1

Review & Analysis based on a Case Study - Amazon as an employer

Jinson Joseph – Leadership & Organizational Structure

Karan Dattani – Situation Analysis & Performance Management

K. Kaushal Reddy – Researched & encapsulated the article and documented.

Master of Business Administration, Golden Gate University, San Francisco

Course: Management & Leadership

Instructors: Bruce Wasserman & Tim Ringo

21.09.2022
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The analysis one of the world’s biggest online retailers/e-commerce giant Amazon in the

merits of its employability and its work culture based on a case study published with

reference to an article published by The New York Times. We discuss and summarize about

the pragmatic leadership style of Amazon, “The company’s founder and first CEO, Jeff

Bezos is an exceptional and proven business leader. Bezos efficiently exercises visionary and

servant leadership styles and places exceptional customer service at the core of Amazon’s

business practice” [1] its hierarchical organization structure headed by Andrew R. Jassy as the

current President & CEO and its stack ranking performance management styles.

Leadership at Amazon

1. Leadership styles of Jeff Bezos and its influence on culture and performance of

Amazon

Without a doubt in place, Jeff Bezos stands as a beacon and model of modern leadership. He

started with an online bookstore and from there he was able to transform his start-up

company into a billion-dollar household name. Though such accomplishment was a

collective effort with employees, partner executives, and thousands of employees, Bezos can

be credited as the leader of the pack. Analysing the success and growth rate of Amazon,

there is no question regarding the effectiveness of Jeff Bezos’s leadership [2].

There are many iconic leaders in the world who are incredibly successful, but the leadership

style can vary from person to person. Most of the great leaders have unique style of

leadership, yet similarly successful as they stand as the bests in those particular strategies.

Just like many others of his kind, Bezos cannot be described under a single conventional

leadership classification. Let’s analyse the leadership style of Jeff Bezos which transformed

a start-up into a global business mammoth, dealing around 32 sub companies including

retailing, web services etc.

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One of the best and widely applauded parameters of Jeff Bezos is that he is considered as a

transformational leader — someone who motivates and inspires team members to achieve

more than they thought possible. Bezos ensures that everyone on his team is committed to

the vision for the organization. Amazon’s vision, to be Earth’s most customer-centric

company, is constantly being communicated by Bezos to hammer the message home. If

you’re on team Amazon, you know the customer always comes first. This mindset is a

Bezos-born manifestation . His sheer determination has been the key to success for
[2]

Amazon as a company and Bezos as a leader. And this strategy is always reflected in the

culture of Amazon.

Another style influenced the culture and therefore performance at Amazon is the way Bezos

approaches the failures. He always tries to make the best out of every failure and make it as

productive as possible. In a letter to shareholders, Bezos stated that “One area where I think

we are especially distinctive is failure. I believe we are the best place in the world to fail (we

have plenty of practice!), and failure and invention are inseparable twins. To invent you

have to experiment, and if you know in advance that it’s going to work, it’s not an

experiment.” In the same letter, Bezos explains Amazon’s innovative approach through a

baseball analogy, “We all know that if you swing for the fences, you’re going to strike out a

lot, but you’re also going to hit some home runs.” From Bezos’ perspective, a business must

embrace the entire process of success and failure, as the two go hand in hand. Plus, they

usually require leaders to take leaps of faith. But once a business wins big, the success pays

for all the failures that were experienced beforehand. While amazon always wants the best

out of everything, it gives a great range of tolerance for errors. For an employ who would

like to make an impact, it is one of the best things to have. This gives the freedom for

employees to fold their sleeves up for any experiments. This approach has a huge effect in

the amount of innovations Amazon has put forward over times.

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Amazon leadership style can also be classified as pragmatist. Pragmatist leaders “set high

standards and unapologetically expect those standards to be met by themselves and by their

employees” . Bezos always wants to be the best in the business, no matter what. And to
[3]

keep this strategy active, Bezos didn’t hesitate to be a stubborn leader at times.

Amazon is so critical about the customers. Amazon places exceptional customer service at

the core of its business practice. For example, it has been noted that “while you might find

other internet firms focusing on a fun, relaxed atmosphere for their employees, Amazon is

proving the potency of another model that is, coddling his 164 million customers, not his

56,000 employees” [1]. This has been a huge success in customer attraction and retaining but

has also been criticized a lot. Jeff Bezos leadership style has been characterized as harsh,

cutthroat and demanding [4]. It can be argued that such a leadership style fitted the situation

on the onset of the business when the company had to strengthen its position on rapidly

expanding industry.

2. Impact of Change in Leadership in Amazon and the Suggestions for new CEO

In July 2021 Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO and assumed the role of company’s executive

chairman. Andy Jassy CEO of Amazon Web Services became the new CEO of the online

retail behemoth. At has been noted that although Andy Jassy values Bezos leadership style

the new CEO is “more mild-mannered, soft-spoken and less prone to angry outbursts

compared to Bezos” . As Jassy takes over as CEO, one key challenge will be tamping
[5]

down the rougher side of Amazon's empire infusing the company what Stone calls a more

humble image.

The new CEO has a bunch of things to take care of, but primarily he is to continue training

major focus on the same areas, including AWS and Amazon Studios — which just picked
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up 10 Golden Globes nominations and is viewed as an important driver for Prime

membership sales.

One of the major suggestions that comes to Andy Jassy is to break the ice. Amazon has

always been known for its stubborn leadership and unapologetically strict operations. This

makes Amazon a lesser preferred place for employees, taking the brand and money Amazon

provide into account. But in the business operations and customer facing, Andy should

follow his predecessor’s footsteps. Bezos and Amazon have proven the potential of ultimate

customer centric strategy they have followed so far and success rate of the same is also

visible in front of Jassy. The way Andy handles the approach of Amazon towards new

innovations would be the most anticipated points in Andy’s workbook. It would define

Amazon in the upcoming years and the success of Andy Jassy as a leader.

On a simpler note, Amazon isn’t broke, so Jassy would be wise to not try to fix it.

Amazon’s Organizational Structure

The Amazon organizational structure is predominantly hierarchical with elements of

function-based structure and geographic divisions. While Amazon started as a lean, flat

organization in its early years, it transitioned into a hierarchical organization with its jobs

and functions clearly defined as it scaled [6].

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The Amazon organizational structure favours a vertical hierarchical approach with global,

function-based groups and geographic divisions. This gives the company extensive top-

down control over global operations, allowing it to increase market share and maintain

market leadership status.

At the top of this chain is a senior management team reporting directly to CEO Jeff Bezos.

Dubbed the S Team, this small team of Amazon senior executives works with Bezos to

disseminate his ideas, solve problems, set high-level goals, and shape company culture [7].

As the company grown from a start-up to such a giant, the hierarchical structure also gets

bigger. But amazon had clear plans to execute the operations even being in the conventional
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structure with a huge size. One key contributing factor is the Two Pizza Rule. Instituted by

Bezos, the Two Pizza Rule states that no meeting should be so large that two pizzas cannot

feed the entire group. The goal here is efficiency and scalability. Smaller teams spend less

time managing timetables or keeping others in the loop and more time doing what needs to

be done. In turn, each team has access to company resources to meet short and long-term

goals. A product team, for example, can add new product lines without having to meet with

the project, process, or logistics teams.

Amazon, a firm that has always been eager on innovations, has adapted a very conventional

organizational structure and made it effective by their innovative approach.

Is Amazon ambidextrous?

Today’s competitive and highly volatile environment calls for a new kind of flexibility and

adaptability. At the same time standardization, efficiency and scale must continue to

dominate the CxO agenda in order to deliver against margin and profit expectations.

Companies can be defined as “ambidextrous” when they continuously solve the trade-off

between being fast & creative and scale-driven & productive. As such, they establish an

equilibrium characterized by a strong emphasis on both dimensions (O’Reilly III, C. &

Tushman, L., 2004). The vast majority of companies focus on either dimension, but those

that manage to excel in both are rare.

Amazon is a prime example of the new breed of ambidextrous organizations. Always

searching for the most innovative business ideas, it strives to deliver on customers’ needs

before people realize that they require them. This approach is driven by a well-established

culture of invention, curiosity, and bias for action. Complementing its creative side, Amazon

has also proven itself to be a champion of productivity. Not only its logistics, but also its

internal processes for scaling new business models, are tailored for pure efficiency and
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standardization. If a new approach proves to be successful, it is rolled out rapidly, formally

established, monitored, and aligned to deliver full productivity. By successfully balancing

these two dimensions, Amazon has built a sustainable competitive advantage that has

become accepted best practice across multiple industries.

Amazon is one of the leaders on the face of planet in terms of innovations, yet fast growing,

productive and scale driven.

Situation Analysis of Amazon

Porter’s Five Force Analysis

Organizations can better understand an industry's strengths and weaknesses by using Porter's

Five Forces analysis. Businesses can use it to research their rivals and ascertain the market's

long-term profitability. Five competing forces will be examined in this essay in order to
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comprehend how competitive Amazon's business climate is. Amazon is the market leader in

the e-commerce sector, and in order to maintain that position in the face of escalating

competition, it must concentrate on building its brand. The business must continually

enhance the client experience by making its e-commerce website easier to use. It offers a

variety of goods and services, including Kindle, Fire TV, Alexa, Amazon Fresh, Amazon

Prime, and many more. There are five forces:

 Threat of new entrants

 Bargaining power of buyers

 Threat of substitute

 Bargaining power of suppliers

 Competitive rivalry

 Threat of New Entrant – Low

It is undoubtedly simple to launch an online retail store or an e-commerce website,

but it would be challenging for any company to compete with a monster like

Amazon. It would necessitate large investments in logistics, customer service,

marketing, warehousing, distribution, and other areas.

a) Switching Costs: Due to the low switching costs in the market, it is simple to enter

the e-commerce industry and to gain competitors and clients. However, given the

significant investments Amazon makes in the growth of its brand and the customer

experience, it is challenging for rivals to compete in the market. To directly compete

with amazon, any other brand would take years of perseverance and billions of

dollars in investment.
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b) Economies of scale: Due to its position as the biggest internet retailer in the industry,

Amazon has an advantage over other companies in terms of economies of scale.

Although new companies can easily enter the market, they are not likely to be able to

take advantage of economies of scale to the same degree as Amazon.

c) Customer Loyalty: Amazon gets the advantage of being the first big player in the e-

commerce industry.

 Bargaining power of buyers – High

Customers generally have high bargaining power because of the intense competition

in the e- commerce industry. Customers tend to be price sensitive. If Amazon does

not provide its customers with high-quality service at the best price, they will go for

its substitute in the market. It is difficult for any other brand to reach this level. So, it

becomes tough for the buyers to find such level of experience elsewhere.

 Threat of substitute – High

Amazon competes with substitutes in the online retail as well as with the offline

retail market. As Amazon does not sell unique products, and most of the products are

retail products, so giving the best customer experience becomes a necessity for the

company. And a single bad experience will drive the customers away from Amazon

because of the easy availability of substitutes at a cheap rate.

 Bargaining Power of Supplier – Low to Moderate

Suppliers give Amazon the goods it need for its e-commerce operations. Suppliers

have a greater impact on the e-commerce industry since without them, retailers

would be unable to provide for their customers. However, Amazon dominates the

market and has the upper hand over its suppliers. As a result, the external factors
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revealed by the Porter's Five Forces analysis of Amazon indicate that suppliers have

low to moderate industry power.

 Competitive Rivalry – Moderate to High

Amazon competes against strong competitors and, the rivalry in the online retail

industry is high. Because in recent years, the number of players entering the industry

has increased with many retailers, small scale brands, and start-ups are starting to

sell their products online. The main competitors of Amazon are Walmart, Flipkart,

Alibaba, eBay and many more. All these players give intense competition to

Amazon. Low switching cost and readily available substitutes put more pressure on

Amazon because customers can transfer from one to retailer to other at low cost.

So, Amazon invests a large amount of providing high-quality products and services

to its customers and gains advantage on other players. Because no other player in the

market can invest such a large amount as Amazon does. So, Amazon has

consistently retained its position of being the market leader of the e-commerce

industry.

SWOT Analysis
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Let’s discuss this online retail giant in a little depth and understand the company’s business

scenario with the help of Amazon SWOT analysis.

 Amazon’s Strengths – Internal Strategic Factors

a) Strong brand name – As a global e-commerce giant, Amazon has a strong position

and successful brand image in the market.

b) Brand valuation – According to Interbrand’s Global Brand Ranking 2021,

Amazon is ranked at #2 position (Apple at #1 and Google at #3), with a brand

value of $249 Billion.

c) Customer oriented – Amazon caters to a large number of customers for everyday

needs at inexpensive prices. This has made it a customer-oriented brand.

d) Differentiation and Innovation – Amazon frequently brings creative ideas and

innovative additions to its product line and service offerings like ambitious drone

delivery service and Withings Aura Smart Sleep System. This creates a

differentiation from other companies.

e) Cost Leadership – Amazon doesn’t incur costs in maintaining physical retail

stores by selling everything online. With economies of scale, Amazon efficiently

controls its costs and lowers its inventory replenishment time. The company has

formed numerous strategic alliances with many companies like Evi Technologies,

Thalmic Labs, Shoefitr, The Orange Chef etc. It has a strong value chain system

which also helps in maintaining a low-cost structure.

f) Largest Merchandise Selection – Amazon owns extensive product mix which

attracts online customers to make their majority of purchases from it rather than

other online retailers. As of 2021, Amazon has sold 75 million products in its

Amazon.com Marketplace.
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g) Large number of third-party sellers – Due to the high traffic volume on Amazon’s

sites, a large number of third-party sellers have joined the platform of Amazon to

sell their own merchandises. The data from Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) reveals

that there are more than 2 billion items available from third-party sellers.

h) Go Global and Act Local strategy – This strategy has benefitted Amazon the most.

Amazon develops partnerships with local supply chain companies that help it in

competing against domestic e-commerce rivals. It understands the local needs and

launches its services as per the country’s culture.

In India, for example, it has launched a market campaign “Aur Dikhao” to

encourage users to search more of its products.

i) Large number of acquisitions – The successful acquisitions of Whole Foods,

Zappos.com, woot.com, Junglee.com, IMBD.com, and many others have

produced significant revenues and profits for Amazon.

j) Involved into 3 key business – Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Web Services

(AWS), and Amazon Prime are 3 key businesses of Amazon which work and

support each other. As a whole, they generate massive profits and advantages for

the company.

k) Market Leader – With over $1.6 Trillion market capitalization and above $386

billion annual revenues, Amazon is truly a market leader in online retail industry.

l) Superior logistics and distribution systems – Amazon uses highly efficient

logistics and distribution systems. It even has fixed rates for different delivery

time periods. Thus, it executes reliable, secure, and fast delivery of goods and

products to the customers.

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m) Minimum pay raise to $15 per hour – Amazon is among the first companies in

retail to raise its minimum hourly pay to $15. In comparison, Target pays $12 per

hour, Walmart pays $11 per hour, and Costco pays $14 per hour.

 Amazon’s Weaknesses – Internal Strategic Factors

a) Easily imitable business model – Online retail businesses have become quite

common in this digital world. So imitating Amazon’s business model for rival

firms is not so difficult. A few businesses are even giving Amazon a tough time.

These include Barnes & Noble, eBay, Netflix, Hulu, and Oyster etc.

b) Losing Margins in Few Areas – In few areas such as India, Amazon has faced

losses. It’s free shipping to customers can be one of the reasons that expose the

risks of losing margins in some markets.

c) Product Flops and Failures – Its Fire Phone’s launch in the US was a big failure

while its Kindle fire device didn’t even grow well.

d) Tax Avoidance Controversy – Tax avoidance in Japan, UK and US has sparked

negative publicity for Amazon. President Trump criticized Amazon over taxes on

social media.

e) Limited brick-and-mortar presence – Amazon owns very limited physical stores.

This sometimes hinders to attract customers buy things which are not sellable on

online stores.

f) Vox published negative reports related to employees’ treatment and workplace

conditions against Amazon in July 2018. Poor air conditioning, timed bathroom

breaks, and constant video surveillance are few of the negative remarks made by

the employees. Such things affect the market reputation of Amazon.

g) Declining consumer safety – As its offerings increase, it is becoming a challenge

for Amazon to vet each product and guarantee the highest level of safety. The
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently had to order Amazon to

remove a wide range of pesticides and unsafe products on its platform.

h) Unfair use of third-party data – Engaging in unfair trade practices undermines

trust and increases legal risks. Amazon is facing antitrust charges in the European

Union for collecting and using data from third-party to compete against them. If

found in violation, Amazon can be fined up to 10% ($28 Billion) of its 2019

annual revenue ($280 Billion).

i) Overdependence on distributors – Relying on distributors exposes Amazon to a

wide range of issues. One of its main distributors (German Logistic Group –

Deutsche Post DHL) can leverage its position to renegotiate terms.

j) Employees Strike – Strikes can grind Amazon’s operations to a halt. In Germany,

Amazon employees went on strike due to unsafe working conditions and

paralyzed operations in six distribution centres.

k) Amazon Drivers Allege Inhumane Work Conditions – Amazon delivery drivers

allege that they’re forced to urinate in bottles because of the strict delivery time

schedules and constraints. While the company has denied that they don’t force

their drivers to pee in bottles, some drivers have come forth with complaints.

 Amazon’s Opportunities – External Strategic Factors

a) Amazon can gain the opportunity to penetrate or expand its operations in

developing markets.

b) By expanding physical stores, Amazon can improve competitiveness against big

box retailers and engage customers with the brand.

c) Amazon has the opportunity to improve technological measures and

organizational policies to reduce counterfeit sales. One case of counterfeit sales

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came into light when Amazon sold a fake My Critter Catcher. The product was

sold for $1 less than the original product.

d) Can do backward Integration by expanding its production of in-house brands such

as Amazon basics to differentiate its offerings and improve profit margins.

e) More acquisitions of e-commerce companies can increase the company’s market

share and reduce the competition level.

f) Self-Driving Technology – Amazon recently acquired California-based self-

driving start-up Zoox Inc for whooping $1 Billion. It can now leverage

autonomous technology to exploit the increase in demand for ride-hailing services

or use it to improve its delivery network.

g) Launch of electric rickshaws in India– Amazon pledges to make a positive impact

on the environment. With this vision in mind, Amazon plans to deploy 10,000

electric rickshaws for delivery in India by 2025.

h) Personalized Shopper Service Hits Big – Amazon recently launched its incredible

personal shopper service exclusively for Prime members. So, if you have an

Amazon Prime subscription, you can opt for the personal shopper experience

giving you access to the company’s team of professional stylists and fashionistas.

They’re going to help you select the best clothing items, accessories, shoes, bags,

wallets, etc., that suit your taste. Remember, there are millions of product options

available, having a personal team of shoppers is going to be big-time help.

i) Plans to Enter the Crypto Stratosphere: There are a lot of speculations and

rumours floating around the crypto ecosystem. However, there have been reports

by mainstream media outlets that Amazon does indeed plan to make a move into

cryptocurrency, stating that the company has developed a big appetite for digital

currencies and blockchain.

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If the retail giant does step into crypto-space and accepts virtual currencies as a

payment option, there will be massive opportunities for small businesses in the

future.

 Amazon’s Threats – External Strategic Factors

a) Few controversies have caused a dent in Amazon’s brand image. People critically

reacted and boycotted Amazon sites in 2010 when they found that it’s selling the

book “The Paedophile’s Guide to Love & Pleasure: A Child-lover’s Code of

Conduct.”

b) Government regulations can also threaten the business proceedings of Amazon in

some critical countries. Amazon does not ship to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan,

and Syria.

c) Links to exploitative labour – Amazon is one of three retail giants facing scrutiny

from the US State Department for maintaining supply chains and labour sources

associated with human rights abuses. This exposes the ecommerce giant to

reputational, economic, and legal risks.

d) Increasing cybercrime can affect the network security system of the company.

e) Aggressive competition with big retail firms like Walmart, Target, Home Depot,

eBay can give Amazon a tough time in the future. In addition, now Amazon

competes with the following companies:

In Video Streaming Service: Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+

In Logistics: FedEx, UPS

In Self Driving Technology: Tesla, Uber, Ford

f) Imitation is simple as many new entrants are coming up in the market usually with

the same business model of Amazon.

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g) Fake Products – The increase in counterfeiting and fake products threatens

Amazon’s profits. The company recently filed a lawsuit against New York-based

online retailer for allegedly counterfeiting Valentino shoes, a luxury Italian shoe

brand offered by Amazon.

h) Economic Recession – Amazon is not immune to an economic recession. If

economic uncertainty worsens, it can impact Amazon’s sales.

i) Fake reviews – Amazon has an overwhelming number of fake reviews, and the

problem has worsened in recent times due to the pandemic. Product reviews are a

critical indicator of quality and authenticity, and customers rely heavily on

reviews to make purchases.

According to the Financial Times investigation, Amazon has deleted over 20,000

fake 5-star reviews from its top UK reviewers.

j) Lawmakers Seek Answers after Tornado Kills 6 Amazon Workers – Democratic

lawmakers are on a quest to seek answers from Amazon after a recent tornado hit

an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, killing 6 workers. In a letter posted, the

company has been heavily criticized regarding poor worker safety policies and

complete disregard for putting emergency countermeasures in place.

Performance Management
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The article Amazon as an employer gives a quick insight about the performance

management at amazon and how it supports a culture of innovation, financial growth,

employee performance and loyalty. Former and current employees have associated the

success of Amazon with its corporate culture. The set standard of this company is one that

many companies aim to emulate. The work environment at Amazon is considered high-

pressure and many employees find it challenging to keep up. However, the e-commerce

giant has shown tremendous progress over the years and CEO Jeff Bezos has its company

culture to thank. Amazon’s work culture has earned them the business capacity to meet the

demands of the e-commerce market [9].

A culture of innovation is inhibited by using a lot of techniques by amazon. I remember

reading somewhere that amazon has a 2-pizza rule wherein a team needs to be small that it

can be fed with 2 pizzas as small teams prevent information loss, has better communication

and is more accountable. Employees at Amazon are prompted to think outside the box. They

are pushed to providing answers and not letting issues hang around. Employees are

encouraged to come up with new ideas and solutions that put a problem to a conclusion. The

company hires talents that monitor the trend and desires of customers as they change over

time. The change in customer demand is duly addressed, helping them gain the trust and

loyalty of their customers.

Supplemented by interviews of 100 current and former “Amazonians,” as Amazon

employees are called, the article described a despotic workplace filled with “a pattern of

burn and churn,” “purposeful Darwinism,” “unfair” evaluations, and unmanageable

demands. The more searing anecdotes include a woman pressured to return to work after a

miscarriage, a recent mother being unfairly evaluated and edged out, and an employee

paying a freelancer out-of-pocket to help get more done [10].

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The financial growth at amazon has various metrics.’ Our average starting hourly wage is

$18 per hour—more than double the federal minimum wage—for full time, part time, and

seasonal employees and contractors. In addition to fair pay, employees have opportunities to

own Amazon stock, participate in 401(k) plans with company match, and enrol in paid life

and accident insurance. Financial counselling and estate planning services are also available,

plus paid short-term and long-term disability if needed’ [11]

. They also provide with

upskilling programs for employees and pay for college tuition fees for front-line employees

Employee performance is maintained by following a moto that every day is day 1 at

amazon. The organization functions like a start-up. Amazon positions itself as one of the

most customer-centric companies in the world. Amazon vision statement is “to be Earth’s

most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they

might want to buy online.” High level of customer- centricity is one of the cornerstones of

Amazon corporate culture with direct implications to a wide range of organizational

processes and procedures. Valuing diversity among the workforce is also placed at the core

of Amazon organizational culture.

Some readers and former employees called the retailer a workplace bully. But others came

to Amazon’s defence, notably some existing employees. Many commented on the thrill of

working in such a fast- paced environment, on how much they learned in a short time, on

how grateful they were to be pushed to excel, and on the pride, they felt achieving

innovations once thought impossible.

Summary

There are mixed opinions about Amazon’s Leadership policy. While some of the policies

are widely regarded as great, some other have always been questioned. For example, the

ultimate customer centric policy of Amazon was the key behing it's huge success. They have
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always been open to innovations and the failures in the way of building something new.

These things are pretty much appreciated by the whole world. At the same time there are

principles which are on the point of criticism at least for some. Unlike many existing IT

firms, Amazon is not that keen in caring about the employees. Amazon's principle is clearly

based on customers, which in one way, lead Amazon to such a giant, but a gray shade in

their culture.

But no matter what, no one has a question the effectiveness of the policies of Jeff Bezos's

leadership after looking the ever-uplifting graphs of Amazon.

Our team believes that for a leadership to be successful, the vision of the leader and his

approach to translate that vision to reality are important. He must be a mix of pragmatic,

democratic, a strategic thinker who can analyse and respond to the external and internal

forces with the ability to make the right decisions at the right time. When it comes to his

employees a leader must inspire, appreciate, motivate, recognize their achievements. He

should be an active listener who can communicate clear messages with clarity.
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References

1. Amazon Leadership: Visionary Leadership Focusing on Customer Service; John

Dudovskiy; March 22, 2022.

https://research-methodology.net/amazon-leadership-visionary-leadership-focusing-

customer-service-2/

2. An Inside look at Jeff Bezos’ Billion Dollar Leadership; October 4, 2021.

https://topicinsights.com/leadership-management/jeff-bezos-leadership/#:~:text=Jeff

%20Bezos%20is%20widely%20recognized,the%20vision%20for%20the

%20organization.

3. Would Your Leadership Style Fit at Amazon; Mark Murphy; August 18, 2015.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2015/08/18/would-your-leadership-style-

fit-at-amazon/#5d1674c3ebef

4. 9 Shocking anecdotes that reveal Jeff Bezos’s Cutthroat management style; Aine

Cain; Business Insider.

https://www.inc.com/business-insider/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-leadership-

management-style-work-culture.html

5. Jeff Bezos Built Amazon 27 Years Ago. He Now Steps Down as CEO At Critical

Time; Bobby Allyn; July 5, 2021.

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/05/1013166252/jeff-bezos-built-amazon-27-years-ago-

he-now-steps-down-as-ceo-at-critical-time

6. Amazon Organizational Structure in A Nutshell; Gennaro Cuofano; September 4,

2022

https://fourweekmba.com/amazon-organizational-structure/
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7. Amazon Organizational Structure: a brief overview; John Dudovskiy; March 22,

2022.

https://research-methodology.net/amazon-organizational-structure-2-2/

8. Ambidextrous Organizations – How to embrace disruption and create Organizational

Advantage; Wilhelm Lerner;

https://www.adlittle.com/en/insights/prism/ambidextrous-organizations-

%E2%80%93-how-embrace-disruption-and-create-organizational#:~:text=Amazon

%20is%20a%20prime%20example%20of%20the%20new%20breed%20of

%20ambidextrous%20organizations.

9. Inside Amazon company culture: Intense and effective; Thao Nguyen Le

https://blog.grovehr.com/amazon-company-culture

10. The significance of Amazon's work culture — and how the Times article may impact

the retail giant; Kelsey Lindsey; August 19, 2015.

https://www.retaildive.com/news/the-significance-of-amazons-work-culture-and-how-

the-times-article-may- i/404192/

11. https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-benefits