Business in the context

and its management

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3

Summary of Internal and External Environment Analysis........................................................4

Impact and influence of change and culture..............................................................................4

Impact of Implementing Change using Kurt Lewin’s Model................................................4

Influence of Culture on management decisions.....................................................................5

Effectiveness of operations....................................................................................................6

Stakeholder Analysis..............................................................................................................6

Stakeholder Mapping Process................................................................................................8

Strategic Planning......................................................................................................................9

Planning benefits....................................................................................................................9

Planning Cycle Model............................................................................................................9

Recommendation....................................................................................................................9

Conclusion................................................................................................................................11

References................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
The business context consists of analysing factors that impact the business from multiple
perspectives like decision-making about goals it has to accomplish. It assists in developing
and executing effective strategies. The report will detail the influence of COVID-19 on
Amazon. The report will detail the internal by using McKinsey’s model to find
competitiveness based on the past 3 years' data, and ways to meet challenges and take
advantage of opportunities. The report will describe the external environment by using the
Blue Ocean Strategy to identify trends in trading. Further, the report will detail organisational
change using the framework. It will also detail about the operational management model for
improving performance and stakeholder analysis and their impact using stakeholder mapping
tools. In addition, the report will detail the strategic recommendation using the strategic
planning cycle.

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Summary of Internal and External Environment Analysis
In 2020, Amazon's revenue grew by 38% because of online sales during the pandemic.
However, the income decreased by 7% in 2021 (Statista Research Department, 2024). The
organisation encounters problems like regulatory oversight and intense rivalry from other
retailers. McKinsey’s framework can help to restructure Amazon's structure, systems,
leadership, staff, skills, shared values, strategy, and external environment trends.
Amazon is required to allocate money to the development of AI and complex data mining to
enhance its product launch as well as its inventory management. Along with investment, a
mixed and collaborative culture should be cultivated through result-oriented training
programs and an open, mixed working culture. The Blue Ocean Strategy can provide
Amazon with a compass to define its operations to develop away from the market space
where there are vendors and in line with the dynamics of e-commerce. Amazon can
reposition itself by simplifying and optimizing of supply chain using the Blue Ocean strategy.
Besides that, Amazon’s sustainable business operations and social accountability are also
necessary to address the concerns and issues that consumers and society are facing.

Impact and influence of change and culture

Impact of Implementing Change Using Kurt Lewin’s Model

Kurt Lewin’s model is a framework that assists in managing change for an organisation
effectively. It involves stages like change, freezing, and unfreezing (Burnes, 2020).
Unfreezing means preparing the organisation for change, change involves the
implementations and refreezing includes stabilization after the change is made.
Unfreezing- The leadership of Amazon is always identifying to improve the areas. It analyses
the market trends, and feedback from customers and employees to find the areas of change. It
facilitates the training of employees before implementing any change. For example, when the
company raised the minimum wage for employees, it conducted training and development for
employees to make sure they smoothly transitioned to it.
Change- Upon unfreezing of company, the change procedure executes. The company has
made significant changes like unveiling new products, expanding to new markets, and
acquiring companies. The introduction of Amazon Prime has been significant, which is a
streaming service to offers customers a huge library of entertainment. This has a positive

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impact on revenue and customer base. With this business model change, it has been able to
add millions of subscribers worldwide who like to have subscription-based streaming
services.
Refreezing- Once the change is implemented successfully, it is required to make sure it’s
stable and enforce the new procedure (ELLIS, 2023). Amazon ensures success by
consistently monitoring and evaluating the influence of change. It supervises the
performance, collects feedback, and monitors market trends to ascertain if the change is
successful or not. For example, To make sure that product delivery is efficient and faster, its
investment in supply chain and logistic optimization has been successful in improving
customer satisfaction and ensuring the leading position for a company in the market.

Influence of Culture on management decisions

Charles Handy’s theory of change proposed culture types like Power, Person, Role, and Task
having values, norms, and beliefs that influence decision-making (Handy, 2020). The culture
has an influence on Amazon’s decision at the time of the pandemic.
Power culture- This culture involves the person or group with the power of decision-making.
Amazon has centralized leadership with the CEO making major decisions. During a
pandemic, the power culture enabled the company to adapt to circumstances and make
decisions like increasing employees, investing in safety measures, and meeting the demand
surge for services.
Role culture- This culture involves a hierarchical structure where employees have definite
duties and responsibilities. At Amazon, employees are assigned specific roles with defined
responsibilities with codes of conduct to follow. This culture assisted in maintaining
consistency and stability in a pandemic. With the increased online product demand, the
company scaled up its operation to meet the demand due to its employees with definite roles.
Task culture- This involves performing tasks and goals within a definite time. This culture is
required in team projects that need high collaboration. This culture is influential in
responding to the pandemic. The task force involves employees from various departments to
work together towards the goal of the safety of employees and customers. This culture helped
Amazon to implement safety measures to respond to the circumstances.
Person culture- This culture emphasizes the individual’s growth and development. The
innovative and customer-centric culture is reflected in each individual associated with the
organisation. This has been influential in driving decisions during a pandemic, like

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investment in technology to tackle the increased demand effectively along with ensuring the
safety of the workforce.

Effectiveness of operations

TQM is the approach of management that is concerned with continuous improvement,

employee inclusion, and customer satisfaction (Permana, Purba, and Rizkiyah, 2021). Six
Sigma is a methodology that utilizes the data to eliminate errors and improve the process
through the identification of errors (Qin and Liu, 2022).
Amazon considers the customer its top priority which compels it to satisfy them. It is
committed to offering a convenient shopping experience through its readily available service
team which handles customer queries and makes sure to meet them which has led to building
a customer following and preferred retailer.
The Principe of Six Sigma allowed the company to ensure a high level of efficiency. It
operates the fulfillment center which stores, packs, and ships through Six Sigma principles.
This assists in ensuring the process is streamlined without error, and operating with accuracy.
It also led to eliminating waste, reducing cost, and enhancing profit which ultimately
increased profits.
The organisation has implemented these models in managing the supply chain. It operates
with supplier networks, manufacturers, and distributors from various locations with
efficiency with the help of supplier evaluation, and relationship management. The Six Sigma
model helps in monitoring the supply chain to improve product delivery time and accuracy.
The models have also enabled the organisation to marinate product quality. It has
implemented quality control measures to ensure the selling of qualitative products. This
involves regular inspections for quality and analysis of defects to achieve consistent
improvements. This has allowed the company to gain the trust of customers by meeting their
quality expectations.

Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholders consist of people, and groups which have interests or benefits associated with
the business (Freeman, Dmytriyev, and Phillips, 2021). This includes the employees,
consumers, suppliers, shareholders, government authorities, community, etc.

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Stakeholder’s influence on decision making
Employees- They influence the policies relating to pay, work environment, employee
benefits, etc.
Customers- They affect the decision about products, service offerings, prices, marketing
tactics, etc.
Shareholder- Shareholders have a high interest in financial growth for dividends and profits
and influence the decision of Amazon to safeguard their investment and share price (Elias,
et.al, 2021).
Competitors- Competitors influence decisions like product pricing, services, expanding into
new markets, etc.
Government- The government authorities influence policies relating to products, employees,
services, etc.
Local community and NGOs- They influence the practices of companies that are responsible
towards society like ethical usage of resources.
Environmental Groups- It influences the company to adopt environmentally friendly practices
and activities.
Suppliers- It ensures consistency in the supply of the materials, and products required. It
influences the decision of price negotiations and terms of supply.
Media- It influences decisions like campaigns for raising awareness for social issues,
fundraising, etc. which assist in creating good reputations for the company.

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Stakeholder mapping process

Stakeholder mapping is an important process for Amazon in identifying the groups, and
individuals having stakes and interests associated with the operation of the company and also
responsible for dictating decisions. It involves employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers,
communities, etc. Mapping assists the company in knowing the needs and expectations of the
company and decides the strategies that assist in engagement and management.

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Strategic Planning

Planning benefits

Planning is helpful for Amazon in deciding goals, anticipating challenges, effectively

assigning resources, staying ahead of competition, adapting to market fluctuations,
performance evaluation, etc. It helps in aligning the operations towards the definite vision,
preparing contingency plans, optimizing resources, and staying flexible in a dynamic
environment. By including departments and stakeholders, planning teamwork allows Amazon
to estimate and measure the performance and make sure it follows the track of goals.

Planning Cycle model

This model involves the stages like planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation
(Yuliantini, et.al, 2023).
Planning- Amazon can decide the goal of increasing online sales to deal with the situation
with restrictions during a pandemic.
Implementation- To attain the goal, Amazon should implement strategies like increasing
product variety in online sales, easy payment options, contactless delivery, and marketing
strategies to appeal to customers to shop online.
Monitoring- In this, it can monitor the performance using a data analytics tool to compare the
estimated online sales to achieved ones find gaps, and take measures to correct them
(Alrumiah and Hadwan, 2021). It can also collect customer feedback to further make
improvements.
Evaluation- In this the plan and strategies are reviewed for their effectiveness. It is done by
analysing the data and feedback of stakeholders to know about the improving areas and
implement them in future strategies.

Recommendation

Amazon can use several strategies post-pandemic for its success. It should focus on entering
into new markets and focusing on using an e-commerce model with innovative technology
such as AI for improving operations like Packaging, marketing, customer assistance, supply
chain optimization, etc. It should adopt more eco-friendly measures to align with

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environmental goals. It should also invest in new ventures like finance, healthcare, etc. It
should invest in community engagement practices, and employee development and create
strategic partnerships with emerging businesses. It should also focus on enhancing data
privacy and security of consumers and stay updated with the regulations of the places it
operates.

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Conclusion
The report was on the influence of the pandemic on Amazon’s operations. The report
included a poster that detailed internal analysis of the past 3 years using the McKinsey’7s
model to ascertain competence, challenges, and opportunities. The poster also detailed about
external analysis for identifying trends using the Blue Ocean Strategy. The report described
about the impact of change and culture using Kurt Lewin's Model and Charles Handy's
Theory. It also briefed about effectiveness by applying Six Sigma and TQM approach.
Further, the report detailed Stakeholder analysis and Strategic Planning which included
planning benefits, the Planning cycle model, and recommendations.

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References
Books and Journals
Alrumiah, S.S. and Hadwan, M., 2021. Implementing big data analytics in e-commerce:
Vendor and customer view. Ieee Access, 9, pp.37281-37286.
Burnes, B., 2020. The origins of Lewin’s three-step model of change. The Journal of Applied
Behavioral Science, 56(1), pp.32-59.
Elias, A.A., Donadelli, F., Paiva, E.L. and Bacic Araujo, P.P., 2021. Analyzing the
complexities of the sustainable wood supply chain in the Amazon: a systems thinking
approach. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 32(4), pp.1481-1505.
ELLIS, P., 2023. Managing change--the Lewin model 3: refreeze. Wounds UK, 19(4).
Freeman, R.E., Dmytriyev, S.D. and Phillips, R.A., 2021. Stakeholder theory and the
resource-based view of the firm. Journal of Management, 47(7), pp.1757-1770.
Handy, C.B., 2020. Gods of management: The four cultures of leadership. Profile Books.
Permana, A., Purba, H.H. and Rizkiyah, N.D., 2021. A systematic literature review of Total
Quality Management (TQM) implementation in the organisation. International Journal of
Production Management and Engineering, 9(1), pp.25-36.
Qin, Y. and Liu, H., 2022. Application of value stream mapping in E-commerce: a case study
on an Amazon retailer. Sustainability, 14(2), p.713.
Statista Research Department, 2024. Annual net sales revenue of Amazon from 2004 to 2023
[Online]. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/266282/annual-net-revenue-of-
amazoncom/ [Accessed on: 22nd February 2024].
Yuliantini, T., Marlapa, E., Daru, A.S.I.H., Srihadi, T.F., Rohman, A. and Soelton, M., 2023.
November. Business Planning Based On Green Management, Should Be Sustainable?.
In ICCD (Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 135-140).

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