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Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................1
External Analysis.......................................................................................................................................2
Political...................................................................................................................................................3
Economic................................................................................................................................................3
Social.......................................................................................................................................................3
Technological.........................................................................................................................................4
Legal.......................................................................................................................................................4
Environment...........................................................................................................................................4
Planning.....................................................................................................................................................5
Strategy...................................................................................................................................................5
Goals.......................................................................................................................................................5
Types of plans............................................................................................................................................6
 Strategic plans –..............................................................................................................................6
 Tactical plans –...............................................................................................................................6
 Using data to upsell by showing customers what they want to see..................................................6
 Operational plans –.........................................................................................................................6
Planning approach.....................................................................................................................................7
Organizing.................................................................................................................................................7
Organizational structure........................................................................................................................7
Key elements of organizational design.....................................................................................................8
Work specialization...............................................................................................................................8
Departmentalization..............................................................................................................................8
Chain of command................................................................................................................................8
Span of control.......................................................................................................................................8
Centralization and decentralization.....................................................................................................9
Formalization.........................................................................................................................................9
Human Resource Management practices................................................................................................9
 Recruitment –..................................................................................................................................9
 Selection –.......................................................................................................................................9
 Training –.......................................................................................................................................9
 Internships –...................................................................................................................................9
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 Pay to quit policy –........................................................................................................................10

 Benefits –......................................................................................................................................10
Decision making process at Amazon......................................................................................................10
Leading.....................................................................................................................................................10
Recruitment process................................................................................................................................10
 Step one – Application..................................................................................................................11
 Step two – Interview......................................................................................................................11
 Written/online coding rounds.................................................................................................11
 Multiple telephonic rounds.....................................................................................................11
 On site interviews.....................................................................................................................11
 Hiring manager rounds...........................................................................................................11
 Bar-raiser round......................................................................................................................11
 Step three – Review.....................................................................................................................12
Job description and specification of employees.................................................................................12
Motivating employees..........................................................................................................................12
Controlling...............................................................................................................................................13
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography............................................................................................................................................14
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Introduction

Amazon is a world famous company that has made its name prominent in the field of e-

commerce. Owned by Jeff Bezos, Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world today and

generates approximate revenue of about $61.09 billion. Jeff Bezos realized the revolution that

internet was about to bring and taking the advantage of the situation, Bezos quit his job and

initiated Amazon which soon turned into a giant of e-commerce recognized by people all around

the world and Amazon is a prime example of e-commerce in today’s world. (Fundable, 2020)

The world that we are living in today belongs to Amazon as Amazon has paved its way to the

success making the brand most recognizable by the audience. Amazon has a wide range of

products for its customers ranging from basic products to electronics. However, Amazon has

severely increased the existing competition for the existing brands as the third parties have to be

present on Amazon in order to maintain their image. Being on Amazon can be quite expensive

for the third parties and these phenomena can also be termed as the Amazon effect as it shows

how the businesses get affected by the presence of Amazon on various networks. (DePillis and

Sarlin, 2018) Amazon changed the economy forever by revolutionizing the field of e-commerce

as the author states that we would not have e-commerce without Amazon as Amazon has made
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such success that the brand is capable of making up the mind of customers for a purchase within

minutes making it a top choice of customers. (Schrager, 2019)

External Analysis.
In order to get an idea about the external affairs of a company, we conduct a PESTLE analysis

that looks at the external affairs of a company which includes the political, economic, social,

technological, legal and environmental aspects of a company.

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Political Amazon is facing political pressures in terms of government scrutiny and

as an attempt to soften the image of their brand as the technological

world grows; Amazon has to face the scrutiny as the government along

with the justice department would keep an eye on the growing tech

giants. The lawmakers are concerned about the influence that Amazon

has on the consumers and hence, they would keep Amazon under watch.

(Kim, 2019) Amazon has been facing criticism for its business practices

keeping in mind the policy that was dropped by Amazon which restricted

the merchants from offering a lower price on other platforms. Also,

Amazon is not much successful in China because of their policies(Fung,

2019)
Economic Amazon has a noticeable effect on the economy which is not restricted to

the consumer’s wallet. Amazon in one way or the other has an impact on

inflation, employment and investment. Amazon has a positive impact on

the economy of US. (Krishna, 2020)

Social Amazon is the elite in the tech industry and is known for having a

positive impact on the society. (Reisinger, 2018) Amazon has made it

possible for the people to make online reliable purchases and has

advanced the lifestyle of its consumers by the Amazon effect and

Amazon also allows its customers to invest in the company which can

bring a change in the society. (Hartung, 2017)

Technological Amazon started off as a book selling online retailer but AWS created a

multibillion dollar industry that gave tough competition to Amazon and

Amazon still takes the lead. (Swartz, 2019) Amazon has set
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technological examples in the tech world like Amazon prime, prime

now, prime air, one click purchase, dash button; cloud computing, Alexa

and Kindle. These are prime examples of Amazons technological

success in the industry. (Conneli, 2020)

Legal Amazon has been a civilized brand. However, Amazon has threatened

the legal authorities to some extent as the warehouses of Amazon put the

life of the workers at risk and the working regulations of Amazon are not

safe for the workers according to the investigation. (Porter, 2019) In

another case, Amazon was held under federal investigation as it was

revealed that Amazon might be violating the sanctions of the US by

selling goods to possible terrorists. (Reporter, 2017)

Environment The consumers might think that online shopping can be convenient and

environment friendly but that may not be true in every case as the sales

on Amazon prime causes negative effects on the environment because of

the harmful effects that are caused by transportation used for quick

deliveries. (Barone, 2019) The impacts of Amazon also raise concerns

about climatic change. (Pratt, 2020)

Planning.

In order for a company to run smoothly in the business environment, it is essential for the

company to conduct the operations by proper planning and efficient planning then leads to a

successful business.
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Strategy.

The main strategy being used by amazon is the cost leadership strategy as Amazon is known for

providing quality products at reasonable rates to the customers and the prices of Amazon are

affordable for the consumers if compared to the competitors.

Companies like Amazon need smooth strategies to promote their business and Amazon uses

demographic and psychographic segmentation to generate desirable purchase behavior by the

customers and e-commerce segmentation by Amazon would allow creating personas in a specific

way that would attract the attention of customers towards Amazon. Amazon has turned into a

glocal (Go global and act local) company which can come in handy while marketing their

activities related to ecommerce all around the world. (Bhasin, 2018)

Goals.

The mission of amazon states that amazon is to continually raise the bar of the customer

experience by using the internet and technology to help consumers find, discover and buy

anything, and empower businesses and content creators to maximize their success. Hence, the

ultimate goal of Amazon is to satisfy the customers and maximize their profits.

Amazon has the following goals and objectives that it looks forward to achieve.

To gain maximum customer obsession instead of a competition focus.

Adopt innovation and maintain the passion for innovation.

Staying committed to operational excellence.

Planning with a long term perspective.

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Types of plans.

For the smooth and efficient working of the company, amazon follows the types of plans

mentioned below.

 Strategic plans – The strategic plan of Amazon is to create a digital link between the

brick-and-mortar shopping experiences in order to be the part of almost all the purchases

being made.

 Tactical plans – Amazon carefully designs the tactical plans and makes the consumers

buy online from Amazon in the following ways;

 Using data to upsell by showing customers what they want to see.

 By offering free shipping to attract the customers.

 Providing loyalty programs and benefits to the customers.

 Sales for limited time that give the consumers a fun shopping feeling.

 Allowing the selling options by giving the permission to sell other peoples stuff.

(Zetlin, 2020).

 Operational plans – The operational plans of amazon are designed according to the

demand and behavior of the public and the employee performance is evaluated to ensure

smooth application of the operations and there is no compromise made on consumer

satisfaction by amazon.

Planning approach.

The planning approach of amazon involves the outlining of goals and objectives and then

applying on the needed solutions suggested by the professionals to ensure effective and efficient

working of Amazon.
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Organizing.

Organizing plays a key role in the betterment of a company in the following ways.

Organizational structure.

The organizational structure of Amazon is mentioned above.

The organizational structure of Amazon suggests that the CEO of Amazon – Jeff Bezos controls

almost all the operations of the company and there are VEOs for different departments while the

departments do not have separate heads according to the structure which shows that the

communication is upwards in Amazon and all the issues are ultimately addressed to the CEO and

the heads and seniors take the lead.

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Key elements of organizational design.

Each organizational design has certain key elements and following are the key elements included

in the organizational design of Amazon.

Work specialization.

The employees at Amazon are judged on their capabilities and skills and then the tasks are given

to the employees accordingly.

Departmentalization.

Amazon has made various departments for the efficient working of the firm while the

departments do not have specific heads and the CEO and mangers are mainly in power.

Chain of command.

The chain of command of Amazon suggests that the distribution of power in Amazon is unequal

and the people working on senior positions have more power as compared to the ones working

under the heads.

Span of control.

The span of control being practiced by Amazon suggests that the employees belonging to certain

departments have to be answerable to the heads and the managers and ultimately to the CEOs.

The employees at Amazon are not given much control and they are required to follow the

instructions of their seniors.

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Centralization and decentralization.

Amazon is a centralized company as the employees are required to listen to the instructions

being provided by their seniors and the employees do not get to have a say in the business affairs

at amazon.

Formalization.

Amazon is highly formalized and the employees are required to carry out the specific tasks

carried out by them only.

Human Resource Management practices.

The human resource practices are vital for the smooth working of any company and amazon

follows the following Human Resource practices to ensure effective working of the company and

to achieve the desired goals.

 Recruitment – Amazon recruits and hires highly skilled and capable individuals.

 Selection – Only the capable ones are selected by Amazon in the end. Anti-hiring pitch is

used by Amazon while recruiting the employees.

 Training – Amazons provides training to the employees and the career choice program of

amazon is known for shaping the highly ambitious workers for a bright future and this

program offers pre-payment of 95% of the tuition fees for the employees pursuing the

degrees that are high in demand. The pivot program by Amazon also prepares the

employees for a bright future.

 Internships – Amazon provides internship opportunities to individuals, mostly students.

 Pay to quit policy – The pay to quit policy of amazon provides a bonus of $2000 to the

employees if they willingly decide to quit because of certain issues like being unhappy as
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amazon does not want any of its employees to stay just for the sake of fulfilling their

financial needs.

 Benefits – The perks and benefits of working at amazon include phone booth style pods,

fun workspace, harry potter room, and bring your pet days, nature days and other

monetary incentives.

Decision making process at Amazon.

Amazon follows a well-known decision making process and the higher authorities and the heads

at Amazon give their outlook in the long term perspective and then make useful decisions for the

company that would help in future. Amazon uses a centralized decision making process.

Leading.

Leading is an important part of a business as it decides how the employees will be motivated to

work and how their work ethic will be kept alive throughout their journey with Amazon.

Recruitment process.
The recruitment process of Amazon is divided into different sections to make sure that the

company hires the best of the best. The following steps are followed by Amazon to hire their

employees.

 Step one – Application.

It is not compulsory for the candidates to have a CV or a resume if they want to apply for

Amazon. The Amazon recruitment process begins with the application. The candidate should

create a profile and search for an appropriate job for them.

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 Step two – Interview.

Amazon conducts multiple assessments and interviews conducted to analyze the performing

capacity of the candidates. 

 Written/online coding rounds.

The interview process starts with a written test, which is conducted to assess the logical and

technical skills of the candidate. The Amazon test duration is 90 minutes. This is conducted after

proper evaluation of the candidate’s profile.

 Multiple telephonic rounds.

The HR department of Amazon may ask questions to the candidates on a call.

 On site interviews.
The first face-to-face on-site interview is an algorithmic round with two to four questions. The

frequently asked questions are on data structures, matrices, operating systems, and recursion-

based concepts. The next technical round is a bit harder than the previous round on similar

concepts.

 Hiring manager rounds.

It is an intensive technical round, where candidates will be solving problems on data structures,

algorithms, and some tricky puzzles.

 Bar-raiser round.
By each hire, the bar-raisers ensure that they raise the average Amazon employee's performance.

This is the most crucial round and judges the placement of the employee.

 Step three – Review.

This is a backstage process and lasts for a few days. The Amazon HR committee works on every

facet of the candidate's profile and screens the best-suited candidates. Later this report is sent to a

group of senior officials, who decide on whom to hire for the job.
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Job description and specification of employees.

Amazon required the employees to be fit for their position and the positions like the picker

position might demand physical strength at times as it is one of the most important and

prominent job at the warehouse of Amazon. The main responsibilities of pickers usually include

locating merchandise to fulfill picking tickets; labeling specific inventory types; following

proper loading and safety procedures at all times; putting deliveries away in the appropriate

areas; Stacking deliveries into the delivery vehicle as needed. The weekly hours vary from

minimum 20 hours per week to maximum 40 hours per week for pickers. Apart from that, the

employees are required to listen to the heads and do as they are instructed by the seniors.

Motivating employees.

Amazon motivates its employees in following ways.

 Employees get an idea about the pay.

 Pay for quit.

 Benefits and incentives on performance.

 Fun environment.

 Flexible deals for employees.

 Training for employees.

 Financial and moral support.

Controlling.

In order to evaluate the overall performance of the company, it is important to focus on the

controlling factor. Amazon controls the employees in the following ways.

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 Stack ranking – Amazon ranks their employees against each other in the annual review.

 Anytime feedback tool – The performance of the employees is judged by the feedback

they receive.

Recommendations

The following recommendations may help Amazon in the field of digitalization and e-commerce

in future.

1. Amazon should improve its security and ensure safety from issues like malvertising in

order to gain the confidence of its audience.

2. Amazon should devise new and improved strategies so that Amazon could easily enter

new markets.

3. Amazon should focus on maintaining a healthy competition especially with Walmart.

4. Amazon prime should be improved and altered according to the customer expectations.

5. Amazon should serve as a fuel for the struggling and small businesses because many

ventures would expect Amazon to help then financially in order to experience boom in

the e-commerce industry.

6. Amazon should improve its delivery and logistics and alter it in a way that would prove

beneficial for the environment and the customers.

7. Promotions of Artificial Intelligence like Alexa so that more people would know about it.

8. Amazon should expand geographically and locate itself in more regions.

9. Amazon should consider acquiring assets as many ventures would happily get acquired

by Amazon.
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Bibliography.
Swartz, J., 2019. How Amazon Created AWS And Changed Technology Forever. [online]

MarketWatch. Available at: <https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-amazon-created-aws-

and-changed-technology-forever-2019-12-03> Singh, S., 2020. Importance Of E-Commerce And

Function Of E-Commerce ?. [online] SolutionWeb. Available at:

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commerce%20%201%20Easy%20global,to%20suit%20the%20preferences%20of%20people...

%20More%20>

Sowards, A., 2017. Why Order Fulfillment Is Key To E-Commerce Growth And The

Optimization Of Your Business. [online] Daily Resources for Web Designers & Developers by

Andy Sowards. Available at: <https://www.andysowards.com/blog/2017/order-fulfillment-key-e-

commerce-growth-optimization-business/> Connelly, S., 2020. 8 Innovative Ways Amazon Has

Changed The World. [online] Speaking Human. Available at:

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Brian Fung, C., 2019. Amazon Lays Out Its Policies On Political And Social Issues. [online]

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carney/index.html>

Kim, E., 2019. Amazon Is Trying To Soften Its Image As Regulatory Scrutiny Of Big Tech

Grows. [online] CNBC. Available at: <https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/14/amazon-is-trying-to-

soften-its-image-as-regulatory-scrutiny-grows.html>

Krishna, M., 2020. The Amazon Effect On The U.S. Economy. [online] Investopedia. Available

at: <https://www.investopedia.com/insights/amazon-effect-us-economy/#:~:text=The
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%20Amazon%20Effect%20on%20the%20U.S.%20Economy.%20Amazon.com,whether%20that

%20impact%20is%20inflation%2C%20jobs%20or%20investment.>

Reisinger, D., 2018. Americans Say Amazon Has The Best Impact On Society, Topping Google

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impact-survey/>

Hartung, A., 2017. How The 'Amazon Effect' Will Change Your Life And Investments. [online]

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effect-will-change-your-life-and-investments/#3e35f0115e76>

Porter, J., 2019. Amazon Dodged Workplace Safety Regulators For Years, Investigation Shows.

[online] The Verge. Available at: <https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/26/20983452/amazon-

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Reporter, 2017. Amazon Under Investigation For Selling To Possible Terrorist. [online] Mail

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selling-possible-terrorist.html>

Pratt, M., 2020. Amazon's Environmental Impact Delivers Climate Change Concerns. [online]

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Barone, M., 2019. Amazon Prime Is Convenient, But It’S Terrible For The Environment. [online]

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<https://therising.co/2019/07/19/amazon-prime-is-convenient-but-its-terrible-for-the-

environment/>
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