QUESTION 3: Of the four competing values, Adhocracy, Clan, Hierarchy, and Market, Amazon seems to be strong in three out of the four (Lavine, 2014) . Adhocracy, due to their focus on innovation, Hierarchy, due to their focus on employee control in the company, and Market, due to their strong focus on being competitive in the online market (Lavine, 2014). Though they arguably are strong in all three, the company as a whole seems to most strongly align with the Market value.
The main components of the Market value are “Improv[ing] productivity, increas[ing] profitability through a focus on competition, pressure to achieve, power and politics, [and] external stakeholders” (Lavine, 2014). These components seem to match perfectly with how Amazon’s …show more content…
In an NPR interview in the mid-1990s, Jeff Bezos was asked what his favorite fish was. Bezos answered, “Piranha” (NPR, 2017). This seems to be a perfect metaphor on how the company runs not only externally, with its competitors, but internally, with its employees. Goals set for employees are extremely high, causing many employees to have to work 80 hour work weeks. They are pressured to answer every email even if it was sent a midnight (Bhatnagar & Jaiswal, 2016) . The encouragement of employees to criticise each other caused not only currently employees to have a sense of distrust, but also affected the way employees interacted with other in other companies in their personal future (Bhatnagar & Jaiswal, 2016). The company welcomes innovation yet does not seem to allow its employees to fail, even when expecting them to hit goals that seem unreasonable. In the article, “Amazon as an Employer”, it was stated that the “company forced employees to work harder and faster until they quit, collapsed, or were terminated” (Bhatnagar & Jaiswal, 2016). These traits don’t paint a picture of the fostering of a good work environment or having management that sets realistic goals for their
The main components of the Market value are “Improv[ing] productivity, increas[ing] profitability through a focus on competition, pressure to achieve, power and politics, [and] external stakeholders” (Lavine, 2014). These components seem to match perfectly with how Amazon’s …show more content…
In an NPR interview in the mid-1990s, Jeff Bezos was asked what his favorite fish was. Bezos answered, “Piranha” (NPR, 2017). This seems to be a perfect metaphor on how the company runs not only externally, with its competitors, but internally, with its employees. Goals set for employees are extremely high, causing many employees to have to work 80 hour work weeks. They are pressured to answer every email even if it was sent a midnight (Bhatnagar & Jaiswal, 2016) . The encouragement of employees to criticise each other caused not only currently employees to have a sense of distrust, but also affected the way employees interacted with other in other companies in their personal future (Bhatnagar & Jaiswal, 2016). The company welcomes innovation yet does not seem to allow its employees to fail, even when expecting them to hit goals that seem unreasonable. In the article, “Amazon as an Employer”, it was stated that the “company forced employees to work harder and faster until they quit, collapsed, or were terminated” (Bhatnagar & Jaiswal, 2016). These traits don’t paint a picture of the fostering of a good work environment or having management that sets realistic goals for their