Amazon Case Study: Leadership, Ethics, and Social Responsibility

This case study analyzes Amazon, a leading multinational technology company, examining its macro and micro environments. It begins with a SWOT analysis, evaluating Amazon's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, including its rapid technological innovation, diversified operati...Read More

AMAZON CASE
STUDY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
Perform a SWOT and PESTEL analysis for Amazon. ..........................................................3
Evaluate how the changes in PESTEL factors has influenced the Opportunities and Threats
business. Critically comment on how the company is addressing their Strengths to negate
Threats and Weakness affecting their Opportunities..............................................................5
Compare and contrast the different styles of leadership. Comment on the current leadership
and management style at Amazon..........................................................................................6
Recommend a suitable leadership style that will match their management style and help
Amazon grow further. Justify your choice using appropriate literature.................................7
Comment on the Responsibility, Response and Obligations in their Ethics and Social
Responsibilities in the processes at Amazon using evidence from your research.................8
A reflection report .................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Businesses are considered as a task of undertaking the commercial activity which leads to
upliftment of the society and the economy. It is very essential to examine the macro and micro
environment of the business where it operates so that it can function accordingly. The macro
factors are the external factors which affect the working of the business and micro factors are
internal factors which after the organisation internally (Agyekum., 2020). In order to enhance the
productivity of an organisation, the correct leadership and management style is very essential in
order to work to achieve the the desired goals. The organisation for this report is Amazon,
multinational technology based American company established in Washington. This report shall
cover the SWOT and PESTEL analysis of the company, how these factors affect opportunity and
threat of the company, the leadership and management style of amazon and at last the reflective
report.
TASK
Perform a SWOT and PESTEL analysis for Amazon.
Amazon is world's online leading retailer which has its success spurred the other mortar
and physical retailers. It has a global footprint and reach in the market which makes it the leading
company.
SWOT Analysis
Through SWOT analysis, the company's internal factors shall be analysed in order to
evaluate its strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (Kapoor and Kaur., 2017). The SWOT
analysis of Amazon is as follows-
Strength
 Amazon has high capability for the
rapid technological innovation which
strengthen its position in terms of
ability to respond to the trends.
 The company has diversified operations
which makes it a strong brand in the
online retail industry. It deals in
electronics, online retailing service, non
Weakness
 The business model of Amazon is very
easy to imitate as many companies can
establish the e-commerce website. This
creates opportunities for competitors so
it is its biggest weakness.
 Amazon offers free shipping to its
customers which act as danger to lessen
the profit margin of the company and

online retail service, IT services and
many other. The company has a competitive edge
by using the e commerce and
leveraging information technology
(Mirzayi and Mehrzad., 2017).
organisation may not be able to
optimise on the cost just because of this
strategy.
 The company has limited penetration in
the developing market which prevent it
from getting benefit from high
economic growth rate market.
Opportunity
 The company can take advantage to
penetrate the developing market as it
must focus on establishing its presence
in those market before its competitors
take stronger edge over it. The company can expand its operation
in global e commerce industry by
developing new partnerships with other
companies which can act as external
strategy for the company.
Threat
 The major threat for company is the
aggressive competition within the non
online firms and online firms.
 Another threat is cyber crimes which
may threaten security and the integrity
of the company and may also affect the
confidence of the consumers (Xu and
Dong., 2019).
 Another threat the imitation which the
competitors may get involved in which
may reduce the market share of
Amazon and its brand value.
PESTEL analysis
It is that model which helps the companies to examine its external factor which may
affect the working of the company. In context to Amazon, the PESTEL analysis is discussed
below- Political- It focuses on governmental activity and its impact on the businesses. In context
to Amazon, the company gets support of the political stability of the government in EU
and USA as it creates opportunity for the company to diversify and expand its operations.
Moreover, the governmental support for the e commerce also acts as opportunity which
helps in expanding the operations of the business (Adams., 2019).

 Economic- It includes the effects of economic trends which may have an impact on the
businesses. The company can get benefit from the increasing disposable income in the
developing market as it will help in boosting the financial performance of the company.
But the recession in developing countries may affect its operations and act as threat.
Moreover the economic lock down have affect major companies but Amazon got positive
results as it is efficiently addressing the consumer needs of groceries, household, etc. Social- It focuses on the social trends like socio cultural changes, taste, preference of the
customers and many other. In context to Amazon, the increasing gap between the rich
and poor in many of the countries may affect the company's potential stagnation of the
disposable income levels (Chung and Kang., 2017). Technological- It includes the technological advancements in the economy which affect
he working of the company. The company is being heavily investing in the information
technology which may act to give boost to the company's competitive advantage. This
may result in more expansion for the company and profit maximisation. Environmental- It includes the impact of businesses on natural environment. In context
to Amazon, the company has been contributing to the damages to environment due to
volume of packaging, environmental dangerous products and many other act as criticising
area for the company (Ko., 2017).
 Legal- It includes the rules and regulations to which every company must adhere to. In
context to Amazon, the company must comply with the rising product regulations
otherwise it may face legal consequences and on other hand the import export regulations
also affect the working of the company.
Evaluate how the changes in PESTEL factors has influenced the Opportunities and Threats
business. Critically comment on how the company is addressing their Strengths to negate
Threats and Weakness affecting their Opportunities.
The changes in the PESTEL factors have been acting as opportunity and threat to the
company. The the influence of opportunity and threat is as follows- Political- The support of government to e- commerce may act as opportunity for the
company as this support will facilitate the continuing expansion of the company. On the
other hand this may act as threat to the company because of the rising competition.

 Economic- The economic stability of USA and EU work as opportunity for Amazon as it
minimises the economic risk in the online retail business which helps in expansion for the
company. Moreover the recession in economies of any country like may become threat to
the company as China is the biggest market where Amazon hopes to penetrate. Social- The buying habit of the people online may act as opportunity for the company as
Amazon needs to focus on expansion and market penetration in the developing countries. Technological- The pressure on the company to develop its technological assets due to
rapid technological obsolescence. This may act as threat for the company. But the
increasing efficiency of the IT resources may help the company to improve its
performance (Roy and Rajak., 2017). Environmental- The interest of the people in environmental program may act as
opportunity for the company as it may improve its environmental impact by opting the
corporate social responsibility strategy.
 Legal- The company can strengthen its brand image by complying with the laws and
regulations which may act as opportunity for it. For instance, the company build
appropriate CSR policies in order to address the environment protection regulation .
How company is using its strength to overcome weakness and threat
The strength of company is the brand value which it can created over the time, so
company can use it to overcome its weakness of imitation which may give an edge to its
competitors. The company can use its brand value and sustain in the market irrespective o any
threat from competitors. Moreover the company uses high capability technological innovation in
its operation which helps in overcoming its threat of cyber crime as its technology is far vast and
provides high level security to its system. The company can use its technology to reach the
developing countries where limited penetration is available so it can use its strength to convert its
threat to opportunity.
Compare and contrast the different styles of leadership. Comment on the current leadership and
management style at Amazon.
Leadership is an art which motivates the workforce to act for the achievement of the
organisational goal. It basically involves directing the staff with an appropriate strategy so that
they can easily work for the desired goal (Amah., 2018). There are different leadership style
which is discussed below-

Basis Autocratic leadership Democratic leadership
Meaning It involves one person who has the
authority to take decision and takes
little or does not involve any inputs
from the other group.
This leadership style involves
everyone in the decision making
process and welcomes ideas from
all round.
Level of control Here it is high has leadership ahas
whole and sole authority (Armstrong.,
2016)..
The control level is low as it
encourages participation of all.
Flow of the authority There is centralised system where
only top leader has whole authority to
take decision.
There is decentralised system
which involves authority at each
level (Carter and Peters., 2016)
In context to Amazon, the leader of the company, Jeff Bezos uses transformational
leadership style where he searches new ways of innovation in the company. In this leadership
style, the leader identify the change needed and works with the team and create a vision in order
to guide the change. The leader motivate, encourage and inspire the employees to bring change
and innovation which will help in shaping the future of the company.
In context to Amazon, the company uses Autocratic management style where the leader
manages the employees by controlling the decision making of the company and make decisions
and choices based on their own belief. They do not involve others in any suggestion or advice.
Recommend a suitable leadership style that will match their management style and help Amazon
grow further. Justify your choice using appropriate literature.
The company Amazon follows autocratic management style, so authoritative leadership
style is recommended to the company. This style is recommended because it marks the
confidence of the leaders and the leaders clearly communicate the expectations to the employees
together with engaging them along their way. Like Autocratic management style, the manager
have the control on the decision-making, so this style will match with the authoritative
leadership style where decision-making will remain in the hands of the leader but the leader shall
take time to explain its thinking and will not just issue orders but allow a little room for them to
make choice in order to achieve the common goal (Leithwood and Azah, 2016).

According to Margaret Rouse (2020)
[https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/authoritarian-leadership], authoritative leadership
style is such where the individual have decision making power and takes absolute control over
the subordinates. This styles helps in preventing the chances of the projects from getting
sidelined by the lack of organisation's deadline. This style is mainly preferred by the companies
who wants to make immediate decisions.
Comment on the Responsibility, Response and Obligations in their Ethics and Social
Responsibilities in the processes at Amazon using evidence from your research.
Social responsibility is mainly the ethical theory where the organisations and individuals
are accountable to towards the society and the company is responsible of the actions which it
takes in undertaking the social responsibility (D’Aprile and McLay., 2020). The actions of the
company must be such which benefits the whole society. It is an part of business ethics as it
enables the companies to consider the impact of its decision which may affect the society and the
environment.
In context to Amazon, it has a responsibility to oblige with the corporate social
responsibility. The main responsibility of the company is to take take care of the environment.
Responsibility Response Obligation
The company has the
responsibility towards its
environment as it uses
volumes of packaging material
which affect the environment.
The company has now started
to comply with the laws and
regulation relating to
environmental protection.
The company is obliged to
work according to the
environmental norms as
people have now become more
environmental conscious
which makes it mandatory for
Amazon to oblige with it in
order to maintain the loyalty
base of the customers.
Another responsibility of the
company is the online security
which it has to maintain for its
customers in order to maintain
The company satisfy this
responsibility by using the
technology where it uses high
capability technological
The company has the
obligation to comply with laws
relating to Information
technology and data protection

the brand value which its has
established over the past years
(De Roeck and Maon., 2018).
innovation in order to prevent
the cyber crimes and keep the
data of the customers
confidential.
which helps in adhering to the
laws and policies to keep the
cyber security./
A reflection report
While completing this report, I felt happy and glad that I got this opportunity to complete
this report. This report gave me knowledge regarding the working of the Amazon and how the
company is flourishing in the era of e commerce. While undergoing this report, I got to utilize
my communication skill where I gathered the information regarding the company's internal
working as to which management style it has opted. This report helped me in analyzing the
company's internal and external factor and I got the opportunity to closely monitor these factors
and how it impact the functioning of the business. The support to e commerce from the
government is strengthening this sector. While completing this report, I got to gain theoretical
knowledge regarding different styles of leaderships and what is a thin line difference between
them. Apart from leadership style, I gained the knowledge of the management style which will
help me in future to pursue my career role. These styles have taught me that a good leader is the
one who listens to others and work with the support and opinion of others as well. While
completing this report, I gained knowledge that amazon follows autocratic management style
and adopts transformational leadership style to run the company. I got to know the characteristics
of the autocratic manager and how it influence the working in the organisation.
Moreover, while undertaking this research for completing this file, I got to learn about the
analysis of external and internal environment through SWOT and PESTEL model which helped
me in gaining knowledge about these models and how it helps in examining the internal and
external factors. The importance this examination is gained by me through this report and I got to
know the strength and weakness of the company and opportunity and threats it has in its external
environment. These factors have given me the opportunity to evaluate the company's inner
strength and how it uses this to overcome all obstacles and barriers. On the other hand, through
learning about the PESTEL analysis of Amazon, I got to know these factors are supporting the
company to enhance their success and how these are affecting their abilities to work for the

success of the company. So overall the experience of completing this report was good and I got
to learn many things from this.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that, business plays an important role in uplifting the
economy. The model of SWOT helps in examining the internal factors which affect the
company and Amazon has brilliant strength which helps it in overcoming its threat and
weaknesses. The PESTEL model helps in examining the external factors which helps Amazon in
grabbing the opportunities and overcoming the threats. There are different styles of leadership
which helps in taking the company to the success and Amazon follows transformational
leadership which encourages innovation and change in the company and adopts autocratic
management style. It is recommended to the company to adopt authoritative leadership style as it
matches with its management style and will help in gaining success to the company. Further it is
concluded that Amazon has ethics and social responsibilities which it responsibly handles in
order to maintain its brand value.

REFERENCES
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