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DingTalk was a digital platform launched by multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The predecessor of DingTalk, Laiwang, was initially intended to compete with social networking apps such as Tencent Holdings Limited’s popular WeChat. Laiwang failed to take off, so Alibaba quickly and agilely pivoted, steering DingTalk’s strategy to focus on business users instead of consumers. The vision for DingTalk became a digital platform for facilitating the transformation of both small- and-medium sized enterprises and a digital operating system for large corporations. However, in a climate of constantly-evolving business and social environments and needs, DingTalk’s design and strategies needed to evolve as well. What strategy should DingTalk pursue for its future growth and evolution?

DingTalk was a digital platform launched by multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The predecessor of DingTalk, Laiwang, was initially intended to compete with social networking apps such as Tencent Holdings Limited's popular WeChat. Laiwang failed to take off, so Alibaba quickly and agilely pivoted, steering DingTalk's strategy to focus on business users instead of consumers. The vision for DingTalk became a digital platform for facilitating the transformation of both small- and-medium sized enterprises and a digital operating system for large corporations. However, in a climate of constantly-evolving business and social environments and needs, DingTalk's design and strategies needed to evolve as well. What strategy should DingTalk pursue for its future growth and evolution?

According to data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, privately owned Chinese companies are making more than 150 investments a year in Africa's manufacturing sector, up from only two in 2000. These companies are having a major impact: They smelt steel in Nigeria to fuel its construction boom; they've made the clothing industry the largest economic sector in Lesotho; and the board of Humanwell, a Chinese pharmaceutical company, has approved an eventual investment of $100 million in Ethiopia. These and other investments are transforming Africa's economy and society by providing millions of Africans with formal employment for the first time, fostering a generation of African entrepreneurs, and inspiring African institutions to support vibrant manufacturing clusters.