Morality of the Institution: Amazon (Essay Example)

At the click of a button and the blink of an eye, one can select a product and have it delivered in just a few hours or days. The e-commerce company, Amazon has been a great resource for daily shoppers looking to buy groceries, essential products or technology. Originally a small bookstore in Seattle, Amazon expanded into one of the most eminent marketplaces on the web. Started by Mackenzie and Jeff Bezos, the company was financed with only $10,000 of pocket money. From the convenience of his home garage, he and a small group of staff worked on the upcoming of Amazon. Though A wide range of companies struggle with morals and ethics, Amazon has been a large player in the field of controversy.

Jeff Bezos, an aspiring entrepreneur, played a major role in the growth of e-commerce as both the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at Amazon.com Inc. He chose the name Amazon after the largest river in the world, the Amazon River located in South America. As a startup, Amazon opened multiple distribution centers catering to customers on the East Coast. The company had a promising goal to expand factories and distribution centers all around the United States. 

In 1999 Amazon expanded its product choices and began selling CDs and DVDs, launching 125,000 titles for sale. The company offered shoppers to listen to short song clips and view recommendations aligned with their mood and interests. As Amazon grew as a business it added new features to its website, such as 1-Click, allowing customers easier navigation on the website. They later announced their partnership with clothing companies, offering 400 clothing brands on its website. Amazon has expanded its products from just books to electronics, toys and kitchen appliances.

Amazon uses third-party vendors to list products and sell them on their site. Therefore, the company can make profit while also helping small businesses. From well-known companies like NIKE to smaller businesses such as Tcombo Store, A company that allows customers to customize clothes for different occasions. 

Along with success comes times of adversity, Amazon became well known for their range of services, strong creativity and plentiful inventory but also for their controversies. The company received multiple complaints regarding wages and working conditions of employees. A mission statement generally supports the vision of a company and serves to communicate purpose and direction to employees, customers and vendors. Amazon’s mission statement focuses on raising the bar of the customer experience by using the web and technology to help customers find and buy anything they desire. It also mentions that Amazon values empowering businesses and content creators to maximize their success. Their main goal is to focus on its growth as a company, not mentioning the well-being of its employees, customers, and its direct impact on the environment. E-commerce is of the utmost importance to the company rather than the base of it, the employees. 

The morality of Amazon is questioned when learning about their values and the most important aspect of any company, their mission statement. Working for Amazon is a huge responsibility, workers must package, carry out shipments and deliver them to customers within a few hours. Working at Amazon is a labor-intensive job and the employees are not paid accordingly. Employees are not treated with respect and are thrown inordinate amounts of  time to execute their tasks. As a result of the mistreatment, Amazon workers found themselves protesting for their individual rights. The workers protested and called for changes around work shifts, pace of work, job security, hours and stability for temporary workers. 

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon faced multiple challenges with employees. Stolz, a devoted worker at Amazon, really put Amazon’s morals to the test. He suggests they implement more aggressive measures for cleaning and sanitizing in effect to keep their employees healthy. He raised concern about why Amazon warehouses were still open while schools were closed. He called on Amazon to covid test its employees and offer paid time off for anyone who has or been exposed to the virus. 

During the pandemic, Amazon saw an increase in profit, it was a gateway for customers to easily buy and find items fitting their basic needs. The company still faced many obstacles. Amazon worker Chris Smalls was fired for leading a warehouse strike. He supposedly violated quarantine measures while leading the strike with other workers. With this strike, resulting in workers all across the country joining protests, strikes and walkouts with concerns about their working conditions. They were advocating for their own rights and protections as working citizens.  Amazon received backlash for its serious and threatening working condition precautions in the warehouse, raising plenty of questions about the company's morals. This situation out of many others, exemplifies the lack of morality of the institution, Amazon values their positive image in the e-commerce world and disregards the voices of their employees. The impact of those protests and strikes around the country led to the need for stricter policies enforced by Amazon, including mask wearing, sanitization of warehouses, social distancing and implementation of higher wages. Multiple employees have complained about Amazon’s treatment towards them. Amazon worker share his experience with the reader and demand workers get paid for the quality of their work and what they deserve. He mentions “Amazon has reportedly confirmed it’s going to stop paying its warehouse workers that extra $2 an hour in coronavirus hazard pay”(The New York Times).  With lost hope the  employee mentions the effect of COVID-19 on the working conditions, If a worker has the virus, they are still expected to show up to work after their short 2 week  recovery period. He requested a new leave and Amazon denied it, especially during the pandemic having a job is important. Jennifer Bates, amazon employee speaks on her own experience working for Amazon.  Long shifts, fast pace work and she got the impression of Amazon using their workers as machines. She says “my work day feels like a nine-hour intense workout everyday, they track our every move”(Bates) She adds that If she works too slow or had a lot of time off task, Amazon would discipline or fire her. In that case. In april of 2020, along with other events occurring during the pandemic, Bezos, Amazon chief executive officer (CEO) felt the heat from workers who were vocal about working conditions and immediately fired them. Employees cannot voice their opinions and fight for their equal rights in the workplace, this is not right. 

After conducting an interview with a displeased employee about his most recent experience with the company, we are able to see the true character and values of the company. Joshua Avery, a dad of 6 whose worked for Amazon for 2 consecutive years mentioned that while on a shift at the warehouse, Avery sli[[ed on black ice while delivering a package, resulting in a broken arm. After trying to resolve the problem by calling his boss, he received unwanted advice... They suggested he drives the same truck back to the warehouse, with his severely injured arm. Avery mentions the lack of a worker union at the company. Upset with their approach to handling his injury, Joshua reviews the company as having terrible employee services. He thinks about all the possible solutions they could have suggested such as sending a worker to get his truck, allowing him some paid time off or supporting him in his recovery from his incident. For a father of 6, this job is of utmost importance as his main source of income. “Amazon needs to do a better job at taking care of their employees”, Avery stated in disappointment. This is one of many unknown incidents occurring at Amazon warehouses, Amazon must take different approaches when it comes down to the foundation of its success, the workers.

Jeff Bezos values his company’s prosperity and overall success, but must focus on its employees. During the protests, multiple people questioned his morals and values, especially in the treatment of his employees. He realizes the unethical practices and hopes for a better vision for his employees. He truly believes in creating value for his employees to reach their full potential. Overall, Bezos is committed to creating change in the employees working conditions, ensuring employee success and equality and uphold the goals of his company’s mission statement. With the addition of the value of workers and caring for their well being rather than using them as their machines.

Amazon is working to create a safer and inclusive environment for employees. Jeff Bezos resigned his job to take affirmative action. From Amazon chief executive officer to the executive chair in which he will play a greater role in the implementation of policies for the company. He intends to make Amazon “Earth’s Best Employer and Earth’s Safest Place To Work” and mentions that Amazon plans to invest more than $300 million towards safety projects which will benefit the employees and the company overall.