I am in a group project and we have a paper to write about amazon. so far everyone finished their parts with sources and all is left 1 page of a conclusion to wrap the paper up. here below what everyone has already written up
Team #3
Bus. Adm. 477
12/11/2020
Final Project (due Dec. 11)
Intro Bella
According to brand directory, Amazon is the #1 globally recognized brand in the world. This is not a surprise considering in 2019 alone, Amazon had 280.5 Billion dollars in sales, 212.24 million unique visitors and 150 million Amazon Prime members. In 2020 we have see the growth of Amazon continues due to the pandemic causing online shopping to skyrocket. As a result, we have seen Amazon grow even more and see more and more Amazon delivery trucks daily. What makes Amazon succeed in delivery over competitors? Although there are many reasons as to why they provide a value to their customers, we will be focusing on how their Supply Chain actives directly impact the success of Amazon. First, we will discuss how Amazons use of collaborative relationships within their industry. Then we will discuss how Amazon uses the development complex specifications within their industry.
Examples of how Amazon relates to the topic of Collaborative relationships (Keith and Ryan)
Ryan:
Collaborative relationships are the middle ground between a transactional relationship and an alliance. Amazon as a company is really built around collaborations and partnerships with other businesses. At its core Amazon was built around being a distributor of music, videos and books. Since that point it continues to grow further with further distribution and additional aspects like Amazon Web Services which small to large corporations around the globe use to further their own businesses. Amazon has since begun to develop their own lines of products, but they also remain an essential piece between the producer and consumer. Jeff Bezos wants Amazon to be earths most customer centric company and believes other companies should and will look at Amazon as a standard for that customer focus. All of that is built around relationships not only.
These relationships not only lead to customer satisfaction but lower costs for the producer, and consumer. Many often look at Amazon as a cheaper or more affordable option for products they may need or want. Collaborative relationships are focused longer term and look bigger picture. Quality is built into the system, something Amazon does put a large emphasis on. With this collaboration between Amazon and other businesses you have less disruptions in supply and service levels. Having less disruption goes right back to the customer focus that Amazon and Jeff Bezos strive for. Also, as of note, Amazon prides themselves on broad selection. They help sell products from all over the world and from thousands of different producers. In comparing with a different retailer, you may not find the same selection that Amazon has due to this relationship they have created with producers and consumers.
Amazon also prides itself on delivery methods being fast and reliable. The business-to-business relationships that Amazon has create those less frequent disruptions which in turn help them have much faster and more reliable delivery that so many consumers around the world have become accustomed too. Jeff Bezos believes Amazon has the purchasing powers and relationships with their suppliers that give them an advantage over any other retailer. Staying customer focused rather than competitor focus improves Amazon overall and helps them succeed not only with the consumer but with their supplier relationships.
Keith:
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, is quoted as saying, It used to be that if you made a customer happy, they would tell five friends. Now, with the megaphone of the internet, whether online customer reviews or social media, they can tell 5,000 friends. Amazon forms collaborative relationships with companies all over the world, but the most important relationship it fosters is with the millions of individual customers it serves. By being an online platform, Amazon has the ability to immediately connect with its customers, whether by using a computer or smartphone. Amazon has built institutional trust by providing the products we want, on time, and at reasonable prices. We know that this institutional trust is the fundamental difference between a collaborative and merely a transactional relationship.
This trust has led many users to take advantage of a new offering Amazon Key which allows delivery drivers to be able to enter a garage or home to delivery packages inside. Amazon also provides a two-way experience allowing peer reviews of different products, allowing customers to search these reviews before purchasing. This helps to give incentive for suppliers to provide quality products and to get real time feedback. This commitment to continuous improvement is key to creating better relationships between Amazon, their sellers, and their customers.
The video, Amazon CEO: Focus on customer is Key is an interview with Jeff Bezos that focus solely on Amazons commitment to their customer. The interview shows the product launch of a kindle fire and gives Bezos an opportunity to explain Amazons commitment to customer management. Premium products at non-premium prices is how Bezos explains their approach. Amazon is committed to putting the right products in front of the right people, at the right times. According to Amazons dominance of online shopping starts with product searches, Taylor Soper shows how amazons personalized discovery platform has effectively replaced google or regular search engines online. This is not an accident. For years Amazon has been using artificial intelligence to understand user patterns, user search histories, and user buying patterns. To further enhance the user buying experience, Amazon will suggest products that match previous purchases.
Amazon utilizes predictive machine learning analytics to ultimately enhance their primary mission to provide the most robust buying and selling marketplace in the world. They have broadened their service through AWS to help provide these efficiencies and learnings to other businesses. Amazon effortlessly connects its suppliers and customers through a seamless online experience.
2 Examples of how Amazon relates to Developing complex specifications in industry (Hailey and Melissa) – one example each
Hailey:
Amazon is one of the best and most fearful competitors in the world right now. This is due to their highly complex specifications that goes above the design of products. Their innovative methodology, sustainable packaging, transportation, delivery schedules, warranty and service are what allows them to par excellence. An example of how Amazon relates to the development of complex specifications is their frustration- free packaging program and fulfillment network. In the video, Packaging for Amazon Fulfillment Brett Nelson, senior manager in Amazons global packaging sustainability department takes an inside look on their packaging strategy.
To start with, they partner together as an industry to innovate product and packaging for E-commerce. This will deliver superior technical design to differentiate and optimize customer experience, minimize environmental impact, and to create packaging at the lowest delivered cost which ultimately reduces cost for customers. Amazon relies on market surveys from their consumers on how they can improve their packaging. They offer additional protective packaging through their fulfillment network. It is common in their supply chain that a product is handled a minimum of 20 times before reaching its destination. In contrast, a Brick-and-Mortar network handles the item approximately 5 times. Amazon creates a simulation test for all their packages so it can survive transportation. The test consists of 2 hours of vibration, 17 simulated edge corner face drops, and an integrity leak test. Overall, Amazons frustration- free packaging program helps establish the standards for inspections, tests, and quality checks which is one of many purposes of specifications.
Melissa
Throughout time larger organizations have continuously battled with bureaucracy and almost always have come up unsuccessful except for Amazon. But what has allowed amazon to be able to tame this and, in the process, become one of the most agile firms as well as the most valuable. Amazons creator has created a new way to think for larger firms and has even had a book written about their success called Think like Amazon: 50 Ideas to become a Digital Leader by John Rossman. Rossman explains in the book that big company politics run the day while this is not the case. What he meant by that is that in most big companies everyone comes into the board room and usually just nods their heads and agrees for the sake of being civil throughout verses allowing the harmony to suffer through the company. John Rossman wasnt just writing this book from what he had seen in the company but from his 4 years of experience and even ran a couple of the businesses that are through Amazon. Because he had a first had experience into what happens daily at Amazon, he wanted others to be able to apply their approach to organization building, culture building, thinking through strategy and driving for operational improvement.
The mindset that occurs throughout Amazon is characterized by a pervasive customer mindset. What this means is that it is not just a few people in the company that are expected to help customers but everyone. I think that this mindset was key into the success of amazon because the buyers for amazon where picking products for the customers, the shippers and packagers have the customers on mind at all time. This has been in effect at Amazon since CEO Jeff Bezos announced it in his letter to shareholders in 1997. Rossman explained in his book, Its everyones job to know and have empathy and passion for the customer. Make sure everyone knows its their job…. Know the details of the customer experience and what causes friction for customers. This does not just mean satisfaction but also to improve customer experience. This is how Amazon has continued to be the biggest company in the world and is continuing to grow. Their main goal is the customer which has meant more satisfaction and business.
Conclusion (John)
Sources
1. What amazon Key teaches us about trust in customer relationships, Anthony Smith https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonysmith/2017/11/16/what-amazon-key-teaches-us-about-trust-in-customer-relationships/?sh=6f7d48e877d0
2. Customer Engagement Techology at Amazon, https://youtu.be/QwC0iR6FhZs
3. Amazon CEO: Focus on customer is key, https://youtu.be/56GFhr9r36Y
4. Amazons dominance of online shopping starts with product searches, study shows.., Taylor Soper, https://www.geekwire.com/2015/amazon-dominates-the-online-shopping-world-survey-shows/
5. How Amazon uses artificial intelligence by Amazon Product Manager https://youtu.be/twoTOpjfW1g
6. Introduction to Amazon Machine Learning – Predictive Analytics on AWShttps://youtu.be/PAHU8tPA7xs
7. https://brandirectory.com/rankings/global/table
8. https://www.statista.com/topics/846/amazon/
9. Founder Jeff Bezos discusses Amazon Business Model Mission
10. Packaging for Amazon Fulfillment https://assets.aboutamazon.com/23/7e/c8259aae4623ac398b9d1288ab07/ffp-presentation-final-3.mp4
11. How amazon became Agile https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2019/06/02/how-amazon-became-agile/?sh=504fc56331aa
