Evaluation Of Work Culture And Management Concepts At Amazon - Essay.

Challenges in the Work Culture at Amazon

Question:

Discuss about the Analysis of Amazon Management and Work Culture.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the case study based on the management and work culture at Amazon. An evaluation of the situation of the work culture at Amazon shall be carried on. Management concepts and theories are evident for every organizational activity (Rosenberg Hansen and Ferlie 2016). It is expected that the leaders and the managers of an organization shall undertake the best approach to carry out the business activities. Thus, the case study shall be related to the management concept and theories. Based on the analysis, certain recommendations can be made that could possibly help the organization to create a better workplace culture for the employees. It is expected that if the management would undertake better managerial approach, the organizational activities shall improve.

Reading the case study of Amazon, it has been evident that the organization has been facing some challenges in terms of its management. It has been evident that the employees are not treated well in the organization. The organizational culture has been accused for tearing apart the ideas of the employees and carry out secret transmission of messages (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015). There are serious concerns of sabotage of the employees. Employees suffering from any kind of health issues are not given proper attention and they are treated in a poor manner. The top performers do not get the right level of appreciation that they deserve and the poor performers are usually terminated.

It has been found that the CEO, Jeff Bezos does not undertake popular management approaches to improve the organizational culture and workplace atmosphere, instead keeps looking for more innovative and ambitious approaches to increase the profitability of the organization. Technologically, the company has been found to raise high and has provide every nimble of opportunity to the employees that they can carry out their activities with much efficiency. The campus of Amazon is no less than a big tech organization (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015). Thus, it can be said that focus has been made on improving the image of the company among its stakeholders rather than focusing on the internal employees who are responsible for achieving the overall organizational activities. This has significantly made Jeff the fifth wealthiest man. Amazon has been successful in grabbing many customers and has been serving customers well (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015). However, when it comes to treating the employees, the online retail giant has failed considerably. The only thing that motivated the employees is the brand image of the company and thinking it “Big”. The traditional bureaucratic structure of the organization has exhibited employees from creating any control or ownership on the organization.

When it comes to monitoring the employees, it has been found that strict control is kept on monitoring the employees of the organization (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015). It has been found that the condition of the warehouses is very poor. The temperature of the warehouses happened to reach more than 100 degree. To save the employees, ambulances were made available to the employees. Thus, it can be easily said that the company always focused on improving their relationship with the customers rather than with the employees. Therefore, it can be said that the management needs to focus on treating the employees’ right.

Management and Technological Advancements at Amazon

With the evaluation of the case study, it has been well recognized that the management lacks the proper approach towards motivating and treating the employees in the right way. Therefore, management theories related to motivating the employees shall be discussed here:

According to the expectancy theory of management, it is expected that the employees act in a specific way they are treated or motivated at the workplace (Morschett et al. 2015). It is when the employees are motivated in the right way, the desirability of their outcome can be determined (Lindebaum 2016). The theory emphasizes on the factor that the employees should be rewarded on the basis of their performance. This reward could be in terms of incentives or by giving them the right hike in their position. Vroom further explained that when the expectations of the employees are met, there remains better opportunity for the employees to come up with better approach to improve the business activities (George 2015).

There are a number of leadership styles that are practiced in an organization. The autocratic and the bureaucratic form of leadership are the traditional forms of leadership that is practices in major organizations (Kersiene and Savaneviciene 2015). However, there needs to changes in the leadership style to incorporate the innovative ideas and thinking of the employees in the organization (Miner 2015). This type of leadership approach is called the transformational or the transactional forms of leadership, where the employees are also given the opportunity to participate in the overall business activities.

According to the conventional leadership approach, the managers and the leaders focus on the technological perspective of leadership rather than relying on the activities of the employees. These leaders rely on the technological advancement in order to carry out their business activities (Haslam et al. 2014). The leaders are decisive and they do not consult others in the organization before making any kind of decision. They are more focused on the actions and the result rather than taking care of the perspective of the employees.

According to this model, there are a number of factors that motivates the employees and creates values among the employees of the organization (Morschett et al. 2015). These are essential approaches that the leader or the manager in an organization needs to make to improve the productivity and the functionality of the organization. For instance, the theory has talked about the conservation and security of the employees (Kantola 2015). It is important to keep a trace of the safety and the conformity of the actions and stability of the employee in the organization. In addition to this, the theory also talks about self-transcendence those talks about preservation and universalism of appreciating the employees when they participate in any major organizational activities (Al Ariss et al. 2014).

As it has been evident that the employees are not at all satisfied with the organization, the management should focus on improving the situation. In order to improve the organizational situation, a number of strategic recommendations can be suggested here:

1. Better leadership approach: Jeff Bezos has been successful as a businessman and has been able to gather huge fortune for himself but as a leader, he has failed. Therefore, it is highly recommended to undertake a better leadership approach that could support the organizational culture (Modaff et al. 2016). It can be easily said that the employees at Amazon are well qualified, experienced and capable enough to undertake major strategic decisions. Therefore, it is recommended that rather than focusing on conventional and the bureaucratic form of leadership, transformational leadership approach can be undertaken.
2. Better motivational factors: It has been evident that the organization lacks motivation. The employees are not at all satisfied and motivated at the workplace. Therefore, it is highly recommended to come up with certain approaches that would eventually motivate the employees. Apart from the monthly pay, the employees can be benefitted with certain incentives or bonuses (Donaldson et al. 2013). In fact, the employees should also be given certain opportunity to participate in the decision making of the business. This will eventually boost up their morale and spirit to work for their organization.
3. Focusing on the safety measures: It has also been evident that the employees work under certain drastic situations that are not safe for them. These situations, for no doubt reduce the morale of the employees and tend to create a non-performing attitude among them. This has been evident among the employees of Amazon (Touboulic and Walker 2015). They have to work under certain situations that are very unsafe. Therefore, it is highly recommended that the management should undertake certain approach to make the organization a safer place for the employees to work.

Conclusion:

The study had focused on the management style and the leadership approach at Amazon. It has been evident that the employees are not satisfied working at the organization. The leadership approach and the organizational culture can be considered as the most evident reasons behind the poor condition of the management. Understanding the management concepts and theories, it can be said that the leadership approach is creating hindrance in the organization. The management also does not undertake any kind of motivational approach to motivate the employees. In addition to this, the organization is more focused towards the technological perspective rather than focusing on the needs of the employees. Keeping these situations into consideration, a number of recommendations have been made. It is expected that the management should focus on the leadership and the motivational factors of the employees. If the managers undertake these approaches, it can be said that the organizational situation would change.

References:

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George, G., 2015. Expanding context to redefine theories: Africa in management research. Management and Organization Review, 11(01), pp.5-10.

Haslam, S.A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M.J. and Ellemers, N. eds., 2014. Social identity at work: Developing theory for organizational practice. Psychology Press.

Kantola, J., 2015. Organizational Resource Management: Theories, Methodologies, and Applications. CRC Press.

Kantor, J. and Streitfeld, D., 2015. Inside Amazon: Wrestling big ideas in a bruising workplace. New York Times, 15, pp.74-80.

Kersiene, K. and Savaneviciene, A., 2015. The Formation and Management of Organizational Competence Based on CrossCultural Perspective. Engineering Economics, 65(5).

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