BUS510 Fundamentals Of Innovative Business

Interview the person you select and ask them the following questions. Take notes on their responses, as you will need to submit these as a reference. Interview Questions:

a. What is the name of your employer? What is your job title? How long have you been with this employer?

b. How do you know if your business is profitable and doing well? How does that information get communicated by the company?

c. Tell me about a time at work that you had to deal with an ethical issue. What happened? What was the outcome? Did you feel that it was managed correctly? (Note: please do not include names for these responses, just describe the situation).

d. How do finances play at part at your organization? How is accounting done? Who manages the accounting process?

e. Tell me about the different types of managers and leaders that you work with at your job. Which style do you feel is most effective? Which style is not effective?

f. Student: Come up with your own question to ask your interviewee.

1. Give a summary and analysis of the interview you conducted (including the name of the employer) and tie the interview comments to what you have learned about business and the four SLOs covered in our course (see above).

2. If you were this employer, state one thing you would do to strengthen their organization.

3. Your paper should convey a strong understanding of the SLOs and business. Use references and cite your sources.

4. Type up the interview comments for questions #a-f, and include these at the end of your paper as a reference. This does NOT count toward your 2-3 page paper, it is simply a reference.

Remember to check your grammar and spelling, and use paragraphs to break-up your thoughts. Include references where used and remember that the majority of your paper should be in your own original thoughts and wording. You will be graded on providing in-depth critical thinking and support for your responses, clearing addressing the assignment objectives, and using correct grammar and spelling so that your paper flows well and can be easily read and understood. See grading rubric below. 

Introduction

Any organization operating in the client service industry is required to consider satisfying the interest of the clients as well as that of the employees. The organization is expected to operate in an ethical manner considering the safety and security of the employees who form the backbone of the company.

`This paper discusses about the experiences of one such employee of a renowned company in the client service sector. The paper aims to identify and analyse issues related to the sector and recommend ways to solve the problem.

The interviewee is a neighbour of the interviewer who works for the aforementioned renowned brand in the client service sector. The purpose of the interview is to identify, evaluate and analyse the experiences of the employees and principles that the company follows while operation.

Q1. What is the name of your employer? What is your job title? How long have you been with this employer? 

I have been working with Amazon USA. I work as a financial analyst of the organization and have been working for nearly 2 years with them.

Q2. How do you know if your business is profitable and doing well? How does the company communicate that information?

The net sales of the organization increased by 38% to $60.5 billion in the final quarter of 2017 as compared to $43.7 billion in the last quarter of 2016. The net profit of the company reached at $1.9 billion during the fourth quarter of 2017 (O'Shields, Reggie). Out of the several factors, the sales of production units have increased at an exponential level worldwide. Amazon has hired approximately 130,000 employees globally in 2017 (Kantor, Jodi, and Streitfeld). The expansion is a sign of profitability of the company. The company publishes the annual reports on a quarterly basis, which gives us the idea of the profits made by them.

Q3. Tell me about a time at work that you had to deal with an ethical issue. What happened? What was the outcome? Did you feel that it was managed correctly? 

At a time of the peak season in 2016, the pressure of work and from the superiors was so immense that I had to work constantly and did not sleep for four days without rest. The boundary of work life balance was erased for the employees (Jones, Gareth and Jones). The constant working affected my health badly and I fell sick soon after. Even after reporting to the higher management repeatedly, they did not act on it. The pressure remained the same and we had to work from home at night even after leaving the campus.

Q4. How do finances play a part at your organization? How is accounting done? Who manages the accounting process? 

Being a financial analyst, I can say that finances at Amazon assist in planning strategies and budgeting, managing capital and cash, planning of profit and controlling costs and managing the associated risks (Fraser et al.). Accounting is majorly done using software programs to monitor and calculate the finances. Amazon has separate accounting managers looking after the accounting process.

Q5. Tell me about the different types of managers and leaders that you work with at your job. Which style do you feel is most effective? Which style is not effective? 

The leadership I have worked with has always been dynamic. It has ranged from autocratic to democratic to transactional leadership (Schoar, Antoinette and Zuo). I feel the most effective styles have been democratic and transactional leadership. In my opinion, autocratic style of management is not effective at all.

Q6. Do you feel the marketing of the company has been effective? How?

I believe the marketing has been hugely impactful to the clients because the sales suggest so. Marketing procedures such as effective advertisements and client feedback reports have been successful.

Analysis

The interview helps in the identification of the operational tactics of Amazon USA by focussing on the fundamentals of business. Amazon being a multimillion-dollar company should maintain the business ethics, which it fails to occasionally by implementing unethical work policies. The sales have increased exponentially over the past few years that could have been achieved by not creating unmanageable pressures on the employees (Ryan and Damian). The effective use of technology and marketing strategies have fulfilled the requirements of both the client and the company.

Recommendation

I would maintain the work life balance of the employees working in the organization by setting realistic and achievable targets for them if I was the employer. This would not only offer a healthy work environment but also improve the brand name.

References

Fraser, Stuart, Sumon Kumar Bhaumik, and Mike Wright. "What do we know about entrepreneurial finance and its relationship with growth?." International Small Business Journal 33.1 (2015): 70-88.

Jones, Gareth R., and Gareth R. Jones. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2013.

Kantor, Jodi, and David Streitfeld. "Inside Amazon: Wrestling big ideas in a bruising workplace." New York Times 15 (2015): 74-80.

O'Shields, Reggie. "Smart Contracts: Legal Agreements for the Blockchain." NC Banking Inst. 21 (2017): 177.

Ryan, Damian. Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. Kogan Page Publishers, 2016.

Schoar, Antoinette, and Luo Zuo. "Shaped by booms and busts: How the economy impacts CEO careers and management styles." The Review of Financial Studies 30.5 (2017): 1425-1456.