...Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the largest electronic commerce companies around the globe. With Seattle, Washington serving as its headquarters, the organization which started off as a bookstore offering for sale books to its global clientele has today diversified to offer a wide range of products and services including but not in any way limited to computer software, electronic goods, mobile devices, DVDs, toys, furniture and even food. Basically, the organization serves its clientele using its retail Web sites which are tailored to offer convenience and speed to shoppers. Furthermore, I will discuss some of the benefits of e-commerce laying emphasis to Amazon and how it helped in the growth of the company. According to Fazlollahi (2002), e-commerce can be taken to be “the use of technology mediated exchanges by business for the purpose of selling goods and services over the internet.” In the recent past, the growth of e-commerce has been rather fast with more businesses becoming motivated by a wide range of reasons to embrace the platform. This also happens to be the case for Amazon. By embracing e-commerce, and most specifically business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce, Amazon has been able to access a quite a number of benefits which I will point out in my paper. Amazon is today able to sell its products at a discount thanks to e-commerce. In this regard, the online retailer effectively reduces its costs on two main fronts. First, we have cost reductions on the marketing...
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...Amazon as a business has come a very significant way since 1994 when it was first founded as Cadabra, then a year later changing the name to Amazon. The reason the company was started was to first enter the rapidly expanding internet market as Amazon.com. Whilst the concept of the business could very easily be copied, many other businesses have been copied and continued to grow massively and be very profitable, such as McDonalds. The first products to be sold on Amazon were mostly limited to books. A clever market strategy, offering these books in many countries via the internet. Books themselves come in millions of forms and were popular with millions more, this was successful and led to rapid growth. The internet allowed Amazon in just two months to sell across the US as well as 45 other countries, there was a huge market to be worked with. In this 2 month period sales were up to $20,000 a week. From this it is clear that there was a gap in the market which was easily exploited and led to rapid growth on a scale not predicted by founder Jeff Bezos. Some businesses struggle to make $20,000 per annum on startup, let alone a week. The internet opened up a huge market for a hugely popular product which was always going to lead to success. At this stage casual use of the internet was very new and most people still went to stores to purchase books, for people with internet access and a computer they now did not need to and Amazon was one of the only, if not the only online...
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...influenced considerable innovations globally. More than a few organizations rely on internet use to operate and to enhance their productivity among other aspects. However, organizational planning in most organizations has recognized that malicious attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities are the major factors affecting organizations. Over the years, Amazon organization has been leading in terms of online business for many years. As a result, there are a number of factors that have influenced its growth and development. One of the major factors that has influenced the growth and development of the organization is effective strategic management. However, despite the growth and development of the company, research shows that the company has faced legal and ethical issues. The two major legal and ethical issues related to Amazon Company include contempt to intellectual property and confidentiality. This paper will describe legal and ethical issue faced by Amazon Inc. Com. Company Description Amazon is one of the major online retailer and other computing services that are normally used in businesses for the benefit of clients. One of the contributing factors of Amazon performance is its globalization. The impact of globalization has effectively enhanced the growth and development of more than a few factors within and outside the organization. The effect or impact of globalization has influenced the organization to boost its management performance efficiently. Globalization...
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...The History of Amazon Amazon is a Fortune 500 American e-commerce company (Amazon Global Resources, 2009). Its principal corporate offices are located in Seattle, Washington (Amazon Global Resources, 2009). It is the largest online electronic retailer in America (Webley, 2010). Amazon was founded in 1995 by Jeffrey Bezos’s (Amazon Global Resources, 2009) . Since Bezos opened the doors of Amazon he has defined and redefined online retailing for the rest of the Internet retail world. When the doors first opened it was from a two car garage in Bellevue, Washington (Amazon Global Resources, 2009). It was nothing more than an online bookstore; the inventory was stored in Bezos’s two car garage. It has now expanded to offer the Earth’s biggest selection of books, CDs, videos, DVDs, electronics, toys, tools, home furnishings and house wares, apparel and kitchen gadgets (Amazon Global Resources, 2009). Customers still rank Amazon.com as the best online Internet retail shopping website (Farfan, 2011). This was based on their internet shopping experiences during the 2011 holiday shopping season (Farfan, 2011). Identifying Amazon’s Mission, Vision Statement and Primary Stakeholders Mission and vision statements are written for the employees and customers. Mission statements can be one sentence or a short paragraph which describes the purpose of the business. It identifies, the companies values and principle business aims. A vision statement can also be a sentence or a short...
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...In 2005, Amazon measured the inter-company balances, making use of the exchange rates at the specific reporting dates and recorded a massive loss of $47 Million, against the gains of $41 Million in 2004, and $36 Million in 2003. This has been accounted to a great deal to the currency adjustments. (Amazon Annual Report 2005) In 2006, the net cash provided for operating activities was $702 Million. There was an increase in the Marketing costs, compared to 2005 and 2004, as an outcome of a rise in spending for variable channels of online marketing in activities such as sponsored search, Associated program, and other variable initiatives in Marketing(Amazon Annual Report 2006) . In 2007, Amazon Kindle was introduced to the customers, which was a reading device built with purpose, and had wireless access to over 110,000 books, blogs, magazines, and newspaper. Amazon had hoped that Kindle will be well received, but the entire stock was sold out within the first five and half hours, and the entire supply chain and the production team had to work hard and fast to recreate the stock to cater to the demands in the market for Kindle. This shows that Amazon had once again aligned its business to customer centrism through creation of an innovative device, by understanding the customers’ needs of what they do not know but they want. This directly impacted the publishing industry and necessitated the need for creating E-books, for Kindle reading, increasing the sale of books, again impacting...
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...Burgers 1989). Companies pursuing related diversification over a period of time have achieved superior performance than companies following an unrelated diversification (Palepu 1985). Amazon has started its business by selling books and music, soon after it incorporated online auctions for airlines tickets and hotel rooms, computer hardware, pet food and pet accessories, electronic cards, toys and consumer electronics. Whereas Amazon has achieved very high volume of sales and gained important market shares in the book industry, the company has never been profitable. As a result, in this essay, in order to determine if Amazon’s decision to diversify so extensively was a wise decision, we will firstly describe the firm business model and the reasons for its success. We will then try to determine if this business model is applicable to Amazon’s diversification strategy as well as the limit of diversification. And finally we will try to evaluate the limit of such strategy in an international context. I Is the business model designed for selling book on internet apply for different category of products? The success of Amazon Business Model In e-tailing, one can identify four kinds of business models: the channel supporter, the vertical portal and the category killer such as Amazon. In this regard, Calkins, Farello and Smith Shi (2000) identify three fundamentals of on-line...
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...for strengths and weaknesses and the external environment for opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses can be found within the company structure, as well as the employee pool. Scanning the external environment can expose the company to opportunities not yet taken advantage of by other companies. This external scan can also bring light to threats from other organizations in respect to products, services, and costs. Starbucks was founded in 1971 when the first coffee store was opened, and became the competitive company it is today when expansion began in 1987. Starbucks’ mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.” (Starbucks, Our Heritage, 2014) Internal factors affecting Starbucks’ product decisions involve environmental aspects such as where their coffee beans are farmed and the cost of those beans. If the farmers have issues with their beans, this limits the availability to Starbucks. This will force Starbucks to look elsewhere for their beans, which may cost more and be of lesser quality. If the price of the beans increases, this price will have to be passed on to the customer. The price of Starbucks’ coffee is currently quite expensive for an ordinary cup of coffee. Increasing the price could force some customers to look to the lower...
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...External and Internal Environment Priscilla R. MacLomotey Strayer University Professor Joseph C. Chryst Abstract This paper will choose two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in Influencing Amazon.com, Inc., and assess how these segments affect the internet retailing industry in which Amazon operates. The paper will also consider the five (5) forces of competition, and choose the two (2) estimated to be the most significant for Amazon. This paper will further evaluate how well Amazon has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past. Again, the paper will predict what Amazon might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future. Next, the paper will evaluate the external threats that affect and opportunities available to Amazon. The paper will also give opinions on how the Amazon should deal with their foremost threat and the greatest opportunity. Finally, this paper will determine the Amazon’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies; analyze their value chain to determine where they can create using the resources, capabilities, and core competencies discussed above. External and Internal Environment All other things being equal, the primary objective of any business is to obtain a larger market share, affect its bottom line, grow, and become successful. To achieve their goals, businesses must deal with their stakeholders which include: customers, suppliers, employees, competitors, shareholders...
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...items. She asked me if I could help her with an automated system, but has a very small budget. These days particularly in the past 10 years, even many smaller businesses have understood that computerized inventory management systems are very useful, accurate and make their jobs much easier than doing the same things manually. Inventory control is important to assure control in businesses that handle transactions revolving around consumer goods. The inventory control system must be able to warn the vendor when one of the items in the store is going to be out of stock soon and make the person who handles this kind of thing reorder (if it is a good system of course), otherwise maybe one day some important items can be out of stock, affecting the business negatively. Simply saying “we don't have that stuff right now”, is somewhat less than fully professional. The Required Equipments : Inventory management technology is a mix of hardware and software designed to add reliability to inventory accounting, reduce incidents of theft and facilitate inventory audits. Individual inventory items or batches of items could be equipped with RFID tags that identify the item type, cost, price, shipment number, date of shipment and virtually any other useful information. Software inventory management solutions replace pen-and-paper systems, reducing the time required to account for inventory additions and subtractions. We have an average budget to set up this system, so I will...
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...exporter of home security products located in Shenzhen, China. It incorporated and opened its doors in 2000. Reported sales are 100,000 to 500,000 USD. The CEO is Michael Lee. They specialize in 2.4G and 1.2G AV color wireless cameras, IP cameras, and other safety products. Specifically, the 2.4Ghz Video Baby Monitor with motion sensor, 2.5" LCD and night vision in the shape of an apple is a competitive comparison. Their safety products are sold using sales teams as opposed to individuals. JMC also employs worker teams to satisfy customer's potential needs like OEM service. They are one of the leading suppliers of wireless cameras in China at present. Their claim in marketing is customer satisfaction as the goal. Improving the quality of life is the target (Arco Infocomm, 2012). They market their products on Amazon. They advertise on several search engines such as Google and Bing. Supply, Demand, and Equilibrium There are several factors affecting the supply, demand, and equilibrium of the market for JMC. As a manufacturing company, labor is very cheap in China. This gives a competitive edge over an American company. However, the average income of a Chinese individual is $7,000 per year. The population of China is 1.3 billion. This provides a large market for sales but a very poor market. They export to the United States but the majority of sales is in China. Demand of the exportation of the monitor increases or decreases depending on the export duties and the foreign...
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...company like Amazon. A well-implemented plan takes into account all facets, realizing them when needed. Internal factors are controllable within the walls of the enterprise such as procedures and policies, the culture of the business, and compensation. External factors define the uncontrollable components beyond the companies’ authority; competitors, the market force, regulation set forth by government agencies, the economy and customers. Internal Factors Leading Function of Management The leading function of management means to lead the organization; strategizing a continual plan that takes into account both internal and external factors for when they may need implementation. Amazon continually updates their future plans and possible markets. Amazon has not remained stagnant internally. Uniquely qualified in the internet market to sell goods they excel by leading the company to exponential growth through those opportunities. Controlling Function of Management Competent controls achieve the realization of managerial plans and strategies. The controls or policies for an organization accomplish their goals. They create the results of the organization by directing employee efforts. A breakdown in effective controls defeats managerial plans; inadequate controls have the same effect. The shipping of products offered on Amazon represents the control kept within the company. Amazon has defined itself well as the online place to go for a variety of things. Amazon clearly emphasizes...
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...Case Study #2 Wireless and Mobile Technologies CIS 500: Information Systems for Decision-Making Wireless and Mobile Technologies Wireless technologies make use of radio waves, to connect with other devices or networks in order, to transmit/receive data. A wireless technology can be as simple as using a garage door opener or as complex running applications on Enterprise Resource Planning software. Wireless technologies make use of various types of hardware, from Bluetooth™ capable devices (printers, keyboards, earpieces, etc.) to offsite data warehouses to satellites, all of which communicate through networks, via radio waves. Wireless technologies are used by fixed/stationary items such as a desktop computer, as well as various mobile devices, tablets, cell/smart phones, laptops, GPS and others. Mobile technologies are, as the name implies, mobile. These devices are portable and can be used in route, from one place to the next, by accessing and using wireless networks. Mobile technologies are not just hardware but include special platforms in which these devices and the users interface. The combination of the wireless and mobile technologies has opened new methods for businesses to improve productivity. Wireless and Mobile technologies allow staff members to have real-time communication with the business and operations, from relatively anywhere in the world. Wireless and Mobile technologies provide a faster connectivity to vendors and customers by...
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...Tax Revenues and E-Commerce Table of Contents: i. Introduction ii. E-Commerce iii. Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) iv. Amazon and “Amazon Tax” v. State Budgetary Gaps vi. Conclusion vii. Appendix a. Colorado House Bill 10-1193 b. State Budget Gaps and Uncollected Tax Revenues c. Regression Analysis i. Graph 1.1 ii. Graph 1.2 iii. Graph 1.3 viii. References Introduction It was May of 1984 in Gateshead, England when Tesco recorded the first ever-online shopping transaction from a home . Tesco is the second largest retailer in the world after Wal-Mart, based on profits . This single transaction would pave the way towards a society that relies on the virtual store as opposed to a traditional brick and mortar setting. The convenience and accessibility that the virtual market provides has consequently provided inconveniences in other areas. State and federal governments have been steadily suffering from budget short falls. E-Commerce has diverted business from the mom and pop stores to companies such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com. Small businesses have closed and the land that they once occupied now sits vacant, with no one paying the respective land and sales taxes that the business once generated. The closing of smaller, local retailers has, in retrospect, paved the way for the expansion of e-commerce and the exponential growth that has been realized over the last decade. Current legislation and lack of regulation have limited the potential for federal...
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...business. It is important to take someone within your company and help build them that career in the company; it keeps employees happy as well as employment high. Training learning objectives Analysis of Amazon’s customer service complaints has found that some interactions between customers and Amazon’s reps do not meet with customer approval. Thousands of customers call in or email Amazon’s customer service department to discuss problems with their orders. “Customer service reps are trained to deliver the best possible support experience to their customers.” (Amazon, 2015). Customer reviews have helped Amazon to focus on customer complaints to come up with solutions to the problems affecting loyal customers. Managers will review customer service calls, emails and online reviews to determine training needs for customer service reps. The objectives for training include delivering great customer service experience. “At Amazon employees use a variety of software to navigate customer accounts, research...
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...European Supply Chain Operations, sat in his office in Slough, United Kingdom, and pondered what changes Amazon needed to make to sustain its growth in Europe. Established in the fall of 1998 through the acquisitions of two on-line Logistics Planning & Modelling Techniques booksellers, Bookpages.co.uk in Britain and Telebuch.de in Germany, Amazon.com’s European Distribution Strategy International, comprising Amazon Europe and Amazon Japan, now Amazon Europe had developed into three strong, independently run, country-based organizations in the UK, Germany, and France. Amazon represented 35% of Amazon revenues and was the fastest growing segment of the company (see Exhibit 1). Amazon.com’s European Distribution Strategy Amazon.com’s European Distribution Strategy Amazon.com’s European Distribution Strategy Amazon.com’s European Distribution Strategy To sustain its growth, Amazon Europe faced multiple expansion Taylor felt that a lot had been accomplished since his arrival six months options: it could replicate the broad array of product lines Amazon earlier. His team had managed to standardize and improve supply offered in the US, launch new Marketplacea activities, or expand into chain processes across Europe in the areas of vendor management, other European countries. In addition, Amazon Europe had to decide sales and operations planning, customer backlogs, and inventory which of its activities it should coordinate...
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