final project

Aaron Rodriguez

Ian Huang

Kelly Nguyen

Pedro Toribio

Final Project - Group 4

Answer to the following questions.                                                                                                   7 Points Each

Due Date: 10th May, 2018 (Thursday)

Jeff Bezos is the Force of Nature behind Amazon

Case Discussion Notes:

§  Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon. Bezos started Amazon a few years after earning a degree in computer science and electrical engineering. Today, Amazon is a retailing giant with more than 20 million products and revenues of $48 billion. It is also a company built on 14 leadership principles that reflect the founder’s character.

§  Bezos requires an empty chair to be placed at the table at company meetings to represent the customer.  He refers to this as the invisible presence everyone must be most concerned about. He also has a publicly available email address and answers it directly himself.  These behaviors demonstrate his passion for pleasing customers.

§  Bezos requires decisions be based on data.  At meetings, managers must evaluate their performance based strictly on data raised to the company’s 500 quantitative goals, 80 percent of which are directed toward customer satisfaction.

§  Bezos does not shy away from confrontation. Bezos expects his employees to argue their positions on the assumption that the best ideas will become evident. According to Bezos, “Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion.” The employees who succeed at Amazon are the ones who actually thrive on conflict.

§  Bezos is also frugal.  The company was not profitable for many years after start-up. Many observers thought it would never survive. Survival required limiting any expenses not connected to making customers happy.  Amazon gives employees desks made out of doors and charges them for snacks. Bezos sees these savings as ways to continue pleasing customers with the best prices.

§  Bezos is notoriously demanding. Employees who don’t live up to his high standards have been known to be on the receiving end of a Bezos very blunt, sometimes rude, verbal assessment of their actions. The demands he places on others inspires them to continually improve, innovate, and make a difference.

§  Under Bezos’ leadership, Amazon has continued to grow and eat into one product category after another. Amazon seems to land in the University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction index at the top each year.

1.       – Which theory of leadership do you think best describes Jeff Bezos’ contribution to Amazon’s performance? Describe how it applies.

I believe that the behavioral theory of leadership best describes Jeff Bezos’ contribution to Amazon’s performance. Jeff Bezos from the get go put his main focus on customer satisfaction and put go through great lengths to make that happen. He make sures that his team understand and aligns themselves to the customer satisfaction focus. Jeff Bezos demonstrates a strong personality while not allowing his focus to shift, continued to push his company to achieve and maintain Amazon’s amazing customer satisfactory. Bezos does not avoid conflict but rather listens to his team's’ opposing ideas allowing them to argue their case. Bezos has the confidence and resolve which allows him to get great ideas from his team with this approach. This is why the behavioral approach best describes the strength of Jeff Bezos’ leadership.

2.       – Does Bezos create an environment in which you could contribute effectively as a manager? Explain.

Jeff Bezos has a very strong and tough personality and is very strict on his team. These are very good attributes for a manager to succeed. However, we must also consider the employees’ position. It is important that leaders are not too tough on his followers, this will help with employee retention. It is necessary to balance that customer and employee retention which Bezos is leaning towards the customers side. So, even though Bezos is very successful. I believe he could be potentially be a better manager if he balanced the two mentioned factors better.     

3.       Do you think Bezos is a better leader or a better manager? Explain

Bezos is a better leader because he is team and goal oriented opposed to being self oriented. Bezos main focus is not on the maximization of profits but on customer satisfaction. Customers are always but first at Amazon. He wants to be able to help everyone personally and looks for the best ideas in order to help the company serve its customers better.

 

Motivation at United Way

Case Discussion Notes:   

§  The United Way has been around since 1987 working to help charities raise funds, provide grants, and coordinate emergency relief services. It is one of the largest non-profit agencies in the U.S. with over 1300 local organizations across 48 countries.

§  Recently donations to charitable organizations has decreased significantly in what has become a difficult climate. How does a manager motivate employees and volunteers during tough economic environments?

§  Motivation becomes even more challenging when financial incentives are out of the question. The organization found it needed to identify ways to motivate employees beyond traditional monetary incentives. What the organization found out was that training employees and volunteers could be a key method of enriching employee lives. Training not only keeps people associated with the organization excited about their roles within the United Way but also facilitates ongoing organizational performance. Training typically gets cut in down economic times, but the United Way takes a different approach to step up its training efforts.

§  United Way decided to treat its training programs like a brand and prepared a 34-page catalog identifying training opportunities for every employee in the organization.

§  Feedback from employee participants in training sessions provides continuous improvement. The organization can gather data on what training did and did not work and enhance individuals’ performance. The organization also collects data on what training and development areas employees are looking for, which in turn enhances motivation as employee needs are met.

§  The organization most definitely has seen a boost internally as the organization has experienced increased efficiencies and more teamwork with improved communication.

1.       Which theory of motivation do you think is most applicable in describing the United Way’s use of training? Explain.

The theory of motivation at play here is the maslow's hierarchy of needs. This is useful because volunteers have a desire to maximize whatever potential an they possesses and that is why they got into the United Way company. They work here to help others and that is how they will maximize their potential.

2.       With a very limited budget, what other non monetary incentives can you identify to maintain employees’ commitment to the United Way?

Non-monetary incentives that United Way can use is recognition of some kind or perhaps a reward like a day off work or something that doesn't cost the company some money. They could recognize them with a social media post or post on their website highlighting people each month for their hard work and dedication to the company.

3.       Thinking solely about the United Way’s volunteers, how would you motivate them, given that they are unpaid but still have a strong dedication to the work they do?

The way in which United way can motivate its volunteers is to show appreciation to them constantly. They can provide meals to them for when they provide break times as well as provide other giveaways and goodies for the end of their shift as a thank you such as keychains, mini airplane toys etc.