jack Ma may have boasted about Alibaba in the beginning like other Internet tycoons do in China, but he is rare because most of his bragging has come true. Many of my colleagues even idolize him," said the former reporter.

Ma's personality is ever present as all employees have nicknames, most of which are inspired by Ma's beloved kung fu novels.

"'Not for petty profits but for the common good' was the motto ancient Chinese swordsmen lived by. Jack Ma has succeeded in appealing to such a call, one that had been long forgotten in the wake of the widened social and economic gap," said Zhang.

The professor continued: "The role of Jack Ma is to point direction, cheer up employees and enhance their sense of mission. When I have talked to Alibaba employees, I found they are so self-motivated that the company is always on their mind."

Even so, interviewees who spoke to China Daily Online dismissed the outside perception that Alibaba is like a cult and Ma its leader.

"That word is too extreme. I see it more of like being able to be your true self and being loyal to friends, just like swordsmen from ancient times," said the former reporter.

Zhang said the word "cult" is used by "jealous peers who find it hard to explain and difficult to imitate."

"Corporate culture is supposed to be different from social culture. Alibaba is more like a tribe or clan to me because its employees trust and help one other and communicate without office politics in a straight forward way."

The former employee Li agreed and said the Alibaba atmosphere extends outside its offices.

"Ex-employees who have left Alibaba to start their own business are very willing to help each other. It makes me a confident entrepreneur and there's much successful experience to draw from Alibaba," he said.

Perks and post-IPO

As Andrew Teoh, a former Alibaba executive and founder, told the Reuters news agency, "Alibaba is not like a Chinese company, it's a blend of the good parts of East and West."

If this is true, the evidence could be in some of Alibaba's very Asian corporate traditions.

For example, mass weddings have become an annual affair among the company's roughly 22,000 employees. This year, 102 couples received blessings from Ma and tied the knot at the company's compound in an ancient-style ritual.

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