Case Study Analysis of Amazon

The case study analyses the leadership style of Jeff Bezos, the culture of Amazon, and the excessive pressure on employees. The toxic and transformational leadership style of Jeff Bezos is discussed in detail.

Running head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF AMAZON
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF AMAZON
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Author Note

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Introduction
The case study named Marvels and Monsters of Amazon is based on the allegations
which have been made against the leader and CEO of the organization Jeff Bezos. The
culture which has been developed by Jeff Bezos is based on the high levels of expectations of
the leader related to different activities. The huge growth of the company is based on the
ways by which the employees have worked in an environment based on huge pressure. The
CEO of the company has however denied the allegations which have been made against him
based on high levels of pressure that have been provided by him (Baer, 2014).
The essay will be based on the analysis of the leadership based style which has been
depicted by Bezos and the ways by which the company has created a leading position in the
technology industry. The excessive amounts of pressure which are provided by the CEO on
the employees in order to offer the highest levels of services to the customers will be
analysed in the essay.
Analysis based on the leadership style of Jeff Bezos
As discussed by Bensinger (2014), Jeff Bezos had created a vision in the industry
based on the services which can be offered to the consumers. The main aim of the CEO and
the management was to implement effective levels of innovation in the e-commerce
activities. The customers have been provided high levels of importance by the CEO of
Amazon which further leads to the pressure which is provided to the employees. The
organization has thereby tried to become highly customer centric in nature. The achievement
of the goals of Amazon and vision which has been set by Bezos has been based on different
rules and policies which have been broken by the CEO.

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As argued by Bort (2018), the principle which have been developed by Bezos are
based on the lack of harmony among the employees in Amazon. The CEO encourages the
employees to provide blunt feedbacks based on their activities so that the decision can be
made accordingly. The levels of confrontations which take place in the organization are
considered to be a major part of the culture of Amazon.
As discussed by Kastrenakes (2016), organizational culture is based on the behaviours
and values which are able to contribute to the psychological environment which has been
developed within the organization. The culture of an organization is defined with the help of
different factors which include, market, product, strategy, technology, management style,
national culture and management style. The psychological and social environment which has
been developed within the organization is also an important part of the effective
organizational culture. The culture which has been developed in Amazon is based on the
values and beliefs of the CEO of the company, Jeff Bezos.
According to Lashinsky (2014), the culture of the company has been able to
traumatise the employees and their work process have also been affected. The CEO was also
known for providing less importance to the employees and their opinions. The main aim of
the CEO was to bring out the best from the employees and drive their levels of excellence as
well. On the other hand, Jeff Bezos has been described as a leader who has developed a
decentralised organizational structure. The executives of the organization were allowed to
take their personal decisions. The ruthlessness of the culture of Amazon is considered to be a
major part of the allegations which have been made against the CEO. The toughness and
intense work process of Amazon is based on the leadership based qualities which have
depicted by the CEO.

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As discussed by Rosenblatt (2017), leadership is considered to be an area of research
which encompasses the ability of the individuals with the help of which they are able to guide
or lead their teams which consist of a specific number of individuals. The leadership based
studies are thereby related to the different traits, functions, situational interactions, behaviour,
vision, power, charisma, intelligence and values. The leadership style which is followed by a
particular individual is able to affect the operations of the organization and the levels of
revenues and profitability as well. The leadership style which has been followed by Jeff
Bezos is based on the ways by which the employees are able to achieve the specific
objectives and further satisfy the customers as well.
As argued by Russell (2015), the customer first based policy has been implemented
by the CEO from the beginning of his work process. The employees have faced the issues
related to lack of effective levels of appreciation for the work process. The management
based approach which has been implemented by Amazon is based on the levels of passion of
the employees. The ways by which the CEO aims at driving the employees towards the
achievement of goals is considered to be a major factor of the leadership of Jeff Bezos. The
employees of Amazon are provided with fair levels of chances to make their own decisions.
On the other hand, the CEO also exerts immense amounts of pressure on them to achieve the
goals which are set by the management.
As discussed by Taube (2014), the transformational leadership based process is
followed by the CEO to some extent. Transformational leadership is related to the ways by
which the leader is able to share his vision with the followers and further inspire them to
achieve the goals or objectives in an effective way. The employees are kept under effective
levels of surveillance in order to ensure that they are working according to the goals which
have been set by the management. This style of leader cannot be considered to be a part of
the transformational leadership based process. This leadership activity of Jeff Bezos is

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considered to be toxic in nature. The work process of the employees is measured with the
help of the business reviews and data of the consumers.
As discussed by Tkaczyk (2015), the environment which is developed in the
organization is based on the ways by which the employees or colleagues can challenge each
other and the goals can be achieved in an effective manner. The performance evaluation
based system which is implemented by Amazon is also known as the Organizational
Learning and Review which is conducted by the management in order to analyse the
performance levels of employees as well. This process also involves the feedback which is
provided by the CEO and the management to employees.
As argued by Vaccaro (2014), the practices which have been followed by the CEO of
Amazon are based on the fast changes which take place in the external environment. The
culture which has been developed in Amazon by the CEO is supported by some of the
employees of Amazon in comparison to the others. The activities which have been
undertaken by the company can be quite destructive in nature. The decisions made by the
CEO can increase the levels of turnover of the employees. On the other hand, the levels of
growth of the company has also been ensured with the help of pressure that has been exerted
by the CEO on the employees.
Conclusion
The essay can be concluded by stating that the CEO of Amazon has depicted a
leadership style which is toxic as well as transformational in nature. The transformational
leadership qualities have been able to affect the decision making capabilities of the
employees. The toxic nature on the other hand has affected the work process of the
employees.

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References
Baer, D., 2014. 5 Brilliant Strategies Jeff Bezos Used to Build The Amazon Empire. Business
Insider [online] 17 March. Available from: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-strategies-
jeff-bezos-used-to-buildthe-amazon-empire-2014-3?IR=T [Accessed 17 September 2018].
Bensinger, G., 2014. Amazon’s Current Employees Raise the Bar for New Hires. The Wall
Street Journal [online] 7 January. Available from:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon8217s-current-employeesraise-the-bar-for-new-hires-
1389124745 [Accessed 16 September 2018].
Bort, J., 2018. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explains his famous one-character emails, known to
strike fear in manager’s hearts. Business Insider [online] 21 April. Available from
https://www.businessinsider.sg/bezos-explains-his-dreaded-one-character-emails-2018-4/
[Accessed 17 September 2018].
Kastrenakes, J., 2016. Jeff Bezos on Amazon's culture: "We never claim that our approach is
the right one", The Verge [online] 5 April. Available from:
https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/5/11373438/amazon-corporate-culture-comment-jeff-
bezos [Accessed 17 September 2018].
Lashinsky, A., 2014. The uncomfortable truth about Brad Stone's Amazon book. Fortune
[online] 2 January. Available from: http://fortune.com/2014/01/02/the-uncomfortable-truth-
about-brad-stonesamazon-book/ [Accessed 17 September 2018].
Rosenblatt, G., 2017. The Bigger Amazon Story: How a Human Becomes an “Amabot”. The
Vital Edge [online] 17 November. Available from: http://www.the-vital-edge.com/amabots/
[Accessed 17 September 2018].

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Russell, J., 2015. “Jeff Bezos Says the New York Times’ Amazon Exposé Got It All Wrong,”
Tech Crunch [online] 16 August. Available from:
http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/16/computer-says-no [Accessed 16 September 2018].
Taube, A., 2014. “This Jeff Bezos Quote Explains Amazon’s Insanely Difficult Hiring
Process,” Business Insider [online] 20 November. Available from:
http://uk.businessinsider.com/quote-explainsamazons-difficult-hiring-process-2014-11
[Accessed 17 September 2018].
Tkaczyk, C., 2015. “The World’s Most Admired Companes”. Fortune 171(3): 97-104.
Available from: http://fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies [Accessed 16 September
2018].
Vaccaro, A., 2014. “Growth Lessons From Amazon’s ‘Bar raisers’” Inc.com [online] 8
January. Available from: https://www.inc.com/adam-vaccaro/growth-lessons-from-amazons-
bar-raisers.html [Accessed 16 September 2018].