This project explores the concept of leadership in the 21st century and its impact on organizations. It discusses value-based leadership, corporate social responsibility, and ethical practices in the Amazon. The project also highlights leadership principles and their application in creating a value-based organization.
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Leadership in 21stCentury
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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3 MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3 Leadership & CSR.......................................................................................................................3 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11 REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION Leadership is a procedure of social group influence, which optimize the efforts of others towards the accomplishment of a common goal of the organization. It is both an investigation area and an applicable skill embracing the ability of a single, unit or an organization to lead, impact and guide other members as an individual as well as entire organization. Leadership is an important function of the management which helps to intensify the fecundity and to accomplish organizational goals. It is a necessary part and a critical component of effectual management which helps to increase effectiveness and to achieve organizational objectives. This project will study about the leadership in the Amazon and how the leaders are doing the practices by using value based approaches. In addition to value based approach, this project will also highlight the concept of corporate social responsibility along with its evaluation of approaches of the leaders in the Amazon. MAIN BODY Leadership & CSR Leadership is not just about the leader, but it is also about the growth and positive change that a leader can bring about while working with others in an organization or at workplace. Leaders are identified by their ability to influence the peers, subordinates and stakeholders. Values-based leaders take influence one step further (Daniëls, 2019). They use leadership to inspire and motivate others in an effort to make positive changes in an organization and make the world a better place to run a business. Leadership is a quality that is not only followed by decision makers but also by every individual contributing to the organization's success. The main thing that makes the Amazon unique is the leadership principles that lead to decision-making regarding problem solving, productivity and quality (Rudolph, 2018). There are four basic principles that form the foundation of value-based leadership philosophy which describes how they should be applied to create a value-based organization. Four principles includes Self-reflection, balance & perspective, true-self confidence and genuine humility.Self Reflection:It is essential to regulate one's value, as well as analysing choices and decisions. Authentic leadership comes from self understanding. Its purpose is to focus on right things to make choices clearly visible and easier. Without self-reflection, it is difficult to know what matters the most and on what one have to stay its focused on (Sengupta, 2019). One of the major benefit of self-reflection to Amazon is that it enables
the managers to take time out and evaluate situations from a comprehensible perspective. With the help of this, the leaders are able to identify certain decision-making patterns. Self-reflection helps leaders of the company to prioritize its tasks or decisions and focus on areas where the organization is most likely to succeed. Amazon engages via different ways in self-reflection such as keeping a journal. However, the most important practice is to reserve a time in which the company management and marketing teams cannot share opinions or additional information about the firm generally known as quiet period where it is possible to focus on such activities.Balance and perspective:This is the second principle of value-based leadership. With the help of this principle the individuals take a balanced viewpoint in the organization and the employees are able to see issues from many perspectives. It helps the leaders of Amazon to make decisions with better understanding and proper and broad impact. For this the leaders have to gather inputs from the other team members before making any decisions and this also creates an image in the mind of the employees that their leaders are listening to their view points as well. Combination of self-reflection and balance elevated the leadership on Amazon to higher level. On the other hand, sometimes leaders hesitate to involve subordinates in decision-making because they feel that employees may feel dissatisfied if their recommendations or suggestions are not adopted by their leaders. But it is generally noticed that team members feel satisfied if they are given an explanation for why a decision was taken by their leaders. In the company, the important element of balance followed by their leaders is to gather input from team members while making decisions with a sense of urgency as well.True self-confidence:With the help of true self-confidence leaders are able to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. Poor decisions taken by the leaders is due to lack of self- confidence and their hesitation to collect inputs from their team-mates for support. Leaders self-confidence motivate teams to provide feedback and to challenge other opinions even of the leader as well. With the help of confident leaders the Amazon leads the team members of their organization to be the better part of the team and due to this the leaders also feel that courage to speak up when they feel something wrong while taking decisions for the organization which ultimately helps the firm to achieve its objectives and goals in a better way. The advantage of self-confident leaders is that they
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create an environment of self- confidence in individuals also which helps them to rely on other team members with complementary abilities. With the help of self- reflection and balance the level of comfort and greater understanding achieved by the leaders in organization which somehow creates a level of self-confidence in the employees. Genuine humility:This is the fourth and the final principle of value-based leadership approach. Leaders of Amazon have adopted this principle to value it's each and every employee with respect regardless of their title. Generally, it is seen in organizations that peoples in position of power caught up with their titles and develop inflated egos in themselves. This particular situation separates them from team and become a target of criticism in front of everyone. A leader with genuine humility connects well with their subordinates at every level which ultimately motivates the team to help the leaders to become successful. To maintain genuine humility within the organization, it is important to surrounded with the peoples who will relate honestly with the leader and communicate with them without any hesitation. This practice enables to gather valuable information from front-line workers. Adoption of genuine humility in the Amazon enables their leaders to highlight that every person adds some value, and they are not valued only on the basis of their titles or proportion of their power. Apart from value based leadership principles few other leadership principles followed by the Amazon are: Customer Obsession:Amazon works on the customer obsession principle according to which understanding clients and taking their feedbacks on the products are the major part. This focuses more on the customers' retention by executing brand loyalty to them in order to gain trust of the consumers. For the company, the customers' lifestyle really matters a lot. With the help of their values the leaders work efficiently to earn and keep customer trust. Invent and simplify:Leaders always expect innovations from there team members and look for new ideas from large perspective. But it is also the fact that implementing new ideas, there is always a threat if it would not connect with the target audience. The only way to get over this is to introduce user-friendly innovations and an environment in which the employees share their views without hesitation which creates the involvement of value based leadership.
Learn to be curious:This is most important principle for the leaders of Amazon as they always want something new from their employees for their products. It is the curiosity which helps the members to work on the achievement of organizational goals and objectives in a better way. Hire and develop the best:Leaders always tries to hire the employees who are beneficialfortheirfirmandcanmovethecompanytowardsthesuccessofthe organization. The CEO of the Amazon states that interviewing 50 peoples and did not hire a single person is a better situation than hire a wrong person on the position in the company (Arnett, 2018). Earn trust:Leaders in the Amazon are very much attentive and frank in nature with their subordinates which creates an environment of not feeling hesitate and embarrassed due to lack of knowledge. They set their goals and objectives for their team-mates according to the achievement of the organization overall performance goals. In such way they are able to gain trust of employees as well as consumers. Deep dive:In the Amazon, leaders operate at all levels, audit frequently and are doubtful when benchmark and reminiscence differs. Deliver results:Leaders of the institution concentrate on the key stimulation for their enterprise and deliver them with the correct quality in a timely manner. Ethical practices are key to the leadership approach for creating vision in the organization and making decisions for the accomplishment of objectives and goals of the Amazon. There is a distinct variation between being just a leader and being a superior (Ciulla, 2020). Where a boss orders and manages, a leader guides and inspires others. The divergence lies in between how one make their employees feel and how to view kinship with them. Leaders in the Amazon sees it as their duty to stimulate, guide and upbringing their employees to help them improve. Ethical leadership is in one or another context similar to the value-based leadership approach. It is also a management variety that works for the administration. Ethical practices with respect to value- based leadership approach are: Positive culture:Employees team spirit improves when they work backside an ethical leader. Leaders in the Amazon have capacity to inspire those working with them to perform at their peak.
Improved brand image:With the help of effective leadership in the organization, the Amazon offers there best to build their brand image in market space. Loyalty:Both employees and consumers are more likely to remain faithful to company that hire ethical and genuine leaders. Improved emotional well-being:Workplace space can hurt potency level at a company, if leadership is noxious, then efficiency power of employees decreases. Amazon beliefs to create an ethical and value-based environment for their employees with the help of certain activities at the time of choosing the leaders for the organization and maintaining them. Hiring people with similar values are most important for the institution(Pinto- Garay, 2019). Establishment believes that every person is not fit for every company. The managers need to do a better job, guarantee that they find people who are similar with their valuesratherthanjust hiringthemfor experience.Another activityistopromoteopen communication within the organization. The Amazon feels that open communication should be pleased by the leaders of the organization to maintain a valuable and balanced environment for the employees which improves the overall productivity. Providing appropriate training to their subordinates also effects the environment within the organization as it also helps in sharing the values among others. Moral behaviour always highlight through training possibilities(Agarwal, 2020). The successful values based leaders will acknowledge individual and professional beliefs. Value based leadership is not only about recognizing leaders personal needs for status and fame. The importance of this leadership style has been identified but the unusual things about such leaders is the consistency of that behaviour. If the leaders remain consistent with their behaviour pattern then they come under the consideration of displaying a high degree of selflessness as they do not impose their personal agendas on their followers. Value-based leaders find personal satisfaction by providing the opportunity for others to realize their goals and potential.Leaders who refer the philosophy of value based leadership approach are probably experienced certain internal benefits such as leaders will be able to make better choices that are comfortable for them to act upon. Second, the leaders are likely to build better, more trustable and less disagreeable kinship with their subordinates or followers. Another one is that the leaders are more likely to feel aligned with their 'authentic self' which means doing work showing authenticity, leading
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with humbleness and keeping in mind that we all are human beings and doing the best according to individual capabilities. Authentic leaders are always taken actions from their highest values. CorporateSocialResponsibilityisthecrucialconceptofmanagementwhereby companies like Amazon integrate environmental and social apprehensions in their operations of business and their interaction with the various stakeholders(Advantage,2020). In simple words this concept of CSR is basically understood a manner in which Amazon achieves balance between the economic, social and environmental imperatives, at the same time conveying the expectations of its shareholders and stakeholders. It is the type of approach of business to increase its sustainable development by several benefits. It is the essence that with the help of CSR, to look beyond the profits of company and pivot on providing the more profits to the community. In the recent times, CSR the importance of doing something or contributing towards the society is growing bigger, which means that reputation of the Amazon is based on the feeling of public. Being one of the largest giant, CSR has become its obligation but contributing towards its provide Amazon various benefits which are discussed below: Customers these days assess the Public image while buying from the company, so it helps the company in enhancing there Public image. Amazon involves its staff in volunteering for the charity programmes which reflects that the company is committed and involved in helping others. This shows customers that it is favourable to consumers. IthelpsAmazoninincreasingitsbrandawarenessandrecognition,companyis committed towards operating its business in ethical manner(Wang and Sarkis, 2017). The news of its ethical practices spreads and make people more conscious about its brand. It also uses the practice of recyclable packaging and less material in its packaging, this ensures that the packaging cost is reduced, minimizing its production costs. Doing CSR helps Amazon in providing the competitive advantages over its rivals, this also helps the company in having standing out in all the e-commerce business and focusing more social and environmental factors can help company in going one step further. Using CSR increases the customer engagement as consumers purchasing from the company develops faith that company is taking so many initiatives and facilitate them with the easiness, employee engagement(Bhardwaj and et.al., 2018). It is observed that
employees' engagement is increased they inclined towards performing better and turn out to be asset for the companyare also and more benefits to employees, using sustainable systems, strategies and make the workplace environment positive also encourages the growth of the employees and when the company is focused on the professional growth of employee, they also put more of their efforts. Socialgoodalsohelpsinimprovingtheinnovationandcollaboration,whenthe employees of Amazon engage in the CSR activities of the company, they get to now moreaboutthepotentialclientsanddevelopcommunicationskills,enhancetheir leadership qualities. Therefore, it can be concluded that these activities are proven to make the company's management and employees more collaborative and is helpful for bringing innovation in the company. There 4 common approaches of CSR that is considered by Amazon in order to become socially responsible like any other corporate that discussed in detail below: Obstructive- Obtrusive can be called as deceitful approach in CSR. Obstruct basically means to block, which means that this approach is more concerned with the profits. Companies using this approach just think about making profits, deceive consumers and exploit employees. Being obstructive nature, this approach is not used by the company. Accommodating– This approach of CSR is related to the ethical issue, and in the ethical consideration people and companycanselectorchoosewhatistherightandwrongintheparticularsituation (Aguinis,Villamor and Gabriel2020). Previously this approach was selected and implemented by Amazon because it does all its business practices in ethical manner and contribute towards the society and community willingly as per the (considering) guidance and laws of the different government in distinct countries. Accommodating is one of the best approaches. Defensive- This approach of CSR is not as appalling as the previous obstructive one, corporates using this approach certainly perform and contribute better in meeting their obligation towards the social responsibility. Amazon is very concerned about its image and doe not want to involve in any legal actions considering this factor it does not use this approach as well, its primary objective is not only earning profit but also contribute towards the communities.
Proactive- This approach focuses onsuch business practices that is adopted by some corporates, and they decide voluntarily to go beyond the regulatory and legal requirements that contributes towards the sustainable development and contribute broadly and emphatically towards the society. With the growth of Amazon's business, it realises that it has gained everything from the people and nature so it is there foremost responsibility towards them(Sánchez, Moránand and Pérez, 2020). So company decided to go beyond its legal requirements and contribute in all aspects for this company regularly plan and share their concept of fulfilling social responsibility with its shareholders and stakeholders. Being the largest e-commerce giant, Amazon was previously criticized for its lack of commitment towards the CSR, with the growth of this concept company's executives started to focus on its obligations towards the environment and communities. Here are few initiatives that Amazon takes in order to fulfil its obligation towards CSR. Times of pandemic Recently, Amazon has developed the fund that is focused on contribution for supporting the delivery partners and other related stakeholders, facilitate the gifts and donation with the Amazon Device to the schools that are located towards Amazon's fulfilment centres, it has also promoted training of coding to the girls by hosting online event and supports the local non- profits institutions with donations and payments in the hard time of global pandemic of Corona Virus. Initiative towards education and empowerment of Workers Amazon has its career choice programs for workers and employees for which company pays up to 95% of fee on courses such as air-plane mechanic, nursing etc. and it can be seen this programs are attended by more than 10k employees globally(Cherry, 2018). Company has virtual contact centre, enables Amazon's employees who are provides the service to customers can work from home. It also offered the warehouse workers who can quit to motivate them to think about what they really want. Healthy and Safety of all Employees Amazon takes the complete care about its employees health and security by considering that it provides the life insurance, health insurance to all and considering the need of an hour Amazon
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has recommended all its employees to work from the safety of their homes at the time of Corona virus for the certain time period. Consumption of Energy - The e-commerce and one of the prime cloud computing company Amazon, these days is profoundly investing huge amount on solar and wind energy in order to reach up-to 80% renewable energy across all its operations by the end of 2024 and it has the ultimate aim of using complete 100% renewable energy in its all business activities. Consumption of Water In its fulfilment centre, its has the facility ofstoring and recycling water that is attained from rainwater or recharge wells. Amazon utilizes the technology of direct evaporative for cooling its data centres, remarkably minimizing the water consumption and energy protecting resources. Water depletion and recycling It has initiated the packaging-free programs in several cities, Amazon ships the products in their original packaging eliminating any other packaging and taking care that it is delivered safety. Three years back company also celebrated Frustration-free packaging on its 10thanniversary, it eliminated tons of packaging substances which also saved its cost of production. Carbon Emission The Largest e-commerce retailer, has 44,40 million tons of total carbon footprint last year, it has pledged to expand its technology and employees to make the company zero carbon till 2040 (Amazon Corporate Social Responsibility, 2020). This is an essential step in direction of to attain zero-carbon 50% in all its shipments. E-commerce giant has arranged complete-electric vehicles for delivery purpose and invested 100 million in reforestation project worldwide. Sustainable Sourcing Amazon Inc. is the representative of one of the largest cotton organization (BCI), which arrange the major cotton sustainability program in the world. Company have signed the contract related to responsive sourcing network's citizen undertaking with certain countries till the pervasive utilization of government authorization forced labour is stopped. CONCLUSION Inthisreport,theconceptofleadershipinexplainedindetailwhichgivesthedepth understanding of the value based approach in Amazon that is based on the culture of shared values with its alignment between the personal values and the company. Ethical practices helps
Amazon in the leadership approaches for creating vision and decision-making. The following report also addresses the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, Amazon's approach towards and practices towards achieving it and getting various benefits by contributing willingly towards economic, social and environmental and making its business sustainable.
REFERENCES Books and journals Advantage, C., 2020. Corporate Social Responsibility.CSR and Socially Responsible Investing Strategies in Transitioning and Emerging Economies.p.65. Agarwal, S. and Bhal, K.T., 2020. A Multidimensional Measure of Responsible Leadership: Integrating Strategy and Ethics.Group & Organization Management.45(5). pp.637- 673. Aguinis, H., Villamor, I. and Gabriel, K.P., 2020. Understanding employee responses to COVID- 19: a behavioral corporate social responsibility perspective.Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management. Arnett, J., Goldfinch, B. and Chinta, R., 2018. Multi-dimensional nature of innovation at Amazon.International Journal of Business Innovation and Research.15(1). pp.1-13. Bhardwaj,P.,andet.al.,2018.Whenandhowiscorporatesocialresponsibility profitable?.Journal of Business Research.84. pp.206-219. Cherry, M.A., 2018. Corporate Social Responsibility and Crowdwashing in the Gig Economy.. Louis ULJ.63. p.1. Ciulla, J.B., 2020. Business ethics as moral imagination. InThe Search for Ethics in Leadership, Business, and Beyond(pp. 121-129). Springer, Cham. Daniëls, E., Hondeghem, A. and Dochy, F., 2019. A review on leadership and leadership development in educational settings.Educational research review.27.pp.110-125. Pinto-Garay, J., 2019. Virtue Ethics in Business: Scale and Scope'.Business Ethics (Business and Society 360, Volume 3). Emerald Publishing Limited.pp.67-86. Rudolph, C.W., Rauvola, R.S. and Zacher, H., 2018. Leadership and generations at work: A critical review.The Leadership Quarterly.29(1).pp.44-57. Sánchez‐Torné,I.,Morán‐Álvarez,J.C.andPérez‐López,J.A.,2020.Theimportanceof corporate social responsibility in achieving high corporate reputation.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.27(6). pp.2692-2700. Sengupta,S.S.,2019.Creatingvalue-basedorganizationalenvironmentthroughintegral leadership.IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior.18(2). pp.7-24. Wang, Z. and Sarkis, J., 2017. Corporate social responsibility governance, outcomes, and financial performance.Journal of Cleaner Production.162. pp.1607-1616. Online Amazon Corporate Social Responsibility, 2020 [Online]. Available through: <https://research- methodology.net/amazon-corporate-social-responsibility-2/> 1
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