Analysis of Relationships Between Amazon's Key Departments

This report examines the relationships between the Human Resource, Marketing, and Finance departments within Amazon. It explores the roles of each department, highlighting the importance of employee satisfaction, marketing strategies, and financial management in achieving organizational ...Read More

Running head: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS
Name of the Student
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1RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Description of the role of HR, Marketing and Finance functions in organizations.........................2
Developing an understanding of the collaborative working practices.............................................4
Knowledge of the role of financial management and reporting within the organizations...............5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

2RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS
Introduction
The business environment is becoming highly competitive in nature due to the increase in
global operations of the various firms. The organizations thereby need to enhance the levels of
collaboration between different departments for the purpose of increasing the profit margins and
revenue levels as well. The three major departments of an organization that have an influence on
the processes mainly include marketing, HR and finance (Nolan and Garavan 2016). The report
will be based on the analysis of the collaboration that has been developed between these
departments of a global organization like Amazon. The impact of financial reporting on the
profits gained by Amazon will also be discussed in the report in detail.
Description of the role of HR, Marketing and Finance functions in organizations
Human resource department in Amazon – Human resource department is able to play a
key part in supporting the operations of Amazon and acquiring effective talent in the
organization as well. The company has believed that the employees are able to offer highest
levels of contribution to towards success that it has gained in the industry. The organizations
aims at enhancing the skills of workforce or employees in order to ensure efficient levels of
development of Amazon (Guest 2017). The major human resource functions of Amazon mainly
include training and development, selection and recruitment, maintaining good relationships
among the employees and compensation management. The workplace environment in Amazon is
also dependent on the human resource management operations that have been developed by the
organization (Collings, Wood and Szamosi 2018).
Employee satisfaction in Amazon is considered to be important for the service that is
provided to the customers. Amazon has always believed in the customer first based concept and

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the enhancement of employee satisfaction will in turn have an impact on the relationships with
the customers and services that are provided to them as well. Amazon has implemented different
practices that have been helpful in changing the direction of the human resource management of
modern organizations (Alfes et al. 2019). The company has started developing an open and
diverse culture and the attitude of the management towards underperforming employees have
also changed in the process. Amazon has thereby taken major steps in order to uphold the
required levels of diversity within the firm in order to provide equal opportunities to the
employees. Performance standards that have been set by Amazon are also considered to be a
major part of the human resource management process that have been implemented by the
organization (Nolan and Garavan 2016).
Marketing department in Amazon – The marketing department of Amazon is a vital
factor related to the success that has been gained by the company in the industry. The company
has been able to set major records in the sales of its products every year that has helped Amazon
to increase its shares in the e-commerce industry (Najafi-Tavani, Sharifi and Najafi-Tavani
2016). The marketing activities and strategies that are formed by the marketing department of
Amazon are considered to be an important for the company to maintain its place in the industry.
The customer centric view that is implemented by the marketing department of Amazon is an
important feature that is related to the communication that has been formed by the organization.
The importance that is offered by Amazon to the consumers have led to the development of
effective marketing strategies of the firm (Olson et al. 2018).
Finance functions in Amazon – The finance department of Amazon is mainly
responsible for the decisions related to investments that are made by the organization. The
company has also started providing different types of financial services to the customers based

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on the focus that has been developed on the goals (Prawitz and Cohart 2016). The number of
merchants who are part of Amazon are also decided and managed by the finance department of
the organization. The fin-tech investments that are made by Amazon on an international basis
and the success that has been gained with the help of these investments are also considered to be
a major responsibility of the finance department of the firm (Gupta et al. 2016).
Developing an understanding of the collaborative working practices
Human resource management in Amazon has been able to offer key levels of contribution
to the success of the firm and the services that are provided to the consumers as well. The
satisfaction of employees is considered to be important for the proper services that are provided
by Amazon as a customer centric company. The marketing department of the firm has
collaborated with the human resource management department in order to form communication
with the consumers. The employees or human resources of Amazon have supported the
marketing and promotional activities that are performed by the organization (Najafi-Tavani,
Sharifi and Najafi-Tavani 2016). Amazon has aimed at using the marketing activities in order to
maintain the communication with the consumers and enhancing the profit margins as well.
Amazon has always provided major importance in proper improvement of the skills of
employees with the aim of satisfying the customers in an effective manner (Collings, Wood and
Szamosi 2018).
The finance department on the other hand has the responsibility to maintain the
investments that are made by Amazon in the human resource activities. Marketing and
promotional activities that are performed by Amazon are managed by the finance department of
the company. The human resources can thereby be considered to be the most important aspect of
the operations and profit margins that are gained by an international organization like Amazon.

5RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS
Finance department of Amazon is responsible for the training and development activities that are
performed by the organization. The three departments operate in a collaborative manner in
Amazon in order to uphold the huge consumer base of the firm in the e-commerce industry
(Olson et al. 2018).
Knowledge of the role of financial management and reporting within the organizations
The financial management and reporting based activities of Amazon lead to the formation
of the annual report of the organization. Financial management is able to help the firm to analyze
the profit margins that have been gained by Amazon. Amazon is able to provide a detailed
picture of the profits and revenues of the organization with the help of proper development of
annual report of the organization (Ward and Lowe 2017). The annual report is considered to be
important for understanding the financial health of the organization so that the stakeholders are
able to plan their investments. However, the judgments based calls that are made in the annual
report or financial report of Amazon are considered to be a major drawback that is faced by the
organization. Amazon mainly operates in the online marketplace and fast moving economies can
have an impact on the financial reporting process that is used by the organization. Corporate
accounting is thereby not able to provide the best picture of the financial health of an
organization like Amazon (Amazon.com 2020).
Conclusion
The report can be settled by stating that an organization like Amazon will be able to
maintain its profit margins in the highly competitive e-commerce industry with the support that
is provided by collaboration of the three major departments of the firm. The human resource
department, marketing department and finance department of Amazon provide major levels of
contribution to the success that is gained by the organization. Financial reporting on the other

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hand is able to provide a detailed picture of the financial health of Amazon and the investments
that are made by the stakeholders as well.

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References
Alfes, K., Shantz, A.D., Bailey, C., Conway, E., Monks, K. and Fu, N., 2019. Perceived human
resource system strength and employee reactions toward change: Revisiting human resource's
remit as change agent. Human Resource Management, 58(3), pp.239-252.
Amazon.com 2020. Amazon International shopping and shipping made easy. [online]
Amazon.com. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/International-Shipping-Direct/b?
ie=UTF8&node=230659011&ref_=footer_amazonglobal [Accessed 22 Jan. 2020].
Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical
approach. In Human resource management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Guest, D.E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a new
analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(1), pp.22-38.
Gupta, S., Malhotra, N.K., Czinkota, M. and Foroudi, P., 2016. Marketing innovation: A
consequence of competitiveness. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), pp.5671-5681.
Najafi-Tavani, S., Sharifi, H. and Najafi-Tavani, Z., 2016. Market orientation, marketing
capability, and new product performance: The moderating role of absorptive capacity. Journal of
Business Research, 69(11), pp.5059-5064.
Nolan, C.T. and Garavan, T.N., 2016. Human resource development in SMEs: a systematic
review of the literature. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(1), pp.85-107.
Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human
resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and
marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, pp.62-73.

8RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONS
Prawitz, A.D. and Cohart, J., 2016. Financial management competency, financial resources,
locus of control, and financial wellness. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 27(2),
pp.142-157.
Ward, C.L. and Lowe, S.K., 2017. CULTURAL IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL
REPORTING STANDARDS ON THE COMPARABILITY OF FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS. International Journal of Business, Accounting, & Finance, 11(1).