MBA HRM Report: Amazon and FedEx HR Systems and Strategy

This report provides a critical analysis of the Human Resource Management (HRM) systems of Amazon and FedEx. It begins with an introduction to HRM, its importance in today's business world, and the challenges companies face. The report then provides company overviews of Amazon and FedEx, highlighting their core values and business strategies. The core of the report focuses on analyzing the HR systems of both companies, including their recruitment, training, and talent management practices. It examines how each company aligns its HR policies with its overall business strategy, emphasizing the importance of strategic alignment for success. The report also highlights the challenges faced by both companies in their HRM practices. Finally, the report offers recommendations for both companies to implement best practices, fostering a high-performance organizational culture and ensuring long-term growth. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and insights.

Running Head: HRM 0
Human Resource Management
(HRM)
Student Details:

HRM 1
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Company Overview...................................................................................................................2
HR Systems................................................................................................................................3
Strategic alignment of human resource policies and organisations business strategy...............5
Recommendations......................................................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................12

HRM 2
Introduction
In today’s changing business world, companies are developing the formal systems of human
resource management (HRM) for managing people in the workplace. Under this system,
responsibilities considered by managers are employee benefits and compensation, staffing,
and designing or defining work with the purpose of productivity maximisation through
employee effectiveness optimization. HRM aims at developing, acquiring, and retaining
talent with alignment of business and workforce altogether where companies face challenges
as well to maintain this contribution in business. Also, companies’ face some employees’
management issues as well that can impact on the health of business while making decisions
(Thunnissen, et al., 2013). Such challenges and issues faced by companies due to HRM
require achieving personnel procedures and policies along with contributing in the
achievement of strategic plans and corporate objectives.
In HRM, it is essential for companies to be responsible in securing, developing, finding, and
guiding employees with their talents and compatibility having future goals and operation
needs while shaping corporate culture through HRM factors. It is possible by cooperation and
integration encouragement or else taking action other than instituting quantitative
performance measurements for business success. Hence, HRM covers strategic approach
through motivating, acquiring, managing and developing human resources (HR) of
companies along with programs establishment and corporate culture supporting and reflecting
core values of an organisation and making sure about its success (Heathfield, 2020). The aim
of this report is to critically analyse the HR systems of companies chose as an example
Amazon and FedEx while focusing on their HR values and culture. This report will also
cover the ways of both companies aligning their human resource policies strategically with
organisations business strategy. In this report, recommendations will be provided and
discussed for the companies to implement best practices that support and fit the high-
performance organisational culture of companies in future for success and long-term growth.
Company Overview
Amazon in this technological world, it the largest company headquartered in Seattle,
Washington, the US (United States) within the Internet across the globe guided with
principles of passion for invention, customer obsession, long-term thinking, and commitment

HRM 3
to operational excellence while supporting its key stakeholders such as customers, employees
and communities. Amazon works with the workforce of over 798,000 employees across the
globe in relation to focusing on digital streaming, e-commerce, artificial intelligence (AI),
and cloud computing (Zetlin, 2019). Amazon performs well with disruption through mass
scale and technological innovation with gaining revenue at large globally. The company
focuses on building future with positive impact on the economy, customers, communities,
small businesses, and employees for achieving the common desires and goals. Amazon
provides retail shopping services online for primary sets of customer such as sellers, content
creators, consumers, and enterprises along with promotional and marketing services while
focusing on price, selection, and convenience (Levy, 2019).
FedEx is global multinational American company known for its delivery services across the
globe headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee termed wholly as Federal Express. The
company provides reliable, rapid and time-definite delivery to over 220 counties and
territories with the workforce of over 425,000 employees while having connections between
marketing comprising above 90 per cent of the gross domestic product globally within
business days of one to three (Garland, 2018). FedEx use the strategy for competing and
operating altogether and independently to provide competitive advantage with its wide
services portfolio allowing meeting needs of consumers using the company’s services among
innovative and flexible solutions. The company is leading due to its overnight service of
shipping and pioneering system for tracking packages and providing updates of real-time
package location (Nichols, 2018).
HR Systems
Effective management of HR Systems enable companies to build a loyal and talented
workforce which allows them to generate a competitive edge in the market. In today’s time,
HR work is more complex and requires involvement for managing employee information
helps in hiring and recruiting to train and evaluate efficiently (Jiang et al., 2012). In the case
of Amazon, the HR system of the company involves wide range of functions such as
compensation management, ensuring legal compliance, recruitment and selection, training
and development, and maintaining relations. The organisational or corporate culture
implemented by Amazon is built on the set of values and traditions that are focussed on
pushing employees further beyond their capabilities and developing solutions and innovative
ideas making it the top performing e-commerce company in the world (Palmer, 2020). The

HRM 4
HR systems focus on three key areas which include customer-centricity, peculiarity and
boldness. The company has implemented policies based on these values that followed the HR
function from the recruitment to retention and talent management. With over 798,000
employees, it becomes crucial for Amazon to make sure that it focuses on the development of
each and every one of these employees to retain them in an organisation for long-period of
time while also ensuring that they are committed towards their work (Sonnemaker, 2020).
The company has to tackle challenges such as management of diversity, reduction in high
employee turnover, managing workplace conflicts, providing accommodation to employees
and others (Murphy Jr., 2018). A strict recruitment structure is implemented by Amazon in
order to make sure that it screens all the candidates who apply for the job to find only the best
and the most suitable employees for particular jobs.
Amazon key HR system is relating to managing diverse team globally and promoting overall
performance of teams. In this regards, Jeff Bezos’ Two Pizza Rule is used by the company
according to which all the teams does not have a high number of members (Locke, 2020). It
makes it easier for the management to manage these teams and find those groups that perform
exponentially and failed to achieve their goals. Since the company is highly customer-centric,
all its HR systems are targeted towards promoting the activities that achieve overall interests
of customers by delivering them better services. Moreover, promptness is another key
element on which HR systems of Amazon emphasise on; all the workers have to discharge
their duties within their given deadlines to make sure that customers did not have to wait for
long period of time. “Pivot” is a program initiated by the organisation for training its staff
members to make sure that they are able to identify gaps in their skills, knowledge and
technical know-how, and fulfil those gaps to improve their overall performance (Kim, 2017).
However, there are many inefficiencies and discrepancies in the HR systems of Amazon that
makes it challenging for the company. A good example is too much burden on its workers
since they have to travel from very far in order to reach company’s warehouses for their job.
Workers did not receive adequate break time during their shift and they are continuously
under-pressure from top management to perform their duties on time (Lengnick-Hall,
Lengnick-Hall and Rigsbee, 2013). There are limited opportunities for personal and
professional development of these employees and the company fails to offer them decent
salary packages in many areas.
On the other hand, FedEx also face the similar challenges relating to its HR functions since
the company also deals with time constraints when it comes to delivery of its services. The

HRM 5
culture of the company gives more emphasis on faster delivery of services while also
ensuring that customers are given a priority over other areas. The values of the company
make sure that its customers will receive faster delivery without any damage to their
packages which is a key advantage of the company (Risher, 2018). The HR system of the
company ensure that a rigorous screening process is used during the recruitment and selection
process to make sure that only the most suitable candidate are selected. The hiring process
takes place in both online and offline platforms; however, the final round for selection is
conducted by a senior HR manager at offline level. The company has introduced many
training programs for its new as well as current workers to ensure that they are able to
develop their skills and knowledge in order to effectively achieve corporate goals (Jiang et
al., 2012). The company has created a positive culture of learning and development in its
workplace through the FedEx Tuition Assistance fund which focuses on offering financial
support who wants to pursue higher education to increase their competencies.
FedEx also offers career development program which is not the case with Amazon since there
are limited growth opportunities for employees in Amazon. Talent retention is crucial for
FedEx which also reduce its attrition rate that is high in this sector. The HR systems are
focussed on achieving values of the company by creating a culture that fosters and reinforce
both personal and professional relationships (Stone and Dulebohn, 2013). However, there are
many limitations in the HR system of FedEx since the company has failed to ensure health
and safety of its workers. Recently, the company faced controversies due to death of its
employee because of a traumatic head injury during his shift; this news highlighted the failure
in health and safety policies of FedEx which also affected its brand image. However, one of
the key areas in which company exhales in diversity and inclusion since it was named one of
the best workplace for diversity in 2017; the company makes sure that its employees did not
face any discrimination and they receive equal opportunities in the workplace (FedEx, 2017).
these examples shows that the HR systems of both Amazon and FedEx which highlights how
both these companies focuses on their HR culture and values in order to deliver better results.
Strategic alignment of human resource policies and organisations
business strategy
Proper alignment of HR policies and business strategies of an organisation enables it to make
sure that it operates at its maximum opportunities allowing it to generate a competitive edge
over its competitors. It also allows company to find better solutions to their current problems

HRM 6
and foster innovation in the workplace that has become necessity for a modern company to
stay relevant even in adverse market condition (Stone et al., 2015). Effective HR policies
need to be strategically aligned with corporate values and overall goals of a corporation that
gives them an upper hand in their respective sector. In this regards, both Amazon and FedEx
uses their HR systems to make sure that they are focussed on their key values such as giving
priorities to consumers, delivering efficient services, reaching emerging markets and
improving overall profitability. Both the companies need to follow specific steps in order to
make sure that they identify their core values and link them with their HR practices which
create synergy between HR and corporate goals (Prieto and Pilar, 2012). Proper alignment of
the HR strategy with the organisation business strategy is significant without which the
organisation cannot succeed or stand in the global market space. One of the key steps while
achieving this goal is to understand and thoroughly evaluate the business strategy of the
company. The business strategy provides a well-defined and future oriented plan of the
company which is targeted on achieving its mission and vision while also creating and
sustaining a competitive advantage in the market (Liu et al., 2017). Along with the
understanding of business strategy, organisations should also evaluate their current state of
challenges that can create obstacles for them to achieve their business goals.
Amazon and FedEx operate in highly competitive markets and they are continuously under
pressure from external factors that could hinder their ability to achieve their goals. They
should focus on evaluating both internal as well as external factors that could have the
potential to impact their business in an adverse manner. They can use different strategic tools
to achieve this goal which will allow them to understand their role in HR department in
overcoming these challenges. After proper understanding of business strategy and current
state of challenges, it is important for both Amazon and FedEx to identify the difference of
human capital in their workplace and how it contributes to their growth and success. They
can understand this by evaluating different skills, behaviour and competencies that are
needed in the workplace for delivering better results than compared to their competitors
(Michael and Francis, 2018). They should focus on identifying best functions and positions
which are crucial for them to continuously deliver and improve their overall services. For
example, Amazon has started investing in robots and drones to shift the focus of its
workforce away from mundane tasks and focus on more critical tasks which requires human
intelligence such as sorting, providing recommendations, and reducing time in changing the
location of products. Similarly, FedEx has also improved its operations by using

HRM 7
technological advancements to make sure that its employees are focused on conducting more
critical tasks that requires their attendance and intelligence. These decisions have affected the
image of both these companies due to potential job-cuts and reduction in the workforce
(Lohaus and Muller, 2015). However, it benefits both these companies by allowing them to
reach their goals while also ensuring health and safety of their workers. This is a clear
demonstration of alignment between HR functions and organisational strategy that enable
both Amazon and FedEx to secure their position as incumbents in their respective sectors.
Another key step is designing and implementation of HR talent strategy that is crucial for
global businesses to remain in working conditions even in adverse markets. This step allows
them to identify gaps in their current workforce and the actual workforce which is required
for them to accomplish their goals. In this process, they focus on defining a range of
strategies which are focussed on acquiring talented workers from across the globe, training
them to develop their skills and performance, managing their day-to-day operations and
rewarding them to ensure that they remain committed towards achieving organisational
objectives (Botla and Kondur, 2018). The focus on HR strategy allows companies to
effectively implement change policies which is also crucial for them to make sure that they
change their operations as per the changing business environment without proper acceptance
of change policies, it becomes very difficult and challenging for global companies such as
Amazon and FedEx to ensure that they retain their customer base. Change management is
also crucial for Amazon and FedEx because both of them rely on technological advancements
to improve their operations which require training their staff in order to use these
technologies effectively (Ibua, 2017).
Another key challenge is maintaining diversity in Amazon and FedEx because they deal with
a diverse workforce in a global space. Therefore, promotion of diversity and inclusion is one
of their business objectives which require them to align their HR strategies in order to reduce
discrimination in terms of individual differences such as age, gender, caste, religion, sexual
orientation, disability, and others. The last step is to focus on measuring HR strategy in order
to set indicators that enable organisations to determine whether their organisational strategy is
aligned with their HR polices (Lichy and Kachour, 2014). Amazon and FedEx can set
indicators based on their employees’ performance, talent retention, promotional diversity, job
satisfaction level, commitment towards work and others. These indicators should be
monitored regularly by the organisations to make sure that they continuously remove gaps in
the alignment and focus on improving the same. Amazon and FedEx should comply with

HRM 8
these steps in order to make sure that their HR policies are aligned with their organisational
strategy which will allows them to achieve their goals and generate a competitive advantage
in the market (Schmidt, 2014).
Recommendations
Amazon and FedEx have implemented respective HR policies which allow companies to gain
an advantage; however, there are many areas in which both these companies need to improve
to achieve the corporate goals. Amazon and FedEx have to improve their organisational
culture to make sure that they create an alignment between their HR policies and business
strategies while expanding their operations globally. They must implement specific best
practices that allow them to reinforce their workplace culture that contributes to the
effectiveness of human capital. There are various recommendations which both these
companies should comply with in order to succeed. These recommendations can assist them
in identifying best practices that can allow them to fit and support an organisational culture
that is high performance (Lieb and Lieb, 2016). Organisational culture is referred to the
personality of a company which defines the behaviour of employees relating to how they act
and engage with one another. It also identify their values and personal goals and whether they
fit with the objectives of the organisations.
One of the key recommendations for both these companies is motivating change in the
workplace that will allow them to create a culture in which employees will focus on
exceeding their performance. Without embracing change, organisations become static and
they find it difficult to change as per the preference of customers which is crucial for them to
stay relevant. Amazon and FedEx face similar challenges in their industries since both these
companies have to continuously change their operations to meet the demand of their
customers. A culture that embraces change allows them to rely on technological
advancements and other innovative methods to improve their operations to achieve their
goals. This is not possible without a culture in which change is not accepted by the
employees and they resist to adoption of new methods which could potentially disrupt their
work (Jiang and Liu, 2015). This culture can be achieved when effective communication
policies are implemented and employees have different channels to speak their mind before
top level management. They should be free to share their issues with the management without
any delay so the necessary measures could be taken to improve their working standards. This
cannot be achieved if the management are not willing to listen to their employees that could

HRM 9
create challenges for Amazon and FedEx. Therefore, both these companies should implement
better communication channels for employees allowing them to create a culture that
positively manage change without resistance from their workers (Delmotte, De Winner and
Sels, 2012).
Second step is to lay foundation for the culture, values, and behaviour that is supported and
encouraged by the senior level executives. These foundations are considered as pillars where
they allow employees to engage positively in the workplace without hindering nay of its
values. These foundations can be established by organisations such as Amazon and FedEx by
introducing a code of conduct which guides behaviour and actions of employees. The code of
conduct can assist in determining what is the correct behaviour of employees and supervisors
and it also assist them in engaging in practices which are considered as ethical. The
organisational culture should embrace a code of conduct by setting examples from the top
level management which must be followed by employees at all level (Ceylan, 2013). This is
considered as a best practice which can be used by both Amazon and FedEx in order to make
sure that their organisational culture reinforces their operations and HR systems allowing
them to improve their productivity. The employees must become aware regarding these
values and the code of conduct at the time of their selection and they must follow them while
discharging their duties. When it comes to teams or groups, Amazon and FedEx should make
sure that each member of these teams are following the guidelines mentioned in the code of
conduct to achieve corporate goals (Murphy Jr., 2018). This builds a positive organisational
culture which is a foundation of successful MNCs that generates a competitive edge in the
global marketplace.
The next step is sustaining a behaviour that is encouraged by the top level management to
make sure that it prevails throughout the organisation and its operations on a global scale.
During this process, the management focuses on incorporating values into the day-to-day
behaviour of employees to ensure that they follow certain guidelines while discharging their
duties. These values are also incorporated through an effective code of conduct that allows
companies to build a sustainable organisational culture that is crucial for them to influence
their performance in a positive manner. This also allows them to improve the quality of work
by making sure that all the employees are directed by same principles which apply
throughout the workplace (Risher, 2018). Amazon and FedEx should encourage their
employees to collaborate during their work by offering them different online socializing
platforms that can enable them to communicate more efficiently in real time to tackle

HRM 10
difficulties in shorter period of time. Lack of collaboration makes it difficult for employees to
communicate with one another or different teams which lead to inefficiency in their work and
they find it difficult to rely on creative problem solving methods to tackle their challenges.
During this process, transparency is also crucial without which conflicts may arise in
organisational settings. Amazon and FedEx deals with a large number of workers who
belongs from different backgrounds and mishandling could lead to conflict between the
workers and the management. Transparency allows the management to improve the corporate
culture by building trust between employers and employees since they are able to share
crucial data and information with one another (Michael and Francis, 2018). This aspect also
promotes motivation and productivity in the workplace without which Amazon and FedEx
cannot retain their competitive advantage.
Lastly, Amazon and FedEx should focus on monitoring and improving their current practices
that will lead to building a culture in which improvement is encouraged and employees are
able to contribute in the decision making process. Without proper monitoring, it is not
possible for Amazon and FedEx to make sure that effective organisational culture policies are
followed by the workers. Monitoring can be done through both offline and online medium
which can allow Amazon and FedEx to track the data and statistics of their employees which
helps them while developing business policies. Both these companies can later use this data
in order to improve and make necessary changes in their HR systems to remove their gaps
and improve their overall efficiencies (Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall and Rigsbee, 2013). A
high performance organisational culture requires continuous changes in the existing practices
as per the changes in business environment to make sure that leading organisation are able to
stay ahead of their competition. Based on these recommendations, Amazon and FedEx will
be able to implement best practices that fit and support their organisational culture while
sustaining the high performance of their employees.
Conclusion
Based on the above observations, it can be concluded that Amazon and FedEx are leading
organisations in their respective industries and the ability of these organisations to pay
particular attention to their HR values and cultures provides them a competitive advantage in
the market. The HR systems adapted by Amazon and FedEx provides guidelines relating to
talent management, retention, compensation, and other key areas relating to human capital in
the workplace. Both these companies have introduced different programs for development of

HRM 11
their employees in both professional and personal level and they have also managed a
globally diverse workforce consisting workers from different cultural backgrounds. The HR
cultures and values enable them to align their HR policies with their business strategies to
make sure that their actions are targeted towards achieving corporate goals. There are many
gaps in the HR policies of Amazon and FedEx in relation to employee development, health
and safety guidelines, career development and others. These challenges can be addressed
when both Amazon and FedEx can align their business strategies with their HR policies by
identifying their core values, developing and implementing HR retention strategy, managing
diversity and promoting a positive workplace culture. Various recommendations are given for
these companies to implement practices that assist them in reinforcing a high professional
organisational culture such as managing change, laying foundations for core values,
sustaining behaviour of employees and monitoring their actions to improve these policies.
Based on these recommendations, Amazon and FedEx will be able to sustain their
competitive edge by ensuring that they are able to attract and retain talented workers from all
across the globe to discharge their duties effectively.