Amazon Company Research Assignment Sample

• Subject Name : Business Research

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Business Description.

Company products.

Management.

Culture.

Employee benefits.

Employee attributes.

Income statement.

Balance sheet.

Financial ratios.

Conclusion.

CARS checklist for the research resources.

References.

Introduction to Amazon

This paper is based on the comprehensive research of Amazon company to analyze the products, management, mission, culture, values, employee attributes, employee benefits, and financial statements of the organization. The human resources and financial resources of the organization can be analyzed to attain a suitable result that can help in gaining a fruitful experience in the research. A research assignment is based on the public information of the organization that can help to identify new business opportunities and understand the market demand (Luhmann, 2018). The paper aims to analyze Amazon's company for a better understanding of business opportunities and business structure.

Business Description of Amazon

Amazon is an American based multinational company that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, consumer electronics, grocery stores, digital distribution, and artificial intelligence industries (Amazon, 2019). It is identified among the major technology-based companies with influential cultural and economic forces. Through a famous brand, it enjoys a competitive advantage in the world. Mass scale distribution and technological innovations are major keys of the organization that helps to maintain first place in the online marketplace in the world (Kantor &Streitfeld, 2015).

This company was established by Jeff Bezos on 5^th July 1994 in Washington. Amazon has initiated its business through the online marketplace of books which is expanded by the innovative technologies by including food, furniture video games, toys, software, electronics, and jewellery (Amazon, 2019). Through market capitalization, Amazon surpassed Walmart in 2017 and acquired Whole Foods Market in the US. Amazon also distributes towards streaming and downloading facilities of audiobooks, music, and video through Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Twitch. Through continuous support to its customers, employees, and communities, it proceeding towards operational excellence and work for long-term revenue approach. The major principle of the organization is to maintain innovative ideas and maintain customer satisfaction (Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015).

Amazon Products

Amazon deals with different products and services to achieve a competitive advantage and maximize customer satisfaction. Different products of Amazon company are Fire Tablet, Fire TV, Kindle, Echo, and Fire OS while different services of the company are Amazon Alexa, Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com, Amazon Appstore, Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime (Zhu & Furr, 2016).

Amazon.com deals with distinguished product lines that are available on the website of Amazon which includes baby products, groceries, media, health, and personal-care items, gourmet food, consumer electronics, beauty products, jewellery, sporting goods, kitchen items, scientific supplies, toys, automotive items, garden items, tools, games and musical instruments. It also works through several stores in certain countries. International shipping is also available on the products of Amazon which can be delivered to other countries (Amazon, 2019).

Different subsidiaries of Amazon are based on different product lines. Around 40 subsidiaries of Amazon are available with their different locations. Some of the subsidiaries of Amazon are Diapers.com, Goodreads, Shopbop, Audible, TeachStreet, IMDb, Twitch, Zappos, and Amazon Robotics (Amazon, 2019).

Amazon attracts more than 130 million customers through its major domain amazon.com which is increasing over time. A massive amount of servers is the major investment of the company to fulfil the needs of excessive traffic (Zhu & Furr, 2016).

Management of Amazon 

The management team includes different members of the company. Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon who is Chief Executive Officer of the organization (Zhu &Furr, 2016). Different members of the management and their roles are mentioned in Table 1.

Table 1: Board members of Amazon

Source: https://ir.aboutamazon.com/officers-and-directors/default.aspx

Culture of Amazon

Amazon's company is popular for its leadership principles and risk innovating capacity. The customer-centred approach of the organization promotes effective values for the employees. The corporate culture of the company is beyond traditional limits and focusing on innovative solutions to benefit its employees and customers. Amazon focuses on the mission to serve consumers through physical and online stores with the most convenient approach to take advantage of selection and lower prices (Amazon, 2020a).

 The mission of the company focuses on managing customer experience as a customer-centric company that works through technology and the internet to maximize the success of the business(Amazon, 2020a). Through the specific mission statement, several values of the company can be identified such as earning trust, customer obsession, simplification of the activities, delivery of effective results and maintain high standards (Amazon, 2019).

Employee Benefits in Amazon 

Presently Amazon is working with more than 798,000 employees wherein the levels of employment fluctuate with the seasonal factors. Independent contractors and temporary employees are used in the workforce to maintain business success (Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015). It believes in maintaining a good and effective relationship with employees. Several benefits are provided by the organization for its employees. To support the employees and their family members, medical facilities are provided by the company that helps to support the employees. Based on the schedule, job status, location, and length of employment, different benefits of employees are:

• Resources for well-being
• Paid holidays and overtime payment
• Savings plan 401(k)
• Medical plan to cover the health needs of the employees including their families
• Discounted purchase on Amazon(Amazon, 2020b)
• 24 hour free and confidential counselling services for employees to manage their physical and mental health
• Free consultations for the Amazon associates with low fees and availability for 24x7.
• Referrals for personal and professional life through the employee assistance program
• Financial counselling that can help to manage finances in case of life-threatening illness and death (Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015)
• Estate planning is also provided by Amazon for best utilization of the resources
• Online resources available for the parents struggling with the children’s developmental disabilities
• Accidental and death insurance to pay additional coverage for the safety of employees and their families
• Short term and long term disability in the organization is paid by the company (Amazon, 2020b)

Amazon promotes employee satisfaction through different programs and financial benefits to enhance the working capacities of the individuals. Compensatory benefits help to maintain employee loyalty in the organization through greater benefits. Innovative programs are initiated by Amazon to create great jobs with greater benefits in the organization. Training and development opportunities are also provided by Amazon to manage foundational experiences for the employees (Amazon, 2020b; Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015).

Employee Attributes of Amazon 

The employees of Amazon focuses on providing better customer service through innovative procedures and attractive experiences. Customer-focused philosophy is followed by the employees to manage the culture of the organization (Khan, 2016). Leadership skills are promoted by the organization through training and development processes. Effective verbal and written communication skills are identified among the employees of Amazon that can promote ambitious characteristics. Through the services and benefits in the organization, employees feel satisfied that helps them to behave honestly and work effectively (Amazon, 2020c).

Diversity and inclusion are major principles of the leadership of the organization to promote diversity workforce and strengthen the culture. It delivers a positive impact on the employees and helps them to serve customers with their best attitude. Amazon works globally and focuses on continuous improvements with technical and non-technical roles. Inclusion and diversity brings an attitude of respect and integrity in the organization to achieve higher standards and improve customer experience. Better teams are developed by the organization with an inclusive structure and a culture of trust. To support inclusion and creating awareness among employees, 10 affinity groups of Amazon work around building different programs. Internal conferences and learning programs build the team culture and provide a positive environment for employees to work without stress (Amazon, 2020c; Khan, 2016).

Income Statement of Amazon 

The given income statement of Amazon is based on the financial year 2015 to 2019 to reflect upon a comparative analysis. The income statement represents the revenue growth and cost of goods sold in the organization (Amazon, 2019).

The revenue growth has increased in the organization with the yearly statement. The annual growth is approximately 27% which represents that the organization is working towards attaining maturity and investors can expect the growth rate to level off(Amazon, 2019).

Balance Sheet of Amazon 

The balance sheet of Amazon represents the number of assets and liabilities from 2015 to 2019. The cash position of Amazon was $15.8 billion in 2015 while it is now more than double within 5 years of business. It shows that the organization is not completely optimizing the assets which require the adoption of a suitable strategy to focus on short-term investments. Amazon can also use this case to pay off dividends rather than holding cash. It shows a poor decision of the management to hold the cash. Short-term investments can help to attain higher returns(Amazon, 2019).

Financial Ratios of Amazon

Financial ratios of Amazon represent the analysis of liquidity ratio, assets turnover ratio, debt ratio, and profitability ratios. Each financial ratio represents its importance in the organization (Amazon, 2019).

The current ratio of the organization was 1.1 in 2019 which indicates that the company has an appropriate amount of current assets as compared to current liabilities. Total Asset Turnover ratio represents that the ratio has been reduced to 1.25 in 2019. The assets of the company are used effectively by the organization (Amazon, 2019).

The return on equity ratio is increased from 2018 to 2019 which indicates high sustainability in the organization. The debt ratio of the organization is declined to 10.4% which represents that the company should use its funds rather than debt (Amazon, 2019).

Conclusion on Amazon

It can be concluded that Amazon is working effectively to achieve business success. The major focus of the organization is towards a customer-centric approach to maintain organizational resources. The effective leadership style of the organization promotes future opportunities through innovative ideas of the management. Amazon also focuses on employee benefits to maintain trust and inclusion in the organization. The analysis of the financial statements represents a strong position of the organization in the market place.

CARS Checklist for The Research Resources

References for Amazon Company Research

Amazon (2019). Annual Report. Retrieved from: https://ir.aboutamazon.com/annual-reports-proxies-and-shareholder-letters/default.aspx

Amazon (2020a). Our culture. Retrieved from: https://www.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/our-culture

Amazon (2020b). Compensation and benefits. Retrieved from: https://www.aboutamazon.com/amazon-fulfillment/working-here/compensation-and-benefits

Amazon (2020c). Diversity and inclusion at Amazon. Retrieved from: https://www.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-and-inclusion-at-amazon

Kantor, J., & Streitfeld, D. (2015). Inside Amazon: Wrestling big ideas in a bruising workplace. The New York Times, 15, Q1.

Khan, L. M. (2016). Amazon's antitrust paradox. Yale lJ, 126, 710.

Luhmann, N. (2018). Organization and decision. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zhu, F., &Furr, N. (2016). Products to platforms: Making the leap. Harvard Business Review, 94(4), 72-78.

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