Analysis of Leadership and Change at Amazon: A Comprehensive Review

This report delves into the leadership and change challenges faced by Amazon, the e-commerce giant, focusing on various aspects such as the nature and scale of leadership challenges, particularly in the context of Jeff Bezos's leadership style. It examines the company's approach to change, including its democratic leadership style and the importance of diversity and inclusion. The report further explores the challenges and concerns the organization faces, including the role of employees like Katie in embracing diversity. The analysis covers the impact of leadership on the organization's internal and external environments, the effectiveness of the organization's approach to change, and potential improvements. It also includes a discussion of critical generic factors for senior executive teams, and evaluation of the recommended approach.

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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1.1. Part A..................................................................................................................................2
2.1. Part B...................................................................................................................................3
3.1. Part C...................................................................................................................................7
1. As chief executive of the organisation, describe how you would have approached this
particular challenge; the critical dilemmas you would have faced, how you would have
engaged with these dilemmas and the reasoning behind your recommended choice of
actions?...................................................................................................................................7
2. Identify the critical generic factors any senior executive team would have to consider in
this situation, regardless of the type of organisation and its operating context...................10
3. Explain how you would evaluate the outcomes of your recommended approach?.........12
4.1. Part D................................................................................................................................15
References:...............................................................................................................................18
Appendix..................................................................................................................................20

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1.1. Part A
The chosen firm for the discussion of the topic is Amazon. It is one of the leading e-
commerce business in today’s era of time. The owner of the business firm is addressed as
Jeff-Bezos. Speaking in terms of the leadership challenge, the firm has been facing a number
of challenges such as that of the leadership challenge. The business started with the platform
for selling books (Radford et al., 2014). Slowly gaining pace in the consumer market, the
firm started to deliver services on the e-commerce platform with the selling of commodities.
However, shifting towards the e-commerce platform is not a very easy task it requires a lot of
marketing strategy and that of professionalism. On the other hand, there is a diversified
segment of consumers that demands the products from different regions of the country. To
maintain them on a real time basis, a separate back team is required along with that of the
number of sub-departments. The number of rival firms and that of their competitive
advantage is also required to be taken care of.
Jeff-Bezos makes use of two Pizza rule within the internal environment of the
organisation. He believes that each of the working theory should be divided into a small
group such that any internal conflicts or ego can be eliminated. On the other hand, it is that
when the teams are in small groups, each of the individuals contribute equally about the
ideas, concepts, and innovation strategies. Besides, they believe that to manage a bigger team,
separate back team management is required. The cost will be incurred in tracking and
monitoring the activities of each peer groups and that of the concerning individuals.
Speaking in terms of the external environment of the organisation, the corporate-level
strategy of Amazon considered being eloquently in terms of their visionary and that of the
mission statement, “We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for three primary
customer sets: consumer customers, seller customers and developer customers”. Taking into

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the overall perspective, the concerning brand Amazon.com aims to do anything and be
everything that the potential consumers, sellers, and developers want to. It is the vision of the
concerning firm for which Amazon.com brings all the three underneath one umbrella, and
spits out the same result (Sairio et al., 2014). They all walk away from Amazon.com with the
true e-commerce experience. Speaking in terms of the business level strategy, they make use
of the four diversifying portfolio categories.
Along with that, they also focus on their e-commerce using third party selling, infrastructure
Technology that makes use of the cloud computing Technology, and that of their very own
Kindle department. The belief of the manager and that of Jeff-Bezos that the concerning
business from Amazon is a technology-oriented business firm at the priority. The second
priority of the business two more enhance is technological expertise to bring about in hike up
in sales. The hike up m is regarding the product offerings and that of the services which have
the potential to obtain the satisfaction of the consumers and to yield a profitable revenue.
2.1. Part B
The democratic kind of leadership is being followed within the organisation. On the
other hand, this leadership style has been able to bring about huge change within the
organisation. The concerning employees are also given much of the priority and attention
towards the various process of the organisation. This has helped to obtain the faith and the
trust of the employees. This manner it has helped to maintain harmony within the
organisational business activity. Besides, making use of the employee’s feedback, they are
being asked to participate in the joint communication session to bring out their vision, ideas
and any strategies that they propose to bring within the organisation.
This employee’s participation has resulted in a huge change such that business processes and
activities have shown a huge change in the business processes (Nohria et al., 2017). The

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innovation product offerings are possible because of the research and development team that
the firm makes use of. This is the team that continuously, strive to introduce a new set of
innovative products that the rival business firm fails to introduce within the consumer market.
This research team works continuously and make use of the consumer’s feedback while
carrying on the design phase of the product offering. They give immense priority towards the
consumer's feedback; they believe that the consumers feedback pave them a way for the
introduction of the desired commodity.
Diversity as an advantage, Katie believed that being a woman of diversified colour is one of
the major advantage within the corporate environment. She looks very distinct, so she is more
memorable; this directly denotes that she can more easily foster connections with that of the
other concerning employees (CNBC.com, 2018). Besides, it is to be taken into consideration
that her heritage is also one of the great conversation starters. Besides, it is being found that
due to her nature of existence, people are more concern and curious in regard to her historical
background. She is of South African and English mix - people are always curious about her
history and her journey. Katie further keeps on explaining that the corporate firms with that
of a more diverse workforce will be having more success.
Diverse companies will attract better talent, have a stronger brand, and improve employee
satisfaction. Diversity is considered to be one of the elementary keys towards the innovation
in regard to the availability of new ideas and creating a better connection with that of the
potential customers of the market; this is something which is very vital for the Amazon.
"Innovation can take place anywhere, and at any moment of time, without a diverse
workforce, opportunities that stay within the hands of the firm can be missed out. Diverse
teams are better prepared to spot opportunities from a variety of sources and inputs
(Nytimes.com, 2019). Just having a diversified group of peer team is not enough as proposed
by Katie. She further supported this statement by stating that “you also need an inclusive

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environment and the capacity to receive and act on feedback. Inclusivity is important because
a diverse workforce must feel comfortable in order to contribute to ideas.
Additionally, it’s important to encourage everybody to contribute to the creative process in
order to think and act innovatively”. Besides, encouraging the diversified and inclusive
workplace culture signifies that those voices which are composed of the value statement are
not only confident in terms of speaking up straightforward, but they are also given priority
such that they are being heard in respect of what is being said. Their recommendations are
taken into considerations. On the other perspective, with the change in time as the companies
become more and more global in terms of the business activities, diverse perspectives are
vital for which Katie urges the corporate firms to promote and encourage a workplace culture
where diversified background of employees and workers are free to bring out their visions,
ideas, and any of the statement that they desire to convey in the eye of the management team
or any other senior official body.
One of Amazon’s present employee Katie-George stated that how Amazon has embraced her
differences within the business undertakings. Amazon recognises the value of diversity, an
experience of being different. Furthermore, the employee of the concerning business firm,
Katie outlays that she had a privileged childhood within the underprivileged country.
However, whenever her mother used to shift in UK (Wherewomenwork.com, 2019), it was
the time when soon Katie began to realize the financial needs and the set of difficulties in
case of lack of financial mediums. On the hand, when Katie began her psychology degree at
Warwick, slowly she began to acquire the knowledge and the meaning of diversity and what
made her different from the other students. She also said in an interview that "This proved to
be both an obstacle and an advantage. I was referred to as the girl with the afro…because out
of 20,000+ students, no other girl had one! It was at university when I started thinking about

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how I could create positive change for others and celebrate the international students I studied
and lived with”.
The future of a diverse workforce, some of the valuable advice as shared by Katie is in regard
to the fact that how various companies can undertake a number of efforts for the sole purpose
of retaining and attracting the best potential and most diverse talent. Companies should
formulate a set of common standards, such as Amazon's Leadership Principles. The different
corporate companies should also formulate distinct support and network groups with the
motive that diversified background of employees can be involved within the activity of
overcoming the important issues within the company (Diversityq.com, 2019). On the other
hand, the company senior and that of the middle-level executives should also lead diversity
and inclusion initiatives, be passionate, well-informed and visible in their support of
diversity.
A culture that embraces diversity. The corporate environment of Amazon for Katie was
different in comparison to that of the environment at Warwick. At Amazon, Katie sensed that
she has the right to speak out, be a leader and, most importantly, be herself. This is one of the
changes that the concerning business firm has introduced, Amazon creates an environment
where people can support one another, freely communicate with one another to share their
visions, ideas, learn from one another, embrace diversity and strengthen connections between
people. Furthermore, Katie also added that "Not to mention that I can wear the bright pink
socks that were frowned upon by previous employers (not that it stopped me wearing them!).
At Amazon, it is not about what you wear, but about what you have to say”.
Finding the best talent, the changes that took place over the period of time within the
working structure of the organization also involves the key role of the employee. Some of the
changes were also seen within the working of the employee that is Katie. Katie was given the

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order to go abroad countries and seek for the potential clients who have a talent set and a
hunger for growth in its carrier. For the achievement of the hiring process, she has to even fly
off to international boundaries such as that of the countries like of South Africa, Poland,
Ireland, Germany and the US. Continuously she has to visit this country in order to retain the
best of the graduates regardless of their background and cultural background (Kantor et al.,
2015).
Katie also had a different job role apart from this. She even had a diverse team of recruiters,
coordinators and recruitment managers. She proposed that "We encourage an open team
culture where we listen to our whole team, regardless of role, and use feedback to improve
processes. Some of our best ideas have come from the newest team members, while
‘inclusion’ may feel like a term used so loosely it risks losing its meaning, it is an integral
part of our business and a key ingredient in creating a workplace where innovation can
thrive”.
The challenges and concerns that was are facing in her previous organisation includes
an organizational culture that has developed because of the conservative mindset of the
management, which removes focus on the productivity and ideas of the employee and
increase focus on the dress code, which has no practical implication for the business.
However, in the current organization she is facing less challenges as she feels that she
is no longer judged upon for what she wears but instead given credibility for the ideas she
has. Thus in a way her problems reduced after she moved to Amazon.
3.1. Part C
1. As chief executive of the organisation, describe how you would have approached this
particular challenge; the critical dilemmas you would have faced, how you would have

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engaged with these dilemmas and the reasoning behind your recommended choice of
actions?
Being the chief executive officer, I need to understand the positive changes along with
that of the negative changes that will take place because of the change within the leadership
styles. Each criterion has its pros and cons. On the other hand, employee participation in the
business objectives and that of the decisions involves sharing of meaningful data and
information with that of the concerning employees of the organisation. Thus, many chances
are there that the company related data regarding the business plan, strategic moves,
competitive advantages and that of the marketing plans all can be within the hand of the other
parties (Rossman et al., 2015). As it was understood from the discussions with Kaie, the style
of leadership followed by her previous and present employer can have a significant impact on
the levels of motivation of the employee and their participation in organizational activities.
Figure: Leadership change model Source: (MindTools.com, 2019)
The Leadership Change Model can be used in the scenario to evaluate the performance management
system for the organization and understand how the performance management has been complicated

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due to the mindsets of the leadership and management within the organization. The model further
shows how chaos can erupt wthin an organization leading to complex situations. Strategies such as
saying yes to the mess, fostering diversity, challenging old habits and assumptions, motivating people,
reducing power and differentials can be effective strategies to reduce chaos. Additionally, according
to the model, performance management can be better supported by effective decision making process,
simplified structures, effective procedures, monitoring and coordination and providing directions to
the business. These suggestions can be implicated within the given case scenario to support the
management and leadership to promote business growth and better engagement of the employees,
thereby addressing the key concerns pointed out by Katie.
That is the breach of the security can take place; this can be done by the rival firms to beat the
concerning firm that is the Amazon. Being a chief executive officer, it is to be noted that
transfer of this data into the hands of the other parties can create a serious mess not only
within the business process but may also create huge impact upon the internal environment of
the organisation. Besides, being one of the reputed and famous brand much chances are there
that within the external environment a number of subjects are present who are ready to pull
the name of the concerning brand that is the Amazon.
However, these issues can be overlooked, but there are a number of positive
possibilities that outweighs the negative effects. The joint contribution of the employees can
seriously result in effective and efficient outcomes. The issues as discussed above can be
overcome by making use of the employee loyalty programs and that of by making use of the
focus group such that this focus group will be the primary body for keeping track of the
movements within the internal environment of the concerning business firm.
This focus group, on the other hand, is required to communicate with that of the other
employees periodically to address the issues that might be suspicious in the eye of the other
employees. Besides, the use of loyalty programs is required to be modified within the

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organisational premises (Vecchio et al., 2018). This is to entice the interest of the employees
and to make them stick with that of the organisational business objectives.
Employee participation is to be appreciated, that is a different aspect as of whether
every time their voices are to be heard or not. Their voices should be heard in order to obtain
a different strategy or to obtain a different scenario. Hence, before making use of their ideas,
and strategies a proper evaluation is to be undertaken by the professional team of the
marketing department and that of the operations department to measure the level of
achievement that will stay in favour of the concerning business firm Amazon. As pointed out
by Katie, the culture of the organization is significantly influenced by the attitudes of the
management and the leadership as they develop and maintain the policies and procedures
followed in the organization as well as the interpersonal interactions that can take place
within the workplace. Thus further influences the participation of the employees in the
business decisions and also facilitate better communication of information within the
organization.
2. Identify the critical generic factors any senior executive team would have to consider
in this situation, regardless of the type of organisation and its operating context.
The critical generic factors any senior executive team needs to consider in the described
situation involving the interview with Katie is discussed briefly below, through which an
understanding of the factors and how it impacts Amazon can be facilitated
For the introduction of the successful change management, it requires a lot of and
huge extent of commitment ranging from that of the executives and that of the senior
managers, whether the change is taking place within the department or it is taking place
within the complete organization. Leadership from the perspective of the senior team is one
of the most significant aspects with concern to helping the employees to contribute

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effectively and support the mandatory required changes. It is the belief of the management
team that a change effort cannot be optional for the senior staff.
Thus, there is a need to either lead or get out of the path. On the other perspective, this set of
the new system will ultimately have to stand on its own feet, but every new system needs
support and nurture”. Upon having a thorough analysis of the successful aspects of the
organisations, it is being found that transforming organisations have made several significant
mistakes. However, this set of new mistake has enabled the organisation to adopt changes
within the leadership traits (Choi et al., 2016).
Making the availability of the change-resistant people within the senior positions had
impeded the implementation of all of the goals that they had mutually agreed to and set.
Executive’s role within the organisational boundary is of immense importance. Formulation
of a new set of focused vision towards the change management process requires a lot of focus
and imaginary process, which is a characteristic trait of a leadership body. Formulation of a
picture regarding the scenario as of in the coming future days where the organisation will
stand and the level of the output that will be obtained is one of the challenging factors for the
leadership body. As a lot of enumeration and analysis is required for the proposed outcome.
However, the visionary is not of imaginary nature or the one which the consumer market
desires. It is to be of practical nature that should make sense that is based upon the practical
nature and reality. Such an aspect can also be seen from the discussions with Katie that shows
how important an effective evaluation of the outcomes in necessary to support better business
decisions.
Making an appointment of an executive champion who owns the change management
process — on the other hand, making sure that the other senior, as well as that of the
subordinate senior managers as well as other appropriate people that are part of the