ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad

Academic Year 2019-21

Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

Semester-IV
Course Faculty- Dr. Dwarakanath Siriguppi

Project Report
On
“Corporate Social Responsibility at AMAZON”

Group-8
Student Name Enrolment ID
Darshana Jhajharia 19BSPHH01C0312
Damandeep Kour 19BSPHH01C0309
Dibyajyoti Sahoo 19BSPHH01C0351
Ijzaz Rohan 19BSPHH01C0436
Mithula Madali 19BSPHH01C0627

DECLARATION:
We declare that this assignment is our work and we have not copied it from nay other student’s
work or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made.

For course instructor’s use only:

Marks Obtained: Max. Marks: ……………………

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sl. No Topic Page No

1. Organizational Governance 3
2. Human Rights 4
3. Labour Practises 7
4. The Environment 9
5. Fair Operating Practises 10
6. Consumer Issues 12
7. Community Involvement and Development 14
8. Conclusion 16

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 1. ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE

As stated by Amazon; "A central proportion of our prosperity will be the investor esteem we
make over the long haul”. From the absolute starting point, Amazon’s emphasis has been on
the long haul and thus, they may settle on choices and gauge trade-offs uniquely in contrast to
some different organizations. As needs be, it is important for their prior customers, their
shareholders to understand the fundamental management and dynamic decision making
approach to ensure that it is consistent with their investment philosophy.
Amazon will proceed further in:

• Focusing perseveringly on its clients.

• Settle on striking speculation decisions in light of long-term leadership considerations
rather than short-term profitability considerations. There is more innovation ahead of
us than behind us, and to that end, Amazon is committed in extending their leadership
in e-commerce in a way that benefits customers and apparently investors as nothing
can't be done without the other. Hence, out of such dynamic decisions some of these
bold investments will pay off, others will not, however company will have taken in a
significant exercise in one or the other case.
• Amazon ensures to Focus on cash. In case, at the point when compelled to pick between
advancing the presence of our GAAP bookkeeping and amplifying the current
estimation of future incomes, we'll take the cash incomes.
• Work hard to spend wisely and maintain our lean culture. We comprehend the
significance of consistently fortifying a cost-cognizant culture.
• Focus on hiring and retaining versatile and talented employees, and weight their
compensation to significant stock ownership rather than cash. We know our success
will be largely affected by our ability to attract and retain a motivated employee base,
each of whom must think like, and therefore must actually be, an owner.

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 • Amazon believes that the long-term interests of shareholders are tightly linked to the
interests of their customers. If we do their jobs right, today's customers will buy more
tomorrow, they will add more customers in the process, and it will all add up to more
cash flow and more long-term value for their shareholders.

2. HUMAN RIGHTS
According to Amazon:
Amazon is committed to ensuring the people, workers, and communities that support their
entire value chain are treated with fundamental dignity and respect. They strive to ensure that
the products and services that they provide are produced in a way that respects human rights.
While it is the duty of governments to protect human rights, Amazon recognizes their
responsibility to respect and uphold internationally recognized human rights through the ethical
treatment of their workforce and those within their value chain. Guided by the United Nations
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Amazon commits to embedding respect
for human rights throughout their business. They continuously evaluate their operations and
value chain to identify, assess, and address salient human rights risks; engage key stakeholders;
and prioritize key areas where they have the greatest opportunity to have a positive impact on
workers and communities. Their approach on human rights is informed by international
standards; they respect and support the Core Conventions of the International Labour
Organization (ILO), the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and
the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.They are committed to investing in their
employees, the workers who make their products, and the communities in which they operate.
These principles outline their approach to human rights across all aspects of their company.

In Reality:

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Amazon has been constantly accused of violating multiple Human rights; despite of making
billions in profit. Some of the violation of human rights Amazon has been accused of are:
Amazon risks the health of workers in US:
During the pandemic, nearly 20,000 Amazon employees have contracted COVID-19.
Throughout the pandemic, warehouse workers have voiced concerns of Amazon not
taking enough precautions, which was supported by lawmakers when they made a
surprise visit to an Amazon facility. Additionally, injury records were analyzed by
Reveal at the Center for Investigative Reporting demonstrate that injury rates within
Amazon warehouses are more than DOUBLE the industry average; this is attributed in
part to high production quotas.
Amazon risks the health of workers in their supply chain:
While Amazon does have a Restricted Substances List (RSL) of restricted or banned
chemicals to protect consumers of some products from toxic exposures, it does not
apply to electronics or apparel. Amazon does not share which harmful chemicals are
and are not allowed in their electronics or apparel supply chain; this means workers and
consumers could be exposed to harmful chemicals with potentially lasting negative
health consequences. Amazon does not have an MRSL (a list of chemicals that are
restricted or banned from the manufacturing process) for any product and is therefore
failing to protect workers.
Amazon is STILL selling dangerous electronics and electronics accessories to
consumers:
CNN reports: “Since 2016, at least 1,500 reviews, covering more than 70 items, have
described products exploding, catching on fire, smoking, melting, causing electrical
malfunctions or otherwise posing risks, according to an analysis of Amazon Basics
electronics and appliances listed on its website.
Amazon tries to silence workers:
The National Labor Relations Board is accusing Amazon of illegally firing a
warehouse worker who spoke out for safer working conditions. During the pandemic,
Amazon has fired several other employees who were organizing for safer working
condition. All workers have the right to a safe and healthy workplace – silencing and
firing workers only makes the problem worse.
In some Amazon Ring call centers, workers have ‘no choice ’but to sleep at
work:
NBC News reported that in the Philippines, after speaking up about their terrible
working conditions, such as having no choice but to sleep at work, the conditions got
even worse afterwards. During the pandemic, requests to work from home have been
denied, resulting in workers coming to the call center with flu-like symptoms. "People
are scared because we don't know who has it and who doesn't have it," an Amazon

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Ring contractor said. "But people don't have a choice, because it's either you will be
infected or you will die of starvation.”
Amazon sells clothing from a factory blacklisted for its poor safety conditions:
The Wall Street Journal found that sellers on Amazon have been listing clothing from
a factory so dangerous that most other major retailers will not buy from it. This
factory has no fire alarms and doors that lock from the outside to keep workers
trapped inside.
Facilitates the human rights crisis on the US-Mexico border:
The Guardian reported that Amazon Web Services hosts the Department of Homeland
Security's databases which allows "the department and its agencies to track and
apprehend immigrants.” Amazon also works with Palantir, which has over $150
million in contracts with US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE).
Fights unions, resisting workers' right to freedom of association:
Amazon is known for pushing back against unionization. Amazon reportedly has
Whole Foods managers watch anti-union training videos and has fired numerous
workers who were organizing their coworkers during the time of firing. And Amazon
doesn’t stop there – Vice reported that, along with surveilling worker and union
organizing, “Amazon uses social media to track environmental activism and social
movements in Europe—including Greenpeace and Fridays For Future, environmental
activist Greta Thunberg's global climate strike movement—and perceives such groups
as a threat to its operations.”
Amazon’s Ring allows police to access your video footage:
Forbes reports that you can opt out of allowing police access to your data, but “they
can request the footage directly from Amazon if it has been uploaded to the cloud and
the request is sent within 60 days of recording - even if you deny police access to that
footage.” Though a similar video doorbell service, Nest, has stated that it would not
share footage directly with police, experts do have privacy concerns about both
services.
Amazon is listening to your private conversations:
Amazon hires thousands of people to listen to your conversations. CBS
reported individuals that are hired to review recordings from Alexa and noted that
sometimes they review private conversations.

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3. LABOUR PRACTISES

Amazon has faced various critiques over the quality of its working environments and
treatment of its workforce. A group known as The FACE (Former and Current Employees)
of Amazon has regularly used social media to disseminate criticism of the company and
allegations regarding negative work conditions.
Opposition to trade unions:
Amazon has opposed efforts by trade unions to organize in both the United States and
the United Kingdom. In 2001, 850 employees in Seattle were laid off by Amazon.com
after a unionization drive. The Washington Alliance of Technological Workers (Wash
Tech) accused the company of violating union laws and claimed Amazon managers
subjected them to intimidation and heavy propaganda.
Warehouse conditions in the US:
In September 2011, Allentown, Pennsylvania's Morning Call interviewed 20 past and
present employees at Amazon's Breinigsville warehouse, all but one of whom criticized
the company's warehouse conditions and employment practice. Specific investigatory
concerns were: heat so extreme it required the regular posting of ambulances to take
away workers who passed out, strenuous workloads in that heat, and first-person reports
of summary terminations for health conditions such as breast cancer.
Working conditions for delivery drivers:

A September 11, 2018 article exposed poor working conditions for Amazon's delivery
drivers, describing a variety of alleged abuses, including missing wages, lack of
overtime pay, favouritism, intimidation, and time constraints that forced them to drive
at dangerous speeds and skip meals and bathroom breaks.

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In June 2020, subcontracted delivery drivers based in Canada launched a class action lawsuit
against Amazon Canada, claiming that $200 million in unpaid wages were owed to them
because Amazon retained "effective control" over their work and should therefore legally be
considered their employer.

2018 Workers strike:

Spanish unions have called on 1,000 Amazon workers to strike starting on July 10 and
expected to last through Amazon Prime Day, with calls for the strike to be seen all
across the world, and for customers to follow suit.[77] The strike based in Spain will be
timed around Prime Day, with a representative of the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO)
union said complaints were based on wage cuts, working conditions, and restrictions
on time off. However, the other European countries have other raised grievances, with
Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, and France all being represented and shown
below-
• Poland workers claim an anti-strike law has made it impossible to negotiate a
better salary.
• German workers have been fighting for over two years for a collective
bargaining agreement.
• Italian workers have highlighted claims that Amazon routinely hires contract
workers who aren't required to have benefits.
• Spanish Amazon leaders have unilaterally imposed working conditions when
previous collective bargaining agreements had expired.
• English and French Amazon leaders have imposed demanding measures on time
and efficiency leading to workers expected to process 300 items per hour and
pee in bottles, with penalties being given for sick days and pregnancies.

Protest over coronavirus policies:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon warehouses in the United States raised their
hourly wages by $2 and announced that employees testing positive would be entitled to
14 days of paid leave. After a company statement that two employees at the Staten
Island warehouse had been infected, workers there claimed the actual number was 10.
On March 30, 2020, between 15 and 60 people attended a walkout to demand that
Amazon temporarily close the warehouse in order to disinfect it. The main organizer,
Chris Smalls, was subsequently fired, allegedly for violating social distancing norms
and guidelines.

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 4. THE ENVIRONMENT

Amazon claims on their website:

“We believe we have an obligation to stop climate change, and reducing carbon emission to
zero will have a big impact. We want to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, a decade
ahead of the Paris Climate Agreement, and we are on a path to powering our operations with
100% renewable energy by 2025 as part of our goal to reach net-zero carbon.”

The company further cited its purchase order of 100,000 fully electric delivery vehicles; a $100
million investment in nature-based climate solutions and reforestation projects; and sustainable
packaging programs, such as the Ship in Own Container option, as examples of positive
environmental efforts.

Amazon in reality:

The massive volume of packaging materials and shipping waste created by online shopping
takes a toll on our environment. As arguably the world's most visible and successful e-tailer,
U.S.-based Amazon sits at the center of the controversy.
Environmental and consumer activists have taken on the behemoth company, and even its own
employees have publicly -- and in defiance of their executives -- spoken out against the
practices that they said contribute to Amazon's environmental impact.
The advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice has repeatedly raised alarms about
the company, starting in 2019 and continuing into 2020. The group has charged that Amazon
is not taking strong enough action to fight climate change. Most recently, the group published
statements from more than 350 concerned Amazon employees, who signed their names and
job titles despite the company's prohibition on publicly commenting on internal business
practices without approval.

Others have also taken aim at Amazon, targeting various environment-related issues, from the
volume of packaging and traffic-related emissions the company generates to the sale of

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products containing environmentally dangerous products, such as mercury, that happen via its
online retail platform.
In reality, Amazon's environmental
impact is hard to measure, experts said
Several experts said it's impossible to
determine whether the environment is
better or worse off because of Amazon.
After all, consumers have had, and still
have, plenty of options when it comes to
their purchase power and would still buy
plenty of merchandise even if Amazon
hadn’t come along.

5. FAIR OPERATING PRACTISES

Amazon claims on their website:

“Amazon is strongly committed to
conducting our business in a lawful and
ethical manner, including engaging with
suppliers who respect human rights,
provide safe and inclusive workplaces, and
promote a sustainable future.”

In reality:
Amazon.com has drawn criticism from multiple sources, where the ethics of certain business
practices and policies have been drawn into question. Amazon has also faced numerous
allegations of anti-competitive or monopolistic behavior. Such as:
One-click patent:
The company has been controversial for its alleged use of patents as a competitive
hindrance. The "1-Click patent"is perhaps the best-known example of this. Amazon's
use of the one-click patent against competitor Barnes & Noble's website led the Free
Software Foundation to announce a boycott of Amazon in December 1999. The boycott
was discontinued in September 2002.
BookSurge:
In March 2008, sales representatives of Amazon's BookSurge division started
contacting publishers of print on demand titles to inform them that for Amazon to
continue selling their POD-produced books, they were required to sign agreements with

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Amazon's own BookSurge POD company.
Publishers were told that eventually, the only POD
titles that Amazon would be selling would be
those printed by their own company, BookSurge.
Some publishers felt that this ultimatum amounted
to monopoly abuse, and questioned the ethics of
the move and its legality under anti-trust law.
Price control:
Following the announcement of the Apple iPad on January 27, 2010, Macmillan
Publishers entered into a pricing dispute with Amazon.com regarding electronic
publications. Macmillan asked Amazon to accept a new pricing scheme it had worked
out with Apple, raising the price of e-books from $9.99 to $15. Amazon responded by
pulling all Macmillan books, both electronic and physical, from their website (although
affiliates selling the books were still listed). On January 31, 2010, Amazon
"capitulated" to Macmillan's pricing request.
Tax avoidance in the US:
Amazon has been criticized for its refusal to collect sales taxes from customers in states
in which it does not have a physical presence, thus giving it a comparative advantage
over brick-and-mortar retailers. Hypothetically, some such customers should pay the
equivalent amount in use tax directly to their state; however, few customers do so.
Tax avoidance in Japan:
In July 2009, the Tokyo National Tax Agency ruled that Amazon had to pay 14 billion
yen ($119 million) in back corporate taxes, despite its operations in the country being
formally represented by the U.S.-based subsidiary Amazon Int'l Sales, Inc. Amazon
refused to acknowledge the tax debt, claiming Japan had no jurisdiction on Amazon,
due to Amazon not having a physical presence or registered company in Japan.
Amazon's tax affairs were also being investigated in China, Germany, Poland, South
Korea, France, Japan, Ireland, Singapore, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Effects on small businesses:
Due to its size and economies of scale, Amazon is able to out price local small scale
shop keepers. Stacy Mitchell and Olivia Lavecchia, researchers with the Institute for
local self-reliance argue that this has caused most local small scale shop keepers to
close down in a number of cities and towns in the United States. Additionally, a
merchant cannot have an item in the warehouse available to sell prior to Amazon if they
choose to list it as well; monopolizing the product and price. Many a times fraudulent
charges have been made on the company banking and financial channels without
approval; since Amazon prides itself on keeping all financial data permanently on file
in their database. If they charge your account they will not refund the money back to

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the account they took it from, they will only provide an Amazon credit. Additionally, there is
not any merchant customer support which at times needs to be handled in real-time.

6. CONSUMER ISSUES
Despite a lot of backlash Amazon continues to exploit consumers on various grounds:
Differential pricing:
In September 2000, price discrimination potentially violating the Robinson–Patman
Act was found on amazon.com. Amazon offered to sell a buyer a DVD for one price,
but after the buyer deleted cookies that identified him as a regular Amazon customer,
he was offered the same DVD for a substantially lower price. Jeff Bezos subsequently
apologized for the differential pricing
and vowed that Amazon "never will
test prices based on customer
demographics". The company said the
difference was the result of a random
price test and offered to refund
customers who paid the higher prices.
Amazon had also experimented with
random price tests in 2000 as
customers comparing prices on a
"bargain-hunter" website discovered
that Amazon was randomly offering
the Diamond Rio MP3 player for
substantially less than its regular price.

Kindle Content Removal:

The New York Times on July
2009 reported that amazon.com
deleted all customer copies of
certain books published in
violation of US copyright laws by
Mobile Reference, including the
books Nineteen Eighty-Four and
Animal Farm from users' Kindles.
This action was taken with neither
prior notification nor specific
permission of individual users.
Customers did receive a refund of
the purchase price and, later, an
offer of an Amazon gift certificate

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or a check for $30. The e-books were initially published by Mobile Reference on
Mobipocket for sale in Australia only—owing to those works having fallen into public
domain in Australia. However, when the e-books were automatically uploaded to
Amazon by MobiPocket, the territorial restriction was not honored, and the book was
allowed to be sold in territories such as the United States where the copyright term had
not expired.
Sale of wikipedia material as books:
The German-speaking press and blogosphere have criticized Amazon for selling tens
of thousands of print on demand books which reproduced Wikipedia articles.These
books are produced by an American company named Books LLC and by three
Mauritian subsidiaries of the German publisher VDM: Alpha script Publishing,
Betascript Publishing and Fastbook Publishing. Amazon did not acknowledge this issue
raised on blogs and some customers that have asked the company to withdraw all these
titles from its catalog. The collaboration between amazon.com and VDM Publishing
was started in 2007.
Sale of Wikipedia’s material as books:
The German-speaking press and blogosphere have criticized Amazon for selling tens
of thousands of prints on demand books which reproduced Wikipedia articles. These
books are produced by an American company named Books LLC and by three
Mauritian subsidiaries of the German publisher VDM: Alphascript Publishing,
Betascript Publishing and Fastbook Publishing. Amazon did not acknowledge this issue
raised on blogs and some customers that have asked the company to withdraw all these
titles from its catalog. Collaboration between amazon.com and VDM Publishing was
started in 2007.

Product Substitution:

The British consumer organization Which? has published information about Amazon
Marketplace in the UK which indicates that when small electrical products are sold on
Marketplace the delivered product may not be the same as the product advertised.A test
purchase is described in which eleven orders were placed with different suppliers via a
single listing. Only one of the suppliers delivered the actual product displayed, two
others delivered different, but functionally equivalent products and eight suppliers
delivered products that were quite different and not capable of safely providing the
advertised function. The Which? article also describes how the customer reviews of the
product are actually a mix of reviews for all of the different products delivered, with no
way to identify which product comes from which supplier. This issue was raised in
evidence to the UK Parliament in connection with a new Consumer Rights bill.

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 7. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Amazon on its website:
We make contributions to the community in many ways – through hundreds of local and
national grants made every year across the UK, through thousands of employee volunteer
hours, and through the donation of products from our inventory to local non-profits.

Amazon Fulfilment’s primary giving is focused on our neighbour in immediate need,

particularly families fighting homelessness and hunger. We are also focused on providing
resources to the next generation of innovators and helping ignite a lifelong passion for science,
technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Lastly, we listen to our fulfilment employees ’
suggestions for local causes near and dear to their hearts and give to organizations in their
local communities that have impact.”
Amazon has launched various initiatives to try to give back to community in various ways.
Few of those initiatives are:
Stem Education:
Amazon Future Engineer provides computer
science opportunities from childhood to career.
It’s designed to inspire, educate, and prepare
children and young adults from underserved
communities to pursue computer science.
Reducing Homelessness:

Their focus on “Right Now Needs” includes supporting families on their journey out of
homelessness. Amazon has committed over $130 million to our nonprofit partners who
are working to end homelessness.
Combating Hunger:
The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the need for hunger-relief efforts, and Amazon is
committed to playing our part by donating delivery services to help food banks and
nonprofits get meals to the doorsteps of people in need.
Disaster Relief:
Amazon has provided logistics to nonprofits
responding to natural disasters. Plus, Amazon
and its customers have donated more than $17
million in cash and products to support people
impacted by 37 natural disasters.

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Amazon Smile:
AmazonSmile is a way for customers to
support their favorite charitable organization
every time they shop with Amazon. The
program raised more than $215 million
globally for charities as of September 2020.

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 8. CONCLUSION

“If Google is a vast ocean of knowledge, Facebook is a vast ocean of relation,

then Amazon is a vast ocean of getting things by touchpoint.”
Amazon has developed an unprecedented customer support only in the span of last 15 years
with its unique business model of online business. This not only allows the company to have
an cutting-edge advantages over the competitors but also makes it a cost leader in its business.
It overpasses all the supply chains to reach to the consumers through its innovative e-commerce
approach. This allows the company to have a control over its distribution channel and so is able
to cut down the prices of its products. The company hires the distribution channels and
warehouses in the areas where the cost of dumping inventory is extremely low and forward it’s
saving to the consumers in the form of the competitive prices. Meanwhile, Amazon needs to
keep focusing on the research and development of better and more innovative way of serving
to the customer, which will not only will maintain its market leadership in the online business
but also allows it to be all time favorite to millions of its loyal customers around the globe.

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