Case Study: How Amazon's Culture & Structure Drove Sales and Profits

This case study examines Amazon's exceptional performance during the pandemic, highlighting a 44% increase in sales and a 220% surge in profit. It explores how Amazon's culture, characterized by a fast-paced, cost-conscious approach, and its hierarchical structure, influenced this growth. The study also investigates factors influencing individual behavior at Amazon, drawing from scientific management theory and focusing on employee training, clear role definitions, and effective communication. Furthermore, it discusses how psychological, social, and cultural factors impact consumer behavior, contributing to Amazon's increased sales and profits. The report concludes that Amazon's organizational structure, culture, and behavior significantly contributed to its success during the pandemic.

Introducing the Modern
Workplace Assessment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................4
To which extent it has been believed that Amazon's cultures, structure and behaviour have
influenced to achieve 44% additional sales and 220% profit in the first quarter of present year
.....................................................................................................................................................4
Explain various factors that have influenced individual behaviour at Amazon towards large
sales and profits with support of evidences.................................................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business management refers to the management of coordination and organisation of
business activities and it is basically the in charge of organising, planning, directing and
controlling the resources of business so that objectives can be meet out into the positive manner.
Business management is important because it provides the skills and academic knowledge for
pursuing global career opportunities and support in terms of developing a broad understanding of
businesses(Belgira.,2016). In the present report, a case study is taken into consideration which is
about Amazon's performance during the time period of pandemic situation. The present report
will cover discussion about up to which extent Amazon's structure, behaviours and culture has
been influenced in order to achieve sales and profits in the first quarter of present year. In
addition to this, the present report will cover analysis about various factors that have influenced
individual behaviour at Amazon.
MAIN BODY
According to case study, the pandemic situation has not only killed millions of people but
it also affected the global economy. In this pandemic situation, Amazon is one of the exception
that they perform in a very positive state where company has recorded $ 108.5 billion in sales in
the first three months that is 44% up from the previous year(Collins.,2017). In terms of profit
they have recorded 220% increase as compared to the last year. It has been observed that
company's behaviours, culture, structure and arrangements have gone through modification into
progressive manner in order to enhance the performance but also have to achieve company's
objectives as well.
To which extent it has been believed that Amazon's cultures, structure and behaviour have
influenced to achieve 44% additional sales and 220% profit in the first quarter of present
year
Amazon culture has been basically defined as breakneck-paced and notoriously cost
conscious as well. Company has their own unique culture and they also respect and honour the
differences that company brings(Management and organisational behavioour)They are also
focused towards diverse community of creators and developers as well. The company has
basically followed hierarchical structure incorporating function-based groups and geographic
divisions.

It has been observed that company's behaviour is in positive spectrum with their
employees due to which majority of Amazon employees are happy with their jobs. They have
focused towards customers and their employees happiness and satisfaction level as well so in this
manner it is easier for company to achieve additional sales and profits as well(Embo., 2017).
According to case study, due to effect of pandemic situation where most of the people were at
their home and doing work from home so in this case customers have shifted their focus towards
online subscriptions(Organisational behaviour in the workplace).For utilising their leisure time,
their customers and employees have taken subscriptions on large scale due to which gradually
company has started gaining in terms of profits and sales as well. In this lock down period of
time, mostly people have done shopping on online basis and have taken subscriptions for
purpose of enjoying their free time.
The kind of flexibility, open nature and comfortable zone provided by the company to its
customers and employees also contribute in terms of enhancing the profit levels of the company.
With respect to case study, In terms of retail business, the company has performed into profitable
manner and revenue from merchants listing items on their website and with support of
warehouses was up to 64 % to $ 23.7 billion(Amazon’s profit soars 220 percent as pandemic
drives shopping online).In this pandemic situation, the company has recorded around two
hundred million people pay for Prime membership in order to enjoy their free time during this
lock down situation. The kind of culture which has been provided by the company has
influenced people to spend $ 3000 a year on prime membership which is more than twice what
households without the membership spend. Due to its hierarchical structure where roles and
responsibilities are divided into appropriate manner to each department where Amazon can
operate into efficient manner even in the case of high volume of orders.
In this lock down period of time, people have spend most of their time on cloud
computing business where company's web services had recorded sales of $ 13.5 billion. When
company has provided perfect culture, organisational structure and behaviour then company
automatically work in an out of box manner with their innovative strategies in order to achieve
additional sales and profits as well(Gerstein and Friedman., 2016). When company has recorded

44% additional sales and 220% profits then they have decided to invest from perspective of
future growth and development of an organisation.
Amazon has decided to spent $ 50 billion in capital expenditure in the last year and
largely focused on building out its logistics operations and data centres which is up 80% over the
previous year. It has been evaluated that Amazon culture is basically result-driven where focus
is centred around innovation and productivity as well. They keep their team in small manner, that
gives team members full on accountability and responsibility for the task due to which company
can perform in an out of box manner even in this pandemic situation(Goldman and Weil., 2020).
The behaviour of company towards market, employees and customers is also very responsible
and in positive way due to which they have changed their strategy in this pandemic situation.
They have started focusing on their online sales and provide attractive features to their customers
so that customers bound towards the company for purchasing that particular subscription and
products as well. Within organisational structure of Amazon company where structure has been
designed into hierarchical form due to which it is easier to assign tasks to each department and
can achieve objectives into appropriate manner.
This kind of structure is not only helpful in terms of achieving targets and objectives of
an organisation but also clears about lines of authority and reporting within the business. This
kind of structure is supportive in terms of providing the overall report and results to the company
So it is easier for the company to earn into specific manner in terms of their profits and sales as
well. Up to a very large extent Amazon company's organisational structure, culture and
behaviour contribute in terms of achieving higher percentage of additional sales and profits as
well.
Explain various factors that have influenced individual behaviour at Amazon towards large sales
and profits with support of evidences
There are various factors that have influenced individual behaviour at Amazon towards
sales and profits with support of behavioural approach. With respect to scientific theory of
management in context to behaviour approach where focus is towards assigning tasks according
to their skills and abilities of employees(Harding and McNamara., 2017). This theory is based on
finding out the most effective way to complete the task into result-oriented manner.

Within a large organisation, it is rarely have been observed that manager and employee
have a proper conversation related to work so they have assigned the work according to their
strengths and main skills. It has been done with a purpose that task should be completed within a
set period of time even if there is no proper communication between manager and employee.
Another major point of this theory is that they have focused on training and development of
employees so that results can be achieved by a company in an appropriate manner(Scientific
management theory). When employee is very efficient in terms of their work then task can be
completed in a very result-oriented manner(Kato and et.al., 2019).The relationship between
employees and manager is very smooth and cordial then it is easier for manager to tackle the
challenges come forth in terms of work context. With respect to Amazon company, within such a
large organisation where hierarchical structure has been followed due to which it is easier to
achieve targets within a set period of time( Armstrong's handbook of human resource
management practice), This type of structure explains appropriately which includes roles and
responsibilities which are defined into appropriate manner with respect to their work. When tasks
are assigned into appropriate manner then it is easier to complete the task within a set period of
time. When each department deliver its services into righteous way then the overall objectives
have been achieved according to set criteria. This has resulted into achievement of additional
sales and profits as well.
With respect to scientific theory, it has been observed that when there is proper
communication with respect to task assigned and focus is towards completion of task then it is
easier for company to convince customers for their products and services. In order to achieve
additional sales and profits, the main role of marketing department is there where employees
have to behave in a very cordial manner so that they can cooperate with each other (Legg and
et.al., 2015). For increasing sales of the Amazon company, employees have to take their
responsibilities in a very serious manner so that they can convince large number of people to
purchase their products and services. There are various factors which influences consumer
behaviour at individual level and it is defined into following manner:

 Psychological Factor: This is a factor which is a major determinant of consumer
behaviour. It includes motivation, perception, learning and attitude beliefs. When a
person is motivated enough then it influences the buying behaviour of a person. There are
basic and security needs that have the power to motivate a consumer to buy products and
services. Customer perception is that where consumer collects information about Amazon
company's products and interpret information to make a meaningful image about the
particular product. There are two types of learning within this factor which is cognitive
and conditional learning. In cognitive learning they will apply his knowledge and skills to
find satisfaction and a solution from the product that they buy(Major factors influencing
consumer behaviour). In conditional learning, the consumer is expected to exposed in a
repeated manner. On the basis of attitude and belief of an individual, the consumer
behave in a particular manner towards the product.
 Social Factors: Humans are the social beings which influences buying behaviour and
they try to imitate other humans in order to socially accepted into the society. This factor
basically includes family, reference groups and roles and status as well(Lin and
Warschauer., 2015). Family is very important in terms of influencing the buying
behaviour of an individual. Reference group people generally have common buying
behaviour due to which it influences the buying decision of an individual. In terms of
roles and status, if individual have higher position then their buying behaviour will be
influenced through its status accordingly.
 Cultural Factors: When a person belongs from a particular community then their
behaviour is highly influenced by the culture which is related to that particular
community(Tsatsakis and et.al., 2018). This factor basically includes culture, subculture
and social class. Cultural factors basically includes values, needs wants, preferences,
behaviours that are observed and learned by a consumer from their near family members.
Subculture group basically shares same set of beliefs and values and basically consist of
those people who are from different backgrounds(Organizational behaviour). So it
affects their buying behaviour. Social class also plays a very important role in terms of
predicting the buying behaviour of an individual.
These are the factors that have influenced individual behaviour at Amazon towards large sales
and additional sales as well.

CONCLUSION
The above stated report concludes that an online company who exceptionally perform in
this pandemic situation. It has been concluded that company has recorded certain percentage
raise in terms of sales and profits as well. The company's culture, organisational structure,
behaviours have influenced the company's performance in the context of additional sales and
profits as well. It has been determined that there are certain factors which have influenced
individual behaviour at company towards large sales and profit. These factors include
psychological, cultural and social factors as well. For determining an individual behaviour
scientific theory of management plays a very important role into this context. So in this
competitive and modern world company's strategy and their behaviour towards market plays a
very significant role.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Belgira, M. C. B., 2016. Relationship between bureaucratic structure and workplace
bullying (Doctoral dissertation).
Collins, A., 2017. What's worth teaching?: Rethinking curriculum in the age of technology.
Teachers College Press.
Embo, M., 2017. A competency-based midwifery e-workplace learning portfolio: concept,
theory and pedagogy. Global Journal of Health Science & Nursing, 1, p.109.
Gerstein, M. and Friedman, H. H., 2016. Rethinking higher education: Focusing on skills and
competencies. Gerstein, Miriam and Hershey H. Friedman (2016),“Rethinking Higher
Education: Focusing on Skills and Competencies,” Psychosociological Issues in
Human Resource Management, 4(2), pp.104-121.
Goldman, T. and Weil, D., 2020. Who’s responsible here? Establishing legal responsibility in the
fissured workplace. Institute for New Economic Thinking Working Paper Series, (114).
Harding, L. W. and McNamara, T., 2017. Language assessment: The challenge of ELF.
Hiranburana, K., 2017. Use of English in the Thai workplace. Kasetsart Journal of Social
Sciences, 38(1), pp.31-38.
Kato and et.al., 2019. Hikikomori: multidimensional understanding, assessment, and future
international perspectives. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 73(8), pp.427-440.
Legg and et.al., 2015. Managing safety in small and medium enterprises.
Lin, C. H. and Warschauer, M., 2015. Online foreign language education: What are the
proficiency outcomes?. The modern language journal, 99(2), pp.394-397.
Tsatsakis and et.al., 2018. The dose response principle from philosophy to modern toxicology:
the impact of ancient philosophy and medicine in modern toxicology
science. Toxicology reports, 5, pp.1107-1113.

Online
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