Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeffrey Bezos and initially sold books online. Its corporate culture pushes employees to take risks and think outside the box to develop new ideas for customers. Key aspects of Amazon's culture include boldness in pioneering new approaches, a focus on customer needs, and thinking peculiarly by challenging conventions. This culture has helped Amazon innovate but can also place strain on employees.

1. A presentation
by
Susitra Anandan
Anna University

2. HISTORY
 Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeffrey P. Bezos. Jeff
Bezos incorporated the company (as Cadabra) in July 1994.
 The name Amazon was founded soon after because the
Amazon River is the largest in the world, and the letter “A”
would help the company to show up at the top of alphabetical
lists.
 The one thing that made them famous was their books.Their
first profit was reached in the last quarter of 2001.
 The logo itself is the company name. Amazon, with an arrow
below, pointing from A to Z, representing that they could
provide every product in the alphabet and also customer
satisfaction, as it forms a smile.
 Amazons headquarters is in Seattle Washington United
States. A major provider of cloud computing services.

3. CULTURE
Amazon’s corporate culture pushes employees to go beyond traditional limits and conventions to
develop bright ideas and solutions. As the world’s top-performing online retailer, the company
continues to seek fresh talent. However, to maintain a capable workforce, Amazon must
reinforce its organizational culture to shape the development of human resources for long-term
competitive advantage.

4. FEATURES OF AMAZON.COM’S ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE
• Amazon is known for a corporate culture that pushes employees to explore ideas and take
risks. This cultural condition is responsible for the company’s capacity to seek new
opportunities to utilize data-intensive processes to provide efficient online retail service.
Amazon.com Inc. states, “We’re a company of pioneers. It’s our job to make bold bets, and we
get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers. Success is measured against the
possible, not the probable. For today’s pioneers, that’s exactly why there’s no place on Earth
they’d rather build than Amazon.” This statement shows that Amazon’s organizational
culture has the following characteristics:
• Boldness
• Customer-centricity
• Peculiarity

5. BOLDNESS
Amazon promotes boldness among its workers. This characteristic of the corporate culture is
seen in how the company pioneered to sell a wide array of items online, initially starting with
books, through data-intensive information technology.
In relation, Amazon.com Inc.’s employees are encouraged to take risks, such as in considering
new ideas to do business.
In emphasizing boldness, the company also facilitates openness toward new ideas based on an
organizational diversity policy.
This feature of the organizational culture enables Amazon to identify the best possible ideas to
solve problems or improve the e-commerce business.

6. CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY
Amazon.com Inc.’s vision statement highlights the centrality of customers in its business.
This factor is also included in the company’s organizational culture.
For example, Amazon reinforces workers’ focus on customers’ needs and demands.
The company continually strives to determine trends and changes in consumer preferences,
and applies these preferences in its online retail and related services.
Through this characteristic of the corporate culture, Amazon maintains its effectiveness in
satisfying customers as the e-commerce business expands.

7. PECULIARITY
Amazon.com Inc.’s organizational culture also involves peculiarity. In particular, this cultural
characteristic refers to the idea of challenging conventions.
For example, Amazon motivates its employees to view themselves and their work as different
from conventional ways of doing business.
The company believes that conventions impose limits on potential business growth.
Thus, through this feature of the corporate culture, Amazon motivates employees to think
outside the box to bring the e-commerce business to its maximum potential.

8. AMAZON’S ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
IMPLICATIONS, ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
Amazon’s corporate culture reinforces the company’s pioneering efforts in this type of online
retail business, as espoused in the vision of CEO and founder Jeff Bezos. The firm’s cultural
characteristics have the advantage of supporting innovation.
For example, boldness and peculiarity directly promote new ideas to improve Amazon.com Inc.’s
e-commerce business. Another advantage of this organizational culture is its focus on the
customer, ensuring that the company always satisfies consumer expectations and preferences.
However, a disadvantage of Amazon’s organizational culture is that it imposes a strain on
human resources, especially in pushing employees to take a bold and peculiar non-conventional
approach in doing their jobs.

9. “Our job,” says Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, “is to invent new options
that nobody’s ever thought of before and see if customers like
them.”
“Our customers are loyal to us right up until the second somebody
offers them a better service,” CEO Bezos says. “And I love that.
it’s super-motivating for us.”

10. REFERENCE
https://www.fastcompany.com/3067455/why-amazon-is-the-worlds-most-innovative-
company-of-2017
https://sites.google.com/a/ewg.k12.ri.us/amazon-wiki/history-of-amazon
http://panmore.com/amazon-com-inc-organizational-culture-characteristics-analysis
https://qz.com/work/1227352/amazon-proves-company-culture-doesnt-need-to-be-
warm-and-fuzzy-to-be-effective/
https://www.strategyzer.com/blog/posts/2016/6/23/how-jeff-bezos-maintains-amazons-
killer-company-culture
https://www.marcb.ch/publications/amazon-culture1

12. THANK YOU