Case Study on Zappos: Transparency, Ethics and Culture

This case study analyzes Zappos' primary objective, transparency with customers and employees, ethical issues, and corporate culture. Learn how Zappos maintains transparency and ethical standards.

Running head: CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Answer to Question 1......................................................................................................................2
Answer to Question 2......................................................................................................................3
Answer to Question 3......................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Answer to Question 1
Zappos primary objective is to ensure that the stakeholders who have made investments
in the company and others like the suppliers employees, society and the consumers, remain
satisfied with the various operations of the business environment. The brand aims to serve the
stakeholders in a manner which promotes prosperity and values.
The CEO of the organization has stated that there should be ` happiness` among all the
employees, customers and stakeholder’s alike (Armstrong et al. 2015). The happiness factor is
decided keeping in mind the 10 core values which form the basis of the business model and the
culture of the organization. The given values are given as follows:
 Building a positive team as well as family spirit
 Creating fun and leisure among employees
 Engaging in open communication
 Delivering goods through WOW services (Zappos.com. 2018).
 These values are a determinant factor of how an organization performs in the long run
and acts as a competitive advantage.
The company has various offers for the consumers as well:
 The easy to find helpline number- The helpline number is available to the different
customers all round the clock which goes a long way in helping the customers to clear
their doubt whenever required.

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 A warehouse which is open 24/7- Their warehouse is open all round the clock which
helps them in delivering the goods faster to the customers which encourages the
satisfaction (Hatten 2015).
 A 365 day easy return policy- The 365 day policy is the largest among all the competitors
whereby the customers can return their product within 365 days.
 Exceptional customer service- the company provides exceptional customer car service.
Various facilities are given for the employees including:
 Medical benefit
 Extensive training
 40% employee discount
 Life coaching
 free lunch
 Car pooling program
 Flexible spending account
The primary aim of the company is to create loyalty among the customers and the
employees which will in return be beneficial for the firm as well.
The given happiness initiative has a positive impact on the organization’s ethical culture
as it helps in creation of an environment which comprises of positivity and fosters trust and
belief among one another (Yilmaz and Flouris 2017).

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Answer to Question 2
The transparency at Zappos` with its customers and employees helps in the following
manner:
1. Better relationships
Transparency at Zappos` ensures better relationship with the management and leads to
better employee retention and management in the organization. The major reason why an
employee often leaves their job is due to the behaviour of the boss at work. Trust plays a major
role (Swift and Piff 2014). Transparency on the side of Zappos` helped in making the employee
relations stronger and helped in their career development. Transparency also ensures that the
employees remaining updated with the company happenings, feedbacks and successes.
2. Better alignment
Maintenance of transparency ensures that the employees are well aligned and their roles
in the organization are well defined. It is important to ensure that the role of employees is clear
within their minds. This makes them better aligned with the work and increases productivity.
Transparency at Zappo`s sees to it that the customers as well as employees are aware of the
happenings of the firm.
The case with the hackers was clearly reported with the customers and this ensured they
will well aware about the happenings of the given organization.
3. Better solutions
Better solutions can be developed in an organization when all the members of the
organization communicate clearly with each other (Adekola and Sergi 2016). When the company

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is honest about their problems, it can be ensured that the employees will contribute towards
solving the given problems.
Very often sharing of problems amongst the stakeholders also ensures that they are easily
able to understand the given scenario and provide solutions for the same.
4. Better engagement
A culture like that of Zappos` gives value transparency in the workplace (Mariotti and
Glackin 2014). It has been revealed that the customers along with the employees are satisfied in
a better manner in cases where the senior leadership provides continuous updates to the them
with regards to a company`s strategy (Hogan and Coote 2014).
Answer to Question 3
Just like all other organizations even Zappos has dealt with various ethical issues. These
ethical issues have been dealt with by using social media sites and by being transparent.
Additionally, Zappos has a well defined core values and corporate culture which has gone well
with all the employees. This reduces the chances of risk with respect to ethical issues in the
future.
Zappos in the past has tried its best to encourage and provide 100% transparency an
incorporate and environment of trust and communication. Although there have been times when
this transparency has come out to be controversial.
For instance, back in 2008, when Zappos was faced by an economic downturn and had to
lay off a certain percentage of its employees due to some expense cut then these employees were
consulted using an email and were left with generous packages (Zappos.com. 2018). This

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scenario was spilt in the social media but at the end the option of honesty maintained by the firm
helped the employees and the customers in understanding the scenario.
Another situation took place in 2009 when Amazon purchased Zappos. The primary
concern was that there would exist a clash of goals in maintaining the relationship with the
customers like Zappos had previously due to Amazon`s leadership (Alvesson and Sveningsson
2015). However, the CEO of Zappos address these concerns with the CEO of Amazon and
ensured the employees and the customers alike that the new venture would be built on similar
values but achieve them in a better manner.
In case of future considerations, to fight against ethical risks, leadership is the key. The
company will be required to hire better people and building right relationships. They need to
avoid just concentrating on the growth of the firm. The motto relating to happiness needs to be
maintained. In the past, Zappo`s unique culture and core values has helped to make the business
what it is today and they need to consider the same in the future. A divergence from it may spoil
the company`s reputation which is risky from the perspective of both the customers and the
employees.

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References
Adekola, Abel, and Bruno S. Sergi. Global business management: A cross-cultural perspective.
Routledge, 2016.
Alvesson, Mats, and Stefan Sveningsson. Changing organizational culture: Cultural change
work in progress. Routledge, 2015.
Armstrong, Gary, Philip Kotler, Michael Harker, and Ross Brennan. Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education, 2015.
Hatten, Timothy S. Small business management: Entrepreneurship and beyond. Nelson
Education, 2015.
Hogan, Suellen J., and Leonard V. Coote. "Organizational culture, innovation, and performance:
A test of Schein's model." Journal of Business Research 67, no. 8 (2014): 1609-1621.
Mariotti, Steve, and Caroline Glackin. Entrepreneurship and small business management.
Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.
Swift, Louise, and Sally Piff. Quantitative methods: for business, management and finance.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Yilmaz, Ayse Kucuk, and Triant Flouris. Corporate Risk Management for International
Business. Springer Singapore, 2017.
Zappos.com. 2018. "Online Shoes, Clothing, Free Shipping And Returns |
Zappos.Com". Zappos.Com. https://www.zappos.com/.