Organizational Culture and Management at Amazon: A Report

This report examines the organizational culture of Amazon, highlighting its customer-centric approach and emphasis on employee empowerment. It analyzes the impact of shared values and national culture, such as the no-dress code policy, on the company's environment. The report assesses Amazon's organizational development principles, particularly in training and code of conduct. Recommendations include incorporating a participative management system and enhancing transaction risk management. The report concludes that Amazon fosters a productive and motivating environment through its policies promoting diversity and creative thinking.

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Management
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Introduction:
The importance of the organizational culture in the modern business operations is
increasing in a significant manner and that is pretty evident with the enhanced consideration
of the managers towards the formation of the various policies regarding the workplace
diversity, inclusions, code of conducts or the corporate governance (Hogan & Coote, 2014).
Hence the roles and responsibilities of the managers of the modern organizations in the
effective management of the organizational culture is considered to be significant for the
success of the companies. The paper discusses regarding the organizational culture of one of
the largest e- commerce company named as Amazon. Along with that, the paper evaluates the
impact of the general rules, values and cultures on the organizational culture of the mentioned
company. Along with that, the paper assesses the contribution of the principles of the
organizational development of the company in the promotion of the diversity inside the
company. Apart from this, the paper provides some crucial recommendations for the much
required improvement in the organizational development interventions.
Basic nature of the organizational culture:
With a precise focus on the basic nature of the organizational culture of the company,
it is pretty evident that the company is focused in promoting an improved environment for
their employees to work in. The main focus on the senior managers of the company is to be
the most customer centric company and under such situation, the company is able to put
strong emphasis on the varying preferences of the customers. Hence this forces the company
to shift the focus of their employees towards the preferences and requirements of the
customers in an efficient manner. Along with that, the senior managers of the company are
observed to be keen in increasing the capability of their employees in identifying the varying
customer demands and the trends of the market (Ritala, Golnam & Wegmann, 2014). Apart

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from the customer centricity, the company is seen to gain the idea of the increasing changes
in the external environment which enabled the managers to promote the creative thinking
inside the organization. With a precise focus on the peculiarity aspect of the organizational
culture of the company, it is understandable that the managers of the company are capable of
motivating their employees for thinking out of the box which has the potential to generate
competent ideas for increasing the business growth of the company (Carmeli, Gelbard &
Reiter‐Palmon, 2013). The excellence of the company’s leadership in promoting the creative
thinking and the implementation of the generated ideas even under the pressure of risk is
considered to be crucial for the growth of the company.
Impact of shared values and national culture on the organizational culture:
Amazon is one of the very few companies in the world that follows the no dress code
policy (Amazon.in, 2019). The main focus of the management of the company is to make
sure that the employees have the chance to celebrate their culture. The company believes that
the productivity and the quality in the services of the employees are directly dependent on the
happiness and the chance of the employees to be in their comfort zone and there is no better
way to motivate the employees other than providing them the chance to be in the preferred
attire. Apart from this, the company celebrates all the cultural festivals in a proactive fashion
with the participation of all the employees of the company.
In addition to this, the company is seen to be capable of providing the much required
holidays to their employees for celebrating their festivals with the bonuses. Hence, it is
evident that the company is able to provide the scope to their employees for celebrating their
culture and the happiness. The company does not pose any sort of significant constraints on
the behaviour and business activities of the employees, hence, all over the world, the
company does not face the need of conducting any sort significant changes in their business

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policies for limiting the impact of the varying culture of the different individuals. The
company has the expertise of being customer centric and that becomes significantly helpful
for the managers in getting accustomed with the varying cultures of their customers. The
achievement of the knowledge of the diverse culture of their customers help the managers of
the company in formulating the relevant policies of the company in the effective management
of the impact of the diverse culture and shared values amongst the employees of the
company.
Principles of Organizational Development:
Considering the human resource development policies of the company, it is visible
that the managers of the company are able to consider the training and developmental
activities to be one of the top most priority. The managers of the company are able to
understand the importance of meeting the training and developmental activities of the
employees in enabling the employees for providing improved performances in both the aspect
of quality and quantity. With a precise focus on the increasing level of the competition in the
e- commerce industry, it is understandable that there are considerable number of
organizations capable of providing a tough fight to the selected company regarding the
achievement of the market share (Barnes & Hunt, 2013). Under such situation, the company
is able to create diversified training and developmental activities for the improvement of the
skills and competencies of the employees of the company to enable them in providing the
desired quality in their performances. Other than this, the company is able to formulate a
significantly efficient code of conduct for the employees of the company to make sure that
the business operations of the employees are well aligned with the strategic objectives of the
company. In addition to this, the formation of the code of conduct helped the company in a
significant manner in making sure that the employees of the company are conducting their
operations in ethical manner. The reputation of the company has the potential to influence the

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purchase intention of the customer and under such situation, it becomes important for the
company to make sure that their policies regarding the corporate governance are in perfect
alignment for motivating the employees in conducting their business activities in ethical
manner.
Recommendations:
The recommendation for the organization will be to incorporate a participative system
for the management of their business operations. As the company has the aim of being one of
the most customer centric company, the company needs to make sure that their business
operations are able to achieve the trust of their stakeholders or more specifically the
customers and the employees of the company. Considering one of the major concern of the
customers of the modern generation that is significant amount of risk associated with the
transaction taking place from the part of the customers of the company, the company needs to
collaborate with the customers for increasing the effectiveness of their Transaction Risk
Management System. The increased efficiency of the TRMS will be significant for the
company in minimizing the concerns of the customers regarding their purchases from the
company and that will be crucial in gaining the trust of the company (Amazon.jobs/en, 2019).
Other than this, the effective restructuring from the part of the company in the employer
contracts for increasing the effectiveness of the policies to enhance the gain of the employees
will be crucial in increasing the job security and benefits for the employees of the company.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it is visible that Amazon has efficient policies in place for
being one of the most preferred employer across the globe. Along with that, the company’s
policy of promoting the diverse culture of the employees along with the increasing
consideration towards the generation of the creative ideas from the part of the employees has

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enabled the company to produce a productive and motivating environment for the employees
to work in.

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References:
Amazon.in. (2019). Home. Shop Online for Mobiles, Books, Watches, Shoes and More -
Amazon.in. [online] Available at: http://www.amazon.in/
Amazon.jobs/en (2019). Transaction Risk Management Systems. Retrieved from
https://www.amazon.jobs/en/teams/transaction-risk-management-systems
Barnes, S., & Hunt, B. (Eds.). (2013). E-commerce and v-business. Routledge.
Carmeli, A., Gelbard, R., & Reiter‐Palmon, R. (2013). Leadership, creative problem‐solving
capacity, and creative performance: The importance of knowledge sharing. Human
Resource Management, 52(1), 95-121.
Hogan, S. J., & Coote, L. V. (2014). Organizational culture, innovation, and performance: A
test of Schein's model. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1609-1621.
Ritala, P., Golnam, A., & Wegmann, A. (2014). Coopetition-based business models: The case
of Amazon. com. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(2), 236-249.