Innovation and Sustainable Business Development: An Amazon Case Study

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MGMT20132 INNOVATION AND
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
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Executive Summary
The report is based on the innovation and thinking application in the company Amazon by
taking into considerations of the principles learned in design thinking. There is a depiction of
micro and macro environment application in the various forms of the company and subsequent
application in future aspects of the company. There has been an effective application of various
policies associated with the growth and application of the same in the future development of the
company and its process.
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Concepts involved in innovation.................................................................................................................4
The creation of an innovation strategy ensures strategic alignment within organizations............................7
Impact of the innovation trend on the organization.....................................................................................8
How an organization’s innovation strategy best responds to the innovation trend.....................................11
Conclusion and Recommendations............................................................................................................12
References.................................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
The report will be associated with the understanding of innovation and organizational structure
of Amazon one of the leading e-commerce company in the world and will also discuss various
factors associated will innovation. The report will be discussing various idea and steps adopted
by the company in order to develop market leadership and competitive work environment.
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos on July 5, 1994. The trend that will be discussed is design
thinking. The company was initially dealing with online bookselling then gradually moved to
mp3 files, video library and further sections that are included in the website currently. The site
depicts the gradual adaption of innovation and trend in the current form so as to deal with
subsequent facilities associated. The innovation that will be discussed is the Amazon Prime
feature added by the website to deal with the needs of the people associated with the website for
a longer time. This has been said that the overall process was introduced to make sure those
customers feel elite and they are served well in the process. Amazon prime was made to add
various features to the people in order to deal with the subsequent facilities. This innovation got
the company a large number of subscribers thus leading to better revenue facilities.
Concepts involved in innovation
The success of Amazon is associated with the application of various facilities that are involved in
the growth and development of the company thus dealing with various factors associated. They
are:
 The organizational environment: The organizational environment can be understood as
the culture and policies made by the management that supports the work and practices in
the workplace. The environment can be open or it can be closed thus the same will
supports the creativity of the organization. In Amazon, there is an open environment to
think and develop thus the same helps in better service quality (Yoo & Young, 2018).
 Innovation trend: The innovation trend can be understood as thinking out of the current
process and facility so as to make the company better and more innovative as compared
to the competition. The impact of design thinking can be seen in the company to facilitate
new designs and features associated with innovation. Design thinking in Amazon
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develops work shows the growth of the company that can be seen in the products and the
active response company has been giving to the customers.
 Innovation strategy: The innovation strategy in the organization tells about various
features associated with the adaption of new features and new trends in product
development and alignment. Amazon has a strategy to develop something new and more
user-friendly every time so as to facilitate customer service and policies associated with
the growth of the organization. Various steps involved in the same includes:
 Market Research: The collection of market products and values associated with
the development of new ideas are important for Amazon in order to deal with the
subsequent needs of the organization thus developing products as per that (Jarmila
& Kateřina, 2013).
 Thinking out of the box: The more out of the box thinking is there the more
development is seen on the products and better products and services can be
displayed. Amazon always tries to make products better and more sustainable as
per the dealing of the company.
 Customer feedback: The collection of customers, ideas, feedback, and needs that
can be collected in the innovation and development of products so as to deal with
new ideas and services in the company.
 Implementation and improvement: Company believes in implementing the
innovation and development needs of the product to see its performance in the
long run and based on the structures associated with the growth the same develop
a better understanding of the consecutive changes to be done in the organization.
This can help the company to develop better services and facilities associated with
the further development of the product and service delivery to the desired target
population (Zhi et. al., 2018).
 Innovation capabilities: The term innovation capabilities can be understood as taking
the idea of innovation and developing it into something useful and new that has good
user-friendliness and good economic value. The launch of Amazon prime shows that the
more the people are associated with amazon prime more discounts and initial
 Innovation value creation and capture: The value in design thinking can be understood
as the value given to the end user so as to develop better services and products associated
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with the growth and placement of a product in the market. This can help in capturing a
larger market and better customer service facilities (Karlusch & Reinsberger, 2018).
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The creation of an innovation strategy ensures strategic alignment within organizations
The need for innovation strategy is an important role of design thinking as this will support
various policies associated with the current trend of the company and future aspects of the
company. These strategies help in the development of future targets to be set by the organization
in order to deal with subsequent facilities associated with the growth of the company. The need
of strategies is mandatory define objectives to the employees and help them understand the basic
needs of the organization taking into account various internal and external feedback associated
with the work that is required in the development of work. This can be seen that the alignment of
company growth is associated with the needs of the organization by taking into account various
policies associated with the development of new features in the product (Maja et. al., 2018).
The need of strategy of Amazon is there to maintain the current features and make sure further
policies are associated with the growth of the organization by taking into account various current
functions and the sustainability of quality of those in the future aspects of the company. The
alignment of the current process has to be done by making sure further aspects of the
organization are well structured and designed as per the norms of the company taking into
account various sections associated with new policies and concepts associated in the company
(Cai, et. al., 2017).
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Impact of the innovation trend on the organization
In design thinking, the concept of innovation and features in the development of an organization
can be best done in order to identify the current performance and make future changes in the
organization. The impact of old innovation can frame the current position while the current
feature can make future changes in the development process of the company taking into account
various features associated in the development of Amazon. The need for innovation in a
company is needed to develop future aspects of the company and make effective changes in the
current policies and trends associated with the growth of the company. This encourages better
development of the organization and making effective changes in the future aspects of the
company (David, 2019). This can be understood by taking into consideration the SWOT analysis
performed on Amazon.
Strength
 This has helped the company to
deliver cost leadership and better
customer values to make an effective
position in the market
 The company and its innovation have
made it a market leader and provided a
better position in cost form.
 They have superior logistics and cost-
effective strategies in the organization.
Weakness
 They are focusing way too much on
innovation thus developing a weak
platform for other services
 Some policies like free shipping and
installation have been putting it in a
more vulnerable position of loss in
revenue.
Opportunity
 The rise in the e-commerce market has
been delivering good customer base
and developing better customer
response.
Threat
 Competition has been very quickly
covering the market and affecting the
loyal customer base
 The local market has also been serving
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 They can deliver global footprint and
make better application of features
associated with the growth of the
market.
the issue well.
Business Canvas Model
Key Partners
 It’s
hardwar
e and
supplies
associate
 Distribut
ors and
deliverie
s
 Material
s and
merchan
dise
suppliers
Key activities
 Research
and
develop
ment
 Logistics
and
inventor
y
manage
ment
 Technica
l
develop
ment
Value
Proposition
 Amazo
n
devices
 Market
product
s and
service
s
 Market
ing and
publish
ing of
various
facilitie
s.
Customer
Relationships
 Customer
feedbacks
and
recommenda
tions
 Technical
development
relations
Customer
Segments
 Global
custom
ers
 Third
party
distribu
tors
 Enterpri
ses and
small-
scale
busines
s
 Content
develop
ers
Key Resources
 Market
 Employe
e
 Channel
Channels
 Internal
 Suppliers
 Internet
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partners
Cost Structure
 Content cost
 Technology cost
 Content cost
Revenue Streams
 Sales
 Retail
 Commission
 Utility
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How an organization’s innovation strategy best responds to the innovation trend
The organization is needed to be well aligned with the design thinking principles and practices in
order to make sure that there are better services associated with the needs of the innovation and
development process. The design thinking principles are adapted in the development of
innovation strategy that serves not only the current objectives of the company but they are also
effective in forecasting the development of further aspects of the company taking into account
the overall needs of the association. The innovation strategies are associated in the company
process to develop the services and structures in order to facilitate Amazon to develop new and
better customer-oriented products and features associated in the development and growth of the
organization taking in account current feedback and resources associated in the structure
(Wijethilake, et. al., 2018).
The organization can organize the activities by prioritizing the work based on customer needs
and process associated with the daily and occasional activities. The organization is needed to
focus more on various consumer groups and markets associated in various sections of the society
taking into account various policies associated with the growth of the company (Jia, 2018). They
need to pursue the innovation to reach out customer complaints and services well so as to make
sure all t the details are stored well and are captured in a systematic and developing format. The
overall needs of the company are needed to be fulfilled by aligning the goals of the company
with respective future tenures of the company and market needs (Zhi et. al., 2018).
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Conclusion and Recommendations
The overall report has helped in developing an understanding of various features of design
thinking that can be applied in the innovation and application of the same in Amazon and making
effective application of the same in the growth of the company. The report has provided a micro
and macro level picture of the company and its ideas in the growth of the company by taking into
account the overall needs of the system by developing future aspects of the company. The report
has helped in the development of future aspects of the company taking into account the feedback
received by the customers in the current form and making sure the development is sustainable
with respect to the innovation adopted in the company and making effective application of the
same in the growth of the company. There has been a certain recommendation that has been
noticed in the organization, they are:
 Taking an in-depth analysis of the culture and needs of the customers and formulating
futures aspects of the company effectively in order to deal with the subsequent resources
of the company.
 There should be a designated team to monitor the ides features that are being launched by
the competitors and the local market and provide effective services to all the customers
availing the services.
 Apart from that, the company is needed to focus more on the internal and external
stakeholders in order to make sure that there is proper placement of services to the end
user and work process is going on in a proper flow.
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