Amazon
What I knew before
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CEO is Jeff Bezos
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They have revolutionized shipping by utilizing their massive scale advantage
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They offer an Amazon Prime service in which customers pay a membership fee and in return get free, 2-day shipping on millions of products
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Amazon recently acquired Wholefoods and plans to launch Amazon-Go stores
Introduction and Expectations
I expected Amazon to be very open and modern, but also expected people to be frantically busy and running around non-stop. In most companies that we visited, a timetable was several weeks or months or even years; at Amazon, in order for them to provide customers with a service that they have promised, a timetable could be just a few hours or less if there is an issue in with their supply chain or distributors.
Amazon employs 45,000 robots to complement their massive and plentiful warehouses, all in an effort to be the best at supplying consumers with “everything from A to Z.” Amazon’s model and success has made their customers extremely loyal and valuable; 5 times more valuable than eBay’s customers.
Visit Summary
As soon as we walked through the door, Amazon showed a startup mentality despite their immense scale. In a lecture led by Tarah Moore, Amazon gave us a thorough overview of all of the different aspects of the company, and gave us a glimpse of where the company is moving towards in the future. Most recently, they acquired Whole Foods, furthering their company diversity. As previously alluded to, with this acquisition, they plan on developing Amazon-Go stores, in which the consumer has a grocery bag connected to their Amazon account, allowing them to just fill their bag and leave without paying at a register or waiting in line. We were lucky enough to see the first Go store right next door to the office space, however this beta store is only currently open to Amazon employees. Amazon was able to lower costs across the board with their revolutionary logistics, which is sure to have a huge impact on the grocery industry.
During the lecture, Amazon told us about their four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon works with their customers and work backwards. All companies that we met with discussed the way that they value their customers, however no company truly put their customers first the same way that Amazon did. As an Amazon employee, we learned about how fluidly the company encouraged its employees to switch between different positions. They want their employees to enjoy working at the company and explore new opportunities.
Going hand and hand with employee satisfaction, Amazon also showed us their dog park, a feature that creates quite a pleasurable place to work. Amazon proved to us that they are a pioneer, with significant growth in virtually all industries including retail, logistics, consumer technology, cloud computing, media, and entertainment. They have been able to grow so remarkably by having a mindset of treating every day like day one and embracing failure. Amazon also discussed with us their high turnover rate, reflecting the competitiveness of the company and the standards to which they hold their employees.
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Key Takeaways
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Amazon has caused many companies to go under, so this has a significant effect on the US economy as a whole. Amazon even takes over industries through either acquiring companies, such as Zappos, or by moving into an industry independently and taking over with their impressive margins and unbeatable supply chain. If Amazon holds to their current model and does not increase prices and move towards monopolizing all industries of the American economy, I see no reason why they can not continue to grow immensely. Their huge scale advantage makes them virtually impossible to compete with from a price and supply chain aspect, making their potential is limitless. This potential is intensified by their “A to Z” mentality, encouraging them to make moves into every industry from web servers to groceries and even maybe pharmaceuticals next.
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Amazon’s customer first business model is what makes them so special. As I said, they start with the customer and work backwards, and this is exemplified by the fact that they are willing to ship items for free, even when the cost to ship may be more than the product itself, let alone the margin they make on that product. Every decision they make, they make with the customer at the forefront of their mind, and this mindset is what has driven them into so many different industries with such great success and consumer satisfaction.
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Even a giant like Amazon is able to utilize a day one, start-up mentality. By having such a mentality, they never become complacent or just satisfied in their business; they always strive to grow and be better and better.
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In order to work at Amazon, I think you must be extremely focused, goal-oriented, and exceed under tight timeframes. This is because of the intensity of the workplace, and I think the high turnover rate is a result of the difficulty and challenges associated with being such a type of worker.
Post Visit Actions/ Thoughts
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After visiting Amazon, I realized that this is not a company that I would ever want to work at. Amazon differentiates itself in part by having such impressive employees, but as an employee, I think I would feel like there was a constant bullseye on my back with relentless stress.
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I do not see a light at the end of the tunnel for how much larger Amazon will grow. When Amazon touches an industry, they have a unique ability to take it over, and provide consumers in that industry with better products and prices. As long as they continue to put the consumer first, I think the government will allow them to continue to expand the same way they have been, and grow to unimaginable heights.