Organisational Behaviour
1. Understanding the External Environment:
What is going on in the external environment that led to:The dominance of Amazon & companies such as this.
Working conditions – are these conditions new or were other firms using such practices before?
How do different generations have a different experience of the workplace?
Why is unionisation an issue at Amazon?
2. Amazon and Ethics:
Is the treatment of Amazon employees ethically justified according to a numerous ethical perspectives?
Apply an ethical perspective to Amazon’s practice e.g. utilitarianism, Rawl’s theory of Justice, the 3 Font test (Aquinas)
What is Amazon’s approach to CSR?
How does it link to mission/vision statement?
3. Amazon’s Organisational Culture:
Apply Schein’s 3 levels to the information contained in the case study.
What subcultures are present within Amazon and which is dominant?
In which ways are Hofstede’s national cultural dimensions relevant to the treatment and behaviour of individuals at Amazon?
4. Informal Groups & The Hawthorne Experiments:
Comparisons between 1920 work environment with Theory X style managers and Amazon;
Comparisons between informal groups at Amazon & at Hawthorne e.g. internet discussion forms and the Somali community in Minnesota.
The external environment – Looking at paternalistic management structures in contemporary society.
5. Motivation:
In relation to Amazon you could discuss the following themes:
Apply motivational theories to Amazon such as Maslow, Dan Pink, and Herzberg to Amazon to critically examine to what extent demotivation and unhappiness is an issue on the shop floor.
Discuss how motivation and retention relates to Amazon and the wider gig economy;
Presenteeism, productivity, employee engagement, and motivation.
Structural changes in the labour market, globalisation, and motivation.
Motivation with respect to individual personalities and group identities.
The performance management case study on Clydesdale Bank could provide some ideas about how to address some of the issues at Amazon.
6. Teamwork, Identity, Conflict.
An excellent to show understanding of theory to combine themes together in relation to the case study.
For example; Amazon has an issue with workplace happiness – the case study suggests conflict between employees and management. Therefore you could consider how the construction of groups and teams could be improved in order to reduce conflict or to promote functional conflict as opposed to functional.
However, you should take care when making such suggestions, it is unlikely that such measures will have a profound effect when basic issues are unresolved such as overwork, pay and reward schemes.
