Exploring Amazon's Current Operation Performance & Challenges: A 4V Model Analysis - Essay Sample

Introduction

Amazon prides itself as one of the prominent retailers in the world. For two decades, Amazon has been able to establish offices in various states, including the United Kingdom and the United States (Roy, and Charaborti 2017). With the vast categories of commodities Amazon offers to its customers, they have been able to get satisfied according to the views they produce to the website. Additionally, its increasing client base would dictate the amount of popularity the firm occupies. Amazon has consequently met its client's demands by ensuring items are delivered quickly and appropriately as they are ordered. This article emphasizes on the operation, which takes place in Amazon found in the United States. As such, we discuss the current state of service, incorporating the transformation and 4V model. Secondly, key operation performances are highlighted. Thirdly, problems found within the operation are also discussed with ways in which they can be improved. The article mentions about the ordering and delivering of goods happens on the site and how it affects the company's progress.

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Background Information About Amazon

Amazon is an American multinational company based in the Seattle United States. Since its establishment, it has been ranked among the top four best companies in the world. Having been in the market for many years, Amazon has changed its mission and vision depending on its customers. Initially, Amazon was one of the largest booksellers in the world (Castelli et al. 2017). Currently, Amazon is one of the e-commerce titans also participating in logistics, media, and hardware and data storage. Mainly, the company is prominent for the disruption of entrenched industries by innovations and mass-scale. When Jeff Bezos established Amazon, he had a mission of being the most significant company to be selected by individuals and have a customer's-centrism (Castelli et al. 2017).

Current State of the Operation Using The Transformational And 4v Model

Transformational Model for Amazon

Transformational model in operations involves inputs and outputs. Labor, capital, land, investments, materials, buildings, equipment and information, which are classified as inputs, are transformed to outputs which are services and goods. Services and products, in turn, provide value to the customers (Slack et al. 2015). In a transformation system, there are numerous other activities, which are involved. Such include alteration, storage, transportation, inspection and monitoring and control. Amazon is an appropriate example, which implements the transformational model. They transform inputs to outputs, which provide a competitive advantage to the market. Amazon is a top manufacturer of books and electronic among other services and goods.

Concerning ordering and delivering, the transformation process is vital. For instance, a client will order their goods and expect delivery to be imminent. Once the ordering has been done, the transformational proceeds begin. Raw materials are selected regarding the order, which the client requires and turned into services and goods, which the client requires. On the other hand, the client can track their products as they move along from their retailer to their desired location.

Every day, books and electronics are part of human life. Amazon offers goods and services in this line to ensure humans can live a comfortable life. For many years, Amazon has enjoyed its achievements. Additionally, it was able to surpass the likes of Wal-Mart after introducing other services aside books, which has made it, grow immensely. Primarily, Amazon has been able to enjoy the competitive advantage due to the appropriate transformational process it has put in place. Raw materials are turned into high-value goods and services, which makes its competitors incapable of producing similar commodities. Additionally, Amazon has identified some of the loopholes which other business experience and utilized appropriately, including having bookshelf which other online stores lack.

In the transformational model, there are critical elements, which determine the success of an industry. First, the inputs are the essential elements, which determine how other processes will work. Inputs include capital, materials, equipment, suppliers, knowledge, facilities, labor and time. Once the inputs are determined, the environment is another essential element, which the company needs to establish itself. The ecosystem comprises of other numerous elements such as customers, technology, economy, competitors, regulations and competitors. The environment will lead to a transformation system where there will be an alteration, storage of goods and services, inspection and transportation. All of this will require monitoring and control. Lastly, the inputs will then be transformed into outputs, services, and facilitating goods. In Amazon, they are tied to numerous outputs, but the end products are goods, including books, hardware and electronics, among others. Services produced by Amazon include the customer care where the company provides mails, calls and Internet. Through this transformational model, retailers are allowed to move products quickly to the market without having to worry about IT operations and distribution. With continued innovation of retail partners and proper, Amazon can continue gaining a competitive advantage.

4V's Model

Most companies operate similarly but differently in terms of the 4V's. This is evident since every company has their way of gaining competitive advantage and clients. Wal-Mart, Amazon, Google and Microsoft have different ways they incorporate the 4V's. In operational management, the four V's represent variation, volume, visibility and variety.

Volume is the much a specific product is required to satisfy its demand. In companies where staff members are required to multitask, low volume of operations will be experienced. On the other hand, high volumes translate to repeatable processes, which can be programmed or standardized. In essence, Amazon incorporates greater volume efficiency, which gains it a competitive advantage over other small and big companies (Roy, and Charaborti 2017). Additionally, more prominent companies are expected to have high volume efficiency as compared to smaller firms.

Secondly, variety is the ability of firms to produces good and services and sells to its consumers. This V element entirely deals with diversity. Upon discovery how reliable the company is Jeff Bezos decided to diversify in other commodities apart from books. Currently, Amazon is among the leading companies, which sells numerous products across the world. This means that companies with a wider variety are likely to produce services and goods, which are equivalent to the needs of their customers (Slack et al. 2015). Volume and variety highly correspond to each other. The lower the volume is products or services, the higher the ability to diversify.

Variation is the third aspect of V, which aids in operations in Amazon Company. It refers to the level of demand over a specific time affected by external factors. However, there are numerous factors, which make variation hard to predict. For instance, natural disasters can unpredictably strike a nation, making people rush for certain commodities. This might paralyze any sort of online business (Slack et al. 2015).

Lastly, visibility is the process, which a company gets feedback about the customer experience. For any service firm, including Amazon, there is a high level of visibility while manufacturing lack visibility to their customers. However, certain companies have both types of visibility and have thrived perfectly. Amazon, in this case, has a track and trace software, which provides information to customers about the package they have ordered. To ensure the successful operation of a company, Amazon employs all the 4Vs.

Key Operational Performances for Amazon

Amazon highly depends on its high efficiency, which drives its high rates of productivity. As the leading commerce industry, Amazon dictates how technology-supported productivity is efficient for services. As the organization has diversified its processes, there are strategic decisions, which increase its complexity. Continually improving the company will ensure adequate support of operations despite broadening and global expansion. Some of the key operation performances for Amazon include the following.

First, designing of services and goods. In the strategic decision for operation management, the organizational output is insured. Through technology, Amazon addresses these complexities. For instance, the firm incorporates advanced communication and technologies, which ensure online retail services, are efficient and convenient or target market. Such technologies are deployed been deployed to support the efficiency of Amazon's commerce. Secondly, the company has a quality management team (Slack et al. 2015). Mainly, this facilitates a maximum quality of operational output to ensure customers are satisfied according to their expectations. The operations management for Amazon includes continuous improvement in the e-commerce sector. The culture implemented by the company is essential for supporting an innovative idea among its staff members. For instance, employees are encouraged to be bold and straightforward in establishing new ideas, which can make the company, grow. The idea is to enable growing business and solving internal and external problems.

Thirdly, the capacity design and process are a crucial process for Amazon performance. The company has prioritized management operations to augment production processes and capability. Considering the online retail business as the main output of the business, the company automates the ordering process, which increases the capability to incorporate numerous simultaneous orders (Roy, and Charaborti 2017). The approach highlights the prominence of automation and concerned technologies, which enhances the Amazon process and e-commerce capacity.

Another critical performance for Amazon is the strategy for locat...