Abstract
Amazon is the largest company in online commerce, with a multi-level sales strategy and annual revenue of more than $300 billion. Moreover, the company’s success is the product of many people, not just its creator. The paper consists of two main parts: the first one describes the background of Amazon, its functionality and strategic operations; the second part focuses on possible problems of the company and how to solve them according to its status.
Company’s History
It’s probably hard to find anyone who doesn’t know about Internet marketing: probably every adult in America has used Amazon to buy an item. People in business and management know about the creator Jeff Bezos and probably consider him a significant figure. The historical aspect of the company, its success in the marketplace, its human resources system, and its management strategies are constantly being discussed among first and second-line managers. How did the company begin, where did its origins come from, and why has it become the world’s publicly traded leader?
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon as a small online bookstore in his garage in Washington. Gradually the company grew with new products, and Bezos decided to move to Seattle, where the company changed its original name from Cadabra, Inc. to what everyone now knows. Bezos effectively managed sales, developed the internal structure, and deployed resources wisely, and the company became a global success. As of 2020, the company had $321 billion in assets and a net income of $21.3 billion (Amazon). According to the NASDAQ 100 list, Amazon is the absolute leader in sales and product turnover. It is due to its unique structure, strategic goals and corporate social responsibility, which is publicly disclosed every year.
Structure, Strategy, Vision and Mission
According to Jeff Bezos, the company is structured in small groups that are governed by the two-person rule of information transfer. The government is an adequate and complete exchange of information between two people without involving other people to avoid leakage and distortion of data. This approach is good in many ways because it allows employees to maneuver between groups and transfer information at a faster rate. The company implements the principles of development and transition: almost all employees can move to another level or try their hand at another department. It is thought to promote better organization and positive environmental relationships in the team.
Amazon follows a multi-level sales strategy in its work. This strategy is implemented by establishing contact between the seller and the consumer between sellers, after which consumers are able to communicate with each other (Amazon). Through multiple levels of product and business information processing, sales levels remain high. They are consistently maintained by the company’s connections with affiliated branches, other businesses, and the audience. In addition, Amazon offers sellers several services on which to display merchandise, which positively affects the company’s image.
The company produces annual Principles for Success reports in which the top three themes are environment, management, and people. Through the organic combination of these three categories, the company can operate confidently and take risks, as there will always be proximity to its customers. A prime example of this interaction is the increase in essential goods during the 2020 pandemic (United States Securities and Exchange Commission). Amazon lowered the price on them and offered jobs for people, which also had a positive impact on the company’s status. The company’s corporate vision is made up of reaching an audience, being customer-centric, and providing choice.
Amazon’s mission can be formulated after taking into account all of the metrics discussed above. First, the company aims to give customers as much choice as possible by collaborating with them and with different business lines (Amazon). Secondly, it is the affordability of the price and shaping it based on customers’ interests and orientation toward general market conditions. The most important indicator is the usability of the company’s software and interface: the most precise and most accessible instructions for purchase and registration automatically increase the chance of a positive response from the user.
Article Selection on Problem Identified
The topic of lobbying was chosen for the analysis, which is relevant for Amazon because, according to the report sent to Congress, the company spent almost 5 million dollars on lobbying in the first quarter of 2021. According to In Song and Milner, multinational companies (MNCs) play a significant role in shaping the economy and often lead to political clashes between companies (In Song and Milner 480). Lobbying is the process of MNCs influencing a specific thematic segment to draw attention to themselves and change the behavior of those being affected. According to In Song and Milner, lobbying in the political part has been most pronounced in America in the last few years due to the change of president.
Lobbying is a legal means of influence that is closely linked to the strategic objectives of MNCs. Moreover, it is possible to establish market changes and shift the business ideas of companies through lobbying (In Song and Milner 480). There is a correlation between political lobbying and the future performance of a company. Attracting officials and, at the same time, buyers of the same political views positively affects the status of the company (Nils 66). For Amazon, political lobbying is a way to get donations and investments to realize jobs for their employees. In addition, the company has amended several bills over the past few years, which has had a positive effect on its market status.
Amazon also spends a great deal of money lobbying for Internet marketing and consumer protection, but this does not keep it out of conflict. Conflicts involve lobbying for jobs, monopoly, market capture, and even changing legislation regarding protecting the right to privacy (Dastin, Kirkman amd Karla). The main complaint against Amazon regarding lobbying is that the company often resorts to unfair competition at the expense of supporting politicians.
Alternative Solutions
The increase of funds devoted to lobbying changes the company’s status: open conflicts and the availability of reports undermine the credibility of the company and can affect sales. Amazon has also stimulated the enrichment of specific layers (elite politicians), which goes against its strategy of making products available to every consumer. The company’s status in the community fell slightly after disclosing documents from 2014-2015 about the company’s policies.
To solve the problem of excessive lobbying, the company can pay attention to the consumer by offering them new communication mechanisms. Feedback systems, more credible vendor metrics, and the formation of many tight groups to support a civic stance on data protection will save the status (Dastin, Kirkman amd Karla). Amazon often advocates for data privacy, but the problem will figure until the company stops using that data, even in good faith.
Paramount Solution
Among the solutions to the consequences of lobbying that big business giants like Amazon should avoid, the main one is to revise the political system of lobbying. Stimulating politics is an excellent tool to regulate civil attitudes toward the state, but creating separate categories and creating elite lists will aggravate the company’s sales (Nils 62). In addition, such anti-competitive behavior violates the principles of accessibility and customer focus.
In 2020, the European Union sued Amazon for lobbying malicious companies and supporting anti-civil government policies. The U.S. antitrust committee also brought charges that the company’s principles of tiered sales were violated (United States Securities and Exchange Commission). Unfair competition is often a consequence of lobbying, so Amazon should seriously change its attitude toward policies and ways to influence them; otherwise, it could lead to a drop in interest in the site.
Conclusion
In summary, this paper analyzes information about Amazon, which acts as the most prominent business giant in the sales market. Born as a small online store, the company is now a well-organized and directed structure that supports the principles of multi-level sales with a consumer focus. Among the problems associated with the company’s operations is lobbying in politics, leading to uncompetitive and monopolistic behavior in the marketplace. Amazon may reconsider its policies and return to customer-centricity with political ties intact even with continued lobbying funds.
Reflection
Amazon is a large international company whose products are used by virtually everyone in America. The company stimulates the market and often enters into a dialogue with the consumer to achieve a harmonious relationship. However, this does not change the fact that pressure on the political apparatus undermines their status. In my opinion, a change in management’s attitude towards consumers and their workers could lead to a positive dynamic. The reduction of lobbying costs will also result from these decisions, allowing the company to create and launch a mechanism that will regulate relations within the system to avoid new conflicts.
Works Cited
Amazon. Annual Report 2020. Web.
Dastin, Jeffrey, Chris Kirkham and Aditya Kalra. “Amazon Wages Secret War on Americans’ Privacy, Documents Show”. Reuters, 2021. Web.
In Song, Kim, and Helen V. Milner. “Multinational Corporations and Their Influence through Lobbying on Foreign Policy.” Global Goliaths: Multinational Corporations in the 21st Century Economy, edited by C. Fritz Foley et al., Brookings Institution Press, 2021, pp. 497–536, Web.
Nils, Moussu. “Business in Just Transition: The Never-Ending Story of Corporate Sustainability.” Just Transitions: Social Justice in the Shift Towards a Low-Carbon World, edited by Edouard Morena et al., Pluto Press, 2020, pp. 56–75, Web.
United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Amazon. Inc. Form 10-k. Web.