Jeff Bezos’ Leadership Style
The case study is based on the analysis of Jeff Bezos who is the CEO of Amazon which is a multinational technology based ecommerce organization. The organization has been able to develop its position in the ecommerce based industry with the help of the unique leadership based qualities that have been depicted by Jeff Bezos. The leader has developed a culture within the organization which has been helpful in its operations in the technology industry. Most important part of the leadership style that is followed by Amazon is based on levels of satisfaction that is provided to the customers. The unconventional leadership style of Jeff Bezos can be considered to be one of the most important reasons behind the success that has been experienced by Bezos in the industry.
The analysis will thereby be based on three major aspects of the provided case study which include, the effect of the leadership style of Bezos on the employees and their levels of motivation. The ethical base of leadership style that has been implemented by Bezos is considered to be a major part of the analysis.
The leadership style that has been followed by Jeff Bezos in the technology based industry can be termed as quite unique in nature. The style of leadership can be considered to be a mix of transactional and transformational style. Most important part of the leadership-based style which has been implemented by Jeff Bezos is based on the importance which is provided to the customers. The leader mainly follows the customer first based policy in order to offer the best levels of services to them and further increase the revenues in an effective manner.
Transactional leadership style can be defined as the work process of the leaders which is based on the focus on proper establishment of the clear command-based chain (Long et al. 2014). This leadership style is considered to be illegal as the operations of these types of leaders is based on the exchange related to rewards provided for good performance and punishments for bad performances (Jensen et al. 2018). This style is mainly followed by the leaders who wish to accomplish particular tasks within a certain period of time.
Transformational leadership style is considered to be the most desirable by the employees as the leaders in this case are able to develop effective relationships with them. The communication levels between leaders and employees are also highly effective in nature (Koryak et al. 2015). The environment which is developed within the organization is based on high levels of intellectual stimulation.
Transactional and Transformational Leadership Style
The leadership style of Jeff Bezos has been able to develop the levels of revenues or profitability of Amazon. The behaviour of the leader in the industry is thereby based on different ways by which he is able to drive the success of Amazon. The expansion and diversification of the market has been made possible with the help of different activities that are performed by the company. The entire focus and energy of Bezos was directed towards the customers and their levels of satisfaction (Miner 2015). The potential entrepreneurs and the dreamers have been inspired effectively by the leadership based style that is depicted by Jeff Bezos. The leadership style is thereby based on 8 different layers that include,
- Having a small team or group which specialises in a certain area of operations that is conducted within the organization.
- The customers of the company have acquired the first position in the priorities which have been set by Bezos.
- The processes and operations of the company are thereby thought in a long term basis. Major levels of importance are provided to the flexibility levels of the company.
- The CEO has thereby aimed at experimenting with the products and services which are offered to the customers.
- A major aim of Bezos has been based on making effective inventions within the different organizational processes.
- The customers are provided with effective options by the company. Amazon has provided the competitors with an opportunity to advertise their products along with their own.
- The leadership style that is depicted by Bezos is based on the advice which can be provided to entrepreneurs to follow their passion in an effective manner in order to reach the goals.
The leaders are the role model of the workers who follow the vision and objectives of their leaders. This is the reason why harmonizing ad matching the needs of the subordinates are important (Jensen et al. 2018). In order to influence the employees, the perfectly matching leadership style is mandatory as this ensures that the demands of the followers are maintained properly. The leadership style of the leaders motivates the performance of the employees through various ways. Some of the leadership styles allow the employees to indulge in the imagination in he offices as well as warehouses. They incorporate their innovative ideas in the production or process management. This also helps the employees to raise their demands in getting proper trainings so that they can perform well.
As a role model, the leaders allow their employees to get involved in the planning and decision-making processes (Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche 2015). Through this type of leadership style, the leaders effectively feel their employees that their support is very important in the processing of the company. According to Fernet et al. (2015) proper leadership style allows the leaders to motive the employees through appreciation and rewards to that the employees get fresh impetus to perform well. The effective leaders through their own leadership styles allow the employees to reach the goals. They ensure that their employees grow all inclusively and achieve their destinations effectively (Miner 2015). The leadership style of the leaders is important to maintain a positive and creative environment in he workplace. According to Donate and de Pablo (2015) they motivate the employees to indulge in team work so that they can ensure that there are no cross-cultural issues present in the workplace. This will increase the level of enjoyment of the employees while working in the team and they feel attached to the organizations more.
Impacts of Bezos’ Leadership Style
As mentioned before, the factors of achieving complete employee attachment and performance mainly depends on the motivation of the leaders. Two most important motivation theories are Hierarchy of Needs and Motivation-Hygiene Theory. According to Hierarchy of Needs theory of motivation, the human beings mainly need to serve five types of demands starting from the need of food and shelter to the achievement of self-actualization (Pongpearchan 2016). According to the theorist Maslow, whenever the human beings attain their basic needs in the lower level, they immediately seek to achieve the next level. This is the reason why the leaders need to understand the basic needs and need levels of the employees when this comes into the aspect of workplace demands (Feng et al. 2016). The leaders who perfectly understand the current need level of the employees can perfectly catch the method of motivating them. This creates division among the employees as the new hire will need to solve their basic needs whereas the employees concerned with the career advancement will be looking forward to achieve self-actualization hence participate in the higher-level tasks.
Motivation-Hygiene Theory on the other hand, is referred as the Two Factor Theory. This relates to the hygiene factors that create differences in the demands of the employees of an organisation. This particular theory postulates that the different factors in the work environment gets resulted in either satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the employees (Pongpearchan 2016). In this two-factor theory, the factors that lead to the employee satisfactions are associated with the achievement, advancement and recognition while the dissatisfactory factors include salary, bad working conditions as well as the relationships with the co-workers. This theory therefore mandates that the managers or the leaders of an organization must be aware of the hygiene factors of the workplaces and manage factors leading to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction for successfully motivating their employees to perform better. Hence the current business leaders are trying to ensure that the workplace of the organisation give job satisfaction and enrichment to their employees.
The work pressure of Amazon has become an important factor why the leaders of the company is accused to follow the process of being tyrannical. On the contrary to this idea, Bezos allows his employees to be self -directive and creative (Vargas 2015). This motivate the employees a great deal as they get the opportunity to incorporate their own ideas while working which is an aspect of forward-thinking process that helps him to take risks. He clearly states his expectations and play transparent to the employees. Bezos seems to be inquisitive, holds to maintain a high standard and seek the best in himself and others. This approach however, create issues among the employees.
Motivation Theories
There are some controversies regarding the leadership style of the head of Amazon, Jeff Bezos who is often accused to follow unethical behaviour while employing and managing his employees. There are cases where the employees suffer acutely due the leadership style of Bezos. in some of the instances, he acts like a dictator and follows authoritarian leadership style for which the employees of the organization suffer immensely (Sawhney & Cigularov 2016). He acts unethically as he does not allow a good and positive workplace environment in the warehouses of Amazon. His main forces always remain the customers and their support but it is not possible without the support of the employees as their efforts actually leads the company to achieve customer satisfaction. However, this approach of Jeff Bezos pushes the workers to faster and harder until they feel exhausted and quite their job.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that Amazon has developed its position in the global ecommerce industry with the help of the unique leadership style of Jeff Bezos who has developed a culture in the organization so that it can effectively operate in the technology industry. There is close connection between leadership stale of the leaders and their efficiency to motivate the employees in terms of their job satisfaction as well as their performance. The Hierarchy of Needs and Motivation-Hygiene Theory can be helpful to understand various factors of motivation. However, there are some ethical and unethical issues present in the leadership style of Jeff Bezos which has affected the employee motivation.
References and bibliography
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