...Strategic Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction Paper Effie Dillard, Joaquin Mercado, Sherri Copeland MGT/449 June 20, 2011 Tracy King-Dye Strategic Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction Paper The History of Amazon.com In the beginning Amazon.com conducted business out of a two car garage in Bellevue, Washington. Today this retailer headquartered in Seattle, Washington has one of the largest organizations on the internet. By employing thousands of employees the organization has gained outstanding success. Customers from all over the world can purchase books, movies, and thousands of other products with just a click of a computer mouse. Amazon.com was introduced to the world in 1994 by Jeff Bezos who resided in Bellevue, Washington. “With a small investment and only one investor Mr. Bezos was able to secure a user friendly website and ship orders to 50 states and over 48 countries. During this time books were the only products that were available”. (The History of Amazon.com, 2011) “By creating a powerful community based website, customers were able to add their book reviews for all customers”. (The History of Amazon.com, 2011) In May of 1997 Amazon.com went public and by public demand the share price went from an expected $18 to $24 a share with total earnings of $54 million dollars. Within the last decade through expansion and popularity, Amazon.com opened international sites in Germany and the United Kingdom...
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...The Strategic Framework Of Amazon Online Amazon.com Overview Amazon.com was one of the first major companies to sell goods over the Internet and has become a worldwide established name. Amazon.com is an American e-commerce company that is based in Washington. It was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and began as an online bookstore but due to its success, Amazon has diversified into other product lines and services such as groceries, electronics and Merchant Program (see Appendix 1 for detailed portfolio). Amazon. com’s stock price has fluctuated in recent years from $105 in 1999 to $5 in 2001 (Lauden and Traver, 2000). Amazon.com has developed separate websites for Canada, UK, Germany, France, China and Japan. Amazon.com vision is to become (Amazon.com, 2007): “Earth’s biggest selection and to be Earth’s most customer centric company.” Definition of Strategy An integrated set of actions aimed at increasing the long-term well-being and strength of the enterprise relative to competitors. strategic thinking: creative, entrepreneurial insight into the ways the enterprise could develop. Strategic planning: systematic, comprehensive analysis to develop a plan of action. Opportunistic decision making: effective reaction to unexpected threats and opportunities. Strategic management: having an effective combination of coherent planning, incisive thinking and astute opportunism. The Evolving Nature of Strategy and Strategic Planning in Organization: World War II: Formal strategic...
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...profitability. Corporate management must create strategies and capitalize on evolving competitive markets (Lindgrin, 2012). Both the companies Yahoo and Amazon are constantly implementing such strategies to maintain a reputation that stays ahead of the market trends, information system and globalization. This study will evaluate the success of both companies’ corporate-level strategies in terms of horizontal integration, vertical integration, strategic outsourcing and diversification, and will determine the type of strategy that contributed most effectively to the creation of a successful and profitable multibusiness model. Additionally, this paper will recommend an appropriate new strategy for each company that may maximize profitability and improved competitiveness in the industry. Yahoo!, Inc. Competitive analysis To better understand Yahoo’s internal and external opportunities and threats, in order to better estimate Yahoo’s ability to capture value, our starting point would be a quick analysis of operating and financial performance of Yahoo comparing to its peers in the industry during the last four years. We already studied around 10 on-line based service providers with AOL having the closest business model, size and shared markets. One of the most important industry features observed was the ability of taking the advantage of economies of scale, the larger the revenues a company can generate, larger profit margins...
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...for presentation of ideas and organization of the answer * 5% for adherence to specified word count * 5% for the use of the E-library/External resources. In this TMA, you are expected to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the importance of the business environment for strategic management and for acquiring and improving the market position of organizations. You are also, required to apply various learned concepts in strategic positioning, strategy process, knowledge management, resource-based approaches of competitive advantage. In addition, you should be able to recognize how the strategic choices made by organizations are influenced by a school of thoughts or a particular theory. In your answer, your workis expected to show critical, analytical and justification skills of the subject matter, rather than purely descriptive. Your answer should be within the specified range of words, and you must follow the Harvard Style of Referencing. You are expected to present a well-structured and organized piece of work that is of your own. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, and plagiarized work will receive 0 marks. Cut-off Date: November 30 , 2012. Amazon.com – 2002 Block 4:...
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...Amazon Strategy Analysis The strategic planning processes. Amazon and other large enterprises to build your organization with a view - from the view of the company’s mission, goals and objectives are developed. Many times during the life of an organization is necessary for the organization to redefine the objectives of the organization on the basis of profitability, customer concerns, and the internal, external and international challenges. • Value Chain • Resource Based View • Financial Analysis Using an Analysis of the Value Chain Amazon Amazon has developed an analysis of the value chain of its Competitive Advantage “own internal operationally better assess how you can add value and sustain competitive advantage have used the value chain model of Michael Porter,"Create and maintain superior performance. " Example of a Strategic Plan Model - Amazon Internal Analysis Tools, Strategic Planning, Strategic Planning Models Primary activities and support activities Primary activities are those needed to produce a product or service to the end customers. These activities generally include: • Inbound Logistics: receiving goods from suppliers, and store and move the good • Operations: Manufacturing or assembly of the product • Outbound Logistics: The shipment of goods to wholesalers, retailers or directly to the final customer • Marketing and Sales: Marketing involves customer needs understanding, communicating...
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...1. Introduction Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is an e-commerce company founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, a former vice-president of a Wall Street firm and also a graduate from Princeton University. The company is currently the largest online retailer in the US and also the world’s biggest retailer by market value. Under the leadership of Jeff Bezos, the company that started as a website that sold only books, Amazon.com would eventually grow to become a retailer that sells over 200 million products, categorised into 35 departments. The company is now seen as one of the most innovative and valuable brands in the world. (Forbes, 2015) 2. Measurement of Amazon.com Success For a business, the best way of measuring success would be to analyse the company’s financial status. Profitability might be the most important measurement of corporate success as it greatly affects the organisation’s competiveness and continuance of the organisation. But in this age of doing business, companies can no longer measure themselves based only on financial perspective. For this report, we will take a more qualitative view and also track the company’s non-financial measures such as brand image, market share, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction to better analyse the success of Amazon.com. 2.1 The Balanced Scorecard Balanced scorecard methodology is an analysis technique designed to translate an organization's mission statement and overall business strategy into specific, quantifiable goals...
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...Page 1 of 27 Page 2 of 27 1. Executive Summary When Amazon.com started its business operations on 16-07-1995, with a few employees packing & shipping boxes of books from a two-car garage in Bellevue, Wash. The company's founder and CEO, Mr. Jeff Bezos used some of his time on the road to write the company's business plan when he was leaving N.Y. City for the Pacific Northwest. On its 15th-anniversary in 2010, Amazon is truly proud to be one of the world largest online retailers, selling everything from musical instruments and sports equipment to household appliances and apparels (Kayla, W. 2010). In our coursework group assignment, we are tasked to study and analyse the strategic management issues of Amazon.com. The case study will base on fourth quarter of 2007 as a current year. We will be evaluating the company's external and internal environments, how the company emerge into the industry by means of its strategies management in dealing with economic, technology & distribution issues and competition. We will also look at the company's vision & mission and it relate to the expansion of its product lines and reach, to increase its revenue and market share, and to understand and consider their possible near-term and long-term objectives that the organization could pursue. Lastly but not least, to out up recommendation for Amazon and conclude it with our learning experiences on BPS module. Page 3 of 27 2. Company Overview Amazon was founded by Mr. Jeff Bezos in 1994...
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...CANGO, INC ANALYSIS SENIOR PROJECT 2011 Final Report 10/16/2011 Christopher Planck Kesha Wilcoxson Ricci Cashwell Steven Thompson Table of Contents Item | Page # | Table of Contents | 2 | Executive Summary | 3 | SWOT | 4 | Market Analysis | 5-6 | Competitive Analysis | 6-7 | Financial Analysis | 7-10 | Financial Recommendations | 10-12 | Strategic Planning Recommendations/ Conclusion | 12 | Work Cited | 13 | Executive Summary Cango is an Internet startup that retails a variety of products and services, ranging from books and videos to online gaming services. To do away with the growing pains of a new e-business, there are numerous ideas on how Cango can be a long lived success in the online gaming industry. We will answer the following questions: * What should we do with the $130M received as a result of the IPO? * Should we go through with purchase of the Automated Storage & Retrieval System? * What should we do with the online...
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...Barnes & Noble Vs. Amazon To attain a competitive advantage over Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble needs to develop a proper strategy and implement a successful marketing plan. SITUATION ANALYSIS Barnes & Noble first must consider the issues and problems facing their company, and then perform an opportunity analysis to determine their strengths and weaknesses in relation to their customers, competitors, and company capabilities. In regards to the main concerns of Barnes & Noble, the company needs to worry about the uncertainties associated with the expected rapid growth of the Internet, the changing profile of Internet users, increased competition and indeterminate future developments in electronic retailing from publishers, wholesalers, and retailers, and intense price competition. By 2000, more than 80 million users will be on the World Wide Web, with an increase in females and a broader spectrum of education levels and age, changing the market demographics. Additionally, some book publishers, namely Simon & Schuster and Bertelsmann, have expanded online, while the national leading wholesaler, Ingram, is developing a website where wholesalers could ship directly to consumers. In the meantime, small publishers and universities have started to publish directly on the Web, avoiding print versions completely and thereby challenging the posterity of conventional books. Within the Barnes & Noble Corporation, their smaller traditional bookstores such...
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...Strategic Choice and Evaluation Paper STR/581 March 18, 2013 Dr. Robert Rowlett Choosing a sustainable business strategy is not an easy choice but there are companies who have done it and continue to do so. One such company is Amazon.com who first opened their virtual doors in 1994 and “emerged from the dot-com bubble one of the few winners and continued to blaze a trail of impressive growth (from about $4 billion in 2002 to nearly $20 billion in 2008),” (Johnson, 2010.) Companies like Amazon.com survive and thrive because of sound business decisions based upon sound business models. Their business model is based in strong management strategy. In this paper we will explore alternative Generic strategies, value disciplines, and grand strategies for Amazon.com based upon past performance focused on continued success. Generic Strategies “A long-term, or grand strategy must be based on a core idea about how the firm can best compete in the market place. The popular term for this core idea is generic strategy, from a scheme developed by Michael Porter,” (Pearce & Robinson, 2011). Porter believed that the generic strategy should be directly tied to the company’s performance in the marketplace in this way a firm could leverage its strengths and become stronger. Porter suggests that companies will subscribe to one or more of three types of generic strategies: Low-Cost Leadership, Differentiation, and Focus. Amazon.com has enjoyed the success of a focus strategy in the past. This...
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.............. I Table of Abbreviations.................................................................................... II Table of Figures............................................................................................. III Table of Tables..............................................................................................IV 1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 1 2 Market Leadership as a Strategic Goal in Electronic Commerce ................ 1 2.1 Value Chains and Actors in EC............................................................. 1 2.2 Principles for Success in Electronic Commerce.................................... 3 2.3 Porter’s Branch Structure Analysis applied to EC Markets ................... 4 2.4 Context Factors and Value Creation Potentials in EC Markets ............. 8 2.5 First Mover Advantage and the Role of the Pioneer ............................. 9 3 Amazon.com – The Road to Market Leadership ....................................... 10 3.1 Company Portrait ................................................................................ 10 3.2 Redefining Book Retailing: Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble .................... 11 3.3 Realizing the...
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... organize and control by simply providing consumers with their demands in a fast effective way Internal Factors An analysis of the internal resources will show the organization whether they have a competitive advantage. Management will want to review areas such as human resources, marketing, operations, and other areas such as information systems. Once this is complete the company will have an idea of what their resources are. Resources fall into two categories; tangible and intangible. Tangible is something physical such as office furniture. Intangible is an intellectual asset such as logo or patent. The resources can give the company a competitive advantage in the market if they either bring customer value, are rare, difficult to reproduce, or are well organized (Bateman & Snell, 2009). External Factors An organization will analyze two distinct areas of its external environment; competitive environment and macro environment. According to Bateman and Snell (2009) the competitive environment will consist of buyers, rivals, new entrants, and suppliers as well as compliments and substitutes to their product. The macro environment will consist of the economy, social values, the law, technology, and demographics. A careful analysis of these two areas will allow the organization to determine its opportunities and threats to the company’s strategic plan....
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...1. Review of Amazon’s strategy between 2007 and 2009 Strategic analysis Profiling the business: ➢ Mission: Amazon’s mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible price[1]. ➢ Product/service analysis: Since the establishment of Amazon, new products has been kept adding into the original book category and Amazon has moved further to provide service. There are three product categories in Amazon, media category, electronic and general merchandise category and other category like Amazon web service and Amazon Enterprise Solution. This means you can buy almost everything from Amazon. ➢ Sales and gross profit analysis: The net sales growth of Amazon in year 2007 and 2008 was in average 30% and the total sales in 2008 was $19166m. In the same time, the gross profit grew from $3353m in 2007 to $4270 in 2008. Actually, both the sales and profits grew quickly since 2001 and they seemed to grow at a quicker way. External environment analysis ➢ Opportunities and threats: • Opportunities: to further improve the speed of delivery; international expansion in emerging markets such as China and India; extension of brands into new areas; through acquisitions and partnership to consolidate Amazon’s technological capability. • Threats: unexpected changes in regulatory requirements both U.S. and abroad ( take taxes policies...
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...needed to flourish. This paper will compare and contrast two businesses, one successful and the other unsuccessful. By doing so, I will take a closer look at diversification strategies and evaluate the reasons that determine a business’s outcome. I will also discuss the importance of business plans, marketing plans, and strategic plans as they are key elements to the success of a business. And finally, I will offer the failed business new diverse strategies that would help with future success. Compare and Contrast Two Businesses and their outcomes Amazon.com Amazon.com was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, and launched in 1995. Amazon.com is an American multinational electronic commerce company. It was one of the first American Ecommerce companies to sell over the internet. Ecommerce has multiple advantages over “brick and mortar” and order catalogues. With Ecommerce customers can conveniently search databases to find products and services while comparing prices. And even though, Amazon.com took a drop due to the dot-com crash in 2003, they still made their first annual profit, which would serve as the first step to further development. Amazon.com continues to be the world’s leading online retailer. Starting out as an online book store but soon diversified,...
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...INTRODUCTION: Amazon.com opened for business in July 1995, nobody in that time was optimistic for this brand new business model. People still enjoy the physical store, and skeptical on online shopping. However, with more than a decade efforts, Amazon was named the world’s top brand ahead of common names like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and so on. Amazon and its online business model had creased more than $34 billion revenue, and equally 80 million people visit Amazon.com every month. In order to achieve greater success, Amazon need to overcome the challengeable external environment, strengthen organization structure, fulfill the product line, and leverage its brand strategy. CURRENT MISSION, GOAL, AND STRATEGY The current mission statement for the Amazon.com is “to be the Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavor to offer customers the lowest prices.” Amazon added 13 new fulfillment centers in 2010 and another 15 new center in the 2011 and company is planning to launch cloud technology in 2011 which allowed customers to store and access music. The company believed that in the nearly future this technology could bring the internal strength and competitive advantage for Amazon.com. INTERNAL ANALYSIS: See attached IFEM Amazon.com internally with an IFEM score of 3.25 FINANCE: Amazon is on strong financial position now; online sales reached $9.91 billion...
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