Organizational Development: Amazon's Use of Digital Technologies

This report examines Amazon's utilization of digital technologies and innovations, exploring their effects on organizational development, data management, and decision-making processes. It begins by describing Amazon's core business and its significant innovations, such as Dash buttons, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Prime, and Fire TV. The report then assesses how these technologies contribute to Amazon's competitive advantage through enhanced customer experiences, business diversification, quick execution, and superior customer service. It also addresses the drawbacks, including high costs, time consumption, and inherent risks associated with innovation. The analysis extends to how these technologies influence data and knowledge management, ultimately impacting the company's decision-making capabilities. The report concludes by summarizing the overall benefits and challenges of Amazon's digital transformation.

Digital Portfolio - Assessment 1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
Task 1: Description of client organisation, Major innovations and digital technologies which the
client is using Literature....................................................................................................................2
Task 2: How these innovations and digital technologies affect organizational development. Pros
and cons of each................................................................................................................................4
Task 3: How used innovations and digital technologies impact on data and knowledge management
in process of decision making in chosen company............................................................................6
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Digital technologies are the electronic tool systems, resources and systems which help
in processing, storing and generation of data. Digital technology is that branch of knowledge
associated with scientific and engineering which deals with the practical use and creation of
computerises systems, methods and devices (Wiesböck and Hess, 2018). Some explain the
digital technologies as the application of the practical knowledge of digitalization for
practical ends in media such as social media and digital communication as well. Amazon is a
multinational technology based company which deals in Artificial Intelligence, digital
streaming, e-commerce as well as cloud computing. It is one of the most influencing
companies such as economic and cultural forces in all over the world.
The report will aim to describe the major innovations, digital technologies which the
client will use, how these innovations and digital technologies affect the organizational
development and how the innovations and digital technologies’ impact on the data and
knowledge management in decision making process.
Task 1: Description of client organisation, Major innovations and digital technologies which
the client is using Literature
Description of organization:
Amazon is the online retailer, web service provider and electronic book reader. Its
services have become one of the most excellent examples for the electronic commerce
business in the world. The headquarters of the company is situated in the Seattle,
Washington. The company is internet based company which deals on selling books,
housewares, toys, electronics, user goods, movies and music as well. It sells these products
through middlemen and other retailers (Rikap, 2020). The company also deals in providing
web services which involve computing resources, renting data storages which are known as
cloud computing. Amazon also deals in market leading Kindle which is an e-reading platform
for learners. Amazon started with the promise of delivering a book to anyone, anywhere as
fast as possible. The company initially started as an online marketplace for books.
However, the company have now expanded itself into various multiple product
categories. This strategy have made the company earn moniker. It is now known as “The
Everything Store” which have multiple subsidiaries. The company have earned the reputation
of a well-established disruptor industry through its technological innovation in a mass scale.

It is also the second-largest private employer provider in the whole United States in 2021 and
the world’s most valuable brand (Dong, 2018).
Innovations:
Innovation refers the introducing something new o introducing a change to the existing
product or service. Innovation is often referred to the something new and the practice of its
development and introducing new things as well. It can also be a new way of thinking. It is
associated with business and technology (Li and et.al., 2021). However, it can be in any field
where individuals can change such as introducing new medicines, arts, new recipes for
cooking and introduction of new language. Innovations can be of various types:
 Incremental innovation: This type of innovation is the most common innovation
which utilises the existing technology and then enhances the value of customers such
as designs, features or changes within the existing market.
 Disruptive innovation: It the type of innovation in which is also known as stealth
innovation which involves application of new technology or the processes in the
current market. It is considered that when there are new technologies in the market
then the existing technologies are considered inferior to these.
 Architectural innovation: It is the innovation which is associated to taking skills and
lessons and the overall technologies and then their application in the different
markets.
 Radical innovation: Radical innovation is the innovation which gives birth to new
industries and swallows existing ones. It involves creation of evolutionary technology.
It allows the product or the services to commercialised and revolve new features.
Digital technologies:
Digital technologies are the technologies which are the most advanced innovation in the
human history (Ilomäki and Lakkala, 2018). The digital technologies have transformed the
societies and the technologies and innovations. They are the technological devices or
technological resources which store and process information. Digital technologies makes it
easier for the people to record the business campaigns and enable them to become more
customised and then determine their enhanced outcomes.
Innovations and digital technologies used in Amazon

 Dash buttons: When the company first announced this ideas, it was perceived as a
far-fetched ideas while some took it as a joke. The company had to announce a
statement which clarified that the idea is real. The ideas was of a device which have a
single function controller which the customer can lace around their house. It is about a
size of a gum. The company discontinued all the physical devices of dash button as its
device Alexa’s voice assistant supplanted all the functions of a dash button.
 Amazon fresh: This innovation deals with the online grocery shopping. The
Amazon’s Fresh subsidiary allows the allow the customers to place the grocery orders
in certain geographic markets form the company’s expansive inventory of fresh
produce, amazon branded ready to heat, ready to eat, and brand-names packaged food.
The company’s transport delver the products in less than two hours. The company
have been serving more than 5000 towns due to which the subsidiary have been
expanded quickly (Arnett, Goldfinch and Chinta, 2018).
 Amazon prime: The company states that the customers will be able to receive their
orders in 30 minutes without breaking any speed limits. The products will be
delivered through the unmanned aerial vehicles which are known as drones. However
the idea received controversy because people think that the company can use drones
for spying and deploying weapons.
 Amazon fire phone and fire TV: The Fire TV is an Amazon’s product which is
similar to other competitors such as Apple. The fire TV can stream live TV as well
allow the users to watch various shows and movies as well. It very popular and have
also become gaming device as well. The Amazon Fire Phone is the device which have
operating systems as the company’s Kindle fire e-reader. It have various innovative
features and 24 hour customer service app as well (Castro, Lopes and Brondizio,
2020).
Task 2: How these innovations and digital technologies affect organizational development.
Pros and cons of each
Technologies have become an integral part of modern day business and life as well.
These technologies and innovations helps in maintaining the lives more easier, quick and less
expensive for the people so that they are able to communicate with each other as well as do
their daily tasks and activities in most easier ways possible (Barczak, Dembińska and
Marzantowicz, 2019). These technologies have made the human lifestyle easier.

Impact of digital technologies and innovations on amazon
Through the help of digital technologies amazon have expanded its business into
various corners of the world. The company have led the method in various technological
fronts such as from the cloud computing to online grocery shopping. Through these
technologies the company is able to sell various products to its customers from all over the
world. The company is also a host of various technologies in its business and pipelines which
are working their way through various stages of development (Wiesböck and Hess, 2020).
The company have been working on innovative devices through which it can ship the
customer’s order within 30 minutes. The innovations of the company provide particular
competitive advantage to the company. Amazon’s success is driven by its innovative
technologies and practices.
For example: Echo-it is the Amazon’s product which have impressive voice command. The
device can be used for playing songs, research and even check the weather as well. The
device was a huge investment for e-commerce which fostered huge results for the company.
Some of the benefits of these technologies are as follows:
 Excellent customer experiences: the stronger innovation and technologies can
provide the customers enhanced experience. Customers are constantly looking for the
products which further down the conversion fuel, which ultimately helps the
companies in more sales. Enhanced customer experience makes the customers to
repeat their buying behaviours.
 Diversification: Innovations have allowed the company to diversify its business into
various sectors. The company originally started off with a book store. But now it
offers everything starting from the soups to electronic devices. The company now
carries products from music, books, electronics, clothing, grocery, beauty, health and
automotive as well. The company is constantly driving it reach and relevance. The
company have diversified itself into a business which literally provides every product
and satisfy the needs of customers on a single platform (Balagopal, 2021). The
company’s business have now enhanced and it provides services such as Amazon
prime music and videos as well.
 Quick Execution: Amazon tries to do everything right at the time of executing its
customer orders. The company resources the product and services which the

customers demand. So the company leverage its distribution centres all across the
globe which allows it to ship the products more quickly. The company have
developed the innovations such as drones which can help the company to ship its
products way more quickly.
 Excellent customer services: Through the innovations the company is providing
world-class customer services. The company have developed various tools through
which it can track packages and then quickly employ in order to track the products
and then exchange or quickly return ordered items. It makes the company to bring
simplicity and convenience to their online shopping experiences (Rodionov and et.al.,
2020). The company also uses social media and employs to engage with the
customers to take their opinions on the products. Through these opinions the company
enhances the quality of its products.
 Customer loyalty: Innovations provide the company a competitive advantage which is
customer loyalty. The company’s CEO states that its customers are loyal to it even
when other companies offer them better products and services. The reason behind this
is innovations. The company constantly introduce changes and innovations in its
products due to which the customers committed to the company and do not shift to the
substitutes.
Disadvantages of innovations and digital technologies:
Apart from the advantages, innovations proposes some disadvantages as well. Some
of these disadvantages are explained as follows:
 Cost consuming: Innovations are very cost consuming. Due to the intensity of
competition Amazon have to constantly introduce innovations and technologies to
maintain and retain its customers (Kuznetsova and et.al., 2019). All these requires
huge amounts of investment in Research and development. A major part of Amazon’s
profits goes in the R&D department. Amazon have to spend huge costs into the
resources, employee training and in the actual implementation of the innovations as
well. This leads to huge incurrence of costs to be spent on the innovations and
technologies as well.
 Time consuming: Innovations require huge amount of time. Innovations are not
introduced immediately. An idea have to move from various stages until it is

introduced as an innovation. The testing, feasibility tests and its physical
implementation requires huge amount of time. Amazon employees a considerable
number of employees in the research and Development department to work on those
innovations.
 Risks involved: Also another disadvantage is that innovations involves high risks.
There is no guarantee on the investment made on an innovation (Futemma, De Castro
and Brondizio, 2020). Sometimes ideas might fail. If this happen it means that the
costs and time spend on the product all goes in vain. It can lead to huge wastages as
well. Also after the introduction of innovation, there is no guarantee that the
customers will like the innovation. There is no guarantee for the innovation to success
in the market.
Apart from these the company have to spend further costs on recruitment of new talent
which can provide fresh and creative ideas (Ahram and et.al., 2017). It also have to spend
costs on providing training and development of employee so that they are constantly
compatible with the innovations and technologies. This also involves huge costs to be spend
on training programs. If the employees are not compatible to use the new technologies and
implement them in the operations and daily tasks, it can make it very difficult for the
company to produce high productivity.
Task 3: How used innovations and digital technologies impact on data and knowledge
management in process of decision making in chosen company.
Knowledge management: knowledge management refers to the procedure to store,
capture, share, manage and store the knowledge, data and experiences of the employees and
customers in order to enhance their overall knowledge of the organization (Howard and et.al.,
2021). Knowledge management in companies is very important as it aims to improve the
efficiency and productivity of the company as well to retain and maintain valuable
information with the company as well. There are four components of the knowledge
management such as people, content, strategy and processes as well. Every company
regardless of their industry and size needs knowledge management as it needs people to
sponsor, support and lead the knowledge sharing. In order to do that the organizations have to
define their procedures and operations in order to manage as well as measure the information
and knowledge flows in it. The major objective of knowledge management is to share ideas,
information, ideas and experiences so that it can ensure that these are available in the

appropriate place in the appropriate time as well so that informed decisions can be enabled. It
also aims to prove the efficiency of organization and its employees through the knowledge
management.
Every organization have two types of knowledge in its systems i.e. Explicit
knowledge and implicit knowledge. The organization such as Amazon’s success depends
upon its mechanical processing of the data collection. The data is also used in decision
making processes as well. The organizations create knowledge through various factors such
as combination, externalisation, internalization and socialization as well. All the factors
affects the transformation of implicit knowledge into the explicit knowledge gained through
the communication and dialogue which links the new knowledge gained with the existing
knowledge. It means learning while doing things and also to work in the teams. The implicit
knowledge refers to the intuitive knowledge of employees and it is not defines nor it is
documented (Farah, and Ramadan, 2020). On the other hand explicit knowledge is
documented and they are easily accessible to everyone in the organization. Many authors
argue that knowledge is the basis for the development of innovation and the decisions
regarding innovations as well regardless of the sources from which the knowledge is
gathered.
In Amazon it develops the machine learning techniques in order to enrich the product-
related information from the Amazon’s detail pages as well as from the internet at large. The
company’s e-commerce technologies provides the blueprint for how to interact with the
customers. The company have a simplified the buying processes for customers. This makes it
easier for the customers to gain knowledge and information on the products and services
offered by the company (Preuss, 2019). This also benefit the company in enhanced customer
experience as well. Its integrated data and integrated process have provided various benefits
as well. In Amazon the process sophisticated and automation communication structures
which results in the value creation for the customers. The company’s information systems
have provided various addition for the customers in various ways such as enhanced customer
care, limitless inventory and high margin and low costs as well.
Innovation is the process which combines the exiting knowledge of a company into
the new ways and methods (Navarrete, 2019). Knowledge management can make the
significant role I transferring the explicit knowledge available so that that can be recombined
into new and innovative ideas. Continuous innovations needs well-planned system for

knowledge management which enables the organization to excel in the creation of
knowledge, its application and knowledge retention as well. Amazon collects the information
through web which is directed to the (ERMS) Enterprise Resource Management Systems
which runs on the ODMS (Oracle Database Management System) (Castro, Lopes and
Brondizio, 2020).
The ODMS automates the ordering process for customers with higher levels of
accuracy and efficiency in the order delivery and order scheduling as well. Amazon also uses
the Customer Relation Management in its information systems which contribute significantly
in its growth over the years. This system collects the data like transaction history, order
records and credit card information as well with the use of its specialised sorting algorithms
which stores the information in the profiles of customers. This systems also encrypts the
sensitive information of customers such as the credit card information. Then it redirects the
customer’s order details and sensitive data in the delivery system for the shipment of their
products and services (Rikap, 2020). The customer relationship management system is also
involved in the collection of information on the customer feedback, product reviews customer
queries so that they can improve the efficiency and scalability.
CONCLUSION
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that digital technologies are the
resources and systems which assist the company in string, generating and processing of data
in its systems. Innovation is the introduction of changes in the existing products and services
and digital technologies on the other hand are the innovations which helps the people in
making their lives much easier. Amazon is the online retailer and service provider which is
one of the best e-commerce business in all over the world. Amazon have introduced various
innovations such as Dash buttons, Amazon fresh, Amazon prime and Amazon fire TV and
Amazon fire phone as well. The company have expanded its business in all over the worked
through its innovative and digital technologies. These technologies have provided various
benefits to the company. However, there are some disadvantages of these innovations to
Amazon as well. The innovations and digital technologies used by Amazon impacts on data
and knowledge management in process of decision making. Innovation is the process which
combines the exiting knowledge of a company into the new ways and methods. Company
uses various systems for data management such as (ERMS) Enterprise Resource
Management Systems and it runs on the ODMS (Oracle Database Management System).

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