Cilj rada je determinirati financijsku stabilnost i poslovnu strukturu ekosustava Alibaba te ukazati na mogućnosti koje platforma stvara poduzetnicima u Republici Hrvatskoj. Metodologija – rad je dizajniran kao deskriptivni opis nastanka i razvoja poduzetničkih i menadžerskih modela ekosustava Alibaba. U analizi poslovne strukture korištena su financijska izvješća korporacije, kao i znanstvena literatura koja se bavi analizom poslovnog modela ekosustava Alibaba. Rezultati istraživanja – ukazuju na transformaciju modela stvaranja prihoda te razvoj novih oblika poslovnih aktivnosti platforme. Korporacija je osnovana kao online maloprodajna platforma, ali se razvojem poslovnih aktivnosti transformirala u hibridni oblik ekonomije platformi. Zaključak – ekosustav Alibaba najveći dio prihoda ostvaruje iz maloprodajne online aktivnosti u Kini. Istovremeno, platforma se transformira prema hibridnom poslovnom modelu te značajno raste udio prihoda od poslovanja u oblaku. Šireći se izvan domicilnog tržište u Kini te razvijajući nove oblike usluga, platforma otvara mogućnosti za razvoj malih i srednjih poduzeća izvan Kine. U tom kontekstu, ekosustav Alibaba može postati poluga razvoja za mala i srednja poduzeća iz Republike Hrvatske kao i za razvoj gospodarske aktivnosti u uslužnim industrijama u Republici Hrvatskoj.
The aim of this paper is to determine the financial stability and business structure of the Alibaba ecosystem and to point out the opportunities that the platform creates for entrepreneurs in the Republic of Croatia. Methodology ‒ the paper is designed as a descriptive research of the emergence and development of entrepreneurial and managerial models of the Alibaba ecosystem. The financial structure of the corporation was used in the analysis of the business structure, as well as the scientific literature that deals with the analysis of the business model of the Alibaba ecosystem. Research results indicate the transformation of the revenue generation model and the development of new forms of business activities of the platform. The corporation was founded as an online retail platform but with the development of business activities it has transformed into a hybrid form of platform economy. Conclusion ‒ Alibaba ecosystem generates most of its revenue from online retail activities in China. At the same time, the platform is transforming towards a hybrid business model and the share of cloud business revenue is growing significantly. As it is expanding beyond the domicile market in China and developing new forms of services, the platform opens opportunities for the development of small and medium enterprises outside of China. In this context, the Alibaba ecosystem can become a lever of development for small and medium enterprises in the Republic of Croatia as well as for the development of economic activities in service industries in the Republic of Croatia.