Amazon Com An E Commerce Retailer Marketing Essay

Amazon Com An E Commerce Retailer Marketing Essay Aggressive competition, along with the external factors of a poor economy and possible repeal of the Internet sales tax exemption, has forced Amazon.com to reevaluate its current strategies and redevelop an â€Å"effective differentiating strategy† in order to make the company a â€Å"consistent money maker† in the short and long-term time frames, while still continuing to pursue corporate objectives of expanding at reasonable costs and staying ahead of the company’s competition. 2. Summary statement of the recommended solution: Develop and implement a competitive business-to-business (B2B) exchange for suppliers, retailers, manufacturers and distributors. B. THE SITUATION Amazon.com was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and was , â€Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦considered to be the premier online retailer in the world† (Collins, P., Mockler, R., & Gartenfeld, M., p. 2, 2003) in 2003. The company originally only started with selling books, but later expanded into severa l other product lines such as: CD’s, DVD’s & videos, electronics, toys, apparel, and home & garden supplies. Amazon.com also offered services which included: online auctions, partnerships with retailers (i.e. The Gap & Eddie Bauer,) Zshops (store hosting) and website management. In 2003 the company reported its first operating profit of $64.1 million, which was an 115.55% increase from 2001’s $412.2 million operating loss, for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2002. Amazon continued to meet its internal goals, â€Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦of focusing on increased market share, expanded product offerings, and overall sales growth, the company was still facing pressureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to produce consistent operating profits and to prove that its business model worked financially over the long-term.† (Collins, P., Mockler, R., & Gartenfeld, M., p. 3, 2003) The pressure the company was facing, combined with a decreasing consumer confidence, an increased unemploymen t rate, and competitive threats from other online companies, like eBay and Yahoo!, who had started to expand into Amazon.com’s current markets, left Bezos â€Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦with the task of developing an effective differentiating enterprise strategy if Amazon.com was to survive and prosper against aggressive competitionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Collins, P., Mockler, R., & Gartenfeld, M., p. 2, 2003) II. ANALYSIS A. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION 1. Management In Amazon.com first year as a company, they focused completely on increasing market share and superior customer service, but when the dotcom â€Å"bubble burst† happened and Amazon.com’s stock prices fell Bezos and his management team struck a good balance between their goal of increasing market share and their goal of producing a profit. This shows that the management team for Amazon.com is rather flexible one and is willing to change strategies when the opportunities arise and the company is willing to modif y its business model if it feels that an opportunity to expand in a new area will be profitable. 2. Operations Amazon.com has a corporate headquarters, which is located in Seattle, WA, and several distribution centers that are located in New Castle Delaware, Coffeyville Kansas, as well as in Campbellsville and Lexington Kentucky. Having these distribution centers allow for a better ability to regionally segment the United States, which allows for faster order fulfillment and higher customer satisfaction. Since they operate online, they have also expanded their website operations into several different countries including: Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Change Resistance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Change Resistance - Essay Example These researchers underline that in such cuntries as Pland and Russia resistance t change is influenced by cultural traditins and unique values. Mst individuals prefer wrking life t prceed accrding t accustmed nrms. Changing the nrms brings disruptin, t say the least, and there is n guarantee that the visin f the future will find favr with thse n whm it is t be impsed. Different authrs have different views and understanding f resistance t change, its causes and management techniques. Shared values act as a kind f infrmal cntrl system that tells peple what is expected f them. In ding s, values can be mre r less pervasive in the sense f being shared by many r a few, and strng in the sense f being felt mre r less intensively (characterizing crprate cultures will be discussed again later in this chapter). Pervasive and strng values may affect perfrmance psitively by increasing dedicatin and pinting at what shuld be given extrardinary attentin. Hwever, pervasive and strng values can als h ave a negative effect: they may be incnsistent, may becme bslescent and/r may lead t a massive resistance t change, even if change is needed. Burnes (2000), Carnall (1992) and Cch and French (1998) state that the prblem with any planned change in Rmania, the Czech Republic and Slvak Republic has been planned and therefre managers wh have initiated the change largely define the expected utcmes befrehand. Similar t ther Pst-Sviet Unin cuntries, in Rmania, the Czech Republic and Slvak Republic natinal values and traditins are imprtant in day-t-day business. What brings values t life, hwever, is the awareness f everyne in the rganizatin f them and why they are imprtant. Values alne are nt enugh, it is the extensive sharing f them that makes a difference. Believing that peple are a cmpany's greatest resurce and acting accrdingly means, amng ther things, t keep in mind the implicit, but pwerful, frce f values shared by the members f the rganizatin f a cmpany (which in turn shape the behavir f its individuals and grups) and t realize that managing peple is nt thrugh (r at least nt directly thrugh) mems frm budget meetings r cmpu ter reprts, but thrugh the subtle cues f a culture. Emplyees resists changes because they are afraid f unknwn and new circumstances. Similar t previus researchers, Cllins (1998) and Chnk (2006) underline that the human being is capable f cmplying in terms f behavirs while withhlding cmmitment lng term. These researchers fund that EU wrkfrce represents a unique envirnment marked by lw mtivatin and lw prductivity levels. In all EU acceding cuntries, resistance t change is a natural prcess influenced by fear t lse jbs and surce f incme. When faced with such massive change and cultural resistance , a cmpany shuld ask itself if it is really necessary t change many f the fundamental rganizatinal factrs, and if the changes can be made with any real expectatin that they will be acceptable and successful. If the answer is 'n', the cmpany shuld seriusly recnsider and refrmulate its strategic plan. Hwever, the difference between suppsedly unavidable failure (e.g. Russia) and excessive cst depends, accrding t the structuralists, largely n the degree f mnplizatin f the ecnmy. As a result, the

BusinessModelCanvas Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BusinessModelCanvas - Assignment Example sence, all one has to do is to join our website and gain access to a multitude of services and products offered by thousands of businesses (Papadopoulou 16). We have bundles consisting of (but not limited to): airline tickets, hotel and restaurant vouchers, and a wide range of merchandise (ranging from mobile phones to clothes). We also have utility services like cleaning, and just about any service in almost all service industries (Osterwalder, Pigneur & Clark 56). The reality is that our customers do not have routines. The reason for this is that we are an online service, therefore it is impossible to work out customer routines. What we do is make sure that the channels are available 24/7, all-year round. You never know when customer X or Y might decide to log in and search for a particular service or product (Osterwalder, Pigneur & Clark 56). Our business is service-based and involves a lot of interaction and communication with customers, therefore the customer service relationship is employed as a tool for making communication and interaction possible. The marketing relationship helps the company track deals, responses, clicks and leads, which are the core aspects of our business. The business model I would associate with Groupon (to an extent) is the free as a business model pattern. Although its services are not free per se, the only point a registered customer is charged is if he/she decides to purchase a product or service by buying a deal. Essentially, all other services on the website are free until a customer decides to purchase a product or service. Also, there are no subscription fees, and one can be a registered member and still retain membership even if he/she is not buying anything. For instance, it is free to browse the site, check on available deals without paying anything. I am therefore convinced that the free as a business model is the closest model Groupon identifies