Change Management And Transformation: A Case Study Of Amazon

About the company

Change is considered to be an essential part of the organization and with respect to the dynamic business environment it is important that all the organizations undertake changes at regular intervals so as to ensure that it is successfully able to engage in a continuous procedure which involves various innovations as well as creativity in order to bring about better results for the firm at large (Ginter, Duncan & Swayne, 2018). Hence, the primary aim of the given report is to ensure that the concept of change management is well understood with the help of theoretical concepts and practical references from the case of the company. The report will follow a structured format whereby a brief background of the company will be followed by the internal and external diagnosis of the firm which will assist in the representation of the current reality. The gap which is existent in the organization will be analyzed along with the outcomes of the change procedure. This will then be followed by the overview of the change and other information like the change intervention and the change agent.

The Amazon.com. Inc. does its business as the Amazon and can be stated to an electronic commerce business which engages in cloud computing with its operations based in Seattle, Washington. The company was found by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and can be stated to be the largest Internet retailer if measured as per the revenue and market capitalization. The business begun with a model which was simply based on selling books as well as DVDs but then converted it to various consumer electronics, clothing and all other products (Amazon.com, 2018). The company has different websites for the different counties and thereby has brought in investments in different dynamics like the Food market as well.  Jeff Bezos has also engaged in Amazon Prime which has got 100 million subscribers online.  The aim of the report is to throw light on the processes which can be implied by the Amazon Company to bring about effective changes in their workplace and innovate their business model.

In order to understand the current scenario well and thereby predict a change for the firm, the internal and external diagnosis will be done for the firm by making use of the Open System model analysis and the SWOT Analysis.

Diagnosis can be described as a manner in which the change can be done in an organization and the manner of understanding the manner in which an organization functions at large. As an initiative of change, the manner in which the change needs to be carried out in a firm needs to be understood and the focal point of the problem needs to be identified. Hence, according to…, the process of this diagnosis needs to be carried out by the practitioner which will assist it to address the problem at large. 

The given open system model serves as a useful tool which goes a long way in assisting the firm to ensure that it is successfully able to consider all the aspects of the business environment in order to make the particular decision with respect to the change which has to take place in the firm at large. The open model system comprises of three different steps which are as follows:

Internal and external diagnosis (Current reality)

 The inputs can be described as the manner in which the organization gathers private information about the different processes which take place in a firm at large and also describes the sources with respect to which the changes are required to be made. The three sources of inputs which can be taken are information, energy and people (Gill, 2002).   This information can be taken by Amazon in the form of a feedback which would then assist the firm in understanding its overall performance. This will be then followed by taking in the information from the different stakeholders as present in the firm and assists it to lay out the different changes to be implemented at large (Doz, 2017).

The stage of transformations goes a long way in assisting the firm to take the change process. Amazon by using this model, in the previous steps, needs to gather the crucial data about the change like the new business trends, capabilities of the organization, the strategy of the competitors and other data which is available and then apply it so tht the change can be implemented easily  (Ivancevich, Matteson & Konopaske, 1990). In this case the change will take place not only in the social consideration as well as the technological consideration.

The output of the chosen process will be the outcome of the transformation procedure. The outcome in case of the change which will take place in case of the change as taking place will be the establishment of the brick and mortar stores which will go a long way in assisting the firm to combat against the competition as available (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014).    

SWOT

Therefore, it can be rightfully stated that the particular organization has already taken considerable measures to ensure long term success but will be required to take steps to compete with the different firms (Anderson & Anderson, 2010). The company has been performing considerably well in terms of revenue and other measures but even then it would be required to ensure that it is able to beat the particular competition especially against a giant like that of Walmart

Hence, from the given analysis as done on the overall operations of the particular company it can be rightfully stated that Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce retailers as present in the organization and it is for this reason that, it becomes important for the firm to maintain its positioning in the market. Although Amazon is fairly popular with respect to the online domain, it faces tough competition from the physical stores like Walmart and other such giants. These companies often take up a large share of the global market and even though they are not present online, it tends to cause various issues to Amazon. Moreover, as observed from the strategic analysis, it can be understood that even Walmart has planned to open stores online and this can be a reason for serious concern on the side of Amazon (Aladwani, 2001). Hence, it needs to understand that the main gap is present due to the lack of a brick and mortar store of Amazon and this is where Amazon is required to work upon.

The Open system model

The change which is being recommended to the Amazon is the implementation of new business model which will be of a similar version to that of brick and mortar model as used by Walmart (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).  Moreover, the particular system will be quite systematized, whereby the purchases can be done as per the convenience of the different customers and the payment can either may be made in advance or after the customer has made the purchases from the convenience of their homes. In addition to this, the customers will be offered various services relating to that of free delivery, complimentary services and others.  The outcomes of the changes are as follows:

• It will help Amazon combating against the competition at the workplace.
• It will ensure that Amazon has a brick and mortar base which will help the firm to perform well.
• It will also ensure that Amazon is able to gain a larger revenue base.  

Change is considered to be a rather difficult phase for the overall success of the firm and it is for this reason that there are various change models available which shall allow the firm to transit through the particular process successfully.  These change models are Lewin`s Change Model and the Kotter`s 8 step change model. According to Kramer and Magee (1990), the Lewin`s change model is a comprehensive change management model which comprises of three main steps like Unfreeze, change and refreeze which allows an organization to make considerate changes in the realm of the firm by changing the previous ways and then bringing about the change which shall then be followed by the refreezing of the change and ensuring that new ways of change are brought about in the firm at large (Hayes, 2018).  In addition to this, there are other change models which are also available like the Kotter`s 8 step change model which comprises of eight different steps which will assist any organization in making considerable changes. These eight steps ensure that a momentum is built and the organization is able to transit successfully with respect to the change. The eight different steps as present are centered on gathering momentum for the particular change which has to take place, which is then followed by the choosing of the change agents. In addition to this, the different change factors need to be decided upon which shall then be assisted by the implementation of the change management procedure. This is then assisted by the controlling and the monitoring of the entire change procedure which shall go a long way in ensuring the overall success of the firm. According to Waddell and Sohal  (1998), there are several other change models which are also available which are widely used by the different firms such as the ADKAR Model which is based on the Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement model which thereby assists the firm in ensuring that they are able to gain a thorough understanding of the environment.  Lastly, the Kubler Ross five stage model is also a useful model which highlights the five different stages an organization has to go through in order to carry out the change procedure and ensure that the different feelings of the members of the firm are taken care of and the members feel on the same page as the firm during the change management procedure (Waddell & Sohal, 1998).

SWOT

As stated earlier, as Amazon mostly had an online presence, the company has aimed to ensure that it will be successfully able to bring about a change and transit into a brick and mortar model as well along with its online base. Hence, the details of the change have been given as follows:

1. Amazon will open a physical store which will be linked to the application and will make use of virtual reality to serve the customers.
2. The application of the users will allow the different users to login to the particular store and make their purchases by reviewing the purchases with their choice.
3. Moreover, the users can either pay using their Amazon Pay balance or pay later on but will be provided the different users the facility to comfortably take their product home (Kuipers et al., 2014)
4. In addition to this, the entire system will be connected to the application of the user and will allow the mingling of the online as well as the offline store.
5. The different employees will now be required to ensure that they need to keep a check on the availability of the goods in the stores and check that they tally well with the availability of the goods as mentioned in the particular application.

Although the change which is being recommended is a common one and just an addition to the business model is being made which will alter the processes and will allow the firm to integrate its management system, there might be resistance to change with respect to the employees and the investors (Krüger, 2018). The stakeholders form the primary concern of any firm and their agreement is considered to be very crucial with respect to the overall operations of the firm. Hence, they are required to be dealt with and they need to be presented with an analysis which will help in deciding whether the decision to expand in this manner is viable for the overall success of the firm or not. In addition to this, the business will also be required to ensure that if the employees and the different investors show any resistance then they are allowed to understand the entire scenario and thereby ensure that they are in involved in it. Moreover, it is also important for the firm to clear their doubts beforehand and see to it that they are successfully able to carry on with the particular change procedure.

The different change agents who are being selected for the firm are as follows:

1. The CEO: The CEO of the organization will be acting as the primary change agent who will then be able to successfully ensure that the different members of the organization are willing to undertaking the particular change process (Orlikowski & Hoffman, 1997).
2. The senior management: The senior management is also required to act as change agents because the different members of the firm often look up to them and with respect to this it becomes for the firm to ensure that they are the change initiators (Todnem By, 2005).
3. The Human resource management: The Human resource department is the department which is responsible for the management of all the employees and it is thereby their responsibility to ensure that the employees are a part of the change management procedure.
4. The departmental heads: The different departmental heads also form an integral part of the firm and for this reason it is important for them to ensure that they are the change agents.

As per the analysis, it can be estimated that the change which has been proposed for Amazon, has been proposed considering the present scenario. It needs to be understood that the firm has a particularly good standing in the external environment and is one of the most popular e-commerce firms as present in the global market (Robson, 2015).  However, the company is facing adequate competition from the physical counterpart which is Walmart. Hence, when the suggested brick and mortar model will be implemented by the firm then it will be successfully be able to combat against the particular competition in hand and will also be able to make use of relevant artificial intelligence technology in order to bring about the physical and the e-commerce platform together (Waddell & Sohal, 1998). The different ways in which the program can be assessed is by using the given Key Performance Indicators:

1. Return on Investments: This Key performance indicator will help in the measurement of the different investments which will be made in the organization and also help in assessing
2. Net sales: This key performance indicator will help in understanding whether there has been a considerable increase in the sales of the firm or not (Wheelen et al., 2017).
3. Increase in customers: This indicator will help in understanding whether the number of new customers of the organization have increased or not.
4. Satisfaction rate of employees: This will help in understanding whether the employees are satisfied with this change which has taken place in the firm. Moreover, this ensures the success of the change procedure.
5. Number of orders: The number of orders received also serves as a good measurement of the change success.

The positive implications of the change will be as follows:

1. Will bring about the increase in revenue for the firm at large.
2. Will assist in ensuring that the firm is able to combat against the competition and ensure a positive change for itself (Worley & Mohrman, 2014).
3. Moreover, it will also ensure that the change will uplift the brand image of the firm.

The negative implications of the change are as follows:

1. It tends to put a stress on the finances of the firm.
2. It may lead to employee relations problems within the firm.
3. The share prices of the firm might change as per the outcome of the change.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the particular analysis it could be understood that change management forms an integral part of the organization and that the different members as involved in the firm need to be considerably involved in the change management process. The report undertook the case of Amazon and in consideration to the same, it was recommended that the firm is required to undergo a change in its business model and thereby adopt a model which is related to the brick and mortal model using which it will be able to address the existing competition against Walmart. The report follows a systematic structure where the introduction is followed by the company information and the integrate details of the change. This is then followed by the feasibility as well as assessment of the change. 

References

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Orlikowski, W., & Hoffman, D. (1997). An improvisational model for change management: The case of groupware technologies. Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century, 265.

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Worley, C. G., & Mohrman, S. A. (2014). Is change management obsolete?. Organizational Dynamics, 43(3), 214-224.

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