MGT404 Assignment 3: Analysis of Amazon.com's Business Structure

This report analyzes Amazon.com's business structure, examining its internet-based operations, network structure, and the advantages it offers. It explores the benefits of Amazon's network-based structure, including team division and accessible communication. The report contrasts product-centric and customer-centric models, highlighting how Amazon balances both to drive success. It discusses the company's growth potential in e-commerce and its ability to adapt to market changes. The analysis emphasizes the significance of customer satisfaction and strategic partnerships in Amazon's continued expansion, concluding that its focus on customer needs and innovative marketing strategies are critical to its sustained profitability.

Running head: AMAZON.COM 1
Amazon.com
Name
Institution

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AMAZON.COM
Introduction
The Amazon.com remains a large internet based organization that began as a bookseller
in the year 1994 with its headquarters in Washington. As large as the organization today, it
remains difficult to imagine it began in a garage. Currently, the online-based organization has
expanded to serve other customer demands indirectly and directly via the middleman
engagement of retailers as well as millions of Amazon’s consumers. The founder, Jeff Bezos,
had the vision of distributing every book online as well as making the books accessible to
numerous readers all over the universe (Yousman, 2018). This idea remains building on the
strategy of skepticism, where doubters frequently claimed Amazon.com would downfall before
attaining its mission. The organization expanded quickly over the years putting in practice its
longtime motto of getting Big Fast mainly as an icon for its development. In the twentieth
century, the organization launched Amazon Web Services, which provided internet traffic
patterns for marketers and statistical data for developers (Zhu & Liu, 2018). Besides selling
books, this company also provides other products of music as well as electronic sales,
housewares, toys, movies, as well as other goods.
1) This discussion requires us to state how the internet-based structure of Amazon works
and how the use of it benefits the business. The initial forays of Amazon into networking
business started in the year 1990, mainly on a Web site (Wu & Gereffi, 2018). At this time, the
non-Amazon products were never included in the book store, for example, individual auctioning
as well as used books. The third-party commodities analyzed under a tab that describes the type
of commerce conducted on a particular product, for example, auctioning tab. This condition
separated traditional products of Amazon from individually sold commodities. This factor forced
the company to have a different look at the commodities, profits, as well as future expectations.

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This resulted in generating a new Web page that describes each product of Amazon with the
product image as well as other important information for marketing. This strategy remains
advantageous in connecting a node of books (Dolata, 2017).
The main advantage of network-based structure to the family of Amazon remains the
team division workability. Teams work like small firms within the institution; this fastens the
decision-making process among the workers. Another benefit of this network-structure remains
accessible communication among the workers and between the workers and managers. It is true
that a clear flow in management gives a direct concentration on delivery.
Considering the marketing of products of Amazon, the bookselling follows an organized
organizational structure characterized by the degree of clustering coefficient, sales, as well as the
average shortest path length. The fabric helps find the specific book category or title in the
search engine of consumers. It makes it easy for consumers as well as other retailers to find the
books that they want.
2) The disadvantage of a network-based structure is encountered in the operational
service of the strategy. The more the company engaged with other organizations such as
drugstore.com, Living.com, and others remain a threat to installing the same idea as well as
going global as a rival. This organizational structure faces many challenges in management. For
instance, when there is a system failure, the company loses many customers and partners all over
the world. Another challenge is the lack of enough expertise. This often prevents the company
from delivering their product to the customers on time.
3) A product-centric firm focuses on the commodities it brings into the market instead of
considering the consumers as well as the economic privileges of the commodities. In this
company, we find that the product focus offers a management scheme that mainly follows up the

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demand for the product, its relevance, as well as the profit it brings to the company. By engaging
in traditional marketing arrangements, the company under the vendor's web generates a fee based
on partnerships and customers. By excelling in specific facets of marketing, it also put into
consideration the growth as well as support of the consumers.
The Amazon affiliates such as the drugstore.com paid advertisement fees and referral
fees on using the platform of Amazon as an instrument for going public. The customer-Centric
model gives the best solution for the consumers, whereas product-Centric makes the best
products. As the product-centric strategy search for new commodities to develop, the customer-
centric structure is looking for new opportunities to fill. It is true that product-centric offers the
latest products. For instance, in the case of Amazon, CD sales, and DVD sales into the digital
market remains a reward to consumers mainly as a customer-based strategy. Therefore, the 2
variables are essential as well as dependent on each other to attain a sound marketing strategy.
4) The company has a high potential for growth as well as expansion into modern e-
commerce business mainly by considering the strategy based networking plan. It is true that
through the process-based structure, people are trained as well as gain experience in the
institution, an advantage in the marketing and production sector. The product-centric structure
remains important in demonstrating the initiation of innovations and production progress within
the market plan. It is true that developing new partnership might help Amazon to stay relevant in
this online business as well as outspread its market reach. This offers a better position in
competing with its rivals in the market.
Conclusion
Get Big Fast determination of Jeff Bezos has seen the light in creating the network as well as
an online retail business in Amazon.com. Amazon.com has indeed developed to be one of the

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successful technological organizations in addressing as well as serving many customers in
their web sites. The services provided by the company gained customer loyalty as well as
resulted in huge profits over time. With twenty-five years of operation, the company has over
six hundred thousand workers and occupies the most important retail business in the United
States as well as other countries. It is true that solving the problems of customers as well as
facing various challenges remains the key reason for the success of Amazon.com. The
exceptional marketing structure of Amazon has the best outcomes in profit-making and sales.
Many of its digital products, such as DVDs, Toys, music, and movies, earn massive income
to the organization.

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References
Dolata, U. (2017). Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft: Market concentration-
competition-innovation strategies (No. 2017-01). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Organisations-
und Innovationsforschung, SOI Discussion Paper.
Wu, X., & Gereffi, G. (2018). Amazon and Alibaba: Internet governance, business models, and
internationalization strategies. International business in the information and digital age,
327-356.
Yousman, B. (2018). Vampires, Amazon. com, and Other Creatures You Should Never Invite
Into Your Home: The Neoliberal Invasion Grows Even Bolder.
Zhu, F., & Liu, Q. (2018). Competing with complementors: An empirical look at Amazon.
com. Strategic Management Journal, 39(10), 2618-2642.