Amazon is often criticized for not reporting (earning?) sufficient profits—yet it is lauded for being a customer-driven innovator. Use the information in the three bullet points below to craft a response to the following question:
Why is it such a heroic challenge to simultaneously fulfill Peter Drucker’s ideas about (1) the purpose and meaning of profit, (2) the purpose and meaning of marketing, and (3) the purpose and meaning of innovation?
Benedict Evans’ podcast about Amazon (http://benevans.com/benedictevans/2014/9/5/podcast-amazon)
Austin Carr’s article about Amazon’s Fire Phone
Any other Amazon-related resources you might choose
Note: The podcast is a bit temperamental; if you pause, you may lose access to it. You can regain access by reclicking the link and jumping to where you left off. (The podcast interviewer is Ben Horowitz of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. If you like to read books on management, Horowitz’s book, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, is one you may enjoy.)
Guiding Questions:
-What does Drucker mean by the term “marketing”? In what ways does Amazon exhibit Drucker’s ideas?
-What does Drucker mean by the term “innovation”? In what ways does Amazon exhibit Drucker’s ideas?
-What is Drucker’s view about the meaning of profits? In what ways does Amazon exhibit Drucker’s ideas?
-We have argued in past modules that economic profits offer a measure of value creation. Using the Amazon example, can you argue that value creation is present only when a company reports economic profits?
-Based on the readings and the podcast, in what way can you argue that Amazon is profitable? In what way can you argue that Amazon is not profitable?
-Based on your responses to the preceding two bullet-points and the story of the Fire Phone, as represented in the article: Why is it such a heroic challenge to simultaneously fulfill Peter Drucker’s ideas about (1) the purpose and meaning of profit, (2) the purpose and meaning of marketing, and (3) the purpose and meaning of innovation? (Food for thought: What if Bezos’s vision for the phone had worked?)
Resources:
Chapter 5 of Drucker, P. F. (1973). Management: Tasks, responsibilities, practices (pp. 50-57). New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Chapter 6 of Drucker, P. F. (1973). Management: Tasks, responsibilities, practices (pp. 58-73). New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Goddard, J. (2010). The reality of costs. (Link will open in new tab.) Business Strategy Review, 21(2), 40-45.
Anders, G. (2012, April 23). Inside Amazon’s idea machine: How Bezos decodes customers. (Links to an external site.) Forbes.
Levy, S. (2011, November 13). Jeff Bezos owns the web in more ways than you think. Download Jeff Bezos owns the web in more ways than you think. Wired.
Carr, A. (2015, January 6). The real story behind Jeff Bezos’s Fire Phone debacle and what it means for Amazon’s future. (Links to an external site.) Fast Company.
Lane, R. (2018, September 4). Bezos Unbound: Exclusive Interview With The Amazon Founder On What He Plans To Conquer Next. (Links to an external site.)Forbes Magazine.
