Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT 1 OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT 2 Business: Operations Management Student’s Name Institution Date AMAZON a) The significant forces that have shaped operations management in recent history Amazon remains the leading online retail market, especially coming from the integration of issues which have been identified in the porters five forces analysis. This is in regards to the firm's strategies and operations management (Akzin, et al. 2017). The porters five forces model will help in analyzing the external model of the firm, especially factors which impact on its operations and management. The factors help define the conditions of the e-commerce environment, with focus on the market. The organization remains the biggest market player, and to maintain this desired market position, it amazon needs to evaluate the factors which affect its operational effectiveness regularly. I) Market rivalry or competition Amazon, just like any other established organization, competes against very strong competitors in the market (Akzin, et al. 2017). This aspect of analysis helps to show three distinct aspects which end up affecting operations management, regarding competition in the market. Such factors include; high aggressiveness of other firms in the market, the high availability of substitutes and the low switching costs. Retail firms are known to be aggressive and exert significant competitive forces. For example, Amazon's chief competitor is Walmart. The physical or the brick or mortar stores are perfect substitutes for the online retail services at Amazon (Akzin, et al. 2017). Management dealing with Amazon's market presence needs to come up with better ideas to mitigate the competition more proactively. There is a need to make the competition a strategic factor of consideration, and a priority meant to ensure that the organization maintains long-term competence in the market. II) bargaining power of the consumers The influence of the firm on the consumers in the market is determined by this force. Operations management in an organization needs to be well aware of the strong intensity of buyers, and the need to always satisfy their demands in the market (Akzin, et al. 2017). Factors affecting operations management based on the bargaining power of consumers at Amazon include; high quality of information, low switching costs and the availability of substitute commodities, in the competitive market. Consumers access a lot of quality information online, especially regarding services that retailers offer. In the future, this aspect is bound to affect Amazon, since it will make it easier for consumers to transfer from Amazon to more productive firms and operational friendly entities like Walmart stores. There is, therefore, a need for the operational managers in the organization to consider the substantial bargaining power of all consumers, including addressing its business challenges in the retail industry (Akzin, ...

1. Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
1
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
2
Business: Operations Management
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
AMAZON
a) The significant forces that have shaped operations
management in recent history
Amazon remains the leading online retail market, especially
coming from the integration of issues which have been
identified in the porters five forces analysis. This is in regards
to the firm's strategies and operations management (Akzin, et
al. 2017). The porters five forces model will help in analyzing
the external model of the firm, especially factors which impact
on its operations and management. The factors help define the
conditions of the e-commerce environment, with focus on the
market. The organization remains the biggest market player, and
to maintain this desired market position, it amazon needs to
evaluate the factors which affect its operational effectiveness
regularly.
I) Market rivalry or competition
Amazon, just like any other established organization, competes

2. against very strong competitors in the market (Akzin, et al.
2017). This aspect of analysis helps to show three distinct
aspects which end up affecting operations management,
regarding competition in the market. Such factors include; high
aggressiveness of other firms in the market, the high
availability of substitutes and the low switching costs. Retail
firms are known to be aggressive and exert significant
competitive forces.
For example, Amazon's chief competitor is Walmart. The
physical or the brick or mortar stores are perfect substitutes for
the online retail services at Amazon (Akzin, et al. 2017).
Management dealing with Amazon's market presence needs to
come up with better ideas to mitigate the competition more
proactively. There is a need to make the competition a strategic
factor of consideration, and a priority meant to ensure that the
organization maintains long-term competence in the market.
II) bargaining power of the consumers
The influence of the firm on the consumers in the market is
determined by this force. Operations management in an
organization needs to be well aware of the strong intensity of
buyers, and the need to always satisfy their demands in the
market (Akzin, et al. 2017). Factors affecting operations
management based on the bargaining power of consumers at
Amazon include; high quality of information, low switching
costs and the availability of substitute commodities, in the
competitive market.
Consumers access a lot of quality information online, especially
regarding services that retailers offer. In the future, this aspect
is bound to affect Amazon, since it will make it easier for

3. consumers to transfer from Amazon to more productive firms
and operational friendly entities like Walmart stores. There is,
therefore, a need for the operational managers in the
organization to consider the substantial bargaining power of all
consumers, including addressing its business challenges in the
retail industry (Akzin, et al. 2017).
III) Bargaining power of the suppliers
Suppliers can control the materials and the e-commerce
operations which Amazon is involved in. In this case, there is a
need for Amazon to consider fundamental factors including; the
small population of suppliers in the market which is a strong
force in operations management. Other moderate forces include
moderate forward integration and the moderate sizes of
suppliers. Regarding operational management at Amazon, the
small population of suppliers allows the suppliers to impose a
powerful force on the organization's e-commerce business
(Akzin, et al. 2017). For example, the degree of control that
suppliers have in the market impacts the retail operations of
Amazon as a business.
IV) the threat of substitutes
Amazon just like most organizations has to compete with the
availability of substitute products in the online retail market.
The availability of substitutes affects the operations of the
organization and the industry environment at large, hence is a
strong force (Christopher, 2016). Important aspects which
should be considered strong forces based on the threat of
substitution include; low switching costs, the high availability
of substitutes as well as the lower costs of substitutes from
other companies. The management at Amazon will be affected
in the future, primarily if substitutes are not controlled in the
market. High availability leads to decreased product costs,

4. which also limits the operational profitability of the
organization.
V) Threat of new entrants into the market
This threat can be considered the weakest force affecting the
operational management at Amazon. New firms are bound to
lead to a reduction in the market share at Amazon, in online
retail business. This ends up affecting the organization, which
experiences weaker intensity based on significant factors such
as; high economies of scale, and the high cost of brand
development, which are both relatively weaker forces
(Christopher, 2016). If this force is not handled, consumers at
Amazon are likely to transfer to new firms in the industry,
which will lead to the empowerment of the new firms to impose
a stronger force, against amazon's operational success. There is
a need to develop strategies to counter operational inefficiency.
b) Key obstacles and issues that confronted company
management during the evolution of operations management
into the modern era.
The evolution of operations management in the modern era,
especially in the competitive business platform is alarming.
This goes to show just how much change has been experienced,
and the intense need for organizations such as Amazon to keep
adapting to changes as they come, in the dynamic business and
industry platform. Amazon to be specific has had to keep up
with a lot of business challenges and pressures, during the
evolution of operations management, to fit into the modern era
in business (Christopher, 2016). Amazon was extremely keen to
share its plans regarding making moves and working on the next
generation smartphones.
However, the management experienced greater challenges,
which does not get as much attention. International growth has
been a significant challenge for the organization, especially in
operations management. This was evident when the entity

5. reported its annual financial results, recently. The foreign
exchange fluctuations played a significant role. The
organization caused around $1.3 billion, to international
revenues. However, this pattern could not have been sustained
in the growing American business and industry as a whole. The
pattern is more worrying especially because the entity is not
failing to invest in the business. It is also losing money which
greatly affects its profitability.
How did your Amazon’s management handle these obstacles?
Losing on profitability and revenue is a nightmare to al profit-
making entities. In countering this problem, the management at
Amazon handled the issue through embracing the need to invest
into a fulfillment center actively and increasing more efficient
and diverse infrastructure, in every country in which it operates
(Christopher, 2016). This move was aimed at building capacity
and increasing the overall demand in the market. The operations
management team believes that Amazon's strategy is aimed at
building capacity so that demand in the market can be
adequately met without any struggle, and with a seamless
experience. This was a relatively proactive approach, which
helped Amazon tackle international growth problems in a
different level.
c) Changes to operations management philosophies and
organizational structures in response to the evolving complexity
of business operations.
The success of Amazon depends on the high-efficiency levels,
which are in the operations management, and that determine the
productivity of the organization (Cummings & Worley, 2014).
The organization has learned to embrace and address key
strategic decision areas which are optimized by operations
management productivity. Being the leading player in the online
retail industry, the organization is the best example of
technologically supported productivity. The management in the
organization has ended up making ten strategic decisions,

6. considering the increasing complexity of operations.
The organization structure has also been modified, considering
that the organization also continues to expand and diversify its
operations continuous improvement is bound to help enhance
the capabilities of the organization to support global expansion.
Essential decision areas which have been embraced include;
i) Design of goods and services (Cummings & Worley, 2014).
The organization design output addresses the primary concern
of technology. Advanced information and communication
technologies help address complexity in the organization.
ii) Quality management.
Quality management at Amazon is meant to ensure that
continuous improvement is not shunned. The organization uses
its organizational culture to provide support to idea creation,
among its various personnel (Cummings & Worley, 2014).
iii) Location strategy.
Accessibility of resources in the organization makes location an
area of priority at Amazon. Amazon needs to maintain its
warehouses and at the same time, be close enough to its
consumers, of the online retail business to maximize
satisfaction (Stadtler, 2015).
iv) Supply chain management.
Operations management prioritizes the need to streamline all
the supply chain efforts, to support the objectives of the
organization. For example, sellers are required to adjust to all
supply levels, based on demand.
v) Inventory management.
The focus of operations management at Amazon is to maintain
optimal levels of inventory. This is a strategic decision area,
which helps in the optimization of retail inventory size for cost
minimization while satisfying demand in the market (Stadtler,
2015).
d) The business operations of Amazon.
Different organizations embrace different approaches regarding

7. processes, as well as operational management. At Amazon, all
operational procedures are aimed at obtaining quality output in
the long run. The company uses specific organizational
processes, which make it more unique and easy to handle
considering the numerous demands.
1. Reviewing all plans and objectives
Objectives include all activities which need to be completed for
the sake of achieving goals and objectives in an organization
(Stadtler, 2015). At Amazon, all activities needed to reach goals
are identified and plans also established for development.
2. Determining work activities, which are needed to accomplish
identified objectives.
Once all objectives have been identified in the organization, the
management team at Amazon is responsible for analyzing all
tasks and listing those that need to be accomplished. In the long
run, all goals have to be met.
3. Classification and grouping of activities into manageable
units
Managers are expected to categorize all group activities based
on four distinct models at Amazon. These include;
departmentalization, geographical, product, customer and
functional.
4. assigning activities and delegation of duties
The management is responsible for assigning the defined roles
to specific persons. This is based on the specialization of
specific groups of personnel (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017). Equal
authority is provided to allow easier and more favorable work
environment.
5. designing a hierarchy of relationships
Managers at Amazon are keen to determine the vertical decision
making, as well as coordination, or horizontal relationships of
the organization. Management also needs to diagram all

8. relationships to allow easier determination of hierarchy
(Stevenson & Hojati, 2017).
How do the business operations support the strategic plan,
mission, and vision of the company? What factors affect
productivity and profitability?
Business operations at Amazon have been designed to support
the strategic plan, mission and vision and the values of the
organization. The business operations at amazon complement all
operations, which makes everything in the organization run
smoothly and effectively. For example, the strategic plan,
mission, and vision of the company are encouraged based on the
operational activities. The ultimate aim is to achieve overall
success, for the benefit of the organization as a whole
(Stevenson & Hojati, 2017). A lot of factors affect the
profitability and productivity at Amazon. For example,
profitability is affected by organizational expenses, corporate
social responsibilities, and the overall economic conditions.
e) Determine the key trends in production, quality, resource,
and information management with a focus on the business
operations of Amazon.
Production trends have since evolved, following the dynamic
business platform in the global context. Quality, resource, and
information management have also changed, which have
majorly impacted the business operations of Amazon as an
organization. For example, regarding information management
and quality, technology has played a significant role and is
recognized as a critical trend affecting organization operations
at Amazon. Regarding production, most businesses are now
producing based on market demand, to avoid stock-outs and
costs of holding goods, which increases the losses and expenses
incurred (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017). Quality is gauged through
consumer acceptance and comparison with other organizations
in online the retail industry such as Walmart among other
entities.
f) Impact of these key trends in the business operations of
Amazon and the business product, service, or another idea in

9. your business plan.
Business operations of amazon, just like any other organization,
are bound to be affected considering the major developments on
business operations products and services in every entity should
be maintained, in terms of determining quality effectiveness and
control. The trends have led to increased production quality,
especially in terms of services (Stevenson & Hojati, 2017).
Other trends include; advancement in technology, emerging
markets end up gaining power, demographic changes, global
warming, and the increased growth of the population. Decisions
made at amazon need to completely conform with the changes,
hence the process should strictly rely on global changes in the
market.
References
Aksin, Z., Armony, M., & Mehrotra, V. (2017). The modern call
center: A multi‐disciplinary perspective on operations
management research. Production and operations management,
16(6), 665-688.
Christopher, M. (2016). Logistics & supply chain management.
Pearson UK.
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization
development and change. Cengage Learning.
Stadtler, H. (2015). Supply chain management: An overview. In
Supply chain management and advanced planning (pp. 3-28).
Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Stevenson, W. J., & Hojati, M. (2017). Operations management
(Vol. 8). Boston: McGraw
Hill/Irwin.

10. Running head: QUALITY MANAGEMENT
1
QUALITY MANAGEMENT
2
Quality management
Student’s name
University affiliation
Quality management
Quality management is one of the techniques that can be
initiated by the Amazon Company to align all of its processes.
Quality management arises when the firm recognizes any
mistakes and shortages that are associated with the products
been provided and effective measures are initialized to
counteract the limitations (Cummings, & Worley, 2014).
Quality control acts as means for success for the company since
it is with the provision of the best items that customers wish to
purchase what they need from the firm. The paper outlines the
concepts of quality management including the total quality
management that is key to the maintenance of high-quality
items by the Amazon Company. The paper will also comprise of
the work breakdown structure that offers information about the
major tasks that should be performed in connection with quality
control. Therefore, the business opportunity to be explained in
this paper is quality management that requires the firm never to
seize offering high-quality goods with the use of statistical
quality control.
a) Project the potential costs, risks, and benefits of
operationalizing your business idea.

11. It is evident and inevitable to incur some costs with the
introduction of quality management concepts and perspectives.
In other words, it is not possible to come with measures that
will be meant to attain quality management and fail to incur
some costs. For instance, technology is one of the aspects that
are associated with quality management. Technology requires
the adoption of information management measures such as the
purchase of computers and creation of other systems that are
meant to keep track on the continuous provision of effective
goods. Therefore, additional funds that will be incurred if the
firm needs to improve the activities that are currently in place
concerning quality management. The other costs are associated
with the training programs that must be adopted and introduced
to the workers.
The other costs are associated with the advertisement costs that
will be incurred when the firm seeks to offer awareness to the
public concerning the goods. Moreover, creating adverts and
making them accessible over the internet and social media is
costly. Some of the risks that are associated with quality
management include lack of adequate skills among the workers
since they will be faced with new technologies. The other risk
includes the lack of adequate funds that are supposed to cater
for the new technologies that will be introduced in the Amazon
Company. Also, it is possible that there might be a risk if all the
employees do not support the new changes to be adopted
resulting in reduced collaboration among all the team members.
However, even with the existence of the risks and costs, some
benefits are associated with quality management. For instance,
it is known that clients never wish to purchase goods that are of
poor quality. In other words, no person ever wishes to purchase
an item that is low in its quality. Therefore, with the

12. improvement of quality, there are high chances that Amazon
Company will attract a significant number of clients who will
gladly want to buy items from the company. Moreover, high
sales correspond to high revenue suggesting that the company
will manage to earn itself a high proportion of income from all
the investments that it will put in place regarding quality
control (Cummings, & Worley, 2014). Additionally, there are
high chances that Amazon Company will enjoy an improved
market share that will transform into advanced relationships
between Amazon and its potential customers. Therefore, it is
evident that there are high chances that Amazon Company will
enjoy additional benefits with the sustainment of quality
management.
b) Develop a work breakdown structure for your business idea.
c) Provide a narrative justifying eachtask and subtask that is
part of your work breakdown structure.
For quality management to be attained, three tasks are
associated with its success. The three tasks are total quality
management, business operations, and changes that should be
adopted. The three tasks are associated with other three
subtasks that result in their success. For the total quality
management, there is the issue to do with institute leadership
that refers to the situation by which Amazon Company should
focus on making sure that it focuses on choosing the best
leadership team. In other words, for the Amazon Company to
excel, there is no doubt that its management team should be
well operational and in the right conditions. It includes ensuring
that the leadership team is determined to work in hand with all
the other staff members since unity will grant them better
results. Additionally, the firm has a responsibility to train its
employees since they have to possess all the skills that are
necessary for them to conduct the production activities as it is
expected of them. Additionally, the company should introduce

13. and support a culture of improving its services and goods from
time to time. It is because as technology develops, the company
can make sure that it fulfills the desires of its clients by
incorporating all of its items with the new technology.
The other task that is associated with quality management is
business operations that include the reviewing of the plans that
have been implemented by the firm. In other words, it is
required that the company should always make sure that it
assesses all the plans that have been in connection with quality
control to make sure that the plans are appropriate (Cummings,
& Worley, 2014). The aim of this activity is to make any
necessary changes that are related to any mistakes and shortages
that might have occurred with the plans that are already in
place. The other task is the determination of hierarchy that
considers that Amazon Company should ensure that all the staff
members are aware of the heads that they should receive rules
and orders regarding what they should do. With this measure in
place, it becomes easier for the heads to monitor how the
workers are performing their duties. The other task is the
delegation of the duties that require that Amazon Company
should always ensure that the assignment of roles is done by
evaluating a worker’s skills and traits. In other words, it is
required that the Amazon Company should assess all the
abilities of the employees to make sure that they are assigned
duties that they can perform significantly well.
The other task is the adoption of changes into ensuring that
quality is attained that includes developing the item’s design to
make sure that it is what the customers want at that particular
time. Since clients tend to lose their taste for a certain design
with time, it is indispensable for the company to transform the
product’s design that will ensure that the clients never lose their
taste for the corporation and will always appreciate their effort

14. in supplying the market with new items. Supply chain
management is another task that should be managed requiring
the firm to realize better ways and channels that can be adopted
to help reach the market. Inventory management should be
controlled and aligned with the core business activities since it
will ensure that the company does not lack items to offer the
clients. In other words, inventory management is a task that
requires the firm to research and examine the market trends that
relate to customer demand to make sure that the customers will
always have all that they need. It includes offering the products
at the most convenient locations that the clients will not have a
hard time to access them.
d) Identify key milestones, deliverables, and resource
requirements associated with operationalizing your business
idea based on your break down structure.
Different deliverables, milestones, and resource requirements
are necessary for the attainment of the different objectives that
have been implemented and suggested by the Amazon Company.
For instance, with the introduction of total quality management,
the company should select certain team members that should be
given the mandate to overlook all that happens in the firm. In
other words, there is the need to assign a team to watch over all
the business activities that are based on the creation of quality
items. Moreover, the management team has a responsibility of
ensuring that the other staffs' members are willing to come to
them when there are facing significant difficulties. It starts at
formulation and maintenance of healthy relationships between
the management team and staff members. It is because when
they all ensure that they do not argue and fight with one
another; they will always seek to coordinate and collaborate to
help the business in identifying how best it can create more
quality than any other company in the same business line.

15. The other milestone includes the formulation of budgets and
ensuring that they are operational. The budgets are some of the
strategies that guide the business on how it should spend its
resources. The budgets will ensure that all the business
departments are granted the best share of the available
resources. It is to make sure that every department keeps a good
track on its expenditure. With the watch out on the level of
expenditure, it becomes easier for the company to make sure
that no overspending is noticed and that all the departments are
using the right proportions of the available resources.
Additional deliverable includes making sure that the projected
profits do not have a big difference in the actual profits and it is
paramount and beneficial that the actual profits show a positive
sign comparing with the projected performance.
Information management is another aspect that should be
controlled and monitored to make sure that it is done in the
right way. Therefore, Amazon Company has a responsibility of
ensuring that all the proceedings are recorded appropriately, and
there is no chance that the information could be lost in any way.
It is to make sure that this set of information is utilized when
the firm needs to research and evaluate how it has been
progressing and which areas have proven to be declining with
time. It helps in discussing the way forward for the activities
that are noted to have declined to bring up the best decisions
that will assist the firm in recognizing a significant change on
the positive side.
Additionally, technological change is an aspect that should
never be neglected at any time. It is because it has been
discovered that the companies that have been noticed to be
doing extremely well in the market have never failed to
introduce the most recent technology. Clients have portrayed a

16. high desire for improved technology expecting Amazon
Company always to seek the best ways and perspectives that it
can adopt when requiring maintaining the newest technology
(Paul, 2013). Additionally, for Amazon Company to attain the
customers’ demand, there is the need to always come up with
questionnaires and interviews whose aim is to give the clients
an opportunity to choose what they want from the company. It is
a method of involving the clients in its production activities,
which yields the corporation improved image in the market that
corresponds to improved returns.
e) Assess potential obstacles and impediments to meeting scope-
time-cost objectives of the project
The key obstacle in the industry is the competition that arises
with the existence of other large firms in the same industry. In
other words, the corporation is faced with a high competition
that might transform to reduced returns if the firm does not take
full responsibility for eradicating competition. Therefore,
different companies will always be fighting for a larger market
share than the other suggesting that it is the mandate of Amazon
Company to do its best to earn a better portion of the entire
market. Additionally, there is the issue to do with technological
challenges and pressures that relate to operation management
(Stevenson, & Hojati, 2017). In other words, it is challenging to
attain operational management with the continuous evolutions
that occur concerning technology and various measures.
Amazon Company lacks the certainty of which technology will
be in place in the market after a certain period since the market
has always introduced new technologies. Also, not all the
employees are aware of the computer-aided design and JIT
technique suggesting that there will be incompetence among the
employees. Additionally, most of the tools that need to be
purchased by Amazon Company to introduce improved

17. technologies are very costly which results in difficulties to raise
the entire amount that is required. Moreover, with challenges
arising from international growth, it becomes complex for the
staff to control all the global operations including difficulties
such as the foreign exchange fluctuations. Therefore, with the
existence of all these challenges, it becomes necessary to
understand which risk mitigation strategies should be utilized
and have been mentioned below.
f) Determine appropriate risk mitigation strategies to address
the obstacles, impediments, and risks you have identified.
The risk mitigation strategies related to these obstacles include
conducting benchmarking to realize what Amazon Company
should do differently from the other firms. With the existence of
technological challenges, the firm should utilize a selected team
that will be responsible for development and research activities
that will help in accessing new technologies at the moment they
are introduced in the market (Stevenson, & Hojati, 2017). In
other words, Amazon should never seize to research since that
is one of the methods that can help it to discover the most
recent technologies. Additionally, it is no doubt that the
company should never seize to train its workers since that will
advance their chances of being competent in their actions. The
initiation of budgets will always help in ensuring that the
company has extra cash that can be utilized to purchase most of
the tools that are inevitable if the company needs to use the new
technologies.
In conclusion, quality management comprises of the various
strategies and steps that are related to the alignment and
advancement of business processes in the Amazon Company.
The company has to make use of total quality management,
make sure that it adopts the best business operations, and

18. initiate significant changes if it has to succeed. For the
corporation to reach most of its objectives, it has to initiate risk
mitigation strategies that include research activities and
employees’ training. Additionally, it is paramount that the firm
keeps a good track on information management and the
technologies it utilizes.
References
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization
development and change. Cengage Learning.
Stevenson, W. J., & Hojati, M. (2017). Operations management
(Vol. 8). Boston: McGraw
Hill/Irwin.
Paul, L. (2013). Sustainability. Hoboken: Wiley.