Story of Amazon - How Bezos' built one of the world's most valuable companies

 A phenomenon that is catching up with the millennials these days across the world is online shopping (B2C) and the one name that facilitates all these hue and cry in the online domain is nothing but Amazon.

I happened to listen to a HBR podcast (Nov '20 click here) on the same topic and which has also been put up as a Google podcast (click here) where HBR interviews Harvard Business School Professor Sunil Gupta.

Amazon (worth $1.6 trillion) Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is worth $184.6 billion in 2020. How can a company be so successful and source of rage for youngsters and technologists the world over ?

Bezos' 3 strong points are given here

• Customer focus and the resultant data insights
• Logistics (Operational and Supply Chain) excellence and 
• Focus on technology

Amazon is a service oriented company. In services, we lay great emphasis on customer focus. What makes Amazon stand out from other service comp[anies that also focus on customers is the OBSESSION WITH CUSTOMERS.

We see our customers as invited guests to a party and we are the hosts. And it is our duty to make the customer experience a little bit better - Jeff Bezos

Leadership style

What is special about Bezos' leadership and communication styles ?

• Long term focus
• Customer focus
• Willing to experiment, fail, learn and innovate

His communication style is never messages or emails, it is writing 6 page long memos, distributed just minutes before the meeting, which everyone reads and discusses together. 

While most of the CEOs focus on the next quarter or the next, Bezos goes a step further, he is planning now what the company will be doing after 5 years. This long term focus is  helping him in getting the right acquisitions and product introduction like for instance the Kindle and Amazon echo series of AI based Personal Assistants. 

His very popular HR strategy has been to recruit and surround oneself with people smarted than one is. 

Issues :

Has Amazon given a ear to the packaging wastage and the resulting damage to the environment ?. Not yet. 

Amazon wants its employees to go out of the way to make the customer experience always the best, resulting in some compromises when it comes to treating employees. 

How is Amazon planning to integrate the mom and pop stores which they are replacing these days. Amazon does not have a clear answer to that too.

George..

During Covid times, has employee productivity declined ?

Has the Covid time brought about improvement in employee productivity as they are working from home or has it lowered the employee productivity ? This is an interesting aspect which we would be interested in knowing as almost everybody in the knowledge based industry has been working from home for almost eight months now.

In cutting edge research conducted by Professors from Harvard Business School and New York University it is reported that while the best corportations have reported improvement in productivity during the Covid times, the majority of organisations have reported fall in productivity.  We all were under the impression that Work from Home has reduced the stress employees undergo daily going to office / work (saved on an average 48.5 mins time for each employee) and hence the productivity would increase, but that has not been the case.

Employee productivity depends on three important factors, 

• time
• talent (human resources) and 
• energy
  

The time each employee dedicates to productive work, the talent he displays while engaged in his work and finally the discretionary energy the employee is willing to give to the company while carrying out his work.

The amount of talent and energy an employee spends at work also brings in another aspect of work, the engagement.

As per research conducted by Eric Garton and Micheal Mankins and reported in HBR of December 2020 (click here) 

• an engaged employee is found to be 40% more productive than a normal employee (satisfied worker) and
• an inspired employee is found to be 55% more productive than an engaged employee. 

In the best organisations, Covid time has resulted in improvement of productivity by almost 20%. Because of virtual attendance, talented employees are able to be part of multiple teams across geographies enabling their contribution at different places at the same time, resulting in better attainment of organisational objectives and hence improvement in productivity.  

But most of the organisations have reported drop in productivity as the organisations have lost talent and have not been able to inspire their employees due to many reasons, mainly due to family pressure, medical emergencies at home, the caution and care at home against catching Covid infection may have dampened the eagerness of employees to give their best.

Sagging energy levels of the employees have been found the biggest cause for drop in productivity and efforts by organisations to improve the energy levels have not had great effort except in some organisations like Adobe. Adobe has been able to tap into the discretionary energy of the employees evident by a high employee engagement score by giving the employees a no-layoff pledge, an extra day off in a month and by updating them with frequent updates on Covid and their business. 

Final Outcome: 

While the best organisations have experienced an improvement in productivity of 5-8%, other organisations have experienced a drop in productivity of 3-6% due to wasteful ways of working, inefficient collaboration and decreased levels of employee engagement.

The important learning we get from the above study is that employee engagement has suffered badly during these Covid times. We look forward to better employee engagement measures by organisations to improve employee morale and productivity in future.

George..

How can one do effective Decision Making ?

 All managers are day in and day out making decisions, decisions that have great impact on the running of the organisations. It is said that Jeff Bezoz makes only 4-5 decisions a day, the rest he leaves it to his subordinates. It is because , taking only 4-5 decisions will help Jeff to take the right decision and not be clouded by the pressures of decision making. Prioritisation is thus a very important point of Decision making.

While researching more into decision making I( came acros this very recent article in Harvard Business Review , Dec 2020, How to avoid rushing to solutions when problem solving, (click here) by Daniel Markovitz. 

The author cites 4 points

1. practicing going to the problem site and realising the problem. The Japanese call it Genchi Genbutsu.

2. Frame the problem properly. It is said that Einstein once said, if you have 1 hour to solve a problem, he would spend the first 55 minutes trying to frame the problem well and the last 5 minutes trying to solve it. The more time we spend trying to understand the problem from different perspectives, as given in the top pictorial, the better it is, as it will help pinpoint the exact problem and help with use of the right tools to solve it.

3. Think backwards (or find the root cause) one of the best and most effective tools is the Ishikawa daigram (fishbone diagram)

4. Ask Why many times, (5 Whys) to arrive at the root cause of the problem. More often than not, we address the symptoms than the actual problems. When we ask Why many times we move from the sphere of symptoms to the sphere of causes and finally the root cause. Some problems may get solved in two or three whys, while some others may take us to 5 or 6 Whys.

The Japanese after arriving at the root problem, take the right decisions to see that the issue or problem does not recur and IS SOLVED ONCE AND FOR EVER. 

So the next time, we come across serious decision making, try to follow these steps which will help us take effective decisions to solve the problem.

George

Daily build release of Ubuntu 21.04 ..

The opening screen of the daily build release of Ubuntu Linux 21.04 Hirsute Hippo slated for final release on 22 April 2021. This is a non - Long term support OS, ie. it will be supported only for 5 months from its release with official updates.

My experience with this futuristic OS is excellent. I would rate it as **** (4 star).

 

After using for almost 4 hours this afternoon with Youtube video and audio, newspaper sites for colour reproduction, google sites, colourful websites to assess coiour reproduction, I can only say that this Ubuntu 21.04 is an excellent futuristic OS. 

The office suite is Libre office, though it is a bit slow on older computers, it is very efficient and powerful omn my machine. 

 

Negative points : (only one I could note)

 

1. The release does not have a wide collection of software, no VLC player, no GIMP ...

The OS comes with a small set of software, was sized at 3.1 GB, and I am using it as a Linux OS on USB system on my new ADATA (Taiwan make) USB, that I ordered at Amazon this morning and got delivered by 3 PM.

 

I have been trying different versions of Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Manjaro, Lubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Suse and what not, this OS beats them all. It is so very fast. My system is a HP (2012 make) laptop HP 430, has 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, Intel i3 processor ...

What I can briefly tell about this OS, which is at the testing phase and not yet released, (to be released on April 22, 2021) is that this is a cool, fast. no problems OS. This is sure to beat all other Linux OS which will get released soon. 

Since I have this on my new ADATA nUSB drive, I shall be checking on my office system tomorrow. 

 

These are the different steps involved in the final relase stated in April 2021. (click here)

George..

 

Ageing of humanity, an opportunity for Startups .. ..

All of us at one point of time have to get old. While the young believe they have many more years to get old, the old people are living through the experience. 

Ageing is the process during which structural and functional changes accumulate in an organism as a result of the passage of time. The changes manifest as a decline from the organism's peak fertility and physiological functions until death. - Nature, click here

It is said that the aged people of the world, aged 60+ hold a majority of all wealth worldwide and they have a spending potential of approximately $15 trillion. Refer HBR article When no one retires, Paul Irving, Nov, 18.  (click here). Given the developments in human life expectancy, it is not very far that people will live for 100-120 years.

"Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears." - John Lennon

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO) (click here), by 2050, about 2 billion of the 10 billion people on planet earth (20%) would be elderly people of the age 60 years and above. The interesting aspect is that 80% of the aged people will be in the developing and less developed countries. 

If the country looks at the elderly as a liability, it will be looking at solutions, instead the governments should look at elderly people as great resources that can be tapped or extract value for more years, which will warrant a decent treatment of the people than the one meted out now.

Are we neglecting the elderly people ? Are we looking at them as people who are in the last days of their career, ready to step into the coffins ?

It is too early to say those things, because the longevity of people is increasing these days. With reduced hunger and better availability of food and proteins, the average human body and brain is more active. Other than lifestyle diseases, the probability of people dying out of hunger or food deficiencies is very limited. This has been one of the greatest contributions of the modern day science and economic developments following it. 

The pictorial of the ageing population is courtesy United Nations. 

While going through an interesting article cited above in the November 2018 issue of Harvard Business Review titled, When no one retires, by Paul Irving, the following points came to my mind. All figures are for 2020.

Global GDP (PPP)
IMF $130 trillion
World Bank $135 trillion

Global GDP (nominal)
IMF $83 trillion
World Bank $87 trillion

Global spending potential of people aged 60+ will be $15 trillion (by 2020). ie. about 18% of global GDP will be from the 60+ age group of elderly people.

People aged 60+ hold majority of wealth worldwide.

Ref: Irving, Paul, When no one retires, HBR, Nov '18.

Another interesting point to note is the average age of Nobel Prize winners of the world is 62 years, ie. a person is at the peak of his intellectual career only after the age of 60. This is the time when world over, people are asked to retire. The 2017 Chemistry Nobel Prize winner Prof. John Goodenough from University of Texas, US for invention of the Lithium-ion battery received the prestigious recognition at the age of 97 years.

All the above illustrations tell us that old age is not for retirement, but one where one can be more intellectually active and contribute to society in many ways that can benefit society.

Startups need to re-look in this sector of serving elderly people by means of providing 

• better health care and solutions 

• better use of assistive technologies
  

• better transportation / mobility  solutions 

• safe management of personal funds 

• better exercising solutions 

• better tech awareness to use gadgets and services 

• better home management services 

• better old age home management 
  

• better eyesight management  

Let us not look down on the elderly, they point us  to great business opportunities in trying to serve them.

George.

How to bring about innovative thinking ?

Innovation brings value and growth in societies. Were it not for the innovation of the steam engine and electricity or to more recently the digital computer, humans would not have been able to achieve this growth and economic prosperity. We  hear about the need to bring Innovation to our workplace, lifestyle, but we have struggled to bring it around. 

As we know any product, process or service that adds value to the user of that product, process or service, is an innovation. 

Recently in research conducted by Scott Kirsner on 270 corporate leaders in Strategy, Innovation and Research and Development roles, titled The biggest obstacles to Innovation in large companies  and reported in HBR July '18, (click here), it was found that internal politics and turf wars were the biggest obstacles to Innovation in large companies. Poor adaption of new emerging technologies, especially AI, Blockchain, IOT etc were at #6. Lack of budget was at #4 while lack of strategy and vision was at #5. 

The top three reasons cited as responsible for lack of innovation in large companies were, (as given in the pictorial) 

1. Politics / turf wars, 
2. cultural issues and 
3. inability to act on critical signals

This calls for serious introspection as to what promotes and what holds back innovation. It also gives an idea of where one needs to actually concentrate to promote innovation in organisations. 

Innovation is basically of three types - Product, Process and Business Model (click here). All our thought processes of Innovation will be included in either the product, process or the business model.

If then, what is exactly Innovation ? 

• Does it reduce your efforts or inputs  ?
  
• Does it improve the outputs ?
  
• Does it incorporate modern technology ?
  
• Does it improve convenience ?
  
• Does it improve the speed of process and delivery ?
  
• Does it improve the quality ?
  
• Does it entail bringing around a new product or a process ?
  
• Does it improve safety ?
  
• Does it reduce pollution ?
  
• Does it help build sustainable environment ?
  
• Does it bring better value to customer ?
  

The answer is many .. Innovation encompasses all these thought processes.   

Most organisations try to promote a fearless, creative environment that helps employees think innovative. Apple and Google have gone to the extreme, by earmarking about 10-20% of their time for working on innovative products and services, that may in the future be adopted across the organisation for the benefit of humanity that could bring more value to society.

Referring to the article in HBR of Dec '19 by Scott, Paul, Rahul and Natalie, Breaking down the barriers to Innovation, (click here), the authors have listed out a tool called BEAN, Behaviour Enabler, Artifact and Nudge that the authors claim will enable innovation.

Behaviour Enables are tools or processes that make it easier for people to do different creative things

Artifacts are things that one can see and touch that will support the new behaviour

Nudges are tactics that promote change through indirect suggestion and reinforcement.

In the research carried out by the authors they have identified five features exhibited by innovative organisations, they are given by the anagram F-A-C-E-S

1. Focus on deeply understanding customers' needs, unstated needs and desires

2. Assume there is a better way of doing everything

3. Collaborate across and beyond organisations, often cross-pollinating

4. Empower people to take considered risks, voice dissenting opinion and seek extra funds to continue with their ideas

5. Believe that Success comes after rapid experimentation, failing often, iterating fast with the spirit of perseverance

Some of the barriers that stand in the way of Innovation can be given in the following points, again given by the interesting Anagram, T-I-D-E-S

1. Lack of Time

2. Interia, lack of infrastructure nd support

3. Doing things Differently

4. High Expenses or cost and possible punishment

5. Poor Innovative Skills

One major handicap of businesses is that they are organised to deliver predictable, reliable results.

The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS Bank Ltd) often had meetings which got extended, wasting hours of time and resources for the bank and the employees. They came out with an effective BEAN called MOJO, Meeting Owner - Joyful Observer, meeting owner being a senior officer and the Joyful owner being a junior officer , the two people together saw that meetings ended on time and saved the bank lot of money and resources. 

BEANS in general have to be simple words or expressions that are eye catching and simple - (approximated by another anagram, R-E-S-I-S-T)

• REINFORCING
• FUNNY and EXCITING
  
• SIMPLE
• PRACTICAL and IMPLEMENTABLE
• CONSISTENT and STEADY
  
• TRACKABLE

An organisation can have any number of BEANS for the different areas, proceses or actions and functions that need to be innovated.

In Alliance University Bangalore, India, we have arrived at a number of such BEANS, for example,

• Faculty need to be PIQS (Precise, Quick and Short), 
• classes have be IN-IT-EX (Interesting, Interactive and Exciting), 
• Quizzes need to be SH-EET (Short and Sweet), 
• Projects need to be PR-IN-EX (PRactical, INteractive and EXciting)

The advantage in this approach is that the faculty and students have now come to enjoy the teaching and learning experience.

Telehealth challenges in treating the elderly

Tele health has pervaded and is supporting the elderly by giving them excellent care by means of popular video apps like Apple Facetime, Android Whatsapp, Google Meet, Zoom, Skype etc. But are these technologies available to the needy patients and if available, are the elderly patients in a physical and mental condition or literate enough to be using these apps comfortably. 

I happened to read the HBR article "4 strategies to make tele health work for elderly patients" in Nov 2020. (click here) It was interesting to read as it is very much relevant to the present times. We see the elderly suffering due to lack of awareness and access to the modern tele health gadgets.

Most of the elderly "digital alien" patients may be aware but not as conversant with the technology as the younger "digital native" population. This raises issues regarding usage and utility of these applications for the elderly people, who critically need them during the Covid times.

Challenges faced by the elderly are given below with possible solutions

1. Not able to use the technology because of limited digital literacy

2. No access to the technology or equipment due to economic reasons or being in remote locations

3. Medical conditions preventing self use of these tech gadgets like blindness, Alzheimer's disease

4. Patients who need full time care and monitoring as they are physically unable to manage on their own

5. Patients are unable to prevent bystanders or public from misusing their weakness and not reporting to the authorities in case of any violation.

The remedies that can be applied are as given below. 

1. seeking help of a close family member who is digitally literate to operate the equipment

2. the government could provide the equipment on loan which could be returned after use

3. government could engage helpers or nurses if no family member of the patient is available to help or the patient needs full time attention

4. the ward nurses and attendants need to be more ethically trained to help and not exploit needy patients

I have been aware of cases in Bangalore, India where nurses from St. Johns Medical College have made visits to homes of Covid patents if they find it difficult to visit hospitals.  This may not be a viable option for all cases.

Putting the onus on the government systems to take care of the elderly and needy when close family members are not available does not work all the time, due to the already strained ways in which the existing government systems are functioning, due to lack of funds, modern equipment and good leadership policies.