On August 16, 2015, US-

based e-retail giant

Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon)
was hit hard by an article
published in the New York
Times (NYT). The detailed
article kicked off a
controversy as it described
CASE
Amazon’s workplace as
‘bruising’. According to the
article, the founder & CEO of
Amazon, Jeffery Bezos (Jeff),
INTRODUCTI
to meet his ever-expanding
aspirations, was trying to
push the employees so hard
that the work environment
ON
had become toxic.
BACKGROU
ND NOTE
Jeff founded Amazon with the aim of
making his store as big as the Amazon
River . Realizing the potential of e-
commerce, Jeff quit his job as Vice
President at D.E Shaw Company . He
began operating from his garage in
Bellevue, Washington. To test his
business idea, Jeff invited his friends
and acquaintances before taking the
site Amazon.com online. Initially, Jeff
created a list of five products
(including compact discs, computer
software, hardware, videos, and
books) to be marketed online.
 Customer-centric is an
approach to doing business
that focuses on providing a
positive customer experience
both at the point of sale and
after the sale in order to drive
profit and gain competitive
advantage

 Amazon’s Vision

 Deal with customers

problems

CUSTOMER  Emphasis on Aspects like

delivery on time,
CENTRIC APPROACH availability etc.
AMAZON’ s HR PRACTICES

• The level System

• Pay to Quit

• Rank and yank Approach

PRACTICIES TO
EXCEL OR EXPLOIT?
•Amazon uses a self-reinforcing set of
management, data and psychological tools.
•Wasting time.
•Motivating the employees.
•Points for deviations such as missing work.
•A Real-Life Hunger Games.
•Less Impact Than Lemonade Stands.
•Compassion Can Fuel A Competitive Edge.
•The fate of the Employees also Dependent on
the Ability.
MORE ALLEGATIONS
• THEY WERE FORCING THE WORKERS TO WORK ON WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS
• WORKERS WERE CRITICISED FOR NOT DOING THEIR JOB PROPERLY
• THEY USUALLY CRITISED RATHER THAN APPRECIATING
• EMPLOYEES FACED PROBLEMS IN MAINTING THE WORK LIFE BALANCE
• BY HIRING TEMPOPRARY WORKERS FROM ISS AMAZON BENEFITD
• THEY LIMITED LIABILITY FOR WORKERS
LEADING TO
DEBATE
JEFF’ s
DEFENSE
 COMBAT
POLICIES
• In October 2015, Amazon Connections was
initiated get feedback from its employees.
• In November 2015, revised maternity , parental
leave policy and leave share policy came to
action.
• The ramp back program – Motive to ease birth
mothers and primary care givers .
 FUTURE
SPECULATIONS
• Investors and analyst were unaffected
by the culture controversy of amazon.
• Analysts knew that it would eventually
affect investors in future.
• Threats faced by amazon from FACE
(Former And Current Employees) of a
Labor movement against them.
• Jeff Bezos letter to investors claiming
that their approach was right.