Leadership and Business Environment

Description

Amazon, just like Apple, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard had a very humble beginning from a garage with a $250,000 investment from the parents of Jess Bezos as an online book store in 1995. Today the company is worth over £1 trillion. The story of Amazon had not always been a fairy tale ride. The company faced numerous challenges over the years and faced near bankruptcy. The story of Amazon is not just littered with their success. There are number of notable failures including its attempt to compete with eBay through their auction site, their failed mobile phones business and number of issues and criticisms on working conditions. In its early days, the company expected employees to put in 60 hours a week at work and this practice still continues and has attracted many criticisms, but Jeff Bezos considers it to be one of the factors contributing to its success. Amazon was one of the online businesses that survived the “dot-com” bubble burst of 2001. The company has also been successful in Cloud computing, grocery business and online streaming competing with the likes of Microsoft, Spotify, Aplphabet and Netflix. According to many writers and consultants, the success of Amazon can be attributed to the leadership and management of its founder Jeff Bezos, the ability of the company to quickly recognize and take advantage of opportunities and being resilient facing the challenges, their strong ethics to name a few. The present Covid-19 crisis while being a doomsday for many businesses, amazon used it as an opportunity to become a Trillion Dollar Company.   Bibliography Hall, M., 2019. Amazon.com. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amazoncom [Accessed 26 August 2020]. Hartmans, A., 2020. ‘Amazon’ wasn’t the original name of Jeff Bezos’ company, and 14 other little-known facts about the early days of Amazon. [Online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-amazon-history-facts-2017-4?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 24 August 2020]. McFadden, C., 2019. A Very Brief History of Amazon: the Everything Store. [Online] Available at: https://interestingengineering.com/a-very-brief-history-of-amazon-the-everything-store [Accessed 26 August 2020].           Tasks to complete 1.   Perform a SWOT and PESTEL analysis for Amazon. (10%)   2.   From the analysis in task 1, in your opinion, evaluate how the changes in PESTEL factors has influenced the Opportunities and Threats business. Critically comment on how the company is addressing their Strengths to negate Threats and Weakness affecting their Opportunities. (20%)   3.   Compare and contrast the different styles of leadership. Comment on the current leadership and management style at Amazon. (20%)   4.   Recommend a suitable leadership style that will match their management style and help Amazon grow further. Justify your choice using appropriate literature. (10%),   5.   Comment on the Responsibility, Response and Obligations in their Ethics and Social Responsibilities in the processes at Amazon using evidence from your research. (20%)   6.   The second part of the assignment will involve writing a reflection report on your experience in writing this report. In this you will reflect on the knowledge you gained from your research and how it benefitted in applying the theories to the practical framework of Starbucks. (20%)       This assessment addresses LO1: Understand the dynamic and changing nature of business and the consideration of the future of organisations within the global business environment LO2: Identify the need for individuals and organisations to manage responsibly and sustainably and behave ethically in relation to social, cultural, economic and environmental issues LO3: Discuss leadership, management and development of people  LO4: Discuss the development of appropriate policies and strategies within a changing environment to meet stakeholder interests LO5: Discuss the design and development of organisations.   Length Required Minimum 2500 to maximum 3000 words.  (Including reflection report) Formatting and Report   Please note the following when completing your written assignment: 1.     Writing: Written in English in an appropriate business/academic style 2.     Focus: Focus only on the tasks set in the assignment. 3.     Length: Minimum 2000 to maximum 3000 words (Including reflection report) 4.     Document format:  Individual Report 5.     Ensure a clear title, course, and Student ID number is on a cover sheet and a citations and reference list using Harvard Referencing Style throughout is also provided.   Research: Research should use reliable and relevant sources of information e.g. academic books and journals that have been peer reviewed.  You are expected to have a minimum of FIVE different sources referenced