Zappos: Profile of a Successful Company

Mission and Vision 

Zappos has demonstrated the importance of its mission and vision in many ways. To make employees and other stakeholders understand and adhere to the importance of the core values of the firm, the CEO of Zappos has always led by example. While he leads by example, the rest of the employees see in him what is required of them. A leader acts as a role model and the actions of a leader are always imitated by the employees. The CEO is passionate, determined, and open-minded and changes driven, all the features which are found in the core values of the firm. 

The mission and vision of the firm have also been communicated through recognition and reward of value-centric behaviors. The management of the company has set up a reward and recognition system for employees who are seen to live with the values of the firm. These are in the form of bonuses and recognition newsletters. When other employees see their co-worker rewarded for living the values of the firm, they will be motivated to live with the values so that they also get the reward next time. Through this, the management has been able to express and communicate to the employees the importance of the core values of the company. Also, Zappos educate and train all its employees through orientation so that they can understand the core values of the firm. Through orientation, employees will see the importance with which the management takes the issue of core values, and they will thus see the importance of living with it. The core values have also been communicated to customers by making them available and visible on its online portal website where customers can easily see it ( Feloni, 2015 ). This enables the company to express the importance of its mission and vision to its customers. 

Strategic Management Plan 

Zappos has developed specific management plans to help it achieve its strategic management goals. First, the company identifies what the problem is, and then focus on a plan to solve the problem. For example, the firm has had management issues previously. To solve this, the firm opted to eliminate managers from their hierarchy. The firm is transitioning to a new structure that will organize its employees into groups around work to be done. Employees are selected based on their skills set and grouped to work together. This is useful as it will facilitate teamwork while at the same time developing and promoting skills specialization. 

To achieve its strategic management plan, the firm first determines where they are as management. This has always been done by conducting external and internal audits to get understanding of the market, competitive environment and the competitors. The management then identifies what is important and worth achieving before setting a direction. This is done by analyzing the current business situation and focusing on the future. What the organization wants to achieve is also made specific. Setting specific goals is useful in facilitating the achievement of strategic management plans. The management makes goals very clear and specific hence focusing becomes easy. Once goals are set, specific people are assigned the responsibility of driving the firm towards that goal. This is done by determining who is responsible for driving the firm towards a given direction. A review of the management plan is then done to measure if the goal has been achieved. This method has been mentioned as one of the major contributing factors towards the success of Zappos. 

Organization Culture 

Zappos has consciously created and reinforced its culture among employees. The company decides what the culture needs to look like and then reinforce and support it through the human resource department. Zappos takes certain steps and actions in everyday activities that reinforce its culture of happiness and fun. During hiring, employees are taken into the culture of the organization through social interaction. The firm takes cultural fit with seriousness. During an interview, one must pass the cultural fit interview which contains 50%of the weight in hiring. 

The culture of the organization is influenced by hiring so that employees get into the organization knowing the culture and what is expected of them. When one is hired with Zappos, it is normal to spend the first three months manning phone calls center while learning how to respond to customers. Employees receive pay rise after skill building and capabilities. Payment is based on skills and new capabilities, and an employee is required to spend 80% of the time next to customer calls. Each manager is expected to spend 20% of the department time in team building activities. Teamwork culture is promoted from the managerial level. Also, managers do cultural performance evaluation to test how fit the employee is with the culture and provide feedback to the employee and advise them how to improve. This further helps build the culture in the positive direction. 

Decision Making 

The top management of Zappos plays a pivotal role in decision making within the firm. The management uses a rational decision-making model. This is a model which involves finding relevant data and facts before making a decision ( Rue, Byars & Ibrahim, 2012 ). This decision uses a step by step approach and relies on relevant data. This kind of decision is useful as it avoids the chances of making wrong decisions. Making decisions based on approved data can always yield a positive outcome. 

While the management is charged with decision making, it seeks the views and opinions of other employees before reaching a decision. The decision made is therefore participatory because employees also contribute their opinion to the decision. This is a key motivational factor to the employees because they are made to feel part of the organization by being involved in decision making. An example of a decision made by the management was the elimination of the hierarchy system and replacing it with holacracy. In this decision, the CEO aimed at moving away from the traditional style of leadership to a new style where no one and every one is a boss at the workplace ( Groth, 2015 ). This decision has been considered by many to be important in motivating and empowering employees. 

Principles of Ethics 

Zappos has an ethical code of conduct that governs its ethical behavior. To keep the integrity and maintain reputation, the firm adheres to all the laws and regulations that govern business ( Kopelman et al., 2012) . The firm has always operated within the required laws be it federal or state laws, and this has made it avoid lawsuits. The organization also engage in fair business dealings with customers and employees. It aims at treating others fairly and with respect. For example, employees of Zappos are always given fair treatment by the management. Any violation of the rights of employees is an offense at Zappos. Similarly, customers are also dealt with respect and fairness. The products offered to customers are always genuine and worth the value for which the customer has paid. 

The confidential information of the company is always restricted so that the personal information of customers are protected. Being entrusted by customers, employees and other business stakeholders with personal information, the firm remains ethical by ensuring they don’t violate the rights to privacy of these stakeholders. The company also remains honest in its bookkeeping by providing accurate and honest financial reporting for taxation. The firm does not engage in any profit understatement as a way to evade tax. All these ethical considerations have given Zappos reputation and integrity while at the same time protecting it from lawsuits and fines. 

Human Resource 

One of the core values of Zappos is to pursue growth and learning. Zappos encourages its employees to grow both professionally and personally. During hiring, employees are taken through training and orientation so that they can improve their skills. The training is mainly to improve the skills of employees. During the first few weeks of training, an employee still receives a salary. 

The elimination of hierarchy system and the introduction of holacracy is useful in helping employees develop through teamwork. Under holacracy, no one is a boss, and everyone is a boss ( Greenfield, 2015). Pe ople work together in teamwork, and this is useful in the development of employees. With holacracy, teams and individuals are organized into circles, and people have complete autonomy over daily operations. This has helped the firm achieve employee development. 

Conclusion 

Zappos has many unique elements in the way they run their business. While they still use old management styles, they seem to be changing the way management works. The firm has unique human resource policies that are useful in developing its employees. Also, its ethical code of conduct dictates the ethical constraints of the firm by ensuring it always remains ethical. This has helped the firm maintain a good reputation and keep credibility. The culture is unique making employees feel happy and identify themselves with the firm. The mission and vision of the firm are also important in helping the firm remain within its core values. Zappos has therefore managed to maintain all the six elements making it one of the best and most successful firms globally. 

References 

Feloni, R. (2015). Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh to employees: Embrace self-management or leave by the end of the month.  Business Insider Australia, http://www. businessinsider. com. au/tony-hsieh-self-management-memo-to-zappos-employees-2015-4 accessed on ,  18 (08), 2015. 

Greenfield, R. (2015). Holawhat? Meet The Alt-Management System Invented By A Programmer And Used By Zappos. 

Groth, A. (2015). Holacracy at Zappos: It’s either the future of management or a social experiment gone Rue, L., Byars, L., & Ibrahim, N. (2012).  Management: Skills & Application . McGraw-Hill Higher Education.awry. 

Kopelman, R. E., Chiou, A. Y., Lipani, L. J., & Zhu, Z. (2012). Interpreting the success of Zappos. com, Four Seasons, and Nordstrom: Customer centricity is but one ‐ third of the job.  Global Business and Organizational Excellence ,  31 (5), 20-35. 

Rue, L., Byars, L., & Ibrahim, N. (2012).  Management: Skills & Application . McGraw-Hill Higher Education.