Scenario and Situation:
Assume you are an employee working in the Amazon warehouse, and you pack orders and categorize them into small, medium, and large batches. You are considered a packer. You have experience packing all sizes and have been with the organization for two years. You are considered one of their best employees, you have a solid reputation for being a hard worker, and all of your orders are packed correctly. You have also been busy; you recently completed Amazon’s management training program, and you have completed your BABA degree at the Forbes School of Business and Technology at Ashford University.
Congratulations: You have just been promoted to manager. You will be relocated to a new plant that is two hours away that employs 100 employees. You will oversee a team of 10 supervisors and 90 packers and will now oversee the entire warehouse operation. How will you work to use and apply the five functions of management?
Now let’s apply the five functions. In your paper, include the following sections:
Planning: Examine the specific areas you will choose to manage that fall under the planning function. For example, what might be some of the things you will plan to do and implement to build an effective team and culture? People are the most important resource in any business, what do you plan to do to build a positive team culture? What processes and systems do you plan to use?
Organizing: Assess if the present structure that Amazon has set up is working. Do you need to make or suggest any changes to make it more efficient and effective? What structure will you use and implement? Explain how you will use departmentalization in your organizational structure.
Staffing: Analyze your staffing needs. How do you intend to staff your organization and replace members that leave or are promoted? How does the HR process apply? What things (if any) will you suggest?
Leading: Justify the leadership theory and style you will follow to ensure efficiency. Will you use transformational or transactional leadership? Why or why not?
Controls: Identify what controls and measures you will implement. How will you apply the four steps of control (these are in Chapter 5; i.e., establishing standards, measuring performance, comparing performance, and making decisions)?
Solution
Introduction
This report is about the management planning and implementation for the Amazon warehouse where I have recently been appointed as the manager for the 100 employees of which there are ten supervisors and 90 packers. I, myself have two years of working at Amazon warehouse as a packer. I had a strong reputation for being a good employee and packer. Recently, I also completed my management training program of Amazon and BABA degree from the Ashford University. Along with the experience I got in an Amazon warehouse as a packer and the management learning, I have received the opportunity of managing the entire operations of a warehouse of Amazon. For being successful in managing the operations of the warehouse and achieving goals within the set time limits along with the building of an effective, I am pursuing to follow the five functions of the management. These functions are explained hereunder;
Planning
Like any other work, the first step is planning. It is one of the most crucial parts of the management functions. It is because of the reason that it lays down the foundation for the other stages of management. My first step for planning would be to take in the information about the daily routines of the packers. It will also help in raising team spirit. The packers of the Amazon work 24 hours like other material movers to meet the needs of the customers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). It is crucial for a manager to make use of all the knowledge, abilities and skills of its workers. It helps in gaining the respect of the workers and also in making plans as per the facts of the operations.
I am going to make use of the SWOT analysis to analyze the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats of the warehouse. Amazon is now concerned about expanding into new markets which are not based on online sales. The company has found through its research that even though 44% of the Americans use Amazon for knowing the price of the products, the consumers still prefer to use brick and mortar stores for actual purchasing. It outlines the opportunity of expanding the market by tapping into these consumers. The strength of the Amazon lies in its faster and cheaper distribution channels which delivers the products to clients in faster time and cheaper rates (Yarow, 2013). The main strength in this sector is the continuous improvement. It can only be done by periodic review of all internal and external factors. Through using the new learning of management and the packing experience I will develop strategies to provide the warehouse with a firm foundation.
Organizing
The next step after planning is organizing. It is crucial to understand the chain of command and organizational structure of the Amazon for better understanding how decisions can be made. The structure of Amazon is a formal system of periodic reporting of tasks in which employees’ activities are coordinated on a periodic basis to achieve the organizing goals. As per Dudovskiy, the organizational structure of Amazon is hierarchical as the entire department’s report to the Chief Executives (Kim, 2017). There are seven individual divisions which are run by the division heads under the CEO. It shows that Amazon has a functional structure where each department leads to an authoritative top figure. It seems fitting to the nature of the business as even with two CEO’s dictating all departments, all departments are run by experts in each field. The warehouse will similarly have a defined chain of command making sure that expert decisions are made (Cusumano, 2017).
As per the hierarchical structure of the Amazon, it is indeed important to have a good relationship with the workers. The only good relationship can bring the problems and opinions of the workers in the light. This, in turn, enhances team spirit among all. Even though the company is operating with a functional structure, the warehouse needs to be operated in organic structure. It will provide the flexibility for accommodating any future changes made by the company. It will also aid in fostering the relationship between the manager and employees. The organic structure aids organizations to give their employees voice, and allow lower management to have a say in the organizational changes.
Staffing
Staffing is a crucial aspect of management which influences all sectors and functions of the business. If it is not done in the right way, it can cost the warehouse its success in achieving goals. A company can use staffing by hiring and deporting people efficiently in different roles in a company. It is really important to give time to the staffing process. The selection and evaluation of the right employee and its fitting with the Amazon environment and its goals are very important. Weighing out of each employee’s strengths after considerable evaluation and comparing it with the required skills of the job can provide insight into the right employee. A high turnover rate can cost, highly for a company. It is said that the cost of living of a skilled or semi-skilled worker is about twice more than its annual salary (Cascio, 2016).
Thus, it is highly imperative to put the right people in the right places. The cost of replacement of employees can be lowered this way. Strategic human resource management system can be used to allow the company human resource department to have its internal job functions aligned with its business strategies. The hiring at Amazon is easy to handle with the expertise of the HR department of the Amazon.
With the aid of the HR department of the Amazon, the warehouse will be fully staffed with quality packers and supervisors. By equipping these employees and supervisors with the tools, they will be ready to pursue the organizational goals. Orientation process can aid in introducing the employees with the rules, process, management, and regulations of the warehouse of Amazon. The expectations of the role of packers and supervisor will be communicated clearly for better understanding.
Leading
Regarding the managing plans of the warehouse, I am inclined towards making my employees work for growth strategies which are being pursued by Amazon in the form of rapid expansion and mergers. The high diversification strategy being pursued by Amazon needs its organizational structure to remain dynamic to adapt to the changes arising from its strategy. Amazon is aiming to be more vertically diversified to have more control on its supply chain. It is the reason I am pursuing to implement organic structure in the warehouse to make my employees prepared for the changes. As far as the type of leadership is concerned, I am more inclined towards transformational leadership as it helps the team spirit. I will win their trust and develop, motivate them by setting practical and achievable goals. In my management training, I liked Locke’s Goal setting theory. I will use this theory to gain motivation by setting clear goals which will communicate the performance expectations and provide a feedback mechanism and self-management structure. It is important to make the employees feel valued and their important contribution to the company. I am a big fan of leading by example. I am committed to pursuing it to ensure that the expectations of the company are met, and the team is developed and maintained for the good of the company (Yarow, 2013).
Controlling
The final stage of any management activity is controlling. The control points provide an anchor to the organization for maintaining its operations smoothly and provide stability. Warehouse management needs constant control mechanisms which make controlling an important function for the warehouse. The occurrence of an error is to be immediately mitigated by the management through making corrective actions and educating employees about it. Control points enable the company to reduce its risk and also push the operations in the right direction away from any deviations.
The four steps of the controlling function include the establishing of standards which will be used for measurement of the performance, evaluation of the performance, comparing of the standards with the performance, and making the correct decisions. The quality control mechanism will be installed for each task with the establishment of the expectations of standard results communicated to the workers for better results and less risk of errors. Quality auditing is required to ensure conformance along with the standard set by the companies. It gives the warehouse a baseline to compare performance. Objective appraisals are used in warehouses to measure the effort of the employees accurately. These make the whole process transparent and provide opportunities for dialogue between the employees and management for meeting goals (Cusumano, 2017).
Conclusion
In the end, it is concluded that by implementing the mentioned functions of the management; the warehouse of Amazon Inc can achieve its goals. Using tools like SWOT analysis, quality auditing and control procedures, human resource management system, employee performance plans, and organic structure can ensure the effectiveness of the operational and managerial functions and consequently meeting of the defined goals and objectives within the set time duration.
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018, January 30). Hand Laborers and Material Movers. Retrieved April 7, 2018, from Bureau of Labor statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/hand-laborers-and-material-movers.htm
Cascio, W. F. (2016, December 5). The High Cost of Low Wages. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2006/12/the-high-cost-of-low-wages
Cusumano, M. A. (2017). Amazon and whole foods: follow the strategy (and the money). Commuications of the ACM, 60(10), 24-26.
Kim, E. (2017, November 28). Here’s who really runs Amazon — and only 2 of the top 38 execs are women. Retrieved April 7, 2018, from CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/28/who-are-amazons-top-executives.html
Yarow, J. (2013, October 28). Former Amazon Employee Explains How The Company’s Business Model Really Works. Retrieved April 7, 2018, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-profits-what-people-dont-understand-2013-10
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