Project Report: COVID-19 Impact on Amazon's Business Performance

This project report investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Amazon's business performance, focusing on how the company and its employees were affected. The report explores the challenges faced by Amazon, including worker layoffs, pay cuts, and health concerns, and examines the solutions implemented to ensure employee safety and business continuity. These solutions include providing sick pay, enabling remote work, and supplying protective equipment. Furthermore, the report analyzes the strategies Amazon employed to overcome pandemic-related challenges, such as expanding its grocery services, increasing hiring, and collaborating with third-party sellers. Through a literature review and qualitative analysis, the study aims to understand the pandemic's effects on Amazon's operations and provide insights into its responses to the crisis.

PROJECT REPORT
(Impact of COVID-19 on business. A study
on Amazon)
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ABSTRACT
The present research paper focuses on impact of COVID-19 on the employees as it describes
the ways how employees affected due to pandemic, various measures used by company to keep
their workforce and initiatives taken by them to take back their business on track. The main
purpose of the study is to identify the impact of COVID-19 on organisations, companies and
employees. The company constantly focuses on forming policies and methods to successfully
cope up with the situation and meet the needs of customers.
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Contents
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................6
How workers have been affected?...............................................................................................6
What solutions have been found to solve the situation with distance and to keep workers safe?
.....................................................................................................................................................6
What are the ways that Amazon implemented to overcome the problems and challenges
encountered during the global pandemic?...................................................................................7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................9
DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS..................................................................................................11
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCE................................................................................................................................17
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INTRODUCTION
COVID-19 is a severe disease which is very infectious caused by discovered coronavirus.
The person suffering with this disease experience illness in their respiratory system and recover
without specific treatment. This disease has caused sudden shut down of whole world as it is
spreading at a greater rate (Elrhim and Elsayed, 2020). This disease led organisation to reduce
their production process and some organisations has shut down permanently due to global
pandemic. The current research study would focus on investigating the impact of COVID-19 on
the business performance of business (Steffens, 2020).
Background of a company
Amazon is a multinational technology company that has whole focus on artificial
intelligence; cloud computing, streaming digitally and e-commerce. The company is founded in
5 July, 1994 by Jeff Bezos.
Rationale
The main motive behind conducting present research is to understand the impact of
COVID-19 on the business performance of an organisation as this pandemic has made
organisation to shut down their business for a longer period of time. With the current research
there are two perspectives which have been fulfilled and they are known by personal and
professional perspective. From the personal perspective it has helped me in learning and working
at tough situation in personal life and from the professional perspective I have learnt to work in
patience which would help me in my professional where I have to work in difficult and stressful
situation.
Aim and objectives of research
Aim of the research
“To investigate the impact of COVID-19 on business performance of the organisation”.
A study on Amazon
Objectives of the research
1. To analyse how workers of Amazon have been affected.
2. To identify the solutions found to solve the situation with distance and to keep workers
safe.
3. To determine the ways that Amazon implemented to overcome the problems and
challenges encountered during the global pandemic.
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Questions of the research
1. How workers have been affected?
2. What solutions have been found to solve the situation with distance and to keep
workers safe?
3. What are the ways that Amazon implemented to overcome the problems and
challenges encountered during the global pandemic?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review refers to the scholarly sources through which researcher collects data
from different sources such as books, journals, article, magazines and many more.
How workers have been affected?
According to Hacimusalar and et.al (2020), sudden emergence of global pandemic has
affected workers, business and economies. There are different factors which show how workers
have been affected due to COVID-19, which are:
Lay off: In organisations employees and workers have laid off from their job as companies
were not continuing their operations because of guidelines and lockdown for days. All these
made organisations to suffer with their low profitability and revenue because of this they do not
have enough money to pay to employees and also they do not have jobs because operations were
not allowed.
Pay cut: In organisations there are employees who are not asked to leave the company as
they are important for the future business of organisations so companies have decided to cut the
salary of employees and workforce who are crucial for the activities of organisation because
many companies do not have enough resources to pay employees higher amount.
Scared of being infected: Employees of different organisations have been scared of
COVID-19 which has affected their mental health because every time they have fear being
infected so they are not ready to go to their workplaces. Employees are scared of getting infected
and because of them they infect other people also which have negatively impacted their capacity
to think about the things.
Less social benefits: There are many benefits like new opportunities for development,
facing and mitigating risks or challenges, promoting inclusive and diverse workforces are those
for employees work hard but due to global pandemic employees have missed the chance to learn
all these and develop in their professional life.
What solutions have been found to solve the situation with distance and to keep workers safe?
According to Dennerlein and et. al (2020), COVID-19 has killed more than 10 million
people from the whole world and it caused devastation to the whole economy as stopped
organisations to continue their work. Amazon is a retail industry who is also giant e-commerce
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business which delivers services to large number of customers. There are many solutions that
have solved the issue in keeping employers safe, some of them are explained below:
Given sick pay: Employees working in Amazon have given sick pays during the period of
COVID-19 because asking an ill employee to come to the organisations is risk of making other
employees infected. So Amazon has given leave to employees by giving them the whole salary
of the day as it has helped in keeping other employees safe without impacting the financial
condition of ill employee.
Allowed employees to work from their location: Amazon has allowed their employees
belonging from different places and countries to work from their home or the locations best
suited for them according to their choice because travelling of employees are not safe during
COVID-19 as chances of spreading virus increase. It has also allowed flexibility in the working
of employees as per their requirement.
Supplying masks and gloves: Amazon has focused on providing mask, glove and
sanitizers to all the employees who are allowed to work in the office because these items have
become essential in daily lives due to global pandemic. These things keep employees and the
environment of organisations safe and it has also adopted measure of checking temperature of
every employee so that regular check can be done to ensure the safety of employees.
What are the ways that Amazon implemented to overcome the problems and challenges
encountered during the global pandemic?
According to Dennerlein and et. al (2020), Jeff Bezos has said the current pandemic crisis
would change the business’s durability and adaptability of Amazon like never before. So there
are various ways which have implemented by Amazon to overcome the challenges and
encountered during the global pandemic, some of them are:
It started providing groceries: Earlier Amazon used to deal with the products which do
not come in the necessary items list of customers but during pandemic customers started buying
essential items like groceries which has become most important thing in the lock down. So
Amazon has focused on delivering groceries to meet the needs of people that too on the same
day.
Hired large number of candidates: Amazon has started hiring and recruiting large
number of applicants because it has expanded its business in different so they need new
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employees so that management of these goods can be done efficiently and deliver products to
people on time.
Asking its third to sell paper towels and sanitizer: Amazon has connected with their third
party and has asked them to sell sanitizer and paper towels because they are the most demanded
products during COVID-19 that have assisted in increasing their revenue and profit margins like
before the period of pandemic. It has also made with the individual sellers to reach out maximum
number of customers by delivering goods at their doorsteps.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is the chapter considered by investigators because it has different
kinds of methods for collecting and analysing information as per the requirements of research
where researcher takes out already existing data with the new information.
Research Approach: It is defined as set of plan that has different assumptions for
elaborating the methods such as data collection, interpretation and analysis. It is divided into two
parts: deductive and inductive research approach. Inductive approach is selected by researcher as
it helps in gathering non-numerical information which is necessary for the nature of research in a
limited period of time. Deductive approach is not right as per the need of present research so it is
ignored by investigator (Patil and Mankar, 2016).
Research Philosophy: This is particularly set of values which concentrate on reality related
to the study of research. Research philosophy is divided into two kinds: interpretivism and
positivism. Interpretivism is selected because it supports other methods of research. It gives
assistance in carrying out data in a non-numeric style in a decided period of time. Positivism is
not selected because it analyses and gathers information in a quantitative way.
Research Choice: Research choice is divided mainly into two kinds: quantitative and
qualitative. Investigator chooses qualitative research choice as it provides whole assistance in
collecting and analysing needed data for achieving the objectives (Melnikovas, 2018).
Qualitative research choice is best as per the objectives of present research because it needs
whole data in non-numerical format. Qualitative research choice assists in understanding and
collecting theoretical theories’.
Research Strategy: It is the set of actions which organise and direct efforts of researcher.
For collecting needed information there are many strategies like survey, case study,
experimental, literature review and many more. Literature review is selected for the current
research and in this qualitative information has taken out.
Data Collection: Data collection is described as method of collecting needed for the
research by using various sources like primary data collection sources and secondary data
collection sources. In this research as its requirement suggests investigator chooses secondary
data collection. In secondary sources publications, journals, articles, books have been used by
researcher for conducting literature review by fulfilling all the questions of investigation. By the
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usage of secondary data, researcher has filled the gap existing in current information by doing
more deep research and applying theories.
Time Horizon: Time horizon is defined as process of showing needed period of time to
complete the whole research by achieving all the objectives. Basically it assists in attaining each
objective within predefined time period. Time horizon is classified into two types: cross-
sectional and longitudinal. Researcher chooses cross-sectional as it supports the nature of present
investigation by outlining all the activities needed to be performed by researcher (Opoku, Ahmed
and Akotia, 2016).
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DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
It is the chapter which assists in collected data from secondary sources like books, journals,
articles, magazines and reputed newspapers. The systematic analysis of the gathered information
is completed by thematic analysis because it assists in analysing qualitative information which is
present in non-numerical form.
How workers have been affected?
The global pandemic has affected workers. International Labour organization has
published a statistics in September 2020 in that it has been determined that people and workers
have lost their income. Women and young people have hit the hardest because of this global
pandemic as they have lost their working hours since 2019. There are long term consequences of
global pandemic for workers, for how they work, how they carry out their work, for society and
for an economy. This pandemic has needed changes in individuals’ wellbeing their attitudes and
their behaviour. This pandemic is a shock for everyone and defined as an event which cannot be
controlled and have disrupted the normal manner of living and working. Some individuals have
seen that their workload has increased in this pandemic and have to work overtime to meet the
demands. For example: Individuals working at hospitals and supermarket (Selenko, 2020).
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Other workers have to suddenly start work from home which forced them to adapt in
unique and different procedure in their life. They have to make balance between work and family
life. Some people have lost their job and have to close down their businesses as whole sector has
been asked to close. This pandemic has created fear among people who want to create their
career in acting, aviation or a pub landlord because these sectors had to shutdown fully due to
uncertain situations. It is also seen that people have created job insecurity in them which has
affected their physical as well as mental health and their work behaviour has totally changed. It
has been seen that in UK unemployment has increased by 4.8% and Bank of England has
published that this number will be doubled by 2021. The job loss has created income loss that
has increased poverty, debt and financial strain.
The new rules of social distance and health regulations related to COVID-19 have
affected how people used to interact with colleagues, patients and customers at work. Working
from home is one of the challenges of COVID-19 among because it has created difficulty in
communicating with people, difficulties related to technologies, interference of higher self
organising and private life demands. These changes have created a demand of adjustment from
workers, needed an extra effort, creativity and grit to make them operate or work. It has clearly
seen that stress level of workers has increased because of changes related to work. As now they
work for more hours which have disrupted the personal life of workers.
What solutions have been found to solve the situation with distance and to keep workers
safe?
The overall impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the market is unknown at present because
it has created impact on almost everyone and everywhere whether they are employees,
workplaces or employers. There are various solutions that have been formed by workplaces to
reduce the effect of COVID 19 and keep workers safe by maintaining social distance. In the
workplaces employers have implemented many changes that include adaptation of workstations.
Decreasing the number of employees in a meeting room, forming policies and measures related
to cleanliness, providing new guidelines and protocols to employees, creating signs, keeping
mandatory distance, checking temperature of employees before allowing them to enter in
premises of work. Separate all those employees who have suspected as COVID-19 patient or
have come up in a contact with an individual who is suffering with the same disease. The
government has also launched many programs and schemes so that employment and income can
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be managed. In economies, there is introduction of many programs which have assisted in
avoiding the agreement related to employment termination, alternatives to organizations for
retaining employment agreement (Advogados, 2020).
The alternatives include: suspension of employment contracts and reduction of working
Hours and salary of employees. These alternatives have helped employees to continue their work
in the same company or organization. Employees have asked to work from home so that
gathering at offices could be avoided. For companies that are continuously working even in the
COVID-19 situation has asked their employees to wash their hands and disinfect with alcohol
based sanitizers’ and follow physical distance in the workplace. Wearing masks is compulsory,
policies trainings, messages and education are provided to staff by managers for increasing
awareness related to COVID-19. It is being guided to workers that if they feel unwell then they
are advised to stay at home and contact medical professionals or self isolate till they do not get
medical assistance from the respective authorities. Employees have given sick pay at the time of
COVID-19 so that ill employees stay home. Some companies have provided the whole salary to
the workers. People who have to travel a long distance from their home to office are asked to
stay at home and do their work directly from home. COVID-19 has created fear of falling ill and
dying in the mind of people. So, it has increased the symptom of depression and anxiety level in
this pandemic situation. Psychosocial and mental health support is provided to employees by
their employer's so that such fear can be mitigated from the mind of workers.
What are the ways that Amazon implemented to overcome the problems and challenges
encountered during the global pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed almost 1,000,000 people worldwide. It has devastated
the economy of every country as it brought companies and organisations to a whole standstill,
increased layoffs and many more. Amazon has also faced many problems but it has worked to
get out from this tough situation. Amazon is known as a great e-commerce giant that provides
essential services to many consumers and it has also proved that in this corona virus crisis it has
supplied maximum products to their consumers. Various organizations and companies have
shifted to Amazon for delivering their products to customers and get protection from COVID-19.
Amazon has covered all those organizations and companies which are manufacturing face
masks, disinfectants and hand sanitizers (Palmer, 2020).
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Amazon has focused on stocking up all the household groceries and products as the
pandemic has started increasing and it has ordered all the supplies of offices which can be used
by people from their home. It has also stocked up the fitness products which can be adjusted at
Indoors. Amazon has seen a large number of sales during COVID-19 because it has spent
millions and billions on COVID-19 related investments such as safety gear for employees and
initiative for internal testing known as Project Ultraviolet. There were countries that have lain off
employees but Amazon has focused on recruiting new employees. Amazon has brought 1,75,000
new warehouses and hired delivery workers in March and April 2020 so that customers demand
could be fulfilled within a short period of time. Amazon has implemented 150 processes updates
inside its warehouses to stem transmission of virus, from improved social and cleaning measures
to, requirements of masks. It has also started a program of testing of Corona virus among its
employee's.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
As per the given information it is being recommended to the Amazon that they should
make more policies and measures to keep the safety of employees as priority for the future
problems and challenges like global pandemic. The company should make sure that their every
employee has life insurance and medical insurance so that sudden consequences do not affect
employees badly.
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CONCLUSION
With the given data it is being concluded that COVID-19 has affected all the organisations,
companies, workers and employers as it has stopped the working of organisation. The sudden
standstill of organisations made companies to suffer with low or no profits that has increased the
lay off employees. All these have affected the mental health of employees because they are
unable to meet their basic necessities and expectations. It has been also gathered through
secondary sources that Amazon has adopted different measures to keep their employees, workers
and labours safe like reducing the gathering of workers at one, following rules of social
distancing, giving option of working from home and many more. Hence, COVID-19 has created
chaos and confusion in the life of workers but Amazon has come up with ideas for fulfilling
basic necessities of employees.
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REFERENCE
Books and Journals
Advogados. C G M., 2020. How has covid-19 affected employees and woekplaces. [Online].
Available through: < https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d47e3e65-1037-
41c1-981a-b2530f0d385f>.
Castro, F. D., Lopes, G. R. and Brondizio, E. S., 2020. The Brazilian Amazon in Times of
COVID-19: from crisis to transformation?. Ambiente & Sociedade. 23.
Dennerlein and et. al., 2020. An integrative total worker health framework for keeping workers
safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Human factors. 62(5). pp.689-696.
Elrhim, M. A. and Elsayed, A., 2020. The Effect of COVID-19 Spread on the e-commerce
market: The case of the 5 largest e-commerce companies in the world. Available at
SSRN 3621166.
Hacimusalar and et. al., 2020. Anxiety and hopelessness levels in COVID-19 pandemic: A
comparative study of healthcare professionals and other community sample in
Turkey. Journal of psychiatric research. 129. pp.181-188.
Khanal and et. al., 2020. Mental health impacts among health workers during COVID-19 in a
low resource setting: a cross-sectional survey from Nepal. Globalization and
health. 16(1). pp.1-12.
Melnikovas, A., 2018. Towards an explicit research methodology: Adapting research onion
model for futures studies. Journal of Futures Studies. 23(2). pp.29-44.
Mheidly, N. and Fares, J., 2020. Leveraging media and health communication strategies to
overcome the COVID-19 infodemic. Journal of public health policy. pp.1-11.
Mishra, S. B. and Alok, S., 2017. Handbook of research methodology.
Opoku, A., Ahmed, V. and Akotia, J., 2016. Choosing an appropriate research methodology and
method. Research methodology in the built environment: A selection of case studies. 1.
pp.30-43.
Palmer. A., 2020. How Amazon managed the coronavirus crisis and came out stronger.
[Online]. Available through: <https:// https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/how-
amazon-managed-the-coronavirus-crisis-and-came-out-stronger.html>.
Patil, S. and Mankar, A., 2016. Research Methodology: For Beginners. International Research
Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies. 2(1). pp.21-31.
Selenko. E., 2020. Harder to handle: How COVID-19 has changed work as we know it. [Online].
Available through: <https:// https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/work-remote-
covid-pandemic-coronavirus-mental-health-stress/>.
Steffens, I., 2020. A hundred days into the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
pandemic. Eurosurveillance. 25(14). p.2000550.
Tavakoli, M., Carriere, J. and Torabi, A., 2020. Robotics, smart wearable technologies, and
autonomous intelligent systems for healthcare during the COVID‐19 pandemic: An
analysis of the state of the art and future vision. Advanced Intelligent Systems. 2(7).
p.2000071.
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