...Jeffrey P.Bezos : An entrepreneur leader Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and from an early age he showed his mechanical attitude developing intense and varied scientific interests. Considering this fact, his parents sent him to a special program for gifted children, where Jeff could develop his love for gadgets (Byers, 2006). When his family moved to Florida, he discovered his ‘great passion’, computers, so he abandoned his studies in Physics and got a degree on Computer science and Electrical engineering (Sherman, 2001). After his studies, Jeff Bezos started working for Bankers Trust, and at the age of 26 he became the youngest Vice President of the company (Byers, 2006). When he noticed in 1994 that internet usage was increasing by 2300% a year (Hämäläinen & Saarinen, 2007), he started planning his next step, which was Amazon.com. Amazon made his appearance in 1995 with 3 micro stations in Bezos’ garage (Robinson, 2009) and its activity was to sell books. Today Amazon.com is one of the most preferable internet retail platform, where customers can find DVD’s, CD’s, MP3 downloads, books and toys. According to Economist (2000), Amazon.com is the most visited internet retail platform in USA and one of the top 3 in Germany, UK, France and Japan. The impact of Amazon.com Amazon.com is today the largest electronic retail worldwide (Anon., 2012). According to J. Bezos (Wired Magazine, December, 2011), Amazon is a cultural pioneer which lives to disrupt...
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... since you can't set foot there unless you're directly involved with the product. Bezos, it seems, likes to deliver information — and create Amazon's narrative — in his own way, such as his carefully crafted shareholder letters. 3. Keep teams small enough that members can be fed with two pizzas. Bezos is famous among management nerds for his Two Pizza Rule: No team should be larger than can be fed with two large pizzas. That means that task forces are limited to just five to seven people, allowing teams to test their ideas without too many onlookers, which guards against groupthink — one of Bezos’s pet peeves. Those tiny teams have led to big innovations, like the Gold Box deals, a popular promotion that gave customers limited-time deals. 4. Stop talking so much. At an off-site retreat in the early 2000s, word was going around that groups needed to communicate more. Bezos got up and said, "No, communication is terrible!" How could talking too much be a problem? Cross-team communication limits team independence and leads to people agreeing too much, he estimated, which stands in opposition to the creative conflict that defines Amazon's culture. 5. Get adversarial. “The people who do well at Amazon are often those who thrive in an adversarial atmosphere with almost constant friction,” writes Brad Stone, author of "The Everything Store," which chronicles Amazon’s rapid growth. Why? Bezos can’t stand “social cohesion,” the cloying tendency of people who like to agree with...
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...successful businesses. Borders Books and Amazon.com are two companies that both sold books but used different methods in operating their businesses. Even though they both were successful businesses, both companies had different leadership styles, visions and goals. Out of the two businesses, only one remain successful and present today. In this paper, I will show how both businesses started, how the leaders differ in leadership styles and techniques, and how Amazon continues to be a great success today. Description of the Businesses I will describe each business and how each business started. I will also describe three main challenges each company faced while establishing or running the business. Amazon.com was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos as an online bookstore. As CEO he has built it into the largest retailer on the web, selling everything from groceries to electronics and shoes. Jeff Bezos was working in a quantitive analysis group at an investment firm, when he saw an opportunity to sell books on the internet. In 1994 he went on a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle to start Amazon. He typed his business plan as he went. And he picked up $300,000 dollars from his parents in Fort Worth, Texas. He set up his business in his garage and began selling books via the internet. His business became worth $4.4 billion according to Forbes' latest billionaire rankings in 2009. Since the start of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos came very close to failure. The company...
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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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... Amazon versus Ebay Analyze each company’s history, product / services, major customers, major suppliers, and leadership and provide a synopsis of each company. Seattle based Amazon.com was founded in July, 1994, but it was introduced to the world in June, 1995 by its CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos who was a hedge fund manager in New York left to head west after coming across a finding that the usage of the internet is growing 2300 percent a month. He came up with a plan to get his own retail business online, and headed to Seattle to begin his dream. He started with only 3 employees working out of a garage. Jeff Bezos was able to get Kleiner Perkins Caulfied & Byers to fund Amazon. Some of Amazon.com products include a variety from books, to CDs, videos, and video games. Amazon product line also includes groceries, supplies for pets, greeting cards, and has auctions. A major supplier for Amazon is Ingram, a book distributor, who is still the provider for 60 percent of the books. Amazon is also allied with sites such as Yahoo, Excite, GeoCities, and Netscape. Amazon.com also has links that can be used for household purchases such as groceries and prescriptions. Bezos leadership is demonstrated by observing his comfortableness when he is around the people he addresses on a regular basis from customers, to investors, and the employees. Other leadership qualities of Bezos include his understanding of e-commerce, being focused, having an entrepreneurial team to back him, and branding...
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...focused on customer need and develop the new competencies that we think are needed to adapt to changing needs, that has helped us stay innovative, reaching beyond what we already know” (Cornell University, 2012). Amazon.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezo wanted his employees to be invested in the company, that means being 100% committed to the company and wanting success for everyone, not just themselves. The President of Human Resources, Tony Galbato, along with Bezo has a lot of faith in the company and its employees stating, “We have lots of smart people with lots of positive energy, driven by the need to build and continually improve the customer experience” (Cornell University, 2012). That seems to be the trend with Amazon; taking care of its customers and offering the best possible quality without the additional cost. To promote innovation within the company, Bezo relies on a group of skilled HR professionals to find the right individuals for the job. They focus on finding those who will take pride in their job and will want to continue to improve themselves as well as the company. Galbato affirms, “People grow on the job, through long-term career paths, through formalized leadership and technical skills training, and through informal mentoring.” Bezo has...
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... 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. Music and movies were added to the services and order fulfillment centers were opened in Nevada, Kansas, and Kentucky. Jeff Bezos was named the “king of cybercommerce” (The History of Amazon.com, 2011) In 2001 and 2003...
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...An e-Business Analysis of Amazon Timothy Harpe BUS 352 Ins. Victor Olufeso December 15, 2013 Becoming one of the most powerful E-tailers on the planet is Amazon.com; in a matter of 18 years becoming one of the most powerful E-tailers in the world, while not producing a product. Amazon.com is an American e-commerce company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1994, by Jeff Bezos started a business out of his garage in Bellevue, Washington, which he incorporated under the name Cadabra.com. Then in 1995, Cadabra became Amazon.com, continuing as an online bookstore before diversifying its product lines by adding VHSs, DVDs, music CDs, MP3s, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and more to his portfolio of items to sell. “Amazon also issued guidance for the fourth quarter of 2013, saying that net sales are expected to be between $23.5 billion and $26.5 billion, representing growth of 10% to 25% over the fourth quarter of 2012,” (McGrath, 2013) with no end in sight. Amazon has a business model that is based on the buy, sale and transfer or shipment of goods to anywhere in the world, as of 2013 it is working well. With the explosion of the World Wide Web, or internet, Jeff Bezos capitalized on the book buying and reading industry, with aggressive ideas of improving the way to deliver this product. Although Amazon does not buy a lot of products, rather they allow the seller store their product in the Amazon warehouse hubs...
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...Failure Analysis/Change Strategy Learning Team A LDR/531 Organizational Leadership October 21, 2014 Dr. Nancy Atkins Failure and Change Strategy for a Business Circuit City was one of the top selling electronic retailers in the United States. The company was based out of Richmond, Virginia started by Samuel S. Wurtzel in 1949. Some say bad real estate deals, lack of focus on being the low cost seller, mistakes with its sales force and straying from its core led to their demise in 2009. The success of Amazon has much to do with Jeff Bezos, the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). His unique combination of character traits and business strategy has driven Amazon to the top of the online retail world. In 2011, Amazon.com was posting revenues of nearly $50 billion per year (Price III, 2013). Part 1: Business Failure/Success Analysis Circuit City Objective (Carolyn Whitaker) Circuit City is dedicated to the highest quality of customer service which is done with the highest respect. With a highly praised customer service and satisfaction, it will improve our sales performance. For Circuit City to effectively sell products to customers, sales representatives will try to understand and fulfil the customers’ needs. With a highly trained team of associates, Circuit City will be successful in the long run. Circuit City Vision/Mission Statement (Carolyn Whitaker) Respect - “Our Associates are our greatest assets. We expect every Associate to demonstrate that they...
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...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 with head office in Seattle...
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...Amazon.com Amazon is perhaps the company that is most closely tied with the dot.com gold rush phenomenon. Since 1995 the Seattle based company has grown at a tremendous rate with revenues rising from about $150 million in 1997 to $3.1 billion in 2001. The company made its first quarterly profit of $5.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2001. However, this was dwarfed by massive cumulative operating losses. Amazon’s share price symbolizes the effects of the dot-com gold-rush: [pic] Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos, a computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University. Bezos had moved to Seattle after resigning as the senior vice-president at D.E.Shaw, a Wall Street investment bank. He did not know much about the Internet. But, he came across a statistic that the Internet was growing at 2300%, which convinced him that this was a large growth opportunity. Not knowing much more, he plunged into the world of E-Commerce with no prior retailing experience. Despite this, during the early days of the Net, Jeff Bezos was one of the few people to understand the special nature of Internet Retailing and E-Commerce. Our goal is to be Earth's most customer-centric company, why? The answer is three things:The first is that customer-centric means figuring out what your customer want by asking them, then figuring out how to give it to them, and then giving it to them. That's the traditional meaning of customer-centric, and we're focused on it. The second...
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...launched by Apple by creating their own tablets. But among the entire followers one is completely different considering its strategy and its core business: Amazon.com. The biggest Internet retailer, which already decided to enter into the market of technological devices by launching an e-reader named “the kindle” in 2007, created in 2011 its own tablet named “the Kindle Fire”. In 2012, while Apple still holds more than the half of the market share in the tablet sector, Amazon.com decided to launch its second generation of Kindle Fire a few weeks before the launch of the third generation of Ipad. And even if amazon.com does not seemed to be, at first sight, a really serious competitor for Apple, like Samsung could be, its innovative strategy could make it the most disruptive concurrent of the Californian Company. That is why we decided to make a study about the strategy used by Amazon to sell its Kindles. The first part will be focused on the history and the culture of Amazon. Then we will move to the study of the global market of tablets in order to identify the key aspects of this new market. And finally our last part will be completely focused on the Amazon.com strategy compared to the one of its biggest competitor: Apple. Part I: Amazon.com a company focused on customer needs Amazon.com was founded in 1993. Jeff Bezos, who was graduated from...
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...The Internet Business Review Issue 1 – October 2004 THE IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY TURMOIL ON AMAZON.COM: A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE Russell Casey - Clayton State University, USA William Carroll - University of Phoenix, USA Edited by Faith W. Smalls Abstract Internet retailers face intense competition in their quest to gain market share due to the large number of competitors, ease of entry, low switching costs and the strength of existing multi-channel retailers. To survive, it is critical that online retailers create a sustainable competitive advantage in their e-commerce strategy and plan for long-term strategic positioning. The article uses a case study analysis of Amazon.com's strategy to develop an understanding of the e-commerce competitive environment and the importance of building a sustainable competitive environment to create value for the firm, its customers, and its shareholders. © 2004 The Internet Business Review The Internet Business Review Issue 1 – October 2004 Introduction Is the Internet a leech that sucks a company’s assets dry? Many investors, entrepreneurs, and managers pondered this billion-dollar question as hundreds of dotcoms collapsed over the last two years. Companies, such as Boo.com, Etoys, Onsale, @home, and Webvan, are extinct and many more cling to existence. The dreams of consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders have been shattered. From their inception, these dotcoms were going to revolutionize the world and...
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...Understanding Leadership Styles resulted in massive reven&ues and sales for Amazon and a loyal customer ase. 9n spite of these recommendale efforts7 Bezos2 transactional leadership 8ualities may have argualy resulted in a stressful /or+ing environment /here employees do not feel /ell positioned to caution this e0tra ordinary leader aout his unrealistic usiness e0pansion plans. Mangalindan 4,-#6 attriutes Amazon2s huge losses regardless of revenue and sales gro/th to the company2s hunger for e0panding its already gargantuan portfolio. 9t is reasonale to assume that this is a direct result of Bezos2s /ill to e0pand y any means at a fast rate. #oncl(sion 'o sum upG Jeff Bezos is a tas+ oriented7 transactional and transformational leader.>is leadership style has resulted in Amazon eing a success story in terms of revenues7 sales and stoc+ price analysis yet lac+ing in eing a good /or+ing environment and recording a profit on the ottom line. (erhaps7 Bezos must slo/ do/n his transformational characteristics and allo/ Amazon to record profits efore e0panding it any further. Also7 it may e eneficial to the company that Bezos tones do/n his transactional leadership 8ualities in an effort to ma+e the environment friendlier and fle0ile. 6 Understanding Leadership Styles eferencesBessinger7 H. 4,-#7 July6. Amazon eports Loss espite Strong Sales Hro/th. The Wall Street Journal. etrieved online from http:II///./s=.comI*oo+7 J. 4,-##7 June6. @aceoo+7 Amazon...
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...CASE STUDY 2 : AMAZON.COM | 1. By using Porter’s 5 forces’ framework, describe the forces that affect the core initial market of amazon (the online retailing industry) (5 points). Threat of new entrants: MEDIUM TO LOW * Creating a website is cheap, unskilled or old people can set up a little retail business shops fairly easily but E-Retail is a difficult-to-master business. Moreover, since the “technology bubble” burst two years ago, many people are threatened to enter the game. * BUT cost to establish an online retail outlet is high: * Start up capital with long term investors * Maintenance cost of equipment and expertise * Compliance of government regulations on data protection and privacy * The possible use of patents and proprietary resources * Marketing and advertising cost * Technology cost R&D * Distribution cost * By the way, Internet has shown to us that a simple idea well developed can offer extraordinary results, examples such as Facebook.com, Plentyoffish.com, Youtube.com and so forth, these companies have developed their web sites in a short period of time with incredible final results. This can be the proof that a threat of new entries into the market is possible. Threat of substitutes: MEDIUM RISK * The way how e-Retail business works today creates a lot of substitute threats to conventional retailing players. Amazon.com itself started as a substitute of conventional...
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