Running head: AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 1

Case Analysis:

Amazon as an Employer

Dylan Mitchell

#3216043

MBA 6503

November 9th, 2016

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The Issue

In 2015 Amazon was featured in Fortune magazine’s Elite List of the World’s Most

Admired Companies, ranking fourth and looked to expand its operations departments into

diverse locations and increase its employee count to 50,000. The New York Times published an

article that depicted Amazon as “conducting an experiment in how far it [could] push white-

collar workers to get them to achieve its ever expanding ambitions”.

The main issue here is that Amazon has a high stress work environment resulting in a

high turnover rate. This is a problem because the company is looking to expand and grow rapidly

as well as continue as a top innovator, but the organization may not be able to offer a valuable

employee proposition to entice top talent to fill positions or be able to keep those employees

within the company. Employees that continue to work at Amazon and engage in temporary

coping techniques may be less effective when innovation is needed. Also, the more employees

that exit the company or are often absent due to stress reactions may pass on work to other

employees and induce those employees into a stress episode.

Since the company is in the process of expanding already, and the article from The New

York times is published, as well as a continuing high turnover rate, this is an urgent issue to

identify the causes of stress in the workplace and develop a plan to keep employees happy and

motivated to continue innovation. Amazon must also realize that it is important to include stress

in the organization as a stimulant, but needs to have a better understanding of appropriate stress

levels.

Considering the above issue and the way Amazon is conducting their organizational

strategy, Dick Finnegan put it best by explaining “If you can build an organization with zero
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deadwoods, why wouldn’t you do it? But I don’t know how sustainable it is. You would have to

have a never-ending two mile line around the block of very qualified people who want to work

for you.” (Article, Page 3).

Analysis

The frameworks used in this analysis are describing the situations at Amazon parallel

with the Models of Stress Episode and identifying stressors in organizational life. This is

important to identify the aspects of Amazon that may create psychological, physiological and

behavioural stress reactions and explaining why these reactions occur as well as the causes and

effects. Throughout this analysis, the difference between employees who enjoy their environment

at Amazon and those who do not will be contrasted by the description of personality traits and

how they factor in specifically to Amazon. The slides from class report that “Work is reported to

be a potent source of stress, edging out health and relationships” which is important because

“Stress costs organizations billions of dollars each year” (Stress, Slide 2).

It is important to take a closer look at the high turnover rate at Amazon that is derived

from workplace stress because if the human resources department can provide support to

employees and help them cope with stress, it can keep their talented employees around and

satisfied. Also important is that if the company can acknowledge their major issue and provide a

resolution, the damage of The New York Times article can be overcome and Amazon can attract

new talent which is crucial when expanding, especially as large as Amazon would like to expand.

Stressors
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Using the Models of Stress Episode in Appendix A, the first focus is to explore the

environmental conditions that workers at Amazon are experiencing, labelled as Stressors in the

model defined by Johns & Saks (2014) as “environmental events or conditions that have the

potential to induce stress” (Textbook, Page 465). In the second paragraph of the article, the New

York Times reported that at Amazon there were requirements of the employees that were viewed

as unfavorable by some and that aggressive critique was encouraged between peers explained in

the article “particular attention was paid to the practice of encouraging employees to be

ruthlessly critical of each other’s ideas in meetings and to surreptitiously send feedback to each

other’s bosses” as well as “Employees were expected to put in long hours and were reprimanded

when they failed to respond to emails that arrived at midnight” (Article, Page 59). This culture in

the workplace has a strong possibility to induce stress in many people and contributes to the

issues raised when considering Amazon offering a valuable employee proposition, and the

resulting effects could be a detriment by inducing anxiety, tension and possibly depression.

Stress

Since the demands at Amazon were extensive and high pressured, the physiological

reaction to the stress incurred by such stressors can have an impact on the health of the

employees and make them have unwanted feelings described as “tense or anxious” (Stress, Slide

5). These physiological feelings that result from such a work environment can make it seem

impossible to overcome and the thought of the extensive demands mentioned can produce a

feeling that the person “does not feel capable of coping with these demands” (Stress, Slide 5). In

the article, there is mention of some employees enjoying the work culture at Amazon such as

“Over-achievers bubbling with innovative ideas and eager to collaborate with and learn from

brilliant co-workers thrived in the challenging, fast paced environment and seemed to embrace
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the extreme demands place upon them – not as a problem to run from, but as an opportunity to

grow” and that “Amazon would advance their careers” (Article, Page 2). Stress can sometimes

be considered a positive motivator or challenge, as there is a required amount of stress that a

person needs as described by Johns & Saks (2014) “All people require a certain level of

stimulation from their environment, and moderate levels of stress can serve this function”

(Textbook, Page 465). Determining the level of stress a person needs can be complicated and not

everybody can deal with the same amount. Considering this thought and the fact that in the

Amazon work force there are some who approve of the conditions and some who do not, this

poses an interesting discussion on the stressful environment at Amazon considering this contrast

which is dissected in the next section focusing on stress reactions and how ones personality may

be more susceptible to induced stress from certain stressors then others.

Stress Reactions

The policy the employees at Amazon agreed to when they signed their contracts of

employment required them to work long overtime hours, be severely critical of each other and

were penalized if they failed to provide a 24/7 email response availability. Such requirements

created wear and tear on some employees since they were performing “harder and faster”

(Article, Page 1) and resulted in stress reactions that pushed them until “they quit, collapsed, or

were terminated” (Article, Page 1). The employees that succumbed to the stress imposed on them

could have been displaying reactions that are a result of stress effects described by Johns & Saks

(2014) as “behavioral, psychological, and physiological consequences” (Textbook, Page 465).

These reactions, labelled as “passive responses” by Johns & Saks (2014) are responses that “the

individual has little direct control, such as elevated blood pressure or a reduced immune

function” (Textbook, Page 465). While the article mentions comments made to Bezos by
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employees which involved their confusion of why he was trying to ruin their life or that they

want to kill themselves, there wasn’t much in the report by the New York Times about the

employees becoming ill from work requirements and extensive effort, but much of these

incidences can be assumed from the negative reports of the environment at Amazon. An example

of being able to somewhat presume there were negative stress reactions is the mention that “New

employees had to sign a contract that required them to repay the signing bonus in the event that

they left the organization within a year of signing and to repay part of their relocation expenses

in the event that they left before the completion of two years” (Textbook, Page 3). If the

employees were opting to leave after a few months with the penalty for leaving so severe, there

had to be some behavioral, psychological and physiological concerns about their health that they

could no longer persist in Amazons work environment. Considering this, stress reactions that

were passive revolving around the issues of an employee’s health could have been as mentioned

in the textbook as “elevated blood pressure or a reduced immune function” (Textbook, Page

465), which one cannot control and also other responses such as stress hormones effecting the

endocrine system and changing behavior or gastrointestinal issues reducing or increasing food

intake effecting energy levels at (American Psychological Association, Web Article).

Due to the fact that some of the employees, the ones who could not cope with the stress

imposed on them, decided they had enough, should be a concern for Amazon and their policy in

place or what they are trying to do to help their employees manage the stress. This is evident in

the article as it was reported that “most employees did not stay for more than a few months” and

that “In 2013, Amazon had the second-highest turnover among the Fortune 500 companies, with

a medium tenure of one year” (Article, Page 2). The responses received by Bezos as mentioned

in the article contained some concerning comments such as “Why are you ruining my life?” and
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“If I hear that again, I am going to have to kill myself” (Article, Page 2). These responses

directed to Bezos by the employees are a direct indicator that there were employees experiencing

the negative effects of stress on their psychological and physiological well-being and could have

led to a change in their behavioral actions such as reduction in motivation at work and possibly

absenteeism from their job. Further consideration in the results leading to stress reactions could

have been a snowball effect of stress imposed on other employees who are already working at

maximal effect from the absenteeism of their co-workers, those concerns mentioned by Johns &

Saks (2014) may “leave the organization short-handed (provoking stress in others)” (Textbook,

Page 466), adding to the urgency of the main issue at Amazon as this could be detrimental and

costly to the organization. The option chose by the original employee with induced stress to

prevent further stress by skipping out on work is their way of reducing the stress instead of trying

to cope, which is only a temporary reliever and is not as effective as opposed to confronting the

stress and revealing key issues to reduce the problem.

After considering the behavioral, psychological and physiological stress reactions in

those who cannot cope or reduce the anxiety induced by stress, it is important to consider in this

case analysis the employees who manage to do well in the Amazon environment and how they

react to a stress stimulant in a different way. In referring to Appendix A, those who perceive their

work environment at Amazon as effective and invigorating could have the ability to either

confront the stressor directly or endeavor into a reduction of the anxiety that comes from the

stress which is the preferred effective solution as Johns & Saks (2014) state “In general, the

former strategy (coping attempts might be directed toward dealing directly with the stressor or

simply reducing the anxiety generated by stress) has more potential for effectiveness than the

latter (passive responses) because the chances of the stress episode being terminated are
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increased” (Textbook, Page 465). The ability to cope with stress by dealing directly with the

stressor or reducing the anxiety can derive from the employee’s personality which will be

discussed in the next section. For now, it is important to look at the article and mention how the

satisfied employees perceive their jobs and how they succeed in dealing with the rigorous

demands in the work environment at Amazon.

The motto of the employees who were described as “over-achievers” in the article was

“work hard, have fun, and create history” (Article, Page 2). These employees that supported this

motto enjoyed the cohesive and innovative work strategy did well in embracing Amazon’s

demands and saw their experience “as a problem not to run from, but as an opportunity to grow”

as well as that they “felt that working at Amazon advanced their careers” to in turn be rewarded

with royalty from increasing stock prices (Article, Page 2). This puts some speculation on the

report by the New York Times and furthers discussion into the contrast between those who

thrived in the Amazon work culture and those who do not. Reflecting from Appendix A, these

employees who reported their work environment as an opportunity to advance their careers seem

to have a strong ability to reduce anxiety by finding ways to cope with stress by dealing with the

stressor directly or working to reduce the anxiety towards having the stress episode terminated.

This is exemplified by the employees viewing the stress imposed as a form of advancing their

careers professionally with positive views of Amazon and the opportunity they have. The

difference, as mentioned, between being able to cope with stress and looking for passive

responses revolves around the employee’s personality, relating to the level of stress as a

stimulant that a person can manage.

Personality & Stress

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Since employees signed a policy agreement to gain employment with Amazon, they were

initially aware of what would be required of them, some most likely knew they could handle

whatever came their way and succeeded and others could have thought they could handle what

was in store but later discovered this not to be the case. To say that these employees who ended

up exiting the company knew what they were up against isn’t totally fair, as we are all humans

who are all different and react to stress differently, sometimes surprising ourselves to what we

can and can’t handle and often times have to experience a situation to discover our thresholds.

This thought aligned with the fact that that there were employees who thrived and employees

who did not at Amazon prompts a closer look at the personality of those at the company to

understand the extent that personality has on stress reactions in relation to stressors.

Locus of Control

This personality type could help identify some of the issues for Amazon keeping in mind

the issue within the company being a high turnover rate and a need for top level talent

acquisition to expand. In sections preceding this personality discussion, it was mentioned that

there were employees who thrived within the environment at Amazon. These employees saw

employment at Amazon as an opportunity to grow professionally and advance their careers, with

a motto of “work hard, have fun, and create history” (Article, Page 2). These people, in reference

to Locus of Control, would be described as internals since they see the stressors as a process to

experience and face their stress head on for professional advancement which aligns with Johns &

Saks (2014) “Internals are more likely to confront stressors directly because they assume that this

response will make a difference” (Textbook, Page 466). Also mentioned by Johns & Saks (2014)

is that “Internals believe that they control their own behavior, while externals believe that their

behavior is controlled by luck, fate, or powerful people” (Textbook, Page 466). There is evidence
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of stress reactors that are characteristics of internal and external personalities within Amazon

described in the article. When the article reveals that Bezos had outbursts and that employees

would “incriminate the employees of competing groups” and were “encouraged to criticize their

colleagues by sending feedback to management” (Article, Page 3) as well as always be

scrutinized or sabotaged, the internal employees had a better chance of survival through this

stress. This is possible because they believe that they are in control of their behavior and that if

they follow the guidelines and work hard they will progress to a higher level and gain experience

which may help them cope and reduce the anxiety of such stressors of being scrutinized and

intimidation from other employees and see the bigger picture overall.

Some of the employees who did not stay for more than a few months or stayed longer but

ended up separating from Amazon could have been demonstrating characteristics of an external

type locus of control. The aggressiveness of other employee’s critiques, higher management

incrimination, scrutiny and the chance of being sabotaged could have generated a feeling of

anxiousness to these stressors and perceive these situations as out of their control. They could

also possibly see the success and happiness of the internal employees as good luck as opposed to

their unlucky perception of their position and feeling of uncontrollable destiny, not realizing that

those people see employment at Amazon as a chance to work hard and gain experience. These

external type employees at Amazon may blame their results of the inability to deal with stressors

as an account of the power of their managers and see this as a road block not realizing that if they

saw the experience in a brighter light, they may too be able to embrace the opportunity to grow

professionally and “not as a problem to run from” (Article, Page 2) as the internals described in

the article. External type employees at Amazon may engage in temporary anxiety reduction

strategies such as absenteeism from work or producing excuses for being dismissed from
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meetings, which results are only temporary reductions to stress as the slides from class state

“Externals are more prone to simple anxiety-reduction strategies that only work in the short run”

(Stress, Slide 12). The short term anxiety-reduction strategies eventually lead to the flight portion

of flight or fight, and this should be a concern for Amazon since they may have employees who

are just as brilliant as internal type employees and can significantly contribute, but are not in

control of their behavior and this should be accommodated and considered in the alternatives

section further on in this analysis.

Type A Behaviour Pattern

Type A personality behavior patterns can be effective as well as ineffective, and from the

environment description at Amazon it seems as though some Type A’s could be included in the

employees at Amazon that enjoy their work experience and also those who do not, possibly a

reason for exiting the company.

The leadership of Bezos stems from characteristics of a type A characteristic, and this is

passed down to different levels of management. An issue with type A’s mixed in with an

environment that supports and pushes such a behavior pattern is mentioned by Johns & Saks

(2014) in that “either Type A people encounter more stressful situations than Type B people do,

or they perceive themselves as doing so” (Textbook, Page 466). This is a possible burden for

Amazon because if type A’s engulf themselves more in stressful situations then type B’s and they

perceive more situations as stressful then they may be, it will be tough to find ways to reduce

anxiety from stressors or learn ways to cope and stay with the company.

Another concern for Amazon and those with type A personalities as Johns & Saks (2014)

states are more susceptible to “elevated blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and modified blood
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chemistry” and “Frustrating, difficult, or competitive events are especially likely to prompt these

adverse reactions” (Textbook, Page 466). Mixed in the number of employees included in the high

turnover rate at Amazon would most likely include type A’s, and this could be costly for Amazon

with time missed for physician appointments and other such health related interruptions. The

article mentions employees who were frowned upon for missing time such as the employee who

“was criticized by her boss when she began taking time off to care for her critically ill father”

(Article, Page 3). Since a scenario like this was frowned upon, the same would apply for missing

time for one’s own health appointments and needs, leading to an uncomfortable work situation,

added stress and may have led to some leaving the company.

The article presented evidence of type A personalities that had left Amazon, perhaps

because of the aforementioned traits and circumstances of such a behavior pattern. It was

mentioned that “Many recruiters were hesitant to hire ex-employees (Amazon), believing they

had been trained to be aggressive. Amazon employees were also known to be belligerent and

work-fixated” (Article, Page 2). If they were in fact trained to be aggressive as the article seems

to present, then this is another issue Amazon has to deal with towards identifying best practice in

offering a valuable employee proposition for expanding. In addition to type A employees

reporting “heavier workloads, longer work hours, and more conflicting work demands” they also

possess “hostility and repressed anger” (Textbook, Page 466) leading to physiological reactions.

One former employee of Amazon that was a technology recruiter mentioned that he was

“still struggling with the workaholic nature from within and trying to control the urge to verbally

eviscerate any colleagues who did not perform up to his expectations” (Article, Page 3). This is

strong evidence from someone who recognizes their own personal type A behavior and the

effects it has on his health as well as others, and sees such treatment and work ethic as something
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he is struggling with. This example could be from someone who left Amazon for these very

reasons, whether it was induced physiological issues that led to his departure or a constant

struggled to cope in the Amazon environment. The employees that possess type A behavior but

still persevere could also end up being included in the high turnover statistic at Amazon, and

considering the direction Amazon wants to expand too, further loss of employees due to type A

wear and tear could be detrimental to a successful expansion in crucial times.

Negative Affectivity

Employees included in the high turnover at Amazon may perceive their experience at

Amazon as poor working conditions whether or not this deems to be true due to their negative

affectivity personality trait. Negative affectivity, explained by Johns & Saks (2014) is “the

propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a negative light” (Textbook,

Page 467). These employees further their initial stress with their focus on negativity and

preconceived feelings leaving them susceptible to consume stress situations more than those

without this type of neuroticism. This would be the type of stress that would be a lesser concern

for Amazon because these people will take in stress for any situation and even if there were

strategies to reduce stress in the workplace these people may always endeavor in ineffective

coping strategies with their fixed negative view of the world.

Stressors in Organizational Life

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Executive and Managerial Stressors

Role Overload

An issue within Amazon that is understood from reading the article is that every

employee is required to put in long hours, sometimes 80 or more hours which can produce stress.

Though the employees signed a contract that contained a policy to work long hours including

overtime, having to work 80 hours will have its negative effects, and can be a sign that there

needs to be more employees hired to lighten the load of others. An issue that contributes to the

problems at Amazon are that these employees are required to accept work that arrives at any time

of day and that the mindset should be work over pleasure, where work is projected by Bezos as

pleasure itself. If the employees were allowed to have time to relax and use this time as a way to

rejuvenate they may be able to put in a greater effort at work and the turnover rate may be

reduced. Management, not just at Amazon, entails a grey area of knowing when to sit work aside

and focus on one’s personal life explained by Johns & Saks (2014) “Management is an ongoing

process, and there are few signposts to signify that a task is complete and that rest and relaxation

are permitted” (Textbook, Page 467). Amazon should take note and reconsider their work over

personal life focus as personal activities can be beneficial to the employee also explained “Role

overload may provoke stress, at the same time preventing the manager from enjoying the

pleasures of life that can reduce stress” (Textbook, Page 467).

Heavy Responsibility

The responsibilities of the manager can induce stress as well, knowing the employees that

are employed under them and having to make difficult decisions sometimes to relinquish

employees of their duties or disciplining. At Amazon, it was mentioned that there was a review,
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companywide, “in which managers discussed their subordinates’ rankings” (Article, Page 3). The

article also mentioned that managers would “incriminate employees of other work groups at

Amazon and “chose team members who could be sacrificed in the review process” (Article, Page

3). Being a manager and having to protect your own employees by throwing others under the bus

or sacrificing your own to protect other members of your team would create an awkward feeling

in the office where members could feel like they could be next, and managers could feel stress

from the responsibility to do so, explained in the textbook as experiencing “guilt and tension”

(Textbook, Page 468).

Operative-Level Stressors

Poor Physical Working Conditions

Employees at Amazon who work in the warehouses are at risk of feeling stress, if the

requirement of working overtime is at the non-managerial level as well, this can be dangerous if

the employees are tired and operating forklifts as well as orders can be incorrect from lack of

rest.

Poor Job Design

Since the role of a warehouse employee usually includes monotonous work, these

employees could become distraught with their tasks especially if required to do them over

extensive length of shifts. Amazon shouldn’t just worry about stress at the managerial level but

also the blue collar warehouse level to reduce the stress across the organization, and prevent

burnout.
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Boundary Role Stressors, Burnout, and Emotional Labour

The feeling inside Amazon is that Jeff Bezos has requirements of his managers to act in a

certain way and an expectation of effort and a “strict emphasis on customer satisfaction” (Article,

Page 2). Customer satisfaction is important but Bezos sends his employees emails of feedback

with a single questions mark, which doesn’t help them resolve the issue and they become

stressed from extensive customer requests and limited help explained by Johns & Saks (2014) as

“Their expectations of being able to “Change the world” are badly frustrated when they

encounter the reality shock of troubled clients (who are often perceived as unappreciative) and

the inability of the organization to help them” which “takes a toll on cognitive and emotional

resources over time”.

Appendix B illustrates the burnout-engagement continuum where the first sign of burnout

is emotional exhaustion, from the time they start their shift to the time they go home, with

snowballing effects throughout the day. The employees can develop a cynicism attitude leading

to low self-efficacy. At Amazon it is clear the employees arrive at work, some stressed as soon as

they arrive, and the expectations throughout the day can lead to burnout leading to an exit from

the company. Without proper HR support this can develop further into low self-efficacy and

effect the employee’s production which would be highly visible in an environment such as

Amazons

Some General Stressors

Work Family Conflict

One of the main significant concerns at Amazon is the effect that requiring long hours

from their employees has on the employee and relationship with their family. The demands of the
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job at Amazon outweigh the resources provided, and in the current situation it may be fair since

the employees sign the policy of expectations, but that doesn’t mean the current setup is correct.

The employees reported that at Amazon they “were told that raising children could hinder their

chances of advancing their careers because child-rearing would prevent employees from putting

in long working hours” (Article, Page 3). People will usually always consider their family over

work, some may take longer than others to choose one over the other, so Amazon should see this

conflict as an issue to resolve. Amazon could be losing quality employees due to the

consideration of family consequences, the conflict explained by Johns & Saks (2014) “Especially

when couple with frequent moves or excessive travel, a heavy workload often provokes conflict

between the manager’s role as an organizational member and his or her role as a spouse or

parent” (Textbook, Page 467). Having a better understanding of family outside of work life

should be a consideration for Amazon as it seems to be a major issue for past and present

employees.

Job Insecurity and Change

From the company wide meetings, job insecurity can be feared where employees know of

past meetings where their coworkers were sacrificed. This isn’t the only example of job

insecurity as it was reported in the article that “Older employees were worried that they would be

replace by younger employees with fewer commitments and more time to focus on work”

(Article, Page 3). Older employees provide leadership and experience to younger employees,

Amazon is putting themselves in danger if they are favouring younger staff with less experience.
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Role Ambiguity

The roles assigned at Amazon seem to be less of the issue as there wasn’t mention of

employees with unclear responsibilities. Bezos provides strict instruction in his teams and this is

carried down from the managers to lower level employees. Few signs of role ambiguity is an

opportunity for Amazon which will be discussed later, and narrows the focus of resolving the

stress issue in the alternatives section.

Sexual Harassment & Bullying

Sexual harassment also wasn’t mentioned in the article, probably because of the fact that

Amazon doesn’t hire female employees. The non-hiring of females is a problem and another

issue to talk about, but the absence of sexual harassment is a positive sign since stress is not

induced by such behaviour and can help the HR team to focus on a plan of reducing stress and

supporting employees.

Bullying is a concern at Amazon, and appeared in the discussion of the article when

employees were engaged in sabotaging others in order to make themselves look better to the

organization or to secure their own positions. This needs an investigation and Amazon should

seek to identify those who engage in such behaviour so that all employees have a sense of

security and don’t have to manage these stressful situations on top of the already stressful work

conditions.

Constraints and Opportunities

The constraints at Amazon lay in the leadership of Jeff Bezos. His responses to the New

York Times article is that he doesn’t identify Amazon as having any issues. One of his responses

was explained in his memo as “anyone working in such an environment would be crazy to stay,
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and he ended his memo by saying, “hopefully you don’t recognize the company described [in

The New York Times article. Hopefully you’re having fun working with a bunch of brilliant

teammates, helping invent the future, and laughing along the way” (Article, Page 2). Bezos

doesn’t seem to realize any issues that The New York times reported, and the fact that he says

“anyone working in such an environment would be crazy to stay” proves he may be suffering

from delusion since his company has one of the highest turnover rates.

The opportunities at Amazon derive in the healthy financial status at Amazon, where

change in HR is needed for helping employees cope with stress, and there is time to do so before

the company wants to expand but can’t from a poor value proposition to potential employees

because of their fear of the work environment. Other opportunities are that job ambiguity is at a

minimal level if at all and that stress does not come from sexual harassment.
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Alternatives

Table 1.

List of Alternatives.

Decision Criteria
Alternatives Company
Stress Employee Productivity/
Cost Financial
Relieved Satisfaction Innovation
Success
1. No No No No Change (Short
No Change No Change
Change Change Change Term)
2. Oust Jeff No Possible Possible Possible
Risk
Bezos Change Change Change Change
3. Revamp Significant
Improved Improved Improved Improved
HR Department Costs
Minimal
No Minimal Minimal
4. Rewards Costs, No Change
Change Change Change
long term

Assess the Alternatives

Table 1 lists 4 alternatives that are evaluated upon decision criteria that factors in the

issue of stress in the work environment and how each alternative factors into the grand scheme of

Amazon and how it wants to expand. Cost was important as changing the dynamics in an

organization can prove to be costly. Stress relieved is important as a criteria because that is the

main question when determining if the alternative will be effective to resolve the main issue.

Employee satisfaction has to be considered because there are employees who are already

satisfied with the current situation. The company needs productivity and innovation to continue
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to be a growing company and is an important criteria to examine if there is a change as well as

financial success because the company is in a good position financially and you wouldn’t want to

risk the success of the company when deciding a correct alternative.

No Change

Amazon could continue on as they are, since they are in a positive financial position. This

could be risky though, as the main issue is that the company is attempting an aggressive

expansion and as Dick Finnegan mentioned, it is unproven how sustainable it would be to keep

eliminating the “deadwoods’. This would not relieve the stress of employees leading to

unsatisfied employees and low production/innovation. The company financial success may see

no change and keep stable, but this could be in the short term with the upcoming expansion, so

this alternative is not viable.

Oust Jeff Bezos

Upon initially reading the case, one may think that Jeff Bezos is the main issue. It is hard

to argue with the financial results he has produced along with the backing of Dick Costolo, Marc

Andreesen and Keith Rabois is hard to dispute. Some employees see the situation at Amazon as a

challenge to increase their professional skills and follow along with Bezos’ motto, so these are

signs that there is another focus to work on before a board would consider relinquishing Bezos of

his duties. Bezos was ranked as the top CEO in the Harvard Business Review in 2014, but then

was ranked 87th because of the consideration of social responsibility. It is not Bezos as a whole

that is the issue but it is techniques he pushes his management to enforce that is the problem.

The ousting of Bezos would not lead to a cost, but the financial success of the company

may suffer if another CEO was assigned. Stress relieved, employee satisfaction and
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productivity/innovation could have a possible change but that change could be for the better or

also the worst. The reasoning here is that there are some employees who stand by Bezos motto

and are happy with the work environment at Amazon because they see it beneficial to their

professional career. Changing the CEO could lead to these employees becoming distraught and

unmotivated which could produce poor results when expanding the company even if other

employees are satisfied from the change.

Revamp HR Department

This alternative I would deem as the best option to fix the issue at Amazon and produce

the best results to obtain new employees and sustain financial growth while expanding. Amazon

has done the right thing by including their strict demands into their policy agreement the

employees sign when becoming employed with the company. Jeff Bezos obviously has had

influence on this, and up until now it has worked. Though Bezos doesn’t recognize the issues

brought up by The New York times, he should focus on changing these policies to succeed at the

next level of expansion, because that is an area of unknown and in business what works in one

situation may not work in another. The cost of revamping the human resources department could

be expensive but it is crucial moving forward and being able to offer a valuable employee

proposition to continue gaining the top talent in the industry. If the human resources department

was able to solve the problem of employees working 80 hours and being more supportive of

family situations as well as providing training for learning how to cope with stress and the

factors that cause stress reactions then they will be successful in expanding and maintaining

talented employees. Realizing the level of stress required is important but it is crucial to not push

stress too far or reduce it completely.

AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 23

These factors would relieve stress, improve employee satisfaction since the change does

not affect those that can already cope with stress and result in an increase in

productivity/innovation, where employees could then have a clear mind with no anxiety.

Company financial success would most likely improve since all employees would be focused on

their tasks and those employees who are valuable just as much as others who can cope with

stress would be able to produce positive results. Financial success would also be stable moving

forward with the expansion without the risk of losing key employees in an important phase for

the company.

Rewards

A new reward system could require some minimal costs for Amazon as it exists as a

company. The stress the organization puts on its employees would not change as the strategy of

extensive hours and enforcement for producing results would still exist. The top performers

could continue being established as the top performers by collecting most of the rewards thus

being more satisfied and the employees who have trouble coping with the stress could create

more significant stress levels if they still receive no benefit and have a low self-efficacy from not

being rewarded for their efforts. Productivity/innovation could improve for both groups but once

the employees who cannot cope with stress come to the realization that they cannot achieve these

rewards, they may go back to before the rewards system was implemented where they suffered

low productivity and constant absenteeism. The chances of Amazon improving their financial

success close to none as the aforementioned explanation proves to fail in solving the main issue,

as a result this alternative is not the best option.

Action Plan
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Who?

Jeff Bezos needs to set a new strategy among his upper level management and through

communication among his human resources department.

What?

Bezos along with the aforementioned persons should develop a stress reduction or coping

support system that focuses on the reduction of extensive hours through job redesign. They

should also come up with a plan to incorporate stress management programs, provide an

opportunity for their employees to obtain a healthy lifestyle and offer social support.

Furthermore, there should be flexibility given for family related situations and support for

childcare or eldercare.

When?

Immediately. The action plan should begin development right away since the employee

turnover rate is already high and the company is moving closer to expanding its operations. If

they wait, they will have a new human resources plan that will be tough to measure with 50,000

employees, so it is best to implement and adjust the department and the new system before the

expansion.

Where?

At all locations that Amazon conducts its business, not just operation offices but

warehouse locations as well.

AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 25

How? + Implementation

The Human Resources department should focus on four areas for their employees

including job redesign, family friendly policies, wellness opportunities and stress management

programs. Each operation facility should be looked at to see each employee’s roles and how an

assistant or increased staffing can take over some of the roles to reduce the 80 hour workloads.

From there, seek out the first employees added to Amazon and view these hires as a necessity in

preparation for the expansion. Other hires will have to be added Human Resources employees to

take on this new employee stress reduction strategy, as it will be important to research what is

ineffective versus effective.

Next, the new HR department will have to redevelop their policies to be more flexible

and accepting of family related issues that arise. With the job redesign and reduced required

hours, there should be some time for such policies. Social support is important and can be done

through and inexpensive format such as “newsletters, such as Work & Family Life, that deal with

work-family issues” (Textbook, Page 480). These should be sent out every two weeks with fresh

content and curated by the Human Resources department. In the article there was mention of

employees being frowned upon for taking care of the ill or child care related issues so Amazon

should employ “flex-time, telecommuting, and job sharing as well as family leave policies that

allow time off for caring for infants, sick children, and aged dependents”. This can significantly

reduce stress among employees and shows a sense of understanding.

Where there is a heavy reflection of personality on how the employees are coping with

stress, there should be a stress management program with training on how to better manage

stress, reducing temporary stress reactions and focusing on long term solutions. The textbook has

some good suggestions such as “biofeedback training to control physiological processes, training
AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 26

in time management, and training to think more positively and realistically about sources of job

stress” (Textbook, Page 481). Biofeedback training can help all employees but requires a large

amount of time for being in a relaxed state to provide data and then follow up appointments so

this may not be the best cost wise but may help. Time management training can help the

employees organize their priorities to meet deadlines. Training to think more positively and

realistically about sources of job stress is a major component to a stress reduced work

environment and can be beneficial to the external thinkers and those included in the negative

affectivity type mentioned in the analysis. The HR department can focus on these three aspects to

manage stress, build a plan among the team and then offer these services at all locations, and

communicate these programs through email and orientation.

Even though the above mentioned ideas are beneficial in helping employees cope with

stress, there will still be stress included in the environment as stress is a good stimulant, so the

hope is finding that balance. Included in the balance to offset the existing stress, the HR

department can implement two ideas to reduce psychological, physiological, and behavioural

reactions to stress. The focus is a healthier lifestyle, first by offering health breaks throughout the

day shift and night shift, offering healthy snacks for a 15 minute break. This can minimize the

results mentioned in stress reactions section which were elevated blood pressure, reduced

immune function, effects on the endocrine system and behavior, and gastrointestinal issues. This

will also lower the number of days employees are absent and keep them satisfied.

The other idea to implement is to offer a gym membership to employees which can be

costly but can also hold some tax incentives for Amazon. If there is space at the operations

facility or home workouts are preferred, Amazon can bring in consultants to facilities to provide
AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 27

exercise program prescription. Confidential feedback forms should be required every 6 months

to measure the success of the program and to be able to adjust where needed.

These items to help employees cope with stress at Amazon can be expensive but the

result of not being able to have a high employee retention if the stressful work environment

persists could be significantly damaging to Amazon in an expansion or hopes to keep being

innovative in the future. Investing in the health of its employees should be an immediate priority

and not an overlooked option.

A contingency plan would be for the Board of Directors to consider the continuity of the

CEO if the HR plan is not enforced well enough and the financial success takes a turn for the

worse.

References

Flint, D. (2016). Decision Making [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: https://lms.unb.ca, D2L.
AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 28

Johns, G. & Saks, A.M. (2014). Organizational Behaviour: Understanding and managing life at

work: Toronto, Pearson Canada.

Tovian, S., Thorn, B., Coons, H., Labott, S., Burg, M., Surwit, R., & Bruns, D. (2016). Stress

effects on the body. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-body.aspx

Appendices
AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 29

Appendix A

Below is the diagram of “Model of a stress episode” that represents how personality can have a

variable effect on the levels of stress a person can handle, their reactions produced from such

stress, and the temporary or direct confrontation chosen depending on the personality of the

employee.

Appendices
AMAZON CASE ANALYSIS 30

Appendix B

Illustrated below is the wide array of stress sources that may be imposed on each level of

management.