Entrepreneurship Leadership and Innovation: Amazon Case Study

Running head: DISSERTATION
Entrepreneurship Leadership and Innovation: Amazon Case Study
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ......................... whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the............... [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
The aim of the study is to analyze the real meaning of entrepreneurship and its relation to
innovation as well as creativity for Amazon. Increased number of similar business organizations
has to lead to tough and fierce competition in the market resulting in to market saturation due to
which the business organizations have to develop strategies to stand out of the crowd and mark a
unique image in the eye of the customers. Successful entrepreneurship results in the innovation
and creativity that have the ability to improve the standard of living by adding entrepreneurial
ventures and creating wealth for the entrepreneurs.
The background of the topic is to study the entrepreneurial approach and its relationship with
creativity and innovation by referring to the case study of Amazon. Jeff Bezos has shown
immense creativity and innovation compared to the booksellers that were not appealing to the
customers. Investigating the relationship between entrepreneurship and creativity and innovation
allowed investigating the issues and challenges Jeff Bezos faced being an entrepreneur and while
implementing creativity and innovation. Amazon was established in 1994 Seattle, Washington
by Jeff Bezos is a multinational technology and largest e-commerce and cloud computing
platform.
The main challenge in this research is that the relationship between entrepreneurship and
creativity and innovation is difficult to investigate. In addition to, the practicality of ideas that
revolves around creativity and innovation is another challenge. Another issue, in this case, is that
the entrepreneurs have tough competition in the market and emphasizes more on competitors
rather than on the target customers. The purpose of the study is to contemplate on the real
meaning of entrepreneurship and its relationship with creativity and innovation for every

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business organization. In addition, the study also discusses how entrepreneurship can be
achieved successfully and the role both creativity and innovation play in ensuring successful
entrepreneurship for Amazon that enabled the company to survive in the competitive market.
Positivism philosophy, deductive approach, descriptive design and case study research strategy
has been applied. secondary data collection technique has been used, as this provided an
opportunity for the researcher to consider the entrepreneurial characteristics, innovation,
creativity and leadership principles of used for the Amazon by Jeff Bezos from various
secondary sources such as books, journals and official websites. As a result, qualitative data
analysis using thematic analysis has been applied.
From the data analysis, it can be inferred that the success of Amazon is greatly dependent on the
entrepreneurial and leadership traits of Jeff Bezos. The ability to see things differently are
significant characteristics of leadership and entrepreneurship that leads to creativity and
innovation thereby, making it standing out from the existing ones in the market. The
entrepreneurial characteristics of Jeff Bezos helped in overcoming the probable problems that
were encountered by Jeff Bezos while executing entrepreneurship and leadership that hampered
the creativity and innovation of the company but was mitigated by the sharp vision of the
founder. From the discussion, it can be summarized that Jeff Bezos is a living example of one of
the most successful entrepreneur that has taken Amazon from an online bookstore to one of the
largest and successful e-commerce platforms in the world.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................8
1.0 Overview...........................................................................................................................8
1.1 Background of the topic.........................................................................................................8
1.2 Background of the company..................................................................................................9
1.3 Problem statement.................................................................................................................9
1.4 Aim of the study..................................................................................................................10
1.5 Objectives of the research....................................................................................................10
1.6 Research questions...............................................................................................................10
1.7 Rationale of the research.....................................................................................................11
1.8 Purpose of the study.............................................................................................................11
1.9 Structure of the dissertation.................................................................................................12
1.10 Summary............................................................................................................................12
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................13
2.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................13
2.1 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................13
2.2 Concept of entrepreneurship................................................................................................14
2.3 Elements of successful entrepreneurship.............................................................................14
2.3.1 Willingness to take action.............................................................................................14

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2.3.2 Patience.........................................................................................................................15
2.3.3 Persistence....................................................................................................................15
2.3.4 Team work....................................................................................................................15
2.3.5 Self-confidence.............................................................................................................16
2.4 Types of entrepreneurship...................................................................................................16
2.5 Benefits of entrepreneurship................................................................................................18
2.6 Challenges in entrepreneurship............................................................................................19
2.7 Entrepreneurial characteristics of Jeff Bezos of Amazon....................................................19
2.8 Concept of leadership..........................................................................................................20
2.9 Discussing the leadership principles of Amazon.................................................................21
2.10 Types of leadership............................................................................................................22
2.11 Relationship between leadership and entrepreneurship.....................................................24
2.12 Concept of innovation and creativity.................................................................................25
2.13 Factors affecting innovation and creativity.......................................................................25
2.14 Types of innovation...........................................................................................................26
2.15 Benefits of innovation and creativity.................................................................................27
2.16 Challenges of innovation and creativity............................................................................27
2.17 Analyzing the connection between entrepreneurship and innovation and creativity........28
2.18 Gaps in the literature..........................................................................................................28
2.19 Summary............................................................................................................................29

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Chapter 3: Research methodology.............................................................................................30
3.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................30
3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................30
3.2 Research onion.....................................................................................................................31
3.3 Research philosophy............................................................................................................31
3.3.1 Explaining the application of positivism philosophy...................................................32
3.4 Research approach...............................................................................................................32
3.4.1 Explaining the application of deductive approach........................................................32
3.5 Research design...................................................................................................................33
3.5.1 Explaining the application of descriptive design..........................................................33
3.6 Research strategy.................................................................................................................33
3.6.1 Explaining the application of case study research strategy..........................................33
3.7 Data collection process........................................................................................................34
3.7.1 Explaining the application of secondary data collection process.................................34
3.8 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................34
3.8.1 Explaining the application of thematic data analysis technique...................................34
3.9 Ethical considerations..........................................................................................................34
3.10 Accessibility issues............................................................................................................35
3.11 Research limitation............................................................................................................36
3.12 Time table..........................................................................................................................36

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3.13 Summary............................................................................................................................37
Chapter 4: Data analysis................................................................................................................38
4.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................38
4.1 Thematic analysis................................................................................................................38
4.2 Summary..............................................................................................................................46
Chapter 5: Discussions..................................................................................................................48
5.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................48
5.1 Findings and interpretation..................................................................................................48
5.2 Summary..............................................................................................................................51
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendations...............................................................................53
6.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................53
6.1 Linking to objectives...........................................................................................................53
6.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................55
6.3 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................55
References......................................................................................................................................57