Social And Technological Factors At Amazon

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Social and technological forces are the final two components of macroeconomics and the two external influences affecting industry (Parnell, 2014). Thus, social forces include: societal values, trends, traditions, religious practices, and concern for the environment (Bethel, 2016). Whereas, technological forces primary factor is the internet, but focuses on scientific improvements and innovations too (Bethel, 2016). While all four forces affect industry, the social and technological factors seem to hold the greatest influence on products and services offered by organizations. Another key tool used by many organizations is environmental scanning. Virtually, there are dozens, if not more, industry media, which collects and analyzes information …show more content…

A better question would be, what did we do before Amazon? Funny, the answer is you went shopping! Yes, each of us got into the car, went to the mall, library, or other venue to obtain the product of our desire. To some, that probably sounds so antiquated, but that was the practice for the last 50 or so years. Now, traditional retailers are plagued with the concept of online shopping and how to gain impulse sales from consumers online. This year, for the first time, Amazon held Black Friday shopping a full week ahead of the traditional sale day, which put other retailers at a serious disadvantage (Alba, 2015). According to Steve Shure, Vice President of Consumer Marketing, “Customers can truly sit back and relax with their family and friends this holiday season knowing that they will be notified as soon as the products they’ve had their eye on are about to go on sale” (Alba, 2015, para. 4). Undoubtedly, Amazon.com is a direct result of social …show more content…

Clearly, “Amazon is poised to integrate itself in Americans ' lives in ways that no other company is capable” (Matthews, 2012, para. 1). Notably, Amazon has been heavily ingrained in technology, innovation, and retail for years; they developed and expanded their business based on getting the products from the person who wants to sell to the person who wants to buy (Matthews, 2012). Comparatively, Amazon is the 56th largest company in America, the 15th biggest retailer in America by revenue, and by far the largest Internet retailer (Matthews, 2012). In 2014, their revenue topped at $89 million (Amazon.com, 2015). Technological factors and environmental scanning are evident and thriving at Amazon. “In rapidly changing environments, one rule of thumb applies: If you don 't adapt, you don 't endure” (Dalton, 2011, para. 2). Last year, Amazon surpassed Wal-Mart as a retailer. Recently, Amazon has responded to productivity trends, such as: a tool to continuously measure individual performance, a tool to measure relationships between employers and employees, and a tool to measure global competition (Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015). However, a huge negative for Amazon is their lack of ability to maintain stable relationships with their employees. A must read article in the New York Times was quite verbose concerning the ruthlessness and uncaring relationship Amazon has with its greatest asset,

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