Impact of Employee Motivation on Organizational Performance: A Case of Amazon

This research examines the impact of employee motivation on organizational performance through an assessment of Amazon's case. It aims to identify the needs of employees, investigate issues faced by Amazon in motivating employees, examine the correlation between employee motivation and organizational performance, and suggest recommended activities for motivating employees and enhancing performance.

Running head: RESEARCH ENQUIRY
RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Table of Contents
1.Introduction...................................................................................................................................2
1.1Research background..............................................................................................................2
1.2Problem Statement..................................................................................................................3
1.3Aim, Objectives and Research questions................................................................................3
1.4Justification and Potential Outputs.........................................................................................4
2.The Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis development..........................................................5
2.1Role of employee motivation in the organizational performance..........................................5
2.2Amazon’s situation and the employee motivation..................................................................9
2.4Hypothesis............................................................................................................................10
3.Methodology...............................................................................................................................10
3.1 Key variables.......................................................................................................................10
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................10
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................11
3.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................11
3.5 Data collection methods......................................................................................................11
3.6Organization of the research project.....................................................................................12
3.7Budget and schedule.............................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................16

2RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Topic: Impact of employee motivation on the organization performance: a case of Amazon
1.Introduction
1.1Research background
Motivation of the employees assist an organization in developing the potentials of the
same while operating on the different objectives of growth and expansion. Shahzadi et al. (2014)
stated that the enhanced rate of motivation among the employees of an organization assist the
same in retaining the skilled workforce. Raziq and Maulabakhsh (2015) stated that the
leadership approach assists an organization in continuing with the efficiency of the operations.
Moreover, Dugguh and Dennis (2014) opined that the flexible working times and the
remuneration policies of an organization are the major factors that determines motivation among
the workforce. Employee satisfaction and the increasing rate of employee engagement in the
different processes assists an organization in enhancing the performance of the same.
On the other hand, Cania (2014) argued that the main aspect of the motivation among
the workforce is reliant on the collaborative functioning of the employees with the management
of the venture. Therefore, it might be noted that the development of inter- trust factors through
efficient communication between the management and the workforce assist an organization in
developing the performance. The policies and regulations that are framed by the organizational
management assist a venture in developing the motivation among the workforce for improving
the rate of engagement and productivity.
The research will aim at examining the manner in which motivation assists an
organization through empowering and encouraging the employees for increasing their rate of
involvement through investigation of Amazon’s case. The research will delineate the leadership
structure and the different policies and procedures in Amazon which is reflected through the

3RESEARCH ENQUIRY
level of motivation of the employees. The research will make use of Maslow’s Hierarchy of
needs with the objective of understanding the needs of the employees and the steps that are
undertaken by the businesses for improving the rate of motivation among the employees.
1.2Problem Statement
The lack of motivation and inter-trust factor between the management and the workforce
affects the capabilities of the organizations in improving the efficiency of the operations. On the
other hand, the organizational culture and sensitivity of the management towards the employees
also influence the potentials of the ventures in improving the rate of inclusiveness. In this
relation, the concerned organization, Amazon, face different issues while keeping the workforce
motivated, which incapacitated the organization in retaining the skilled employees. The issues
relating to unhealthy competition among co-workers, insensitive management, lack of benefits
and expectations of the organizational management affecting the work- life balance of the
employees. The research will identify the different expectations of the employees and the manner
in which the same contradicted with the higher standards and the culture of the aforesaid
organization.
1.3Aim, Objectives and Research questions
The aim of undertaking the research is to examine the impact of employee motivation on the
organizational performance through an assessment of the Amazon’s case.
The research objectives will be:
 To identify the needs of employee relating to motivation
 To investigate the issues that are faced by Amazon in motivating the employees

4RESEARCH ENQUIRY
 To examine the correlation between employee motivation and organizational
performance
 To suggest recommended activities for the organization with the objective of motivating
the employees and thereby enhancing the performance of the same
The research questions for the study will be:
 What are the needs of an employee relating to motivation?
 What are the issues that are faced by Amazon in motivating the employees?
 How is employee motivation related to the organizational performance?
 What are the recommended activities that might be commenced by the organization with
the objective of motivating the employees and enhancing the performance of the same?
1.4Justification and Potential Outputs
The research is essential as it will identify different psychological, emotional and
beneficiary needs of the employees which might be considered by the organizations in order to
retain the workforce and motivate the same for enhancing the processes. The research will
develop a coherent delineation of the different factors that might be considered by the
organizations while motivating the employees with the aim of improving their performance in
the different markets. The research will assist the future researches through a basic idea on the
different factors that influence the motivational aspects in the workplace.
The research will assist the end users, the managers and the policy makers in developing
a suitable understanding of the manner in which the different activities might be systematically
designed with the purpose of keeping the workforce motivated and focused. The research will
assist the managers in understanding the expectations of the employees. On the other hand, the

5RESEARCH ENQUIRY
research will assist organizations in developing an appropriate working culture for empowering
the activities of the workforce. Most essentially, the research will assist in developing the
operations of Amazon through delineation of the faults and the manner in which the management
might overcome the challenges with the aim of empowering and motivating the employees.
2.The Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis development
2.1Role of employee motivation in the organizational performance
Employee motivation is one of the crucial steps that are undertaken by the organizations
with the aim of maintaining the efficiency of the performance of the ventures. Cania (2014)
reflected that the enhanced rate of employee commitment in the different processes are reliant on
the efficiency of the organizations in keeping the workforce motivated. The enhanced
functioning of the processes in an organization is reliant on the development of motivation
among the employees. On the other hand, Bedarkar and Pandita (2014) opined that enhanced rate
of motivation among the employees assist an organization in developing the inclusiveness of
the same. The performance of the organizations are reliant on the improvements in the
productivity and the quality of the offerings. In this relation, employee motivation programs
assist an organization in developing the potentials of the same in increasing the involvement of
the members in the different processes.
The enhanced rate of motivation among the employees of an organization assist the
venture in ensuring the commitment and satisfaction while retaining the workforce. Lăzăroiu
(2015) stated that the retention of the skilled workforce in the organizational processes assists an
organization in improving the efficiency of the operations in adherence to the sustenance related
needs of the same. In this relation, the policies and procedures that are planned by the
organizational management affects the capacity of the venture in keeping the workforce

6RESEARCH ENQUIRY
motivated and focused on achieving the common goals of the same. The developments in the
organizational processes are reliant on the involvement of the employees in the different
processes.
The leadership approach and the policies that are framed by the organizations assist the
same in developing the rate of employee satisfaction and retention while developing different
processes. Barrick et al. (2015) opined that the different aspects of change in the organizational
operations and performance are related to the performance and contribution of the employees.
On the other hand, Paillé et al. (2014) argued that the steps that are undertaken by the
organizations for developing the skills of the employees through .suitable training programs
assist in retaining while empowering the workforce. The efficiency of the operations that are
commenced by the organizations are reliant on the integrated operations of the employees. In this
relation, the leaders play a major role in motivating the employees through enhancement of the
communication. Enhanced communication assists the business leaders in understanding the
issues that are being faced by the workforce and thereby mitigating the same.
The delineation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in this connection assists in identifying
the expectation of the employees from the management. The model clearly segregated the needs
relating to psychology, self esteem, safety, belongingness and self actualization. Datta (2014)
opined that the delineation of Maslow’s hierarchy while understanding the expectations of the
employees would assist the management in delivering the right proposition sin suitable
proportions. The development of the basic needs of an employee is based on the remuneration
that is being received by the same. It helps the same in developing motivation and commitment
towards the work. On the other hand, the security and safety of the employees are both
psychological and physical needs of the employees while operating in an organizational process.

7RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Self esteem and self actualization are reliant on the performance of the employees and the
amount of reward and recognition that is received by the same for their contributions. Therefore,
Lăzăroiu (2015) opined that the delineation of the needs and expectations of the employees
would assist the organizational managers in maintaining the efficiency of the operations in
adherence to the sustenance related objectives of the same.
Figure 1: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
(Source: Datta, 2014)
Kianto, Vanhala and Heilmann (2016) noted that the mitigation of the issues that are
being faced by the workforce assists an organization in continuing with the efficiency of the

8RESEARCH ENQUIRY
operations while adhering to the sustenance related demands. Therefore, the different processes
that are undertaken by the organization are reliant on the efficiency of the operations in
adherence to the demand of the employees. On the other hand, the mutual trust and interactions
between the management and the employees assist an organization in improving the rate of
satisfaction among the employees. Therefore, the transparency of the operations and the
collaborative functioning of the management with the employees assist an organization in
maintaining the efficiency of the operations in adherence to the needs of sustenance (Ko & Hur,
2014).
However, Al Mehrzi and Singh (2016) opined that remuneration and considerations
relating to the work-life balance are significant factors that assists an organizational management
in ensuring the enhancements in the rate of retention and satisfaction among the employees. In
this relation, remuneration and compensation that are received by the employees for their
contributions towards the organizational growth plays the role of major motivating agents.
Appropriate salary and compensation structure assists an organization in improving the rate of
satisfaction and thereby enhances the productivity.
On the other hand, Cerasoli, Nicklin and Ford (2014) argued that the developments in
the organizational performance is reliant on the rewards and recognitions that are provided by the
organizational managers for the unique contributions that are made by the individuals or groups.
The rewards and recognition programs assist an organization in developing positive competition
among the workforce which assists a venture in enhancing the arte of productivity while
operating in different business situations. Jyoti and Dev (2015) stated that the delineation of the
psychological expectations of the employees assist organizations in improving the process
design. The integrative functioning of the workforce with the management of an organization

9RESEARCH ENQUIRY
assists in developing the potentials of enhancing the performance of the same. Therefore, the
different activities that are commenced by the businesses are designed with the aim of motivating
the employees for enhancing the operations.
2.2Amazon’s situation and the employee motivation
The concerned organization, Amazon, created an opportunity for educating and training
the employees through the enumeration of the Amazon Career Choice program through which
the organization pre-pays up to $12,000 as tuition fees and textbooks (Jiang & Liu, 2015). The
program is aimed towards fulfilling the needs of the hourly associates of the venture who are
interested in earning certificates in high demand occupations. The program has assisted the
venture in developing the potentials of the existing employees while adhering to the different
educational needs of the same (Elnaga & Imran, 2014).
On the other hand, the CEO of Amazon, aimed at ensuring the retention of the employees
through promising the employees with a pay of $2,000 along with a month’s salary if they are
willing to leave their jobs right away (Dhar, 2015). The reverse psychology is aimed at
identifying the different opinions that are held by the employees while operating in their
respective job roles for the organization. Jeff Bezos stated in a research that the reverse approach
helped the same in identifying the mindset of the people and thereby retaining the motivated
employees (Habib et al., 2014).
However, Van Wingerden, Derks and Bakker (2017) opined in a research that the
negative workplace culture and the unhealthy competition among the co-workers has affected the
potentials of Amazon in developing a collaborative and motivated workforce. It has also being
noted that Jeff Bezos instilled fear in the minds of the workers rather than motivating the same to
enhance their rate of performance. In an interview Jeff Bezos stated that fear of termination

10RESEARCH ENQUIRY
rather than motivation with rewards will drive the productivity of the organization and motivate
the employees to perform in adherence to the common objectives of the venture (Temminck,
Mearns & Fruhen, 2015). On the other hand, Saleem (2015) stated that the Amazon developed
strategies for improving the optimum productivity of the employees which hampered the work-
life balance of the workforce.
The policies and procedures that are followed by the organization affected the potentials
of retaining the focus and motivation of the employees to operate in accordance to the common
objectives of sustenance. On the other hand, the higher standards that are imposed by the
organization on the operations of the employees affected the potentials of the venture in
developing the operations of the same. Therefore, the compromised work life balance of the
employees affected the potentials of the venture in maintaining the efficiency of the operations in
adherence to the demand of the customers.
2.4Hypothesis
H0 - Employee motivation has no significant relation with the organizational performance
H1 - Employee motivation has a significant relation with the organizational performance
3.Methodology
3.1 Key variables
Employee motivation will be considered as the independent variable for the research
study while the dependent variable will be organizational performance. The research will aim at
identifying the impact of employee motivation on the organizational performance. Therefore, the
organizational performance will be portrayed as a dependent factor on the rate of employee
motivation.

11RESEARCH ENQUIRY
3.2 Research philosophy
The research will be conducted through the utilization of the Positivism philosophy,
which will assist in developing coherent argumentation on the different factors relating to the
impact of employee performance on the organizational performance. The positivism philosophy
will assist in enriching the research through the suitable development of insights based on
reviews from the scientific theorems related to psychology and needs of the employees and
correlate the same with the management theories (Choy, 2014). Therefore, the implementation
of the positivism philosophy will assist in developing a coherent research on the impact of
employee motivation on the organizational performance.
3.3 Research approach
The research will be commenced through the utilization of Deductive approach which
will assist in developing the coherent research study while retrieving information from different
reliable and available sources. The information will be retrieved through reviewing different
literatures and data from the questionnaires. Therefore, the deductive approach will assist in
enhancing the quality of the research paper.
3.4 Research Design
The research study will be conducted through the implementation of Explanatory
research design, which will assist in identifying the cause and effect relation between employee
motivation and organizational performance. The explanatory design will assist the rate of
dependence of the variables while calculating the rate of dependence of organizational
performance on the different aspects of employee motivation.

12RESEARCH ENQUIRY
3.5 Data collection methods
The research will be undertaken through Primary Quantitative data collection which will
aim at gathering responses from the employees of Amazon. A survey questionnaire consisting of
30 open ended questions will be forwarded to a sample size of 200 employees of Amazon, which
will assist in identifying the amenities provided by the organization and the workplace culture.
The survey will gather the responses of the employees and analyzed through the utilization of
regression assessment and T testing. The P value will be calculated and checked if it is below
0.05 (P value < 0.05), which will culminate to the significant relation through considering the
positive hypothesis (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015).
3.6Organization of the research project
The research report would be segregated into different chapters where the first chapter
would signify introduction, whereas the second and third chapters would signify literature review
and methodology respectively. The fourth and fifth chapters would signify research findings
analysis and discussion respectively. The systematic and coherent distribution of the different
chapters in the research report will assist in maintaining the efficiency of the study’s findings.
3.7Budget and schedule
Budget
Tasks Estimated costs
Literature review $1,200
Data collection $4,500
Data analysis $2,000
Total costs $7,700

13RESEARCH ENQUIRY

14RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Schedule
Task
Mode Task Name Duration Start Finish
Auto
Scheduled Research plan 87 days Tue 5/28/19 Wed 9/25/19
Auto
Scheduled Topic selection 5 days Tue 5/28/19 Mon 6/3/19
Auto
Scheduled
Identify suitable topics
for research 2 days Tue 5/28/19 Wed 5/29/19
Auto
Scheduled confirm with lecturer 2 days Thu 5/30/19 Fri 5/31/19
Auto
Scheduled finalizing topic 1 day Mon 6/3/19 Mon 6/3/19
Auto
Scheduled
Milestone 1: topic
selected 0 days Mon 6/3/19 Mon 6/3/19
Auto
Scheduled
Secondary data
collection 12 days Tue 6/4/19 Wed 6/19/19
Auto
Scheduled
Search for web articles
and peer reviewed journals 7 days Tue 6/4/19 Wed 6/12/19
Auto
Scheduled
Selection of significant
sources 2 days Thu 6/13/19 Fri 6/14/19
Auto
Scheduled
Designing the research
layout 3 days Mon 6/17/19 Wed 6/19/19
Auto
Scheduled
Milestone 2: Secondary
data collected 0 days Wed 6/19/19 Wed 6/19/19
Auto
Scheduled Literature review 21 days Thu 6/20/19 Thu 7/18/19
Auto
Scheduled
Critical evaluation of
collected data 12 days Thu 6/20/19 Fri 7/5/19
Auto
Scheduled annotated bibliography 4 days Mon 7/8/19 Thu 7/11/19
Auto
Scheduled
Literature review
formation 5 days Fri 7/12/19 Thu 7/18/19
Auto
Scheduled
Milestone 3: Literature
review completed 0 days Thu 7/18/19 Thu 7/18/19
Auto
Scheduled
Research methodology
and Analysis 11 days Fri 7/19/19 Fri 8/2/19
Auto
Scheduled
Identification of
research techniques 5 days Fri 7/19/19 Thu 7/25/19
Auto
Scheduled
validity and reliability
study 6 days Fri 7/26/19 Fri 8/2/19
Auto Milestone 4: Research 0 days Fri 8/2/19 Fri 8/2/19

15RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Scheduled methods selected
Auto
Scheduled
Data collection from
primary sources 15 days Mon 8/5/19 Fri 8/23/19
Auto
Scheduled Gather raw data 7 days Mon 8/5/19 Tue 8/13/19
Auto
Scheduled
Data analysis using
SPSS 8 days Wed 8/14/19 Fri 8/23/19
Auto
Scheduled
Milestone 5: primary
data analyzed 0 days Fri 8/23/19 Fri 8/23/19
Auto
Scheduled Conclusion of the Study 23 days Mon 8/26/19 Wed 9/25/19
Auto
Scheduled rough draft formation 10 days Mon 8/26/19 Fri 9/6/19
Auto
Scheduled Discuss with professor 6 days Mon 9/9/19 Mon 9/16/19
Auto
Scheduled
make amendments and
submit 7 days Tue 9/17/19 Wed 9/25/19
Auto
Scheduled
Milestone 5: Project
concluded 0 days Wed 9/25/19 Wed 9/25/19

16RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Gantt chart

17RESEARCH ENQUIRY
References
Al Mehrzi, N., & Singh, S. K. (2016). Competing through employee engagement: a proposed
framework. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(6),
831-843.
Barrick, M. R., Thurgood, G. R., Smith, T. A., & Courtright, S. H. (2015). Collective
organizational engagement: Linking motivational antecedents, strategic implementation,
and firm performance. Academy of Management journal, 58(1), 111-135.
Bedarkar, M., & Pandita, D. (2014). A study on the drivers of employee engagement impacting
employee performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 133, 106-115.
Cania, L. (2014). The impact of strategic human resource management on organizational
performance. Economia. Seria Management, 17(2), 373-383.
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic
incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological
bulletin, 140(4), 980.
Choy, L. T. (2014). The strengths and weaknesses of research methodology: Comparison and
complimentary between qualitative and quantitative approaches. IOSR Journal of
Humanities and Social Science, 19(4), 99-104.
Datta, Y. (2014). Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs: An ecological view. Oxford Journal: An
International Journal of Business & Economics, 8(1).
Dhar, R. L. (2015). Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of
organizational commitment. Tourism Management, 46, 419-430.

18RESEARCH ENQUIRY
Dugguh, S. I., & Dennis, A. (2014). Job satisfaction theories: Traceability to employee
performance in organizations. IOSR journal of business and management, 16(5), 11-18.
Elnaga, A. A., & Imran, A. (2014). The impact of employee empowerment on job satisfaction:
theoretical study. American Journal of Research Communication, 2(1), 13-26.
Habib, S., Aslam, S., Hussain, A., Yasmeen, S., & Ibrahim, M. (2014). The impact of
organizational culture on job satisfaction, employess commitment and turn over
Intention. Advances in Economics and Business, 2(6), 215-222.
Jiang, J. Y., & Liu, C. W. (2015). High performance work systems and organizational
effectiveness: The mediating role of social capital. Human Resource Management
Review, 25(1), 126-137.
Jyoti, J., & Dev, M. (2015). The impact of transformational leadership on employee creativity:
the role of learning orientation. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 9(1), 78-98.
Kianto, A., Vanhala, M., & Heilmann, P. (2016). The impact of knowledge management on job
satisfaction. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(4), 621-636.
Ko, J., & Hur, S. (2014). The impacts of employee benefits, procedural justice, and managerial
trustworthiness on work attitudes: Integrated understanding based on social exchange
theory. Public Administration Review, 74(2), 176-187.
Lăzăroiu, G. (2015). Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical
Investigations, (14), 97-102.
Lăzăroiu, G. (2015). Work motivation and organizational behavior. Contemporary Readings in
Law and Social Justice, 7(2), 66-75.

19RESEARCH ENQUIRY
McCusker, K., & Gunaydin, S. (2015). Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed
methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), 537-542.
Paillé, P., Chen, Y., Boiral, O., & Jin, J. (2014). The impact of human resource management on
environmental performance: An employee-level study. Journal of Business
Ethics, 121(3), 451-466.
Raziq, A., & Maulabakhsh, R. (2015). Impact of working environment on job
satisfaction. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, 717-725.
Saleem, H. (2015). The impact of leadership styles on job satisfaction and mediating role of
perceived organizational politics. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 172, 563-
569.
Shahzadi, I., Javed, A., Pirzada, S. S., Nasreen, S., & Khanam, F. (2014). Impact of employee
motivation on employee performance. European Journal of Business and
Management, 6(23), 159-166.
Temminck, E., Mearns, K., & Fruhen, L. (2015). Motivating employees towards sustainable
behaviour. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(6), 402-412.
Van Wingerden, J., Derks, D., & Bakker, A. B. (2017). The impact of personal resources and job
crafting interventions on work engagement and performance. Human Resource
Management, 56(1), 51-67.

20RESEARCH ENQUIRY