Leadership and Management Analysis: Amazon Case Study Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management within the context of Amazon, an e-commerce and cloud computing company. It begins by defining the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, highlighting their importance in motivating employees and achieving organizational goals. The report then explores the roles of leaders and managers in various situational contexts, including fast, moderate, and stable changes in the business environment. Different leadership approaches, such as system theory, situational leadership, and contingency leadership, are examined, along with their strengths and weaknesses. The report also discusses factors affecting the business environment, with a focus on PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors), and their impact on operations management. Overall, the report offers insights into effective leadership practices and their application in a dynamic business environment.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Role and characteristics of leader and manager................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2 Role of leader and manager in situational contexts...........................................................4
P3 Different approaches of leadership...................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P6 Factors affecting business environment and its impact on operations management.......10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management & operations refers to the practices of business administration, in order to
establish highest level of productivity in the organisation. It is related with converting raw
materials into finished products with the optimum utilisation of labour to increase profits and
growth of the organisation. Amazon is an electronic commerce and cloud computing company,
headquartered in Washington, has been taken in this report. It provides electronics, software,
furniture, toys, food, etc. Role of leaders and managers and how they are important in an
organisation is explained. Further, different approaches of leadership are also mentioned. Value
and need of operations management in achieving business objectives is described in this report
(Chevalier and et. al., 2015). Along with this, different external factors which affect the business
environment and its activities are mentioned in this project.
TASK 1
P1 Role and characteristics of leader and manager
Leader:- A leader is a person who influence people or individuals in the organisation.
They encourage individuals to attain desired objectives effectively, in order to maximise their
efforts towards goal accomplishment. In context to Amazon a leader will motivate employees to
achieve prescribed objectives and have a great impact in the overall organisation.
Manager:- Manager is a person who takes responsibility of certain tasks of company or
whole organisation's duties. They performs managerial functions at primary level. In context to
Amazon the manager perform organisational duties, managers its employees , departments, and
execute different functions such as – planning, directing, controlling, organising, staffing, etc.
Role of leaders
Leaders have an important role in any organisation. They help in motivating teams and
employees in Amazon. They perform different roles to encourage individuals for attaining
business objectives. Few of them are described here.
Building morale:- It is one of the important responsibility of leader. The leader
encourage individuals to work together, in order to accomplish common goals in the organisation
(Chiarini and Vagnoni 2015). In context to Amazon the leader should build employees morale by
involving them in organisational activities and decision making. A good leader should appreciate
employees for their best performance. Appreciating them for well done job will increase their
morale.
Motivating employees:- It is the vital responsibility of leader to motivate individuals in
the organisation. The leader should identify employees needs and requirements before assigning
obligations to them (Haksever and Render, 2013). In context to Amazon the leader should
motivate individuals by removing obstacles and supporting them in goal accomplishment.
Difference between leaders and managers
Basis Leaders Managers
Definition Leader refers to the particular
person who motivates
individuals and influences
them to attain goals.
Manager’s control and guide to
employees or entire
administration, in order to
achieve prescribed goals.
Orientation Leaders create followers and
influence them towards goal
accomplishment, so they are
While, managers give
responsibilities to employees
and perform managerial

people oriented. activities, so they are task
oriented.
Role Leaders play vital role in
Amazon, because they define
appropriate objectives and
support individuals to achieve
them.
While, managers performs
interpersonal roles and manage
day to day operations to
improve organisational
performance.
Risk Leaders are interested in
taking higher risk. They assist
in achievement of goals with
innovative ideas.
On the other hand, managers
controls risk and provide
solutions to organisational
issues in Amazon.
Leaders and managers characteristics
Positive attitude:- Leaders and managers both have positive attitude and they encourage
individuals to obtain desired objectives effectively. In Amazon the leader and managers should
have positive attitude to inspire employees.
Responsible:- Managers and leaders performs their roles and responsibilities in effective
manner to attain prescribed objectives (Kato, NEC Corp, 2012). In Amazon the leader and
manager should be obligated towards their work.
TASK 2
P2 Role of leader and manager in situational contexts
Amazon is a multinational company and deals in different customer products. It operates
in many countries all over the world. There are a different situation which occur in business
environment and affects its activities. In context to Amazon the company has to face various
problems due to changing situations in the market. It includes different changes such as – new
technologies, market trends, customer preferences, government policies, etc. Different situations
and role of leaders and managers in facing these problems is described below.
Fast situation:- Fast changes are those changes which occurs rapidly and are accepted or
changed speedily in the organisation. In fast situations different changes arises which include –
innovative technologies, changes in customer demands, etc. In context to Amazon, it is essential
for employees to have knowledge about these situations and changes. They should be aware
about new and changing techniques in the market (Omansky and Kanner, Autodesk Inc, 2014).
To overcome from these situation the leader and manager have different roles which are
explained below.
Managers function:- In Amazon, the manager should coordinate with the employees to
deal with these situations. They should guide individuals how to solve the problems and team
should be formed to work together and attain desired goals.
Leader's role:- In context to Amazon the leader should provide proper training to
individuals to overcome these situations. They should provide knowledge about new
technologies and their uses. By this way they can improve employees productivity and attain
desired growth and profitability.
Moderate situation:- Moderate situation is the situation between the fast and stable changes.
These changes arises slowly in comparison to fast changes. It involves – changes in customers
preferences and requirements (Parsanezhad and Dimyadi, 2013). In context to Amazon, the

company should identify the consumer changes and modify them according to their
requirements. For example electronics items, software, etc. The managers and leaders should
consider these changes and prepare employees to deal with the situations. They should perform
different roles like:
Managers function:- In context to Amazon the manager should perform managerial
functions by determining customers demands and prepare plans and strategies. They should
conduct research and development activities, in order to identify customer's demands.
Leader's role:- Leaders assist the organisation in solving problems related to these
situations. In context to Amazon the leader should analyse the market to identify customer
demand and latest trends. It will help in maintaining better relations with customers and increase
business sustainability.
Stable situation:- Stable situations refers to those which remains same almost, and changes in
rare cases. These changes occur at steady level in the organisation. These situations involve
companies’ rules, regulations, policies, performance of employees, etc. In context to Amazon
employees performance must be evaluated and leaders and managers should perform different
functions and role which are:
Managers function:- In Amazon the manager should prepare appropriate plans and
strategies to evaluate employees performance (Peng and Lai, 2012). Further, they should make
appropriate policies to deal with stable situation.
Leader's role:- In context to Amazon the leader should motivate employees and improve
their productivity by providing effective training to them. They should provide opportunities to
individuals to perform challenging tasks, so that their performance can be improved.
P3 Different approaches of leadership
Leadership is very vital element in any organisation. A good leader requires different
qualities such as – talent, higher skills, charisma, knowledge, etc. Different leadership theories
focus on successful leaders, their qualities and actions. In context to Amazon leadership theories
defines leaders and individuals requirements at workplace. It also determines how various
leadership behaviours affects individuals and leader's attitude, competence, skills, etc. In
Amazon, the leader can use different leadership theories according to their requirements which
are described below.
System theory of leadership: - As per this approach of leadership, leader is require to
treat whole enterprise as a system that is related with natural or manmade components. One of
the main quality of this leadership approach is that it provides opportunity to manager to better
understand, examine, think and take right decision for the company. Leader is known as the
individual who convert all relevant functions of company into system. Organisation is known as
a mix of various components known as employees, information, fixed assets and other resources.
All this ensure execution of business operations in smooth manner and help company to achieve
its set goals and objectives. With system approach of leadership, leaders of Amazon can utilise
available business resources which enhance company’s efficiency.
Strengths:
 It enhances company’s adaptability to the changes take place in external environment.
 It helps in achieve both individual and organisation goals.
Weakness:
 This approach is not practical in some situations and sometimes create delays in decision
making process.
 This is not applicable in large organisations.

Situational leadership:- Situational leadership is an appropriate theory to determine
individuals and leaders in the organisation. It assumes that no leadership style is perfect. In
context to Amazon this theory determines that leadership style should be selected according to
the situation's requirement and its suitability (Subramanian and Ramanathan, 2012). Applying
this theory will motivate individuals to perform at high level and attain desired outcome. It will
assist in developing groups in Amazon. Some strengths and weaknesses of this theory are given
below.
Strengths
 It help leader to deal with the situations effectively.
 It is easy to understand, as it is practical.
Weaknesses
 This theory is unable to define conceptualisation of commitment.
 It does not define measures to handle demographic traits.
Contingency leadership:- Contingency approach of leadership focus on both leaders
personality and situation's requirements. It determines how to perform in that situation. It
involves two situations which are task motivated and relationship motivated (Haksever and
Render, 2013). In context to Amazon it help in dealing with external environment and
individuals feelings such as – trust, loyalty, confidence, etc. It provides clear information about
assigned task and how to achieve its objectives. Applying contingency theory in Amazon, it has
some advantages and disadvantages which are:
Strengths
 This theory can be applied in different situations, as it is flexible.
 It collects data and information regarding different leadership behaviours, which is useful
for the organisation.
Weaknesses
 It fails to explain that how some leaders perform effectively in some conditions, but not
in another situations.
 It is complex theory of leadership.

TASK 3

TASK 4
P6 Factors affecting business environment and its impact on operations management
There are various external factors in business environment which affects the overall
organisation and its operations. The external factors involves -political, social, economic and
technological factors. The managers and leaders in Amazon, use PEST analysis to identify

external factors in the business environment.
PEST analysis:- PEST analysis is a method to identify external factors in business
environment. It determines all necessary points or elements which affects business activities in
Amazon. It provides a framework of macro factors used for evaluating environment and
determines opportunities and threats for the organisation.
Political factors:- Political factors in PEST analysis concentrates on government
activities and their impact on overall organisation. In Amazon different macro political factors
are crucial for developing its businesses. It includes developed countries political stability, more
efforts of government on cyber-security, support of government in e-commerce, etc. The
company has advantages through political stability. It is a good opportunity for Amazon for
business expansion and diversification in other countries.
Economic factors:- Company's performance is also affected by some economic factors
in the business environment. It includes increasing disposable income in growing countries,
economic stability of developed markets, etc. Amazon has better growth opportunities through
economic stability of developed countries, as it reduces economic problem in the external
environment. By this way it enhances company's financial performance, productivity and
profitability.
Social factors:- Social factors aspects in Amazon, determines how sociocultural
changes affects its daily operations and activities. It involves different factors which are –
increasing online purchasing habits, increasing wealth disparity, increasing consumerism in
growing countries, etc. Increasing wealth disparity is the gap among poor and rich people in
various countries and it is a threat for the Amazon. While increasing disposable income is
beneficial for the company as it assist in earning higher revenues in e- commerce.
Technological factors:- Different technological factors affects directly its operations
and activities in Amazon. It involves various factors which are increasing efficiency of
information technology, fast technological obsolescence, etc. having increment in efficiency of
IT sector is a good opportunity for Amazon because new technologies will help in increasing
retail productivity and reducing operational costs. While, speedily changes in technological
obsolescence is both threat and opportunity.
In context to Amazon the leaders and managers should identify the external factors, as
they have both positive and negative impact on the organisation. Further, the company should
follow rules and regulations made by the government, for its growth and development.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it is concluded that management operations play an
important role in performing daily operations of an organisation. Leaders and mangers perform
various roles and functions in administration. Different leadership theories assist leaders in
identify individuals and their requirements in the organisation. Further operations management is
very valuable in attaining business objectives. Different macro factors affect the whole
organisation and its operations both [positively and negatively.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Chevalier, P., and et. al., 2015. Revenue management for operations with urgent orders.
European Journal of Operational Research. 240(2). pp.476-487.
Chiarini, A. and Vagnoni, E., 2015. World-class manufacturing by Fiat. Comparison with Toyota
production system from a strategic management, management accounting, operations
management and performance measurement dimension. International Journal of
Production Research. 53(2). pp.590-606.
Haksever, C. and Render, B., 2013. Service management: An integrated approach to supply
chain management and operations. FT Press.
Jacobs, F.R., Chase, R.B. and Lummus, R.R., 2014. Operations and supply chain management
(pp. 533-535). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Kato, K., NEC Corp, 2012. Operations management apparatus, operations management system,
data processing method, and operations management program. U.S. Patent 8,225,144.
Omansky, A.H. and Kanner, J.L., Autodesk Inc, 2014. Systems and methods for construction
field management and operations with building information modeling. U.S. Patent
8,732,125.
Parsanezhad, P. and Dimyadi, J., 2013. Effective facility management and operations via a BIM-
based integrated information system.
Peng, D.X. and Lai, F., 2012. Using partial least squares in operations management research: A
practical guideline and summary of past research. Journal of Operations Management.
30(6). pp.467-480.
S eS, Z.S.S.S.S.S.S., 2012. Operations management.
Song, D.W. and Parola, F., 2015. Strategising port logistics management and operations for
value creation in global supply chains.
Subramanian, N. and Ramanathan, R., 2012. A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy
Process in operations management. International Journal of Production Economics.
138(2). pp.215-241.