Business Research Methodology: Amazon's Business Development Plan

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Amazon's business development plan, employing research methodologies such as SWOT and PESTEL to evaluate internal and external factors influencing the company's growth. It examines organizational culture, leadership, and employee motivation, offering recommendations for improvement. The research design incorporates data analysis of company gaps, white paper processes, OKR processes, and feedback mechanisms. The report concludes with a strategic plan outlining Amazon's vision, mission, objectives, marketing strategies, financial projections, and implementation schedules, highlighting critical success factors for sustained growth in the e-commerce market. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Business development plan of Amazon
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Industry Background.............................................................................................................5
SWOT:.........................................................................................................................................5
PESTEL Analysis:.......................................................................................................................8
1.2 Business Opportunities........................................................................................................10
1.3 Purpose and Rationale.........................................................................................................12
1.4 Terms of Reference..............................................................................................................12
Research Questions....................................................................................................................12
Research Objectives...................................................................................................................13
Research Framework.................................................................................................................14
2 Critical Business Review............................................................................................................14
Factor 1 Organizational culture and leadership.........................................................................14
Concept of Organizational Culture............................................................................................14
Concept of Organizational leadership.......................................................................................15
Factors affecting Organizational culture...................................................................................16
Factors affecting Organizational leadership..............................................................................17
Types of leadership styles..........................................................................................................18
Factor 2 Employee motivation...................................................................................................19

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Concept of employee motivation...............................................................................................19
Factors affecting employee motivation.....................................................................................20
Maslow’s theory of employee motivation.................................................................................21
Recommendations to enhance employee motivation:...............................................................22
Redesigning of jobs:..............................................................................................................22
Higher salary:.........................................................................................................................22
Respect and recognition:........................................................................................................22
Fair HR policy and communication:......................................................................................22
3 Research Design.........................................................................................................................22
3.1 Research Methods................................................................................................................24
3.2 Collection Methods..............................................................................................................25
3.3 Ethical Issues.......................................................................................................................25
4 Data Analysis..............................................................................................................................26
4.1 Case Findings Analysis........................................................................................................26
Company Gap............................................................................................................................26
White Paper Process..................................................................................................................33
OKR process..............................................................................................................................33
Feedback process.......................................................................................................................33
Comparison of Industry and Company Gaps.............................................................................35
4.2 Business Implication............................................................................................................35

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5 Conclusions and Recommendations...........................................................................................35
5.1 Vision and Mission..............................................................................................................35
5.2 Objectives............................................................................................................................36
5.3 Marketing Plan.....................................................................................................................37
Positioning.................................................................................................................................42
5.3.2 Marketing Mix (4P’s).......................................................................................................43
5.4 Financial Plan/Business Metrics..........................................................................................44
5.4.1 Financial Statements/Budgets...........................................................................................44
5.4.2 Key Result Areas and Key Performance Indicators.........................................................44
5.4.3 Assumptions, Explanations and Justifications..................................................................45
5.5Implementation Schedule-Gantt chart..................................................................................46
5.6 Critical Success Factors.......................................................................................................48
References......................................................................................................................................50

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1. Introduction
1.1 Industry Background
The report is focused towards understanding the various external and internal factors that
have contributed to the business growth and functional aspects of Amazon. The company has
been able to establish itself as a strong competitor in the global e-commerce corporate markets.
The factors that can affect their operational aspects are essentially analyzed through the study
(Rupp and Clinton 2017). The essential aspects that govern the company in the industry can be
effectively provided through SWOT analysis.
SWOT:
STRENGTH OPPORTUNITIES
 Biggest e-commerce websites globally Large number of products Large number of third party sellers Web interface of the company
 Established company
 Stronger partnerships with effective
third party retailers
WEAKNESSES THREATS
 The inclusion of newer item categories Products of low quality concerning
other product categories Rising prices is a threat to free
delivery
 Emergence of stronger competitive
environment in the market
 Online security has always been a
major threat

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Strength
The company has been able to become one of the biggest e-commerce websites globally.
Much of the revenue figures are better than any other world e-commerce retailers. The growth
rate of Amazon has emerged as it most important strength in the recent years. This has been
much helped by the lower cost structures of the company, large number of commodities and a
large number of third party companies acting as sellers. More than 560 million products are sold
by the company which means that the company offers wide ranges of product choices to the
customers (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015). Additionally the company has been able to garner a
large number of third party sellers. The company has been able to effectively integrate three of
its most important business areas namely, the marketplace, the web services and the Amazon
prime (Izogo and Ozo 2015). The three services effectively complement each other and the inter
business functions are essential strengths. Another crucial strength is the web interface of the
company with good page download speed. The company has huge warehouses thus capacity is
also one of its essential strengths.
Weakness
The inclusion of newer item categories has contributed to the significant damage to its
brand image. Large number of products from the lesser known brands is often found to be faulty,
which affects the image of Amazon. Moreover, successful brands of a given product can
manufacture products of low quality concerning other product categories. Thus, this often creates
confusion with regards to brand perceptions and causes harm to e-commerce portals like
Amazon as they are the principle product selling platform. The company offers free delivery

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concerning many of the products and the rising shipping prices are bound to make the cost of
operations rise and hamper profit making.
Opportunity
As an already established company, Amazon can cash in on the market value that it has
been able to generate in only a short span of time (Altman and Tripsas 2015). Moreover, the
company can create stronger partnerships with effective third party retailers which can further
enhance its business prospects. The rapid emergence of e-commerce market platforms as the
dominant marketing platforms can be utilized by the company to market itself as one of the
prime players in the industry (Oliveira et al. 2017). The company also has essential
diversification in the e-commerce market with partnerships with publishers and other firms. This
can lead to consolidation of the business position of the company in the future. The company can
develop more locality optimized sites in various countries to tackle international market issues
(Altman and Tripsas 2015).
Threats
There is an imminent threat to the profitability of the organization due to the emergence
of stronger competitive environment in the market. The company can face lawsuits and other
legal issues that can negatively affect its market position and garnered reputation. The industry is
witnessing a massive rise in the number of companies, thereby giving rise to greater competitive
forces and freedom of choice to the customers and suppliers (Izogo and Ozo 2015). Online
security has always been a major threat to the e-commerce industry and can crucially affect
business prospects as online financial security is a significant issue among customers. The future
of the company after Jeff Bezos is uncertain.

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The SWOT analysis point towards the fact, that the essential strengths of the company
are its garnered market reputation, large capacity, large product offerings and effective
integration of crucial business areas. The essential weaknesses are recent issues with the brand
image, product issues and inability of the company to optimally respond to customer needs. The
opportunities are plenty due to the global rise of the e-commerce market. However, significant
threats that can affect its future prospects are raising competition and the greater autonomy of the
buyers and suppliers.
PESTEL Analysis:
Political
If considered in the context of Malaysia, Amazon can have certain advantages. The
country is a multi-party system democracy but the same party has been in power for a quarter of
a millennium. The country is highly stable and there are only minor internet usage regulations in
the country with low taxes working in favor of multinational organizations. The political
environment is relatively moderate.
Economic
The economic environment in Malaysia is good. The laws of the country are positively
inclined towards helping the corporate enterprises. The people generally belong to moderately
wealthy classes. The anti-corruption mechanism is strong enough to keep corruption in check.
The country has a healthy growth rate with37% of the GDP coming from exports (Bhat& Bose
2018). Consumer incomes are large and this can effectively work in favor of Amazon. The
prospects of e-commerce are inclined towards positive outcomes in the future.
Socio-cultural

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If Malaysia is taken as the country in focus for the business of amazon the cultural
aspects that can affect the company are high. The country is a multicultural haven with people of
many ethnicities and religions living together. This affects the preferences of Malaysians.
Amazon offers a wide range of products and the opportunity to find buyers in the country are
significantly large. The company can make effective partnerships with Malaysian companies and
increase its market potential in the country (Galliers and Leidner 2014). There is a growing
demand for e-commerce among the youth.
Technological
The country is known for its rapid infrastructural growth. It is technologically sufficient
and can easily sustain a company like Amazon. The implementation of technology towards
improving organizational performance can be easier in the country. E-commerce depends on
effective logistics functions and the country has efficient 3rd party logistics management
companies. Technology is one of the strong points of the country(Chenetal.2015).
Environmental
Malaysia is an environmentally diverse country it has experienced significant loss of
habitat in the past. However, Amazon is an e-commerce website and the environmental impact of
the company will be relatively less.
Legal
The legal framework of the country is based on both the British law codes and Islamic
Shariah. The laws can affect Amazon in case if products harm the religious sentiments of some
of the people. The laws need to be essentially considered as they can affect the company if

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unnoticed. The country still has flogging and death penalties in some instances (Gomez-Herrera,
Martens and Turlea 2014). Companies need to be aware of these legal scenarios of the country.
It is needed to be remembered that the greatest opportunity in the country is provided by
the liberal corporate laws, the socio-economic aspects, socio-cultural environment and legal
issues (Chiuet al. 2014.). In case of the socio-economic condition, amazon can make good
profitability from the existing situation. A large number of customers can be targeted and utilized
for consolidating the market of the e-commerce firm. The affluence of a substantial portion of
the population of the country can greatly work in favor of the company. However, legal
environment of the country need to be judiciously considered as like any other country that can
be approached.
Amazon is an American e-commerce platform with Jeff Bezos as the head of the
company. The current estimated revenue of the company is more than 177 billion US Dollars
(Daft 2015). The total assets of the company are estimated to be around 131 billion US Dollars
(Patiejunaset al. 2015). The company employs around 566 thousand people globally. It has
subsidiary products like Amazon Prime, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Echo and other important
products.
1.2 Business Opportunities
As understood from the above analysis of the factors that tend to affect the market
proposition for amazon, the crucial identified factors are market competition, market growth, rise
of operational costs and the uncertainty of the effectiveness of future management(Diehl and
Bishop 2017). There are essential growth opportunities for the company. However, it is
important that the company considers the options available in front of it judiciously in order to

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enhance the prospects of its future business. The most important strength factors that have been
identified were the rapid growth of the company due to the effective management of resources.
Moreover, the operational integrity of the company was identified as an essential strength
(Goolsbee and Klenow 2018). The company have been productive recently due to the effective
integration and management of is significant business aspects. The company as a result has been
able to offer more products to the customers than any other e-commerce platforms.
The main identified weakness of the company has been its inability to properly manage
its product offerings. This has resulted in a confusing environment concerning the specific
products and the respective manufacturers(Kim and Peterson 2017). It was found through the
analysis that specific products manufactured by a given company can be of higher value than
some of the other products in which it has lesser specialty. Amazon had sold lesser value
products of a particular company known for better manufacturing other products resulting in
customer dissatisfaction. The opportunities that were identified were the significant growth
potential for the market of the company towards the future. The growth of the e-commerce
platforms and their significant emergence as the dominant marketing tools of people across the
growth was found to be directly related to the market potential of Amazon(Chiuet al. 2014.).
This is mainly because the company is regarded as one of the principal leader enterprises in the
e-commerce corporate sector. However, significant threats were also identified. The threats were
mostly in regards to the emergence of competitive market situations due to a large number of
market players. The threat of management sustainability can also be a major concern for the
organization in the future. The market dominance of the company being affected in the future
was found to be the major threat factor.

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The PESTEL analysis was necessary to understand the external environment of the
company. The political, economic socio-cultural and legal factors were the main threat to the
company as it is to remain primarily an internet platform (Laudon and Laudon 2016). The
political situations that can affect the company are the regulations in regard to internet oriented
commercial activities. Mostly the issues will be country specific if any and cannot be generalized
as the internet has emerged as an independent platform. The economic situations were seen to be
greater threats to the company. The main issue was related to the financial conditions of the
customers and internet access. Customer preferences are bound to be influenced by the socio-
cultural aspects that affect the external environments (Jiang, Jun and Yang 2016). Legal issues
are bound to affect the company as internet platforms can be sued by unsatisfied customers and
this has caused great losses considering financial penalties to companies in the past.
1.3 Purpose and Rationale
The purpose of the business plan is to provide effective strategic insights for the
enhancement of the organizational performance of Amazon. The analysis of the various external
and internal aspects can help to form essential growth paths for the company and ensure its
optimal organizational productivity. Through the analysis the market aspects of the e-commerce
industry can also be discussed.
1.4 Terms of Reference
Research Questions
Q1- How is Amazon’s performance as an organization affected by the factors related to
employee motivation?