Strategic planning frameworks and implementation approaches

Amazon Strategic Plan

What began as a web-based retailing book sales site company in 1995 with revenues of $511,000, has grown into "the world's largest online retailer and one of the nation's biggest book sellers (New York Times. May 20, 2011), and is considered "one of the iconic companies of the Internet era" (New York Times. May 20, 2011). The company has blossomed not only because of the vision of founder Jeff Bezos, but a commitment to sound strategic planning which "perfectly aligns the long-term interests of shareholders with the interests of customers" (Amazon.com. Shareholder Letter. 2010).

Amazon.com occupies the number one spot in the internet services and retail industry with revenues of 34.2 billion in 2010 (CNNMoney. 2011). Amazon's main rivals include Google, E-Bay, Yahoo and Microsoft. The company has transformed itself dramatically from its inception as a publically traded company in 1997 with a focus on e-retailing books. The late 1990's and into the early 2000's saw the company emerge as the world's largest e-commerce retailer for a myriad of product lines and "easily shippable consumer goods" (Johnson, M. April 12, 2010). Over the last decade the organization has diversified its offerings to include "cloud computing services, Kindle e-books and readers, and now, mobile applications" (Huang, G. February 25, 2010). From a strategic planning vantage point amazon's model is built around a customer-centric mission and vision statement concomitant with a focus on long-term objectives. CEO Jeff Bezos describes the strategic planning model as willingness "to plant seeds and wait a long time for them to turn into trees with five to seven years before it has a meaningful impact on the economies of the company" (Murphy, S. November 22, 2008). This approach has served Amazon and its shareholders extremely well as their innovative and entrepreneurial energies have allowed movement into "white space" defined as "market opportunities a company may wish -- or need -- to pursue" (Johnson, M. February 12, 2010).

Mission Statement & Vision Statement

Amazon.com provides a bold and compelling mission and vision statement for their stakeholders. A tangible and effective mission statement "depicts what the organization is and does, not where it is headed in the future" (Palmer, I. 2008). For Amazon their mission statement articulates this emphasis: "We seek to be Earth's most customer-centric company for three primary customer sets: consumer customers, seller customers and developer customers" (Amazon.com.2011). The vision statement for Amazon provides context to the mission statement and offers "a vivid description of the organization as it effectively carries out its operations" (McNamara, C. 2008). "Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online" (Amazon.com. 2011). Both statements contain a spirit and energy which defines the organization. "Amazon at its roots is built to transform; when it finds opportunities to serve new customers, or existing customer in new ways, it conceives and builds new business models to exploit them" (Johnson, M. April 12, 2010).

Internal Analysis & External Analysis

The analysis of internal and external factors begins with the SWOT analysis. Regardless of the organization there are activities which it performs well (strengths), and areas of shortcomings (weakness). These are considered the endogenous elements which a company can control. For Amazon their greatest strength is adroitness in innovation and adaptability. The underpinning of this strength is Bezos' commitment to an organizational culture which is "built to transform with focus on delivering value to the customer first" (Johnson, M. April 12, 2010). Amazon's greatest weakness ironically is the obverse of their strength; the ability to adapt and transform to new business models can leave the company open to neglecting those profitable areas which they currently serve. Amazon's foray into web services is such an example. The monies and time necessary to cultivate this business line precludes investment in more familiar if less profitable margin lines.