Instructions
Select one of the following companies:
Couche-Tard Incorporated
Bank of Montreal
Enbridge Incorporated
Tim Hortons Incorporated
Tesla Motors Incorporated
Amazon.com Incorporated
Note that in addition to web-based resources you are also expected to conduct a literature review that will include a search for any academic studies completed that have involved your selected company as well as any popular press articles – magazines, newspapers, publications of professional organizations and other possible sources of information.
For your selected company you must provide a formal “management review report” that contains the following sections:
- Executive Summary
- You will need to provide a concise summary (or extract) of your findings followed by a general recommendation on how well this company performs the main functions of management and where any major improvements could be made.
- An overview of this company
- Its name, location of head office, location of subsidiary offices
- Its main line of work (services, products)
- Governance
- Composition of its Board of Directors
- Committee Structures (such as whether it has a separate audit committee, compensation committee)
- Major shareholders or shareholder groups (such as Pension Fund Managers for example)
- How effective is its governance? Can you suggest improvements?
- Ethics and Social responsibility
- Is this an ethical company? Is it socially responsible? You will need to support your position.
- Has the company ever been featured in the press in a negative way that was attributable, whether correctly or incorrectly, to ethical or social responsibility issues? If so, were these allegations founded? If not has your research uncovered any areas that could pose a risk to this company in the areas of social responsibility or ethics? Can you suggest improvements?
- Globalization
- How has globalization affected this company? Has globalization provided value to this company? If so, how? If not, why not? What could the company do differently to unlock the value of globalization? [LG5 – Unlocking the value of globalization]
- Organization
- How is this company organized? What is its organizational structure?
- Is there a prevailing organizational culture? How is this evident? If this is not obvious from your research what type of organizational culture would you expect to find and why?
- Link as much of the course material concerning organization to your research into this company
- How effective is its organization? Can you suggest improvements?
- Planning
- How does this company conduct its strategic planning? Its operational planning?
- Link as much of the course material concerning planning to your research into this company.
- How effective is its planning function(s)? Can you suggest improvements?
- Leading
- Who are the key leaders in this company?
- Which leadership styles are evident? If this is not obvious from your research, which leadership styles would be most appropriate and why?
- Link as much of the course material concerning leadership to your research into this company.
- How effective is its leadership? Can you suggest improvements?
- Controlling
- What control mechanisms do you feel would be most critical to this company and why?
- Link as much of the course material concerning control to your research into this company.
- How effective is control in this company? Can you suggest any improvements?
- Written Assignment Grading Report
- Every assignment must be submitted with a signed academic attestation (see page 4), and,
- A Grading Report Sheet as given on page 5
Your written assignment MUST:
- Clearly contain bold headers for each section;
- Be free of grammatical errors;
- Respect scholarship by appropriately referencing all material that is not original;
- Contain the academic attestation form, signed by all members of your group; and,
- Not exceed 15 pages, 12-pitch font, double-spaced, excluding cover page, bibliography and references.
The outline of your written report must be as follows:
Executive Summary
Company Overview
Governance
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Globalization
Organization
Planning
Leading
Controlling
The following academic attestation MUST be included in the assignment and MUST be signed:
Personal Ethics Statement for an Individual Assignment:
By signing this Statement, I am attesting to the fact that I have reviewed the entirety of my attached work and that I have applied all the appropriate rules of quotation and referencing in use at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, as well as adhered to the fraud policies outlined in the Academic Regulations in the University’s Undergraduate Studies Calendar.
________________ ______________
Signature Date
________________________________ ______________
Last Name (print), First Name (print) Student Number
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT GRADING REPORT
| Component | Overall Comments | Letter Grade |
| Executive Summary
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| An overview of this company
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| Governance |
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| Ethics and Social responsibility |
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| Globalization [LG5]
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| Organization |
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| Planning
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| Leading
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| Controlling
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| Overall Quality of Writing |
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Overall Assignment Grade: _____________
In compiling the overall letter grade, each of the above sections is afforded equal weight. The overall grade is generally the “average
Research Proposal
Amazon.com Incorporated
Executive summary
The Amazon.com, Inc. initially was selling the books only, but it later diversified in selling a variety of the products. The company later diversified its products to include products like videos, audio books, furniture, foods, jewelry, software electronics, and video games among others. The crucial body of governance in the company is the Board of Directors. Major decisions of the Amazon.com, Inc. are made largely to benefit the shareholders. Moreover, the company has made efforts to adhere to the ethical requirements. United States Green Building Council awarded the Amazon.com, Inc. with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) award. Nevertheless, the company once appeared in the news due to claims related to the oppression of the employees. Notably, the company has been favored by the globalization and its growth intensified due to the increased use of the internet. The adoption of the multidivisional organizational structure ensures the success of the company. The CEO has been involved in the fulfillment of the operational and strategic and operational responsibilities. Largely the CEO is involved in the planning activities of the company. Jeff Bezos provided the company with the leadership towards the success in e-commerce. He applies the autocratic leadership style in fulfilling the needs of the company. Employees are made to work extra hard to meet the objectives. The controlling is vital for the success of the company.
Company Overview
Many people commonly know the Amazon.com, Inc as Amazon. The company has largely invested in the e-commerce. Initially, the company concentrated on the sale of books on the internet. Later diversifications were made, and the company introduced a variety of products such as download and streaming of the videos, audio books, furniture, foods, jewelry, software electronics, and video games among others. Amazon.com is the largest e-commerce company in the United States with its headquarters located in Seattle. Seattle is a city located in Washington. The major subsidiaries of the Amazon.com are located in Delaware, Nevada, and Luxembourg. The subsidiaries are fully owned by the Amazon.com, Inc. Amazon.com LLC, NV Services, Inc., and the Amazon EU Sarl are some of the important subsidiaries of the Amazon.com, Inc (Amazon, 2015).
Governance
The Board of Directors in the Amazon.Com, Inc. must have the independent directors as the majority. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company also serves as a director. The independent directors must meet the Nasdaq requirements. The names of the Amazon.com, Inc. directors on the Board of Directors are represented below:
| Name | Age | Category |
| Jeffrey P. Bezos | 51 | Chairman, CEO and the President |
| Patricia Q. Stonesifer | 50 | Independent Director |
| Thomas O. Ryder | 70 | Independent Director |
| Tom A. Alberg | 75 | Independent Director |
| John Seely Brown | 75 | Independent Director |
| Alain Monie | 64 | Independent Director |
| Jomnathan J. Rubinstein | 58 | Independent director |
| William B. Gordon | 65 | Independent Director |
| Jamie S. Gorelick | 64 | Independent Director |
| Jidith A. McGrath | 62 | Independent Director |
Several committees assist in the management of the Amazon.com, Inc. First, the Corporate Governance Committee is obligated to select candidates suitable for being elected as to the Board of Directors (Amazon, 2015). The committee also reviews how the members of the Board are performing and whether their tenure should be renewed dependent on the needs of the company. Moreover, the Leadership, Audit, and the Compensation Committee assist the directors in protecting the interests of the shareholders. The committees are composed of the independent directors, and they are required to meet the needs of the Nasdaq and SEC related to the independence. The major groups that hold the shares of the Amazon.com Inc. include the directors, institutions and the mutual funds. The people who are inside the company hold 28% of the shares while the owners of the institutions and the mutual funds hold 68% hold of the total shares.
The company has implemented adequate measures to improve the governing of the company. The crucial goal of the company management is to increase the value of the shareholders. Therefore, the major decisions are made dependent on the long-term profit considerations rather than the short-term goals (Amazon, 2015). Besides, the company focuses on the optimization of the future cash flows rather than focusing on the General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The company is also motivated to retain the talented employees. The company leadership has recognized that the success of the company is largely dependent on the capacity to retain and attract a high-motivated workforce. The company governance has implemented important measures to satisfy customers, employees, and the shareholders. Moreover, the services provided by the company are not questionable regarding the quality. Nevertheless, the company needs to incorporate the needs of the customers in the corporate governance.
Ethics and social responsibility
The adherence to the ethics and well as social responsibility contributes significantly to the success of the company. The business should be ethical to the consumers, suppliers, government, employees, and the society (Daft, 2011). Despite being found with the ethical questions occasionally, Amazon.com, Inc. practices are ethical. First, the company has made efforts to adhere to the legal procedures and the provisions. Second, the company has provided the employees with the inside trading guidelines to protect the shareholders against exploitation. Third, the company has never been found with cases of the customer or the employee’s discrimination. Moreover, the company does not make collusions with the competitors to charge the customers a higher price than the recommended one. Notably, the company authorizes its employees not to offer bribes in the effort to obtain favors from the government officials.
Amazon.com, Inc. is a socially responsible company. The company invested in the projects meant to reduce the environmental degradation such as marine stewardship, elimination of the plastic bags, strategies for appropriate use of the energies and removal of the toxic products in its sales list. Terry-Armstrong (2013) stated that the core social responsibility of the Amazon.com, Inc. arises from the core business of the company. The company lowers the products prices, provision of a variety of the products, creation of a Kindle as well as the web related innovations. Moreover, the company has collaborated with the suppliers to pack goods in boxes that can be easily recycled. Also, the Kaizen program of the company is composed of the employees commonly known as the Amazon Associates responsible for designing the alternative environmental friendly activities to reduce the carbon emissions and the company operation costs. Besides, the United States Green Building Council awarded the four of the eleven buildings constructed in Seattle with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) (Terry-Armstrong, 2013). Nevertheless, the company has been accused of the reduced reporting on the social responsibility activities.
The company was once featured in the news over the tough conditions experienced by company’s workers and the UK. Johnston (2015) described how a former employee of the Amazon.com, Inc. employee who had a stillborn baby was put into a plan to improve the performance. The move was done to make certain that she stayed focused on the job despite the stress of getting a stillborn baby. Also, a woman with a breast cancer had been put on the same plan and was informed that the difficulty she experienced in her life endangered the work of the company. The company dislikes the employee who does not have the capability to work at least eighty hours a week in the company (Johnston, 2015). Terry-Armstrong (2013) revealed how the company was criticized in 2011 due to the increased heat the workers experienced in the warehouses of the company. Also, the workers were forced to work at a pace that they could not afford. Nevertheless, the company has only responded to some of the few issues. For instance, the company has announced in that it would use $52 million to make improvements in the air conditioning of the company.
Globalization
The globalization has reduced the geographical, cultural, political and the economic distances present in the world. The globalization has also increased the digitalization of the transactions. The globalization led to the emergence of new concepts of carrying out business. The firms operated in a very competitive environment with great application of information technology. Under such environments, the e-commerce became a very significant model for the successful marketing of the products (Donici et al., 2012).
The globalization has favored the growth of the Amazon.com, Inc. The developments in the communications led to the emergence of new markets in the world. In the new markets, the Amazon.com, Inc. could not be hindered by the legal and the political factors that have an impact in the competitive and the profitability of the business. The Amazon.com, Inc. saved on the cost that could be incurred on taxation in the foreign countries and the cost incurred in the registration of a company in a foreign country. Also, (Donici, et al., 2012) noted that the 20th and 21st century has witnessed the increased use of the internet. The increased number of the internet users has favored the companies in the e-commerce. The sales of Amazon.com, Inc. have increased tremendously due to the increased online shoppers (Donici et al., 2012).
Organization
There are different organization structures. Managers must appreciate that they have to deal with more than one organization structure. Crucially, the formal and the informal organization structures exist in an organization. The formal structure depicts the chart of the organization and the job descriptions in the company. The official reporting structure is evident in the formal organization structure. Moreover, the managers would deal with the informal organizational structures formed as a result of the increased interaction between employees (Ghuman & Aswathappa, 2010).
The success of the Amazon.com, Inc. is dependent on its organizational structure. The company has a multi-divisional organizational structure. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the crucial leader in of the company who assists the company to attain it is operational and the strategic objectives. The strategic responsibilities of the CEO include:
- Identify a favorable market for the company.
- Ensuring that the resources are utilized effectively.
- He is the leader of the executive committees and plans for the meeting intended to discuss crucial issues affecting the company.
Operational Responsibilities
- Take actions to maximize the benefits of the customers, shareholders, employees and the society.
- Development of the strategies intended to implement the recommendations in the financial reports.
The company is further divided into divisions based on the functions of the managers. There is a manager responsible for the marketing, business expansion, development, editorial, and the operations.
The structure of the company is evident concerning how the responsibilities and the powers are a dividend in the company. It was evident that the CEO leads the company while other managers facilitate the success of the activities of various departments. There are no major improvements that could be suggested to the company. The company should create clear lines on how the junior employees would report to the divisional managers. It is important to understand how the directions would be provided to the junior employees.
Figure: A representation of the Amazon.com, Inc. (Donici et al., 2012)
Planning
The CEO of the Amazon.com, Inc. is the key participant in the operational and the strategic planning. The development of the operational plan is done by the combination of the efforts of the CEO of the Amazon.com, Inc. and the other employees in the company. The CEO communicates with the divisional managers on the responsibilities and activities that need fulfillment. Consequently, through the help of the team leaders the company makes plans on how to fulfill the task through the collaboration of all the people in the company. Keblis and Chen (2006) discussed how the employees were involved in the planning on how Amazon.com, Inc would develop the product lines. The plan on the capacity of the goods, how to handle calls and emails, as well as how the excess and shortfall would be managed. Amazon also had to develop a plan on how the operations would be managed in the newly entered market in India. The company had to invest and ensure high utilization technology and the adequate communications to reach the highest number of the customers located in India. Major employees had to be involved in coming up with the operations plans.
The CEO of the Amazon.com, Inc. is the major contributor in the coming up with a strategic plan for the company. The CEO holds a meeting with the executive managers of the different departments. Besides, he guides the major committees of the company on contributions towards the strategic plan. He is involved in the meeting of the directors that has a crucial contribution to the strategic planning. Moreover, the CEO has to make the plans to involve others employees, shareholders and the community in the strategic plan. Jeff Bezos had transformed the company from being a bookseller, to a new organization selling a variety of the products that included the dresses, electronics, food and many other items.
Leading
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of the Amazon.com, Inc. is the key leader of the company. He is the founder of the company who has made the company rise to its current level in the e-commerce trade. He has the responsibility to provide leadership to the whole company as well as the committees, Board of Directors as well as the management team of the company. He has the responsibility of being involved in the major planning decisions. Significantly, he is involved in the development of the company especially through identification of more investment opportunities (Amazon, 2015).
The leadership in the Amazon.com, Inc. is autocratic. The crucial judgment is on how the company treats its employees. The employees are made to achieve the goals of the company. The company is committed to maintaining the talented employees. The employees with the deteriorated performance are put into the performance plans. The performance plan is intended to make the employees meet the performance results expected by the company. Smith (2015) discussed how the employees in Amazon.com, Inc. had to work under the tough condition for the realization of the success and the innovation of the company. Some of the former workers of the Amazon.com, Inc . had stated in the New York Times that working for the Amazon.com, Inc. was sucking however in a good way. The employees were required to criticize the ideas of the other employees during the meetings. Moreover, they would be required to report secretlyreport the employees with the performance problems to supervisors. Moreover, the employees who failed to respond to the messages of the customers after the midnight are sent warning regarding their performance (Smith, 2015).
It is evident that brilliant and innovative people who do not entertain failure leads the company. Once a decision is made the employees has to direct their efforts towards fulfilling the set objectives. The philosophy of the Jeff Bezos has made him succeed in the online business. Majorly, the fact that Bezos force the employees to attain the set objectives in any way makes his leadership style autocratic (Smith, 2015). The leadership of the company can be improved by involving the employees in setting the objectives of the company. Instead of forcing them to achieve the objectives that have been set, they can be motivated to attain challenging goals that they have set for themselves.
Controlling
There are control mechanisms that would be very important to the Amazon.com, Inc. First, direct supervision would be very important to the junior employees who are involved in packaging and communicating with the customers. The communications to the customers should be maintained all hours around. The supervisions would make certain that employees who are serving at night are doing the work excellently. Second, the financial statements should be used to estimate whether the company is making a profit or loss. The control measures will be adjusted if it is noted that the company had performed poorly in the current year than the earlier period. Third, the budgetary control is necessary to help the company predict the costs that would be incurred. Consequently, the costs incurred would be compared with the costs predicted and any deviation analyzed. Moreover, the management audit is relevant to the Amazon.com, Inc. A management audit is used to analyze the effectiveness of the management processes. Lastly, the company operates online, the management information system relevant to the control.
The employees experience the major control in the Amazon.com, Inc. The company put tough performance control measures on the employees. The employees who do not meet the performance objectives of the company are put into the performance plans. The company prepares the financial statements to make certain that the company remained to be a going concern. Major improvements can be made in controlling the employee performance. They should be motivated by involving them in setting equitable performance standards.
References
Amazon. (2015). Corporate governance. Retrieved from, http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-govCommittee&Committee=5310
Daft, R. L. (2011). Understanding management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Donici, A. N., Maha, A., Ignat, I., & Maha, L. (2012). E-Commerce across United States of America: Amazon.com. Economy Transdisciplinarity Cognition, 15(1), 252-258.
Ghuman, K., & Aswathappa, K. (2010). Management: Concept, practice and cases. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Johnston, I. (2015). Amazon: Devastating expose accused internet retailer of oppressive and callous attitude toward staff. Retrieved from, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/amazon-devastating-expose-accuses-internet-retailer-of-oppressive-and-callous-attitude-to-staff-10458159.html
Keblis, M. F., & Chen, M. (2006). Improving Customer Service Operations at Amazon.com. Interfaces, 36(5), 433-445.
Smith, S. (2015). Amazon’s Corporate Culture: No Middle Ground. EHS Today, 8(9), 6.
Terry-Armstrong, N. (2013). Amazon Case Study: Part Two. Busidate, 21(2), 2-4.
