The Company That is Powered to WOW
Founded in 1999, Zappos started as site that only sold shoes. The idea for the site came to founder Nick Swinmurn in his quest to find the right shoe. Swinmurn couldn’t find exactly what he was looking for in the different stores he visited. The stores either didn’t have his size or the right style and color. After spending hours searching and getting no where he went home shoeless. Swinmurn attempted to shop online for the shoes he wanted. He couldn’t believe there wasn’t a site that offered a huge variety of shoes. This inspired him to create a site that he envisioned that had a big selection of different size, styles and colors of name brand shoes (“In The Beginning - Let There Be Shoes”, n.d.). Things do happen for a reason. Because he was unable to find the shoe he wanted, Zappos was created. The billion dollar company is now one of the largest online retail stores (Sood, S., 2013). Within the last 10 years the site has surpassed its expectation from carrying shoes to now offering a huge selection of clothing, beauty and home items (“In The Beginning - Let There Be Shoes”, n.d.). The success of the Zappos is because of its company values. The values of any company represent the foundation of what the organization stands for. Company values are used to help with decision making and to give insight about the organization to customers or potential employees. Zappos company values are gear to creating an atmosphere of fun and growth while providing WOW service to their customers. The company takes customer service to another level. A customer from Minnesota called to complain that her boots had started to leak after about a year (O'Brien, 2009). Zappos return policy allows you to return any unworn merchandise if it’s in its original packaging up to a year (“Shipping and Returns”, n.d.). The customer representative ended up sending the customer a new pair or boots and a hand-written thank you note (O'Brien, 2009). Thoughtful gestures are common in pleasing the customer at Zappos. The customers are the reason the company has been so successful through the years.
Creating a fun atmosphere and allowing a little weirdness is just as important as, wowing the customer at Zappos (“Create Fun and A Little Weirdness”, n.d). Most company considers “fun” as throwing a party for the staff for holidays and birthdays. Mike, a senior was turning 40 and an employee at Zappos hire a band to play his alma mater and a birthday song (blogs.zappos.com., n.d.). This performance was done in the middle of the call center where other employees could enjoy as well. At Zappos they take it further than gifts and a birthday cake. All the fun creates an environment where people love coming to work. A transformational leader, a leader who sets the vision for the organization and inspires the staff with a personal connection would be the ideal leader for this company. Tony Hsieh, the current CEO of Zappos demonstrates a transformational leader. Transformational leaders have 4 dimensions; charisma and individualized consideration are the main two that a Zappos’ leader should have. Charisma provides vision and a sense of mission, and it instills pride along with follower respect and trust (Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhi-Bien, & Hunt, 2012). The results and achievements Zappos has earn over the years is due to the charisma both Swinmurn and Hsieh has. To lead Zappos you must be able to treat each individually and coach and advise (Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhi-Bien, & Hunt, 2012). Each person within a company brings something unique to the table and a great leader indentifies each person ideas and potential. To lead the employees at Zappos you must also be open-minded, a team-player who enjoys the wacky sign of life. He shows he is a team player on a regular basic. During the holidays when the call volumes are, he doesn’t mine jumping in to help. Most employees value and respect leaders who are willing to help out no matter the title of the position they hold. Fun is needed in a company that deal with the public because you never know what the day might bring. Hsieh creates and allows fun to take the stress that comes with customer service positions. Even though Zappos doesn’t have the typical working environment, a leader should still stress the important in taking the job seriously to ensure customer retention and great service. If there was decline in the demand of the products Zappos offered occurred at this very moment I think the culture will change just a little. I foresee the leaders of the company trying to hold on to the original culture but the stress of the decline impacting the fun and free work atmosphere. Some leaders will begin to focus solely on the operations of the company and the how to continue to make the company profitable (Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhi-Bien, & Hunt, 2012) .Slowly they will all become transactional Leaders rather than transformational leaders focusing on money and not people. The employee would provide wow service and have fun. All that would slowly phase out once the stress from the leaders trickle down to the other staff members. These actions will eventually result in the sales declining and the company being in a bad place financially. If the company response quickly to the decline in the demand the culture could continue to provide expectable wow service to the customer and a great working environment to the employees. In order for this occur the company would have to keep open communication among the leaders and the employees. Zappos would need to focus on there number two value, embrace and drive change. Whenever change or decline is present worry is also. The leaders can’t cover worries with more fun. The decline is serious and has to be taken seriously so the employees believe the company has their best interest.
Conclusion
Zappos culture is summed up in one phase ‘POWERED by SERVICE’ (“Zappos Family Core Values”, n.d). No matter the issue or circumstance as a family the company overcomes each challenge with fun and weirdness. Zappos is and will continue to be successful because of the foundation of there core values. The core values that were written by the employees for the employees

References

blogs.zappos.com. (n.d.). blogs.zappos.com. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/inside-zappos
Create Fun and A Little Weirdness | about.zappos.com. (n.d.). Home | about.zappos.com. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://about.zappos.com/our-unique-culture/zappos-core-values/create-fun-and-little-weirdness
In The Beginning - Let There Be Shoes | about.zappos.com. (n.d.). Home | about.zappos.com. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from http://about.zappos.com/zappos-story/in-the-beginning-let-there-be-shoes
O'Brien, J. M. (2009). Zappos Knows How to Kick It. (cover story). Fortune, 159(2), 54-60.
Schermerhorn, J. R., Osborn, R. N., Uhl-Bien, M., & Hunt, J. G. (2012). Organizational Behavior. Danvers, MA, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Shipping and Returns | Zappos.com. (n.d.). Shoes, Clothing, and More | Zappos.com . Retrieved July 28, 2013, from http://www.zappos.com/shipping-and-returns
Sood, S. (2013). E-Novation and Start-Up Companies. In I. Association (Ed.), Small and Medium Enterprises: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1860-1872). Hershey, PA: . doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-3886-0.ch094
Zappos Family Core Values | about.zappos.com. (n.d.). Home | about.zappos.com. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from http://about.zappos.com/our-unique-culture/zappos-core-values