Zappos & LEADWhen looking at Zappos, their Chief Executive Officer Mr. Hsieh and what the company has done over the recent months and years, it is clear that they have a clear and focused set of guiding principles and guidelines that they follow. Indeed, they only hire people that fit with their distinct company culture and this is wise on a number of levels. The ten core values that they use to fill their positions, the climate that is emphasized at Zappos and how it is enforced and how Hsieh approaches conflict (not to mention the author of this report's view on the same) will all be covered as part of this brief report. While there is more than one way to run a company, the method that Zappos uses is clearly better than the overall repertoire of many other firms.
Analysis
Before getting too deep into the minutia of the answers that shall be offered in this report, it should be stated up front what the core values of Zappos happen to be. In the order as listed on the Delivering Hapiness website, those values are delivering "WOW" through service, embrace and drive change, creating fun and a little weirdness, be adventurous/creative/open-minded, pursue growth and learning, build open and honest relationships through communication, build a positive team through family spirit, do more with less, be passionate and determined and be humble (Delivery Happiness, 2016). Of those, the author of this response feels that being open and honest with communication is the biggest thing. If communication is limited...
Only when things are brought (and kept) out in the open do things really get done and revealed. This stands in contrast to when things are blowing up at some future point because people either dodged the truth or simply lied by omission.
As far as what is revealed and what emanates from the Zappos culture, it would be the amalgamated concept of being honest, being humble, being open and being productive. This is indeed a great foundation from which work can get done and problems can be solved. Having a leadership culture that exudes and stresses this is a huge plus for Zappos on its face. This is clearly the overall climate that is emphasized at Zappos, at least based on what they say openly. As far as why shoe stores using any forum should be committed to excellence, there has to be an idea of keeping service excellent, consistent and ongoing. When standards are allowed to falter or flutter, that is when customer satisfaction starts to go down. When there is a clear difference between two experiences that should absolutely be similar (e.g. returning or exchanging a product), it will simply leave a customer to wonder why things were not done the same way. The point is that there needs to be exceptions and outliers allowed for but that both of those should absolutely be in the minority (Northouse, 2014).
As for how Hsieh approaches conflict, it would surely be based…
