Amazon’s Corporate Strategy Implementation

Introduction 

Generally, organizations evolve over time. They do this by adopting different strategies based on the market environment. Organizations that fail to develop and implement appropriate strategies may end up in trouble, particularly in the face of competition. There various stages of a corporation’s life cycle. The stages include start up stage, growth stage, maturity stage, decline stage, and death. The start-up stage is the most turbulent stage in a corporation’s life cycle, due to lack of capital or market acceptance. The growth stage begins when a corporation’s products or services gain traction in the market (Petch, 2016). It is characterized by revenue growth. At maturity stage, the corporation’s revenues continue to grow but at a declining rate. During the decline stage, the sales begin to fall considerably. This could be as a result of competitor introducing superior products in the market. Finally, a corporation could reach the death stage where the declining sales begin to put stress on its cash position. A corporation’s life can be extended by adopting a turnaround strategy. A turnaround strategy involves closing down unprofitable operations. Amazon is at the maturity stage. The company has grown to become a tech giant, as well as the leading online retailer globally. Although the company’s revenue is still growing, the rate of growth has reduced compared to when it was growing. 

Strategy Implementation 

Strategy implementation refers to the process of turning strategies and plans into actions for the purpose of accomplishing strategic goals and objectives. It addresses who, where, how, and when the desired goals and objectives will be attained. It is important to realize that strategy implementation is very critical to business success. There are various factors that should be considered during strategy implementation. The factors include relationships among different departments, effectiveness of executors, communication, implementation tactics, and consensus. Institutional relationships, particularly among departments play a significant role in strategy implementation. Functional competencies, resource allocation, coordination and decision making processes influence the success of a strategy implementation process. Effectiveness of executors also influences the outcome of strategy implementation. Executors normally include top management, middle management, and sub-ordinates ( Ahearne et al., 2014 ). The effectiveness of communication in the organization also influences strategy implementation. Communication is essential for communicating the vision and mission of the organization, as well as the objectives of the strategy. Implementation tactics also influence the success of strategy implementation. The firms also need to achieve consensus both within and without the organization. Consensus ensures that the implementation process receives maximum support from all the stakeholders. Amazon has implemented the cost leadership strategy. The organization involves all the stakeholders in the process of implementation. The company focuses on enhancing convenience and improving operational efficiency. This has enabled the company to reduce delivery time and charge competitive prices on its products and services. 

Strategy-Culture Compatibility 

An organization’s culture influences the success of a strategy being implemented. Generally, an organization’s culture involves the shared beliefs, values, and norms within an organization. It is important to realize that organizational culture sets the foundation for strategy. Thus, a strategy must fully align with the organizational culture for it to develop and be implemented successfully ( Lofgren, 2018) . Organizations should establish initiatives and goals that will help to create an organizational culture that embraces the organizational strategy being implemented. This implies that culture follows strategy. For instance, Amazon’s corporate strategy focuses on responding to the demands of the e-commerce market. As such, the company has established a culture that pushes employees to go beyond the traditional limits and conventions. The culture ensures that the employees continuously develop bright ideas and solutions aimed at achieving the strategic goals and objectives. 

Six-Sigma 

Six sigma refers to a set of techniques and tools for improving processes. Companies desire to implement six sigma because it improves business process capabilities hence increasing operational efficiency. Six sigma can be implemented by organizations in every industry. Amazon has adopted several six sigma concepts. For instance, the company has made a deliberate effort to recruit top talent. It has also tied its central focus on streamlining operations into its daily practices. 

References 

Ahearne, M., Lam, S. K., & Kraus, F. (2014). Performance impact of middle managers' adaptive strategy implementation: The role of social capital. Strategic Management Journal , 35 (1), 68-87. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/smj.2086 

Lofgren, J. (February 28, 2018). How To Immediately Improve Your Strategic Plan. Forbes , https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/02/28/how-to-immediately-improve-your-strategic-plan/#657cf7e625c2 

Petch, N. (February, 29, 2016). The Five Stages Of Your Business Lifecycle: Which Phase Are You In? Entrepreneur , https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/271290