Managing Strategic Performance: Analyzing Amazon's Underperformance

This report examines the management of underperformance at Amazon, focusing on a group assessment of the company's performance management practices. The report begins with a summary of the group's experience, detailing the roles of each member and the challenges faced during the project. It then critiques the group's performance, highlighting both successes and areas for improvement in communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution. The analysis draws on relevant theories, such as Goal-Setting theory, to explain how the group and Amazon can manage performance effectively. The report also includes recommendations for improving the recruitment process and the role of managers. Finally, the report reflects on the student's personal growth, identifying strengths and weaknesses in leadership and time management, and outlining plans for future professional development and leadership style. The report emphasizes the importance of performance management within an organization and its impact on employee motivation and engagement. The student discusses the application of theories and their own experiences to provide an in-depth analysis of the topic.

Running head: MANAGING STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE
Managing Strategic Performance
Student’s name:
Name of the university:
Author’s note:

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In this assessment, we chose the topic of ‘Managing Underperformance in Amazon' as
this subject provided us with the opportunity to work as a group to analyse the performance
management practices of real-world organisations and critique the viability of performance
management in future human resource practice. While working for the assessment as a team, we
came to know that underperformance is the process of managing the staffs that are not up to the
requirements and standards of the organisation. The underperformance of the employees can be
managed through two processes; formal process through written warning, disciplinary and
dismissal procedures and informal process like mentoring and coaching. Before starting the
assessment, we have segregated our parts. Amazon Inc was the chosen organisation and it is the
largest internet retailer in the world; it had started as an online bookstore. In this reflective essay,
I tried to conclude with newfound knowledge and apply it to the personal experience of working
in groups together. I have also tried to draw the relevant and concrete examples from the group
work and critique the ways we have managed the group and my own performance. In this essay,
I would draw the relevant theories from the subject of performance management and would try
to apply my knowledge in the future.
Briefly summarising experiences the group assessment
Our group assessment team consisted of five members, Danny Chandra, Elana Nguyen,
Evelyn Nguyen, Justin So and Quihe Cheng. First of all, we have never been good friends before
we started doing the assignment together. We all read in the same class; however, we hardly
talked to each other before we started starting the assignment. After this group was formed, we
all met outside the class and we shared our e-mail ids and Whatsapp number so that we could
easily contact. During the Whatsapp Group chat, we decided who would do which part in the
assignment. We decided our subject of the assignment would be Managing Underperformance of

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Amazon as all the members of our group is familiar with the name Amazon. We have also found
that Amazon has been suffering from underperformance of the employees as we all saw this
news article on the internet. As per the discussion, we met inside the library to discuss what to
include within the assignment presentation. Justin wanted to do the overview section, strengths
of Amazon and the performance management part was done by Evelyn, weakness section was
taken care of by Elena. In addition, the recommendation section was critical and it was done by
Quihe and me. I tried to put my knowledge to recommend Amazon based on the weaknesses
suggested by Elena and we all cited our sources based on Harvard reference style. After 10 days
of allocation, we all came up with our parts and we jotted down the overall transcript. We
observed that the overall presentation was going to be lengthy and we edited some of the
sections. We only put the important section to the presentation and presentation was made by all
of us. We all agreed on a certain topic that group assessment improved our communication skills
and our interpersonal communication among us. It trained us to talk to the group and share our
perspective on the subject. We are now a well-organised group to handle and make further
assessment all by ourselves without taking any help of our supervisors.
Outlining the performance of each of the group members
Our chosen topic was Managing Underperformance of Amazon and we had decided to
separate our section so that we can smoothly do our part.
Justin did the overview section where we tried to provide the knowledge regarding
background information of Amazon and definition of underperformance. Justin did his section
pretty well as he included reasons for underperformance within an organisation and Amazon's
employee review process ‘Rank and Yank' was also discussed in this section. Amazon's pivot

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programme was adopted in the year 2017 and Amazon simplified the focus on employees'
strengths. Justin researched on pivot strategies of Amazon and he found that Amazon takes ‘Quit
and Receive Severance Day' and the managers meet the employees after certain months to
discuss performance goals of Amazon.
Evelyn Nguyen found out the strengths of managing the underperformance of Amazon
as this section consists of Amazon's current strategies to assist the employees. Amazon's
strengths’ lie on retaining the employees who are committed at work, Amazon also filters out
disengaged employees and Amazon also provides choices to the underperforming employees.
Evelyn also discussed Goal Setting theory and Justice Theory to underpin the strengths of
Amazon.
Elana Nguyen described the weaknesses of using employees’ performance management
methods. Elana discussed that employees are resentful of the formal courtroom style of employee
performance management. Amazon takes the strategy of ‘popularity context’ which is not
appropriate to lead people to behave correctly with others.
Quihe provided recommendations based on weaknesses and I helped him to find out the
recommendations. It is recommended improving the recruitment process and improving the role
of managers (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015).
Critique the ways the group managed its own performance
At first, we were not familiar with each other and I took the responsibility to make gel up
with all the group members. I took the initiative to maintain good communication with all the
group members and Evelyn set the deadline and goal for the overall ongoing project. It is also
very important to encourage the feedback from the other group members and we were lucky that

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each of the group members listened and took initiative to finalise their work on time. We made a
Whatsapp group where we discussed our topic and solved our queries. We used to visit our
supervisor in case we faced any challenge. Whatsapp chat with group members helped to build a
positive working relationship and it made them my friends. I remember, we all sat on outside the
class and discussed the layout of the presentation. Elana was very jovial and she always
acknowledged good work and all the group members were real as we used to feel pressure and
we all admitted our mistakes at once. Justin once showed me my mistake and I allowed him to
find out my mistake as it helped me to correct my mistake. As stated by Woolley et al. (2015),
group members need to acquire a good idea about good performance management to work as a
group. Justin and Elana were good in decision-making and I tried to show the leadership quality
to assert the role of each of the group members. The group managed it performance by managing
the conflict among the group members and we ignored the negative atmosphere. I suggested that
the underperformance of the group can be solved by avoiding emotional confrontation and be
prepared and be specific.
Our group managed to succeed as we all tried to set the good examples for the team. We
showed respect to other group members and we all expected that each of the group members
would behave normally to complete the presentation. I took the leap to build trust and goodwill
in the group. I introduced to each of the group members to other by breaking the ice and I made
the G-chat group and Whatsapp group. We used to perform team building exercise by making a
connection through the informal meeting, chatting and through the social networking site. We
allowed time for group members to mingle with group members and chat which foster the trust.
Drawing relevant theories from the subject to manage the performance differences in the
future

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In this assessment, the core topic is managing underperformance of Amazon. We learnt
that underperformance of the group members can be dealt with understand external factors and
give appropriate training of the employees in Amazon. Amazon needs to understand the motives
of the employees so that they can solve the issue. I learnt about Goal-Setting theory where
willingness to work depends on attainment of a goal which must be specific and clear.
Employees' participation in objective is not always desirable. Self-efficiency is a person's self-
confidence to perform the tasks. Goal commitment assumes an individual's commitment not to
leave the goal (Locke and Latham 2015). Goal setting theory teaches me to complete the work
effectively and quickly. Goal setting of the people increases motivation and it develops the
feedback quality.
I have identified my weaknesses during this assessment and presentation. I have found
two of my weaknesses; one is time-management skill and the second one is decision-making
skill. I observed that I was struggling to finish my assessment on time as I did not make my plan
and time initially. I had to stay awake late at nights to make ready my part of the assignment. I
also watched that decision-making of mine was quite different from that of other group
members. I need to improve my skill in decision-making so that I can understand the employee
performance management.
I want to be a manager in a multinational organisation in future where I have to manage
employees who would be working as subordinates under me. I want to improve my time
management skills and decision-making skills so that I can better control the employees and
followers under me. I have developed a leadership style which also reflected on the group
assignment making process. I want to make sharp the leadership style so that the employees can
take help from me in future. I want to do the crash course on communication and on self-help

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classes to improve my personality. This assessment would help me to understand the importance
of performance management review within the organisation in future career.

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Reference List
Chun, J.S. and Choi, J.N., 2014. Members’ needs, intragroup conflict, and group
performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(3), p.437.
Kantor, J. and Streitfeld, D., 2015. Inside Amazon: Wrestling big ideas in a bruising
workplace. New York Times, 15, pp.74-80.
Locke, E.A. and Latham, G.P., 2015. Breaking the rules: a historical overview of goal-setting
theory. In Advances in motivation science (Vol. 2, pp. 99-126). Elsevier.
Woolley, A.W., Aggarwal, I. and Malone, T.W., 2015. Collective intelligence and group
performance. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(6), pp.420-424.