Session 1: Amazon.com Case Study Questions
prepared by rmk 060214 Page 1
Assignment Questions:
1. What is Amazon’s business and what factors are critical to its success? [list or table]
Amazon’s Businesses | Critica
...
Session 1: Amazon.com Case Study Questions
prepared by rmk 060214 Page 1
Assignment Questions:
1. What is Amazon’s business and what factors are critical to its success? [list or table]
Amazon’s Businesses | Critical Success Factors
Online Retailing | Eliminating stores and warehouses
Operating their own fulfilment center
Personalized web site for consumers
Sell plenty kinds of things globally
Free shipping
Generous returning policies
add more rows as needed….
Fulfilment centers | Being computerized
Fulfilment centers are operated by
themselves.
With advanced technology
Strong data management capabilities
Only amazon.com can take a consumer’s
order out from the huge warehouse
quickly and efficiently and get into a single
box
add more rows as needed….
Supply chain management processes | High efficiency
Low cost
Provide supplier with deep business
intelligence concerning the public’s
interest in their various product
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Cloud computing service | Be accessible widely through Internet
Much more convenient for user to store
and share information
Uniqueness
add more rows as needed….2. What challenges did Amazon face when it first entered the marketplace? [list]
a. . startling losses and lots of red ink;
b. . hard to operate their own fulfillment centers;
c. . fulfilment center required a huge infusion of capital;
d. .build their own information system to operate the business, which is
hard;
e. .truth or facts were different from imagination;
Session 1: Amazon.com Case Study Questions
prepared by rmk 060214 Page 2
f. .various dedications on company’s operations such as the way of
collecting data and managing data.
g. add more items as needed…..
3. What information is required by Amazon to transact, to manage, and to innovate?
[table]
Level of Information Processing | Information Needs
transacting | Order information
Address of consumer
Returning requirement
Account number
Consumer’s wish list
Consumer’s Cart
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management and control | Sales volume monthly or annually
Worker error rate
The flow of inventory
Turnover rate of inventory
Associated cost of operations data
Staff’s efficiency
add more rows as needed….
innovation and corporate learning | Innovation in information management
system
Innovation in website personalization
More organized information system
Innovation in fulfilment centers
Improvement in supply chain management
processes
add more rows as needed….4. What are the challenges associated with running a fulfillment center versus the
warehouse for a brick and mortar store chain (hint: consider Amazon’s critical
success factors)? [table]
Fulfillment Center Operations | Warehouse Operations
More automatic information system | Less Automatic information system
Stronger data management capacity | weaker data management capacity
less basic cost on running the information | Larger amount of cost required on
Session 1: Amazon.com Case Study Questions
prepared by rmk 060214 Page 3
system | managing storing owing to huge human
resources.
Keep error out of operations | Higher error rate
Less matter of retirement | More trifles of retirement
add more rows as needed….
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