Leadership and Business Environment

This project explores the impact of business environment on companies and the role of leadership styles. It includes a SWOT and Pestle analysis of Amazon, changes in environmental factors, different leadership styles, and the concept of corporate social responsibilities.

LEADERSHIP AND
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
SWOT and Pestle analysis of amazon.........................................................................................3
Changes in the factors of Pestle along with their influence over opportunities and threats........5
Leadership and leadership styles.................................................................................................6
Suitable leadership style..............................................................................................................7
Responsibilities, response and obligations in their ethics and social responsibilities in the
process at Amazon.......................................................................................................................8
Leadership styles followed by Amazon.....................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Business environment or the environment in which the activities of the business are operate plays
an important role in the functioning and running of the business. Due to the severe impact of
business environment every company have to carefully analyse the business environment or the
environmental factors before setting up or doing its business operations. Apart from business
environment the leadership and its style also plays an important role in coping with the impact of
business environment over the companies. This project will study about the impact of business
environment over the company which can be analysed or mitigate with the helps of various
analysis including the SWOT and Pestle analysis along with the different leadership and
management styles. In addition to the business environment and leadership or management style
this project will also highlight the concept of corporate social responsibilities along with its
importance and impact over the companies.
MAIN BODY
SWOT and Pestle analysis of amazon
SWOT analysis:
Strength:
Strong brand value, customer centric with innovative and trendy products, global
appearance, global business, large number of sellers with strong and best distribution system,
being a market leader who lead others are some strengths of amazon (Jureviclus, 2019).
Weaknesses:
Apart from its strengths amazon have some weakness including the failure of some
product, losing of market in some countries, adopting the tax avoidance policy, employees
dissatisfaction, large dependent on some distributors, sometime not worrying about consumer
safety with many more are all considered as weakness of amazon.
Opportunities:
Targeting the developing countries foe expansion of business along with increase in
physical stores, adopting the latest technology to become more technologically advanced
company, acquiring the more e-commerce companies are all considered as opportunities which
can be grabbed by amazon in the near future (Policy, 2018).
Threats:

Government regulations along with strong market competition or sometime due to
indulging itself in controversies, easily imitable structure with the continuous increase in cyber
crime in the world are some threats which can affects the amazon (Sarsby, 2016).
Pestle analysis:
Political factors:
Due to the global presence and dealing it has to comply with the rules and regulations of
the different countries during performing its business. Also, continuous changes in the tax
policies or trade regulations may also affect the amazon.
Economic factors:
Since this factor is not controllable by any company which means a favourable economic
market may leads to the success of company in comparison to adverse economic market. While
due to more spending of people the sales as well as the profits of the amazon may raise but this
all depends upon the situation of economy which can either be stable or unstable.
Social forces:
It would be right to said that this force may work in favour for amazon due to the
fulfilment and satisfaction of needs and wants of the customers along with providing the best and
fast delivery to its customers, and this not only increasing the customer share but it also increases
the sales and profitability of the amazon in long term.
Technological force:
With the using and adopting the best and technologically advanced techniques by amazon
in its running and distribution system in addition to digital and online platform, all work in
favour of amazon in terms of achievement of its objectives along with meeting customer demand
and satisfaction.
Legal factors:
Due to continuous changing in the legal structure in terms of changing the regulation
regarding the import and export or trade laws in different countries make it essential for amazon
to analyse and work or run its business accordingly which means under the legal framework of
the concerned country.
Environmental factors:

Production of eco-friendly products and efficiently utilizing the natural resources with
minimum wastage and obliging the environmental laws can act as favourable point or situation
for amazon in regard to environmental factor.
Changes in the factors of Pestle along with their influence over opportunities and threats
Political factors:
Due to political stability in some countries or government interest towards digital or e-
business may act as opportunities for amazon which can be availed by amazon using its strength
in terms of using the latest technology or already working through online platform. Due to the
weakness of amazon in terms of less consciousness about laws or consumer safety, the
continuous changes in cyber laws may act as threats for amazon.
Economic factors:
Due to economic stability in some countries including the US or European countries
along with an increase in consumer spending may act as opportunity for amazon which can be
grabbed by it, by using its strength in the form of selling of diversified or consumer centric
products (Perera, 2017). While due to economic changes or instability in some countries in
addition to the weakness of amazon in terms of not aware or taking care about the changes or
adopting changes in few streams may act as threat for amazon.
Social forces:
Due to increasing trend in digital marketing and online purchasing habit among
customers with the addition of more inclination of amazon towards digital or online platform
may act as opportunity for amazon which can be grabbed by it by using its strength. While due to
increasing the gap between rich and poor in some countries and more sale of costly products by
amazon may act as threat and affect the amazon.
Technological forces:
Due to continuous changes in technology and increasing the efficiency of work with the
use of the latest technology may act as opportunity for amazon which can be availed by it, by
using its strength in the form of technologically advanced company (Teoli and An, 2019). But
due to continuous increase in cyber crime in addition to less precautionary measures taken by
amazon may act as threat for amazon.
Legal factors:

Due to the strength in the form of following the rules and legal framework regarding the
trade or import and export rules by amazon may act as opportunity for it, which could be grabbed
by amazon in the near future and which may leads to increase or expand its business in the long
term.
Environmental factors:
Adopting environmental friendly process or production or sale of eco-friendly products
by amazon in addition to following the environmental laws may help the amazon to grab the
future opportunities which could arise from environmental factors or forces.
Leadership and leadership styles
Leadership:
It is the act by which a leader lead or influence his follower or employees to do the work
or integrate their individual goal with company's goal so that the objective of the company will
be achieved.
Leadership styles:
There are various leadership styles which could be adopted by leader:
Autocratic leadership style:
Under this style, all the power regarding taking of decision are centralized under one
person only which means that an individual is having all the power, or he would be considered as
the head who can control everyone. Under this style the involvement of employees are minimum.
This leadership style also known as authoritative or centralized leadership style.
Democratic leadership style:
This style is just opposite of autocratic leadership style. Under this leadership style,
power doesn't be given to single person which means that the power is also distributed at sub
division level. Under this, the leader before taking any decision always listen the employees view
or suggestion (Khan and Nawaz, 2016). Under this style, the employees involvement and their
preference are given dual consideration.
Laissez faire leadership style:
Under this the leader doesn't have any power to take decision because all power is given
to employees which means employees are having the decision-making power. This is the worst
leadership style because of the fully distribution of power among the employees.

Transformational leadership style:
This type of leadership style is continuously changing which means under this style the
weekly or monthly goals will be given to employees which they have to achieved in the desired
time level which means this leadership style on the one hand helps the company to come closure
towards goal achievement, on the other hand it also motivates the employees to do best and give
their best efforts.
Transactional leadership style:
Under this leadership style, the employees will be given reward as a means of motivation
which means under this style also the employees will be given the target regarding the goal
which they have to achieved within the given time limit and on successful achievement of the
goal they will be rewarded, which will act as a motivation for employees so that they can give
their best or put maximum efforts (Raziq, 2018).
Current leadership and management style used by amazon:
Pragmatist type of leadership style along with authoritative management style is usually
followed by amazon during its operation of the business. This means that under amazon, the
leader set the high standard for the employees and expect that those standard will be meet by
themselves along with all the employees. As amazon is a goal oriented company, who wants to
achieve its goal in the lowest possible time with zero customer grievances (Al Khajeh, 2018).
Thus, amazon usually follow such management and leadership style where chances of delay and
errors or problems never arise which means employees will be given target of a specific time
limit which they have to achieve so that problem regarding the delay will never arise. Also, one
more reason for using this style is fast decision-making which is also very essential for amazon
in operating its business, so that it can meet the demand or needs of the customer within a given
time and at best possible level.
Suitable leadership style
In comparison, of pragmatist leadership style, the transformational leadership style will be more
suitable for amazon which will helps the amazon to even more grow and achieve the objective.
As, under transformational leadership style the leader will work with the employees and would
be able know more about the employees and the changes which are required by the situations,

which will finally helps the leader to make change or transform the leadership style so that the
required change will be meet or employees needs and wants will also be satisfied along with the
achievement of objective by the amazon. By adopting transformational leadership style the
leader will be able to motivate more to the employees which will again plays an important role in
the success of amazon (Choi, Kim and Kang, 2017). Under this leadership style the leader will
be able to encourage or inspire the employees to take initiative or bring innovation so that the
goal of amazon will be achieved more easily with due satisfaction and support or involvement of
employees. By using transformational leadership style the leader will be able to more influence
or encourage the employees by taking their views into consideration and accordingly making the
needed changes in the current situation or leadership style which will not only essential for the
development and growth of amazon but also helps the employees in resolving their current issues
along with employees encouragement (Veliu, 2017). Thus, it would be right to said that when
transformational leadership along with the current management style of amazon will be
combined then it will lead to further growth of the amazon along with achievement of its
objectives.
Responsibilities, response and obligations in their ethics and social responsibilities in the process
at Amazon
CSR is an automatic business model that helps a company be socially accountable to its
stakeholders, itself and the consumers (Cummings, 2018). With better CSR policies, company is
able to work efficiently in the market space and achieve better objectives in regard to their
business. It's a commitment from the organization to manage the social, economic and
environmental effects of its operations responsibly. CSR activities include policies that insist
working only with the partners who follow ethical business practices (Lee and Tariq, 2020). CSR
programmes and initiatives following by Amazon are:
Amazon empowering and educating workers
— Amazon runs career program choices which pre pays 95% of tuitions fees for their
employees to take course for their in demand fields.
— Virtual contact centres allows its customer support employees to avail work from home
services.

— Company offers USD 5000 for 'Pay To Quit' program to their workers who quit to
encourage others.
Employees health and safety at work-place
— In 2020, the company recommends all of their employees globally to work in a role that
can be done from home, for a certain period.— The company have mandated temperature checks at their centres globally to ensure that
their employees, partners, associates and support staff are healthy when they arrive at
work-place.
Gender equality and minorities
— The core of Amazon CSR initiatives are the gender equalities and minorities. There are
around 10 groups in the company that are working in regard to this factor known as
Employee resource groups.— In 2019, the organization launched Business for Social responsibilities for HER project
which attracts around 8000 female employees in their supply chain.
Energy Consumption by Amazon
— The firm heavily investing in wind and solar to reach 80% sustainable energy across
global business operations by 2024.
— The utmost aim of the company is using 100% renewable energy by 2030.
— According to Solar means business report the company stands for ranked #1 in the US for
the on site solar installed in 2018.— Firm planned to maintain the office environment by heating the office space through
'District Energy' system by recycling the heat from a nearby building.
Water Consumption by Amazon
 Company centres have the ability to collect and recycle water collected through rain
water collection tanks and ground water recharge. Organization uses direct evaporative technology for cooling data centres, which reduces
both energy and water consumption.
Waste reduction and recycling
— Company started Packaging free program in a number of cities in which the customers
received their products in their original packagings only.

— Organization claims to eliminate packaging material of 665,000 tons and more than 1.18
billion shipping boxes over the decade.
Carbon Emission
 Company ordered 100,000 electric delivery vehicles to avoid carbon emissions.
 Amazon invests around USD 100 million in reforestation projects globally. The e-commerce giant has pledged to reach zero carbon across the company by 2040.
Amazon supporting local communities
— Near Amazon fulfilment centres throughout the US, Amazon facilitates the donation of
electronic items and gift cards to schools.
— Company organize 'Girls Who Code' events occasionally to help girls who are interested
in coding.
— Organization supports local and national charities with cash and product donations.
Leadership styles followed by Amazon
Amazon has managed to grow and become one of the top companies in the world. Success
and failure, whether a small business or giant enterprise, has something to do with the kind of
leadership they follow while running their business activities in organization. Leadership styles
are the game changers as they cover everything from group dynamics to the culture of the
business (Gandolfi and Stone, 2018).
The leadership style of following organization are classified as Pragmatist. It's a leadership style
in which the leader sets high standards and expects more from its employees (Solanki, 2019).
Amazon has very clear and strict job descriptions and know what to do and what is expected
from them by their consumers. This generally creates less chaos regarding work within
employees as the basic purpose of Amazon is the customer satisfaction.
Large number of employees working at same platform creates confusion regarding work, but
with the help of this leadership style decisions are made quickly. For Amazon, speed matters the
most. According to the firm many actions are reversible and does not require any further study.
Company values calculated risk taking decisions. Company's inexperienced employees can
become productive very quickly with autocratic leadership. Completing the mission with respect
to customer's betterment is the primary role of the company.

However, while studying the leadership style of the Amazon, it feels that the involvement of
transformational leadership style allows their employees being inspired and motivated towards
their work. This leadership style will help them to create a change in the working conditions of
an organization which effects the growth and shape the future success of the company (Jelassi,
2020). Through strong sense of corporate culture, employee ownership and independence in the
workplace at executive level the company is able to accomplish their goals.
The unreasonable high standards among employees, breeding unhealthy competition, insensitive
management, lack of benefits, Favouring criticism in spite of harmony among employees are
some problems faced by Amazon due to their leadership styles. For example employees spend
long working hours on night as well as on holidays, required to attend conference calls on
weekends and faced severe internet issues, due to this they face criticism from their superiors so,
in such conditions the employees feels their work was never done and good enough for the
company. Organization uses stack ranking for their employees while on the other hand other
companies like Microsoft, Accenture have dropped this practise because it leads managers to fire
talent on the basis of their bias decisions.
Thus, the main role of leaders is to focus on the key inputs of their business and deliver the right
quality and in a timely manner to their consumers with correct measures of leadership styles.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is concluded that the factors of business environment are very essential
to be analysed and study by the companies, so that they can meet and achieve their goal.
However, Pestle and SWOT analysis plays an important role in analysing the environment and
helps the companies to identify their actual strengths and weakness by which they can grab the
future opportunities and mitigate the density of threats. Apart from analysis, the leadership and
adoption of appropriate leadership style plays an important role in the proper functioning and
running of the companies. Leadership and its styles also contribute an important part in the goal
achievement of the company. In addition to above, the corporate social responsibilities along
with the ethical concept of business also helps the companies to make their own distinct image in
the competitive market and helps the companies to more expand and achieve the growth in the
future.

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