Category: Amazon

Introduction

Amazon started from a low economic background when it commenced its operations as an online bookseller in 1994. Its founder, Jeff Bezos, operated under the proclamation of becoming big fast. He understood the unexploited affluence of the Internet when he began the company. Jeff and his spouse settled for Seattle as the prime location for the firm since it was the center of technological advancement and would not tax many clients attributable to the sparse population of Washington. The earliest operations of the company happened in a garage. Most investors were doubtful about the company’s continued success, and some believed it would ultimately go bankrupt (GreyB, 2021). On the contrary, Amazon has continued to rise in the industry and has expanded from selling only books to trade in nearly any product and providing various services.

In 1997, Amazon had its Initial Public Offering, where the company obtained over 50 million dollars. The amount raised through the public offering gave the corporation a face value of more than 430 million dollars. In 1998, it extended beyond books to incorporate music compact discs and, eventually, electronics, toys, and tools (DePillis & Sherman, 2021). In 2007, Amazon initiated the Kindle e-book reader, followed by the Fire in 2011. In 2006, Amazon established cloud computing packages, a studio in 2010, and the online marketplace for artistry in 2013. It has also purchased several businesses over the years, including Audible.com, Ring, Twitch.tv, Alexa.com, IMDB.com, AbeBooks, Goodreads, Whole Foods Market, Annapurna Labs, Kiva Systems (now known as Amazon Robotics), and Zappos. The management of Amazon should make amicable resolutions to identified problems and mitigate possible risks to ensure that the corporation maintains its leading position in the online market.

Business Profile

Amazon, the world’s major online store, is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Three chief executive officers lead Amazon. Jeff Bezos acts as the company’s top executive officer, while Jeff Wilke and Andy Jassy serve as the company’s global consumer and web services CEOs, correspondingly. The chief financial officer is Brian Olsavky, while Werner Vogels is the chief technology officer (Cuofano, n.d.). Jeff Bezos has segmented the company into three divisions: Amazon online services, marketplace, and Amazon Prime. He refers to them as the business’s three masts. Although Amazon began as a book-selling site, it quickly extended into other sectors, for instance, consumer technology, cloud computing, logistics, entertainment, and media, boosting its value to over a trillion dollars in a short time.

One of Amazon’s strengths is that it does not stagnate but has developed throughout time and experimented with new ideas. Therefore, Fast Business magazine named it the most inventive company in 2017, and Forbes rated the corporation as the third most advanced in the same year. It was also ranked third on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s list of innovative businesses in 2017, just behind Nvidia and SpaceX (GreyB, 2021). Amazon is obsessed with one thing: its consumers. The firm is focused on meeting its consumers’ needs and requests. Consequently, it has experimented with novel services, products, and any item that the management considers useful to its customers. Amazon’s online supply is the company’s lifeblood. This solid basis enables the company to experiment with other sectors, for example, web operations, advertising tasks, and Amazon prime, all of which are far more lucrative than the online store.

Many consumers are uninformed that Amazon now provides more than merely selling books. The advertising unit is a juggernaut and one of the few that can strongly compete with Facebook and Google. The advertising division created 6 billion dollars in the first half of 2018. With Amazon’s robust structure and breadth of offerings, more businesses are ready to pay for promotion facilities. Amazon Prime has been a subscription service that offers unlimited free delivery, film, music, and TV program streaming, boundless reading collections, special bargains, and savings on groceries, among other benefits. In addition, Amazon has started delivering security gadgets to Volvo, Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick vehicles to combat design theft (D&B Hoovers, n.d.). These vehicles are required to be of the 2015 model year or later. While this service is not currently available everywhere, premium members have access to it in 37 cities.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) began as an experiment in 2000 and evolved into a business worth more than $17 billion in 2017. Amazon recognizes the promise of web services and has taken a firm stance toward AWS. Amazon launched over 80 new services and features in 2011, increasing to 160 in 2012 and close to 300 in 2013. The company has ten AWS areas worldwide, including a dedicated government zone called GovCloud. Amazon Web Services was the company’s most profitable business in 2017. Its highest revenue emanated from providing computers, databases, storage, and other amenities to government organizations, companies, and learning institutions. Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle are Amazon’s major competitors in this area (Chaffey, 2021). As earlier stated, Amazon commenced its public operations in 1997. It is a Bullish-rated stock ranked on Nasdaq under the consumer services group. Its ticker symbol is AMZN, and in January 2019, the stock price was about 1,671 dollars per share, valuing the company at 816,000 million dollars. Amazon’s market capitalization surpassed one trillion dollars in September 2018 (Amazon, n.d.a). On the same note, the company’s share price peaked at $2,051 per share. Amazon’s share price has increased more than 11,200 percent since its first public offering.

Amazon has continuously increased its income throughout the years. Its revenue was $89 billion in 2014 and grew to $233 billion in 2018, a remarkable 162 percent rise. The company lost $241 million in 2014 but subsequently became profitable in subsequent years. Its net income was 10 billion dollars in 2018. Over the years, Amazon has continually invested in its assets. From $56 billion in 2014 to $163 billion in 2018, the company has risen significantly (Amazon, n.d.b). As seen in its report of cash flows, the firm has not been stingy with its investments and capital expenses. The net investment cash flow represents an outflow, indicating that the firm spent over what it got in 2014. The company used or invested 6 billion dollars in 2014; by 2018, that figure had increased more than twofold to $13 billion. It invested significantly higher in 2017, approximately 27 billion dollars.

Overview

Amazon was started in Washington in 1994 before reconsolidating in Delaware in 1996. Amazon has strengthened its selling mechanism in its SEC Form 10K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (Amazon, 2018). The corporation is led by four ideologies: a customer-centric style instead of a competitor-focused approach, a craving for creativity, a commitment to operational distinction, and long-term performance. The firm serves its major client bases in each category, including consumers, merchants, developers, enterprises, and content providers. Additionally, the firm offers various services, including advertising and co-branded credit card agreements (Amazon, n.d.a). This diverse range of services benefits people, industrialists, small enterprises, artists, filmmakers, and large institutions every day. Amazon’s brands, including the Kindle and Amazon Echo Dot, encompass speech recognition and application development for audio and video services. AWS’s client base grew exponentially after its launch, as it now serves numerous companies, government agencies, learning institutions, start-ups, and developers.

Amazon employs nearly 570,000 full-time and temporary staff, resulting in quarterly and yearly revenue growth over the last three years. Additionally, the company’s development was aided by the 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods Markets. According to Amazon Inc’s 2017 financial report, the company earned $230 billion in the fiscal year 2018 and boosted revenues by 31 percent in one year. As of December 31, 2018, the stock was trading on NASDAQ under the ticker ‘AMZN’ for $874B a share. In 2016, the share’s lowest value was $475, and its uppermost price was over $870B (Amazon, n.d.a). Amazon’s primary competitors include Alibaba Group Services Limited, Apple Inc, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The Importance of Cybersecurity

Any firm with an online presence must protect itself against cyber-attacks. In this rapidly changing era of technical advancements, exponential development, and unprecedented dangers, businesses should manage their threat exposure from cybersecurity risks and attacks. Amazon is unusual in that it must protect against cyber threats and give cybersecurity solutions to its consumers (Morgan, 2017). AWS offers a range of computing services to its diverse customer base. GuardDuty was launched by Amazon in 2017 and was soon embraced by international brands like Netflix, GE, and many more. It is a novel, dynamic, and intelligent method of recognizing risks and analyzing billions of events each day to discover new and developing hazards that organizations face. GE completed the installation of this system in less than 24 hours. AWS is attractive to giant corporations and small enterprises, as more than half of all cyberattacks target small organizations.

With Amazon’s increasing fame and usage, the firm should build systems and submissions to manage traffic securely. One of them is the secure sockets layer (SSL) that codes online communication, ensuring that only the site and the operator can read it (Amazon, 2018). This safeguards users from sniffers scanning their communications and eavesdropping on their activities. Although the information may be hacked, it is indecipherable to all parties save the handler and the website. DNSSEC protects websites from DNS assaults; however, Amazon does not use it due to the technology’s infancy. Amazon should not just be concerned about foreign threats but also internal attacks. Reduced attack risk ensures the company’s continuing development, employee satisfaction, and better cybersecurity.

Risks and Their Consequences

Amazon confronts several risk factors for cyber-security. They include ransomware, phishing, data leakage, hacking, and insider threat. Ransomware is a virus or harmful program that tries to encrypt a firm’s data and illegally obtains the unlocking code. In contrast, phishing refers to the attempt to get vital information by posing as reliable contacts such as a financial institution or an internet service provider. The availability and affordability of portable technological devices make data backup and mobility easy (Morgan, 2017). These characteristics also lead to companies such as Amazon becoming targets for data theft (data leakage). Hacking involves illegal access to Information Technology systems, which makes criminals access data from outside the organization. Since Amazon employs personnel (full-time or part-time), the management should be careful as employees can mistakenly or intentionally disclose private data (insider threat) to criminals.

Amazon should address a variety of other risk concerns. For example, fierce rivalry is a crucial risk element. Although this external danger may not be eliminated completely, Amazon’s plan has continually been to be aggressive in all that it does, whether selling items at a bargain or delivering cutting-edge cloud computing packages. While Amazon’s evolution and expansion have been rapid, the company’s managerial, operational, financial, and other divisions have been strained (Wilhelm, 2017). The firm must remain current with advancements and even keep commitments made. While addressing identified challenges, the management should conduct continuous SWOT and PESTEL analyses of the firm.

Amazon’s focus is not on the short-term gains but on the company’s long-term viability and sustainability. As an international business, Amazon is also exposed to currency risk (Amazon, 2018). Its overseas activities subject companies to various hazards, including adverse local, political, and economic situations, regional government instability, supplier failures, low-quality supplies, inventory shortages, and inconsistent guidelines and regulations (Consumer Reports, 2021). Additionally, geopolitical events such as wars and natural disasters that encompass tsunamis or storms should be considered. The arising conditions may either help Amazon or act as a hindrance to its continuing development. Amazon should manage all potential hazards peacefully to ensure continued success and survival in such a varied and multi-cultural worldwide context.

Conclusion

Amazon started from a low financial background when it inaugurated its operations as an online bookseller in 1994. The management of Amazon should make timely resolutions to recognized problems and mitigate possible risks to ensure that the corporation upholds its leading position in the online market. Amazon should tackle a diversity of risk concerns. The first risk component is fierce competition. While addressing established challenges, the management should conduct constant SWOT and PESTEL analyses of the firm.

Amazon’s concentration is not on the short-term benefits but on the corporation’s long-term viability and sustainability. Amazon should manage all possible hazards peacefully to ensure sustained success and survival in such a varied and multi-cultural international context.

References

Amazon. (2018). Form 10-K. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Web.

Amazon. (n.d.a). Amazon prime. Web.

Amazon. (n.d.b). Annual financials for Amazon.com Inc. MarketWatch. Web.

Chaffey, D. (2021). Amazon.com marketing strategy: A business case study. Smart Insights. Web.

Consumer Reports. (2021). Pros and cons of Amazon Prime. Web.

Cuofano, G. (n.d.). How Amazon makes money: Amazon business model in a nutshell. FourWeekMBA. Web.

D&B Hoovers. (n.d.). Amazon.com, Inc. Web.

DePillis, L., & Sherman, I. (2021). Amazon’s extraordinary evolution: A Timeline. CNN Business. Web.

GreyB. (2021). Amazon business strategy: Insights of its operation and investment plan to become the top Fortune 500 company. Web.

Morgan, S. (2017). AWS pushes into the trillion-dollar cybersecurity market. CSO. Web.

Wilhelm, A. (2017). A look back in IPO: Amazon’s 1997 move. TechCrunch. Web.

Introduction to the Information System

Amazon is a multi-global online retailer and a reputable cloud tech provider. The company is based in the US and originally started as an online bookselling firm. It later focused on an internet-based enterprise offering e-commerce, digital streaming, and issues with artificial intelligence (AI). For the company to work perfectly in the retail market, it must invest in information systems that enable a wide array of utilities to be leveraged to expand its portfolio. The company uses two-piece information management software encompassing what is referred to as Simple Storage Service interlinked with an integrated database connected to the Amazon Web Service (AWS) that acts as its key e-commerce platform (Koita & Suzuki, 2019). The Amazon application is designed so that a customer can create an account using the web service in which a personal profile can be developed.

Amazon Web Service comprises various systems with specific functions that promote the effective transfer of information management and completion of business procedures. The robust amazon system has features such as scalability, security, and efficiency that are developed to ensure that a customer can rely on the system without delay or inconvenience. In amazon, the two-piece system offers optimal data safety based on the customer’s profile.

AWS has a raft of applications that it sponsors for various services. For example, Amazon Connect, Amazon Honeycode, Amazon Chime, Alexa for Business, and Amazon WorkDocs are some of the system-integrated components in the AWS for its operations. It is important to mention that AWS is significantly comprehensive since it involves modern cloud-centric computing that the application must contain to perform its business applications (Koita & Suzuki, 2019). Amazon Relational Database Service (ARDS) is a component under AWS with options such as Postgre SQL, Oracle, and MariaDB, high-end database management sub-systems offering a sophisticated service for online business.

Characteristics of the Users of the Information Systems

For one to be able to use the Amazon system, there are various competencies they must possess for flexibility. The users of the amazon information systems include those who work to create and manage the databases as well as administer the internal parts of the system. The group of users, in this case, may represent a significant number of Amazon employees and service providers who act ready in case of any issue that arises while the AWS systems are under use (Hofmann et al., 2022). The first characteristic of Amazon system users is competency in a microservices architecture. That means a person who understands how systems work under different functions.

The other feature of AWS users is attention to detail when performing different tasks within the system. The reason is that many systems today may be affected by different programming errors that may lead to personal or group liability while using the same. A malfunction that occurs while using a system is likely to suspend the system’s workability; therefore, the user must articulate that instantly. A miscalculation can also cost the company, which means programmers must be keen to put formulas that accurately respond to the matter being handled for a given moment (Baldominos Gómez et al., 2022). For example, costs and charges added while a buyer is shipping products must be set so that a bulk transaction will not have monetary loopholes. Therefore, users who find their way to Amazon’s system must be vigilant to details that are part of the integrated elements within a given interface. Other important characteristic includes excellent problem-solving capability and self-discipline.

Server-Side and Client-Side Hardware and Software of the System

Server-Side hardware and software include the internal and external components that enable the transmission of electronic data within the working units of a central computer point. A server is a program that can provide service to other computer functions from a specific center. AWS being the central server of Amazon, the software part of it allows a direction of enterprise resource program (ERP) to run on the Oracle database (Baldominos Gómez et al., 2022). During the process, there is the ordering schedule automation that includes tracking models integrated into the business helm.

The server-side software collects transaction history, credit card details, and other records through customer relations management (CRM), which has been a critical business developer for a long while. When it comes to client-side software, a customer experiences encryption of their sensitive information, such as credit card data, that allows redirection of customer orders in the delivery system of Amazon. In that case, the client-side software using CRM scalability can send auto-generated notifications to the customer regarding a transaction (Ahmad et al., 2021). Therefore, the server-side and client-side software works hand in hand for the efficiency of business processes at Amazon.

When it comes to the hardware of the AWS system, there are various concepts that a reader must understand to comprehend the configurations of the Amazon application. Server-side AWS has a storage gateway hardware appliance that can be seen and enables validation of on-premise deployments during special configurations regarding different purchases (Ahmad et al., 2021). In this case, the gateway hardware comes with pre-loaded software that gives the memory, network, and caches during verification processes when a customer buys. The hardware appliance is developed in a way that it can provide a user with an out-of-box experience that requires little infrastructure to accomplish tasks that are being undertaken. AWS is designed in that it caN allow a physical machine to run from a virtual base in case there is a lack of on-premise infrastructure in frequent transactions (Baldominos Gómez et al., 2022). The client-side hardware perspective of the AWS system is that customers are provided with a wide array of tools for their one-stop shop while interacting with Amazon’s system from a retail perspective. Through that capability, many users can have a non-disrupted space since AWS has unlimited server capacity that changes the interface of a program depending on the context.

Description of Features/functions of Amazon Information System

Amazon is a global company that understands the competitive factors that result from innovation and globalization. Therefore, the company has been investing in a raft of unique features that serve as a differentiation element for their marketability. Amazon’s AWS is a top system with various functions that ease the company’s business processes. The first feature that this essay discusses is storage (Hofmann et al., 2022). The company boasts an economical and easy-to-use system that uses independent storage to meet the requirements. For example, Amazon Glacier is used for long-term storage, and Amazon Simple Storage Service, offers scalable data archiving for backup. The second feature is the security of AWS, whereby the firm is known for providing maximum security of data that is accessible to them. Customers can pay for the services they need without upfront expenses. The security factor of AWS is by EC2 protocol configuration at port access (Hofmann et al., 2022). In data input, the security policy at the Amazon application is used for filtering any traffic that comes depending on the port range and source.

Thirdly, the accessibility of AWS is made mobile by the android and IOS capacities. During retailing, AWS Mobile Hub allows support for a suitable and compatible feature for the application being used. Under security factors, AWS has a mobile SDK, which gives a path for services such as DynamoDB, and Lambda and supports android and other operating features (Koita & Suzuki, 2019). Data provided to AWS is facilitated through Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth. In terms of usability. the input of the details happens by creating labeled data streamed in real-time during specific business operations. Data output complements the input by showing the outcome of the labeling task. For example, the output data file includes all objects sent from metadata about various tools required during the processing of business utilities (Koita & Suzuki, 2019). The ‘augmented manifest file’ contains all the marked subjects detected by machine learning capabilities.

Conclusion

Amazon uses two-piece information management software encompassed as Amazon Web Service (AWS). The essay has explored how AWS works by including the server-side and client-side software and hardware components. The characteristics of AWS system users include the ability to understand microservices architecture, attention to detail, and self-discipline. A user competent with single functions deployed independently can spot any challenges that may occur within the system and correct them promptly. AWS acts as a centra server by incorporating ERP and Oracle as the primary cloud-computing database. The usefulness of the service allows controlling of data from remote area for Amazon application.

The client experiences encrypted data that captures details such as credit card, and customer profile, among other details. The essay has covered various features of AWS, such as storage, accessibility, and security. The system has a wide array of storage capacities that allow independent file storage and archiving for backup. Regarding accessibility, AWS can be featured in a mobile handset whereby the android and IOS systems use it. Security of customer data is essential, and for that matter, the input of any information is configured in metadata for processing.

References

Ahmad, T., Morelli, U., Ranise, S., & Zannone, N. (2021). Extending access control in AWS IoT through event-driven functions: An experimental evaluation using a smart lock system.International Journal of Information Security, 21(2), 379-408.

Baldominos Gómez, A., Saez, Y., Quintana, D., & Isasi, P. (2022). AWS PredSpot: Machine learning for predicting the price of spot instances in the AWS cloud.International Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Artificial Intelligence, 7(3), 65.

Hofmann, W., Lang, S., Reichardt, P., & Reggelin, T. (2022). A brief introduction to deploying Amazon Web Services for online discrete-event simulation. Procedia Computer Science, 200(7), 386-393.

Koita, T., & Suzuki, S. (2019). Crowdsourcing for traffic survey work on Amazon Mechanical Turk.International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, 11(4), 61-65.

Textual analysis

Textual analysis is widely used to identify key category concepts and clusters, allowing us to process sizeable textual data and identify patterns that are difficult to identify by simply examining the file. For this assignment, the data for textual analysis was compiled into a single.csv file — this included five columns covering consumer reviews about various products associated with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Specifically, the data were divided into Rating, Formation Date, Product Variation, Detailed Unstructured Review Transcript, and Review Classification as Feedback. The total number of rows in the data file was 3,150. The work was performed using SAS Visual Text statistical software to identify common trends in textual notes through statistical analysis and machine learning techniques. The current work presents two parts, including conceptual and categorical analysis.

Conceptual Analysis

Concept: Bad Reviews

The critical goal of conceptual analysis in SAS for the selected file was to extract the conceptual entities of unstructured text. The application value of this approach is to differentiate the total volume of text into some number of conceptual clusters, which creates a classification system. The first concept focused on finding bad reviews in which customers could express all or part of their indignation about Alexa products.

This concept included eleven of the most common synonyms associated with the word ‘Bad’ that consumers could potentially use to express negative feedback:

• CLASSIFIER:bad
• CLASSIFIER:worse
• CLASSIFIER:poor
• CLASSIFIER:inferior
• CLASSIFIER:awful
• CLASSIFIER:sad
• CLASSIFIER:negative
• CLASSIFIER:wrong
• CLASSIFIER:incorrect
• CLASSIFIER:worthless
• CLASSIFIER:useless

The algorithm “CLASSIFIER:code” was aimed at searching for the designated codes among all the elements of the text file, which allowed us to find exactly 69 out of 3150 reviews (2.19%) that contained these words, as shown in the screenshot below. It is important to clarify that the algorithm was not configured to search for combinations, which means that each time the designated word was found in the text elements, it was regarded as a unique case.

The essential question is the prevalence of specific terms in the cluster found. This step is important because it allows us to determine the relevance of each code in the algorithm because if a word has not been found, its use seems invalid. In reality, invalid words do not complicate the work for this procedure, but in the case of extensive data, any unnecessary terms can slow down the processing time and create the need for additional (but useless) work. In particular, out of 69 times, terms (case does not matter) were detected the following number of times:

• Bad = 21
• Worse = 2
• Poor = 7
• Inferior = 1
• Awful = 4
• Sad = 4
• Negative = 6
• Wrong = 15
• Incorrect = 0
• Worthless = 3
• Useless = 13

As expected, there was a discrepancy between the mention of a particular code and the total number of codes found: 76 detections instead of the expected 69. The problem is that two different codes could have been used in the same sentence, which caused a decrease in the total number of finds. In addition, it was also found that the term “Incorrect” is not found among the reviews, so for further work, it would be quite appropriate to remove it. It is fair to note that not all of the reviews found were strictly negative but could contain both positive and negative evaluations. For example, a combination of “Good” and “Poor” codes resulted in some of these reviews. In other words, the feedback detected in the conceptual analysis did not necessarily have to be strictly negative but at a minimum, included information about Alexa’s product flaws and negative consumer experiences in using.

Concept: Good Reviews

The second concept was diametrically opposed to textual analysis: this involved not only using a different philosophy but also different rules for finding codes. Finding reviews that contained all or partially good ratings was necessary as a fundamental concept for judging favorable characteristics and consumer experiences. The strategic value of such a method allows us to study the customer experience and modify marketing strategies based on what the user likes best.

Since the first concept was based on the ” CLASSIFIER:” rule, there is a need to use a different algorithm to form the second concept. So, it was decided to use the rule “Concept_Rule:” which allows operating with a Boolean algebra for search combinations. The specific algorithm that was used includes the following mechanics:

CONCEPT_RULE:(OR,”_c”,”_c”, “_c”,”_c”,”_c”,”_c”, “_c”, “_c”)

In this case, “OR” is used as a Boolean operator, which is the logic that means that all the codes listed below will match if at least one of them occurs in the text. The algorithm also uses the “@” symbol, which allows you to get the designated words in any form of English if any. For example, “good” is converted to “better.”.

The total number of matches found was 2188 out of 3150 (69.5%), which at first glance indicates a much higher number of positive consumer reviews than negative ones. It is necessary to investigate the presence of each of the terms as part of this algorithm (case is not important):

• Easy = 318
• Great = 661
• Love = 828
• Happy = 57
• Amazing = 81
• Good = 249
• Awesome = 78
• Like = 435

One can see that most of the reviews contain the words “love” and “great,” which allows us to characterize consumers’ feelings about Alexa’s product line in a favorable way. However, it is worth clarifying that not all of the 2,188 matches actually contain positive reviews (although most do). For example, the use of the “like” code could have been used in a negative way, as shown in the example review from the screenshot below. Meanwhile, the word “like” could have been used in the meaning of comparison or “as,” which also creates limitations to the useful output.

Categorical Analysis

Category: Correction

Categories are a narrower set than concepts because they ultimately create conditions for testing a statement for truth or falsity using ordinary logic. The first category uses the “NOT” operator, which allows you to exclude an argument from a rendition. The point of such a tool is to study the issuance of positive reviews, which will be devoid of negative evaluations. For this reason, the following algorithm is used:

(AND, (AND, (AND, (AND, (AND, (AND, (AND, (OR, “Easy”, “Great”, “Happy”, “Amazing”, “Good”, “Awesome”, “Love”), (NOT, “Bad”)), (NOT, “Poor”)), (NOT, “Worse”)), (NOT, “Inferior”)), (NOT, “Wrong”)), (NOT, “Awful”)), (NOT, “Sad”)), (NOT, “Negative”))

Notice that the output became expectedly smaller because all negative words were excluded from it using an algorithm that allows finding (AND) any (OR) of the positive words in such reviews, which would exclude (NOT) negative words. Note that the word “Like” was not added to this output, as it could have been used in different contexts, which would have distorted the results. Now one can be sure that every review found contains only positive items, which means that this category served as a text filter.

Category: Competition

Competitive analysis is essential for business, so exploring the output that would inform about the presence of specific competitive devices among the reviews is appropriate. It is suggested to use a simple operator, “OR,” which allows getting only such reviews in which at least one of the designated codes occurs. The specific form of such an algorithm is as follows:

(OR, “Google@”, “Apple@”, “Siri@”, “HomePod@”)

Only the specified codes were chosen for analysis, although they do not represent the entire global set of voice assistants and brands. Again, the “@” symbol indicates that any form of the designated code can be used. The final output size was 74, which is how often respondents referred to competitors in their reviews. It is worth clarifying that the presence of competitors does not mean negative feedback, as the use of comparison can favor Amazon.

Introduction

Amazon is one of the main beneficiaries of the current crisis. While other companies are counting losses, customers go to Amazon to such an extent that hundreds of things were in short supply and the Prime delivery service was overloaded. This has caused the internet giant’s warehouse workers to panic. Many employees have been diagnosed with the virus since the warehouse is an ideal place for the spread of the disease. However, it is impermissible to slow down the pace of work in such a load (Kim & Austin, 2020). The workers have a hard time, but they are only allowed to go home if they already have the symptoms of the disease. Amazon’s ethical issues of treating employees poorly not only affect their overall business strategy but also violate the biblical moral principles and ethics of work.

Amazon’s Mistreatment of Employees

For Amazon, anything that slows down delivery speed is unacceptable since the company is more popular now than ever. Through the site, tons of people order everything that would have been taken from offline stores. Amazon has repeatedly been accused of inhumane working conditions. After a flurry of criticism, in 2018, it finally raised the minimum wage to $ 15 per hour and promised to slightly improve the conditions for employees (Gosse, 2020). However, it turned out that for many, in fact, the salary even decreased, taking into account the reduction in bonuses. Moreover, Amazon has created a tight control system for its employees. In warehouses, a video surveillance system is used, which is designed to exclude theft and monitor every movement of the worker.

The company has also implemented an electronic task control system. The device tracks all activities, including the time between scans of orders during picking and packing. For example, if an employee lags behind the need for speed, which is automatically set by Amazon, then the system will reprimand, which can lead to a warning or even dismissal (Manuel & Herron, 2020). Moreover, employees are prohibited from bringing personal items to the warehouse, except for a bottle of water and a transparent plastic bag with money. At the end of the working day, they are carefully inspected for a possible theft (Gosse, 2020). Employees complain that they feel pressure from the company even in their free time.

Since Amazon does not mobilize the potential of its staff, employee abuse affects the overall business strategy of the company, namely high turnover, business instability, and even the likelihood of employees’ mistakes and defects. Moreover, Amazon is canceling promotions and discounts since the online retailer cannot cope with the growing number of orders. A company’s business strategy cannot be completely successful if customers are the only priority. Amazon must understand that high productivity depends not only on modern technologies but also on people’s attitude to work. Therefore, it is not the task control system that is important, but the reward system to ensure the achievement of the company’s goals through stimulating employees’ motives.

Biblical Ethics of Work

The ethical aspect seems to be an integral link in the formation of the management system of a particular organization. The spiritual component in the management system thus acquires significance and relevance. Therefore, it is important to clarify the ethical component of personnel management from the point of view of Christian doctrine. In examining the Christian position on management, it is necessary to note those controls that are unacceptable to the administrator, being a member of the Church, reflect the Christian leadership ideas that play a significant role in the leader’s work.

An important issue of the Old Testament legislative regulation is the instructions on remuneration for work. Fair remuneration and timely payment is a basic requirement for an employer. This provision is also repeatedly repeated in the legislative part of the Old Testament: “Do not rob. The wages of a mercenary should not remain with you until the morning” (The Holy Bible, Leviticus 19: 13). The importance of this position is emphasized in other verses, for example, “I will be quick to testify against […] those who defraud laborers of their wages […] (The Holy Bible, Malachi 3: 5). There are also several indications of the inevitability of God’s punishment: “Woe to him who builds his palace […], making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor” (The Holy Bible, Jeremiah 22: 13). The Gospel approach to this problem is identical to that of the Old Testament, but the wording is stricter.

The Bible contains many important management decisions that any leader has to know. According to Christian eschatology, on the day of judgment, the results of everyone’s earthly life will be important for God, including how a manager treated his subordinates. Christ in the gospel proclaimed one of the most important principles: “So, in everything you want people to do to you, so do you with them” (The Holy Bible, Matthew 7: 12). That is why Amazon should remember that the company must care about workers as much as it cares about its customers.

Conclusion

Taking into account Amazon’s mistreatment of its employees and biblical principles of work ethics, it can be concluded that the organization’s management should properly treat the employees. It should provide their subordinates with a proper salary and the opportunity to implement their ideas. Moreover, it should raise them for their services to the organization along the career ladder instead of constantly controlling them. It is important to stimulate them for further work and cooperation. That is why Amazon should create a comfortable working environment, as well as take care of the leisure and emotional health of the team.

References

Gosse, J. (2020). Humans are underrated: Art and labor after Amazon: Editor’s introduction. Media-N, 16(1), 1-3.

Kim, S., & Austin, L. L. (2020). Employee mistreatment crises and company perceptions. International Journal of Communication, 14, 6133–6153.

Manuel, T., & Herron, T. L. (2020). An ethical perspective of business CSR and the COVID-19 pandemic. Society and Business Review, 15(3), 235-253. Web.

The Holy Bible. (2001). Authorized King James Version. London & New York, nd.

Introduction

Amazon’s aggressive strategy for acquiring exclusive rights for the representation of their writers has led to a conflict between the company and owners of other distribution outlets. This paper will analyze the battle between Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Review of the Issue

The battle between the two publishers started in 2001 with Independent Publishers Group (IPG), the second-largest book distributor in the United States, denying Amazon the renewal of the agreement to sell Kindle titles. Amazon countered the attack from the industry by signing contracts with the two major press distributors Perseus Book Group and National Book Network, soon after the IPG’s announcement (Herther, 2012).

In January 2014, the management of Barnes & Noble decided against selling Amazon published books in their brick and mortar retail stores (Herther, 2012). The decision was taken in response to Amazon’s aggressive strategy for acquiring exclusive rights for the representation of their authors, agents, and publisher. The move was followed by the second largest B&M retailer Books-A-Million and by the electronic bookseller IndieCommerce (Herther, 2012).

The losses from the sales of Barns & Noble’s electronic book readers were offset by the revenues from the book sales up to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 (Trachtenberg, 2013). At that time, the company saw the 10% reduction in Nook sales and 24% decrease in earnings (Trachtenberg, 2013). The bookseller explained its financial losses by the high rates of write-downs on electronic reading devices, goodwill impairment charges that amounted to $18 million and lower sales in brick and mortar stores (Trachtenberg, 2013). According to its financial report, the company generated $475.4 million in losses (Trachtenberg, 2013). Barns & Noble decided to retreat from the competition with Amazon’s Kindle and stop producing color tablets.

Publishing

Even though around 60 percent of the electronic book market is in Amazon’s control, its share of the print book market is only around 15 to 40 percent (Herther, 2012). It means that notwithstanding the company’s dominance in the e-books business, it still has room to grow (Herther, 2012). The company’s decision to move into the publishing business was the risky one. It was related to various pushbacks from its competitors, including the resistance from the American Booksellers Association and IPG (Herther, 2012). The rapid acceleration of Amazon’s publishing program started with the publishing of 122 titles in the fall of 2011 (Herther, 2012).

The response from the publishers and resellers was harsh. The chief buyer for Politics & Prose Mark LaFramboise said that the store will not sell books published by Amazon in the attempt to deny support to company’s “publishing venture” (Krug, 2012). The decision to boycott Amazon’s titles was also followed by Barnes & Noble who prohibited storing New Harvest books on the shells of their 689 brick and mortar stores (Krug, 2012). Therefore, it can be argued that the publishing move was not wise because the company failed to predict the extent to which both large and small, independent publishers could collaborate.

Switching Publishers

On the one hand, changing a publisher is a risky venture that has to be avoided at all cost, on the other hand, a shifting digital landscape might offer new benefits for established writers, which were not previously accessible to them. The growing competition in publishing means that only the companies empowering their authors will be able to stay ahead of their rivals. Moreover, the future in the business will be reserved for those companies that are willing to reveal their marketing strategies to their writers or to provide them with the sales data (Streitfield, 2014).

When deciding whether it is worth to approach Amazon, a popular writer has to consider whether the new publisher will be able to provide them with the avenues for staying competitive and having the ways to effectively reach their readers (Friedman, 2012). A successful novelist Vincent Zandri argues that not only Amazon is able to offer those things to a writer, but that the company has made the impact on the industry that is similar to the effect of the arrival of the movable type (as cited in Streitfield, 2014).

Therefore, it is highly recommendable for the author of the popular children’s fiction to switch to Amazon, the publisher whose main focus is a writer. Moreover, while other traditional publishing companies offer only around 15 percent of a book’s cost in royalties to a writer, Amazon provides them with 35 percent or more from a digital book price (Streitfield, 2014).

Having Previous Relationship with a Publisher

A new writer working on the first book would have a better deal signing their contract with Amazon. It would be a more advantageous move from a financial standpoint, considering the high royalty rates the company offers to its writers. Moreover, Amazon does not give preferential treatment to any group of authors. Regardless of the writer’s standing with the publisher, every book could be easily found on their website. Moreover, it is Amazon’s philosophy to fundamentally change the nature of writer-publisher relationships so the authors would be more empowered (Streitfield, 2014).

On the other hand, self-publishing authors could have a worse deal if they decide to enroll in Direct Publishing platform. In 2015, Amazon decided to transform payout system so it would be better aligned with the customers’ reading habits (Chakrabarty & D’Souza, 2015). The new rules were applied to the books available at Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Even though writers can set their own prices and edit books at any moment, the amount of royalties was tied to the number of read pages (Chakrabarty and D’Souza, 2015). Therefore, self-publishing writers might have to consider approaching one of the Big Five publishers.

Acquisition

The substantial reduction in demand for physical books aggravated by economic decline constitutes a significant threat for Barnes & Noble. Moreover, with the decrease of funding of educational institutions supported by the United States government, college enrollment rates will also drop (Best, Zeigler, Smith, Whitley, & Cornwell, 2010). This means that textbook segment of Barnes & Noble sales will become substantially smaller. Therefore, it is highly recommended for the company to make a transition from the sales of physical books to the electronic market.

Currently, an acquisition is not a feasible solution for the Barnes & Noble as it owns the largest share of the magazine industry, and has the gross margins higher than those of Walmart and Amazon. Moreover, the company’s share of the electronic market is 20 percent, which is even higher that its original market of physical books (Best et al., 2010).

Conclusion

Vertical integration of Amazon poses a significant threat to Barnes & Noble. The reduction in decline for physical books aggravated by increasing competitor pressures calls for the new economic strategies, which would retain company’s share in electronic books market.

References

Best, S., Zeigler, J., Smith, C., Whitley, J., & Cornwell, J. (2010). A case analysis of Barnes & Noble. Web.

Chakrabarty, S., & D’Souza, S. (2015). Amazon to pay self-published authors based on pages read. Web.

Friedman, J. (2012). The Future of the Author-Publisher Relationship. Web.

Herther, N. (2012). E-book Wars: Amazon Versus the Rest. Searcher, 30(1), 20-30.

Krug, N. (2012). Amazon books getting no shelf space. The Washington Post. Web.

Streitfield, D. (2014). Feed the Beast (or Else). New York Times. Web.

Trachtenberg, J. (2013). Barnes & Noble Retreats as Tablet Wars Heat Up. Wall Street Journal. Web.

Introduction

Woody Allen sued Amazon on February 7, 2019, for violating contract laws. The company had made a four-movie deal with Allen, forcing him to accuse the firm in Federal Court after canceling the agreement to make four films (Vidgor, 2019). Consequently, the plaintiff is Allen, and the defendant is Amazon. The issue is that Amazon claimed that the plaintiff was being accused of sexual assault. Hence, Amazon filed an appeal to justify its decision as it had an adverse impact on the firm’s financial security.

Fact Analysis

The law used by the court was not disclosed since the issue was settled between the two parties. Therefore, one can argue that parties can come to an agreement and resolve their disputes. The reasons given by the court were that the defendant and the plaintiff settled their issues in private and the appellant withdrew the case. In this case, individuals can dispute that renewal of contract or compensation might be the reasons that led to the case’s settlement. Many appellants have withdrawn their accusations after agreeing with the appellee. Similarly, various factors could have led to the agreement between Allen and Amazon.

Conclusion and Opinion

To conclude, courts have guaranteed that plaintiffs may withdraw their cases due to different reasons. Moreover, some disputes are settled without involving the court, leading to the plaintiff’s request to cancel the case. In my opinion, Allen was right since the company had contacted him, being aware of his sexual assault accusations. Correspondingly, the court should have considered his argument since breaching the contract was exercised. I agree with the court’s decision to let Allen withdraw the case since the parties had resolved their matter. A social impact could be involved, whereby many people learn about contract law and the importance of seeking justice when violated. Contract breaching is also common in America, and the case can be used to create awareness of its dangers.

Reference

Vidgor, N. (2019). Woody Allen and Amazon settle breach of contract lawsuit. The New York Times. Web.

Amazon is a well-known company that currently operates in the modern world while having leading positions in online retail. Meanwhile, it remains apparent that all transnational firms have a substantial influence on the environment and the wellbeing of the individuals. The primary goal of this paper is to discover the potential impact of Amazon on the prosperity of nations, their health, and the environment. In the end, the conclusions are drawn to summarize the primary findings of the paper while referring them to the possible positive contribution of Amazon to the healthcare industry and determining the firm’s contribution to the positive changes in the global environment.

Firstly, the potential influence of Amazon on health has to be evaluated with the assistance of the recent news. Recently, it has been questionable whether the company supports the development of health and devotes its activities to enhance the company’s social responsibility¹.

Amazon tries to avoid the interviews regarding its sustainability strategy to ensure its reputation and position in the market. Meanwhile, it could be said that this matter has a destructive impact on the organization as a whole, as it determines the perception that the company tries to hide its inappropriate activities from the public. Based on the factors provided above, it could be stated that Amazon does not have any activities, which damage the health of the individuals due to the lack of the communications with the public to avoid the misconceptions about the brand.

In turn, it is critical to discuss Amazon and global interdependencies associated with health such as global climate change, disease vulnerability, and access to medicines. Meanwhile, it could be said that the involvement of transnational companies in the business starts gaining popularity in the world, as the corporations such as Apple and Google have strengthened their positions in the healthcare market.²

In this case, Amazon tends to pursue a similar strategy while being interested in the substantial investment in this industry, as these matters will not only have a positive influence on the company’s image but will affect the medicine distribution and disease vulnerability advantageously. A well-established transportation network will determine the company’s ability to improve the health of the nations while ensuring the delivery of the medicine on time and minimize the lethality from the curable illnesses.

Meanwhile, the increase of Amazon’s transparency will contribute to the understanding that the company pays substantial attention to the environmental changes due the well-developed recycling policy, which will help affect the climate change in a positive direction.

In the end, it could be said that Amazon has to increase its transparency, as this matter might have a negative influence on the company’s image while creating the misconceptions about the intentions of the brand. The availability of the company’s sustainability strategy to the public will contribute to the understanding that the firm has no violations related to health while having a substantial contribution to the healthcare segment. Based on the factors revealed above, it is evident that the organization can affect the current condition of health of the nations and determine the stability of the environment while paying vehement attention to the healthcare segment and social responsibility.

Bibliography

Diamond, Dan. “Apple, Google Are Jumping Into Health Care. Will Amazon Be Next?” Forbes. Web.

Gunther, Marc. “Can Amazon’s New ‘Dream Team’ Fix the Company’s Sustainability reputation.” The Guardian. Web.

Footnotes

1. Marc Gunther, “Can Amazon’s New ‘Dream Team’ Fix the Company’s Sustainability reputation,” The Guardian. Web.
2. Dan Diamond, “Apple, Google Are Jumping Into Health Care. Will Amazon Be Next?” Forbes. Web.

The internet has revolutionized many business practices. Many entertainment companies are currently using the internet to fulfill the needs of their consumers. Netflix uses an internet-based model to market and sell its movies. Many companies such as Redbox are also using different online strategies to market their movies. Amazon is also a leading marketer of movies in many parts of the world (Wittekind, 2012). This research paper identifies how Amazon and Netflix compete with each other to deliver movies to their customers.

Various movie companies such as Home Box Office (HBO) own Amazon’s hardware. This cable television network is a subsidiary of Time Warner. Amazon also shows movies from Epix TV channel. The practice has made Amazon a leading competitor in this sector. Netflix avails its on-demand movies to its customers in American, Europe, and the Caribbean. Starz Entertainment owns most of this hardware content. In 2011, “Netflix announced its partnership with Lions Gate Entertainment and Paramount Pictures” (Lusted, 2012, p. 47). The company also distributes various TV programs from Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Disney, and Sony Pictures.

Every company marketing its products via the internet should pay for bandwidth. Netflix uses AmazonWebServices to avail its movies to every user. Netflix pays for bandwidth in order to achieve its goals. Netflix’s prices for its movies are reducing because of the falling bandwidth. Netflix pays “around $200 million annually as bandwidth fee” (Lusted, 2012, p. 68). Amazon also uses similar approaches to pay for bandwidth.

Customers can either purchase or rent a movie from these two companies. Netflix provides a flat-fee for DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. Customers can also order or download movies from the company’s website. Customers can either stream movies online or get their DVDs by mail. Customers can also purchase packaged movies from Netflix’s website. Customers can collect their movies from different collection centers. Amazon lets its customers download High Quality (HQ) copies of various movies. Customers can also purchase their favorite films online. Most of “Amazon’s movies are obtainable through streaming” (Wittekind, 2012, p. 48). The customers return these rented movies to these companies before ordering new ones. Such practices have promoted the performance of these competing companies.

YouTube might become a disruptor for these providers because it uses an ad-based model. YouTube avails its movies free of charge to its viewers across the globe. Most of these movies have many viewers in many parts of the world. The ad-based model focuses on promoting various services and products. The practice reduces the number of customers who purchase or rent movies from Amazon and Netflix (Lusted, 2012). YouTube uses a simple video hosting service whereby users can upload and share video content. YouTube provides a hosting service or application to make video hosting possible. Two PayPal workers created YouTube in 2005. Google Incorporation currently owns YouTube.

The movie services availed by YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix have changed the way consumers watch and purchase different video contents. These online-based services are different from those of iTunes. Apple Incorporation introduced iTunes to “help customers organize, share, and enjoy different contents such as movies, TV shows, music, applications, and books” (Lusted, 2012, p. 79). Users can shop for new books, applications, and movies from iTunes. Apple’s iTunes is a powerful approach because it attracts more customers.

These media providers will be profitable in the future because more customers are purchasing their products online. These providers will continue attracting more customers. I would consider some of the major concerns affecting these cloud-based models. The first concern would be the problem of hacking and fraud. Many companies will lose their profits because of this insecurity (Wittekind, 2012). The other concern is the level of competition in this sector. I will address such concerns in order to make my media provider successful.

Reference List

Lusted, M. (2012). Netflix: The Company and Its Founders. New York: Essential Library.

Wittekind, E. (2012). Amazon.com: The Company and Its Founders. New York: Abdo Publishing Company.

With the transfer of the global economy into the online area, a range of questions concerning the payment procedure ensued (Taylor 2). Even though it quickly became possible to use credit cards for paying for online services and buying products online, the issue regarding possible alternative payment methods has been raised quite a few times (Patent Application Titled “Mobile Currency Messaging Systems” Published Online 9572). Seeing that the environment of the online economy differed greatly from the real-life one, it was reasonable to suggest that a new type of currency should be suggested as opposed to dollars, euros, etc. Alternative systems of payment were the result, and the Amazon Coin was a peculiar specimen of the latter.

According to the official statement made by the organization, the Amazon Coin is “a virtual currency you can use to purchase eligible apps, games, and digital in-app items” (Amazon para. 1). Though often compared to BitCoins, Amazon Coins represent a different concept, as they are only valid within the Amazon Company; outside of its services, the coins are useless. Herein their acceptability and legality lie; however, it should be noted that the specified characteristics of Amazon Coins also define their value and significance to a considerable extent.

Even though the Amazon Coin as a concept works perfectly well within the environment of the Amazon online services, being both legal and economically reasonable as opposed to bitcoins, it is still considered alien to the existing monetary system by the U.S. government, even though the U.S. citizens enjoy the services; herein the conflict between the social and the political implications of the introduction of a digital currency lie.

The consensus that the Amazon organization has found between the [political and social implications is truly fascinating (Wolfe 2). The company has managed to balance between what is considered a punishable offense and a challenge to the global financial system, as the introduction of a new currency, which, from the perspective of the U.S. law, technically falls under the category of crime: “in using the word “coin” Amazon invoked a language that the FED associates with counterfeiting” (Appeagle para. 3). Nevertheless, Amazon has maintained its status as a law-abiding company; moreover, the organization has become known worldwide as the firm that made the idea of a virtual currency possible (Hughes 2).

Indeed, while it would be wrong to claim that the Amazon Corporation has come up with the concept of online money, one must give the organization some credit for perfecting the system of virtual coins.

The route, which the Amazon Company has managed to locate to avoid the possible legal issues is, in fact, much more than merely a clever trick; the strategy that the organization has adopted to handle the possible accusations of a financial fraud shows that the concept of online money is quite viable and must be accepted in the online economic environment as one of the most reasonable and adequate systems of payment for online commodities (Plassaras 377).

As far as the social specifics of the approach in question are concerned, the adoption of the virtual currency, even though on a relatively small scale (i.e., solely within the realm of Amazon), heralds the era, when the key social processes in general and the process of communication in particular, has been transferred into the virtual world. To be more exact, the negotiation stage has been digitalized to the point where it occurs online as the parties push the buttons on their computers. On a more general scale, the transfer of the economic interactions into the digital sphere presupposes that the amount of the actual real-life social interactions is going to be reduced to an even less significant amount. In other words, the fact that the key financial transactions are going to occur with the help of virtual coins devalues the process of negotiation between the customer and the producer of the services in question.

Much to the credit of the innovation introduced by the Amazon, it does have a range of positive elements that are going to have their effect on both the social and the political aspects of people’s lives. First and most obvious, the fact that the customers of the company will finally use a system that is based on paying for the services with a single type of currency, will trigger a major reinvention of the estate economy, as the need to adapt towards the new method of carrying out financial transactions between the customer and the producer emerges.

It would be wrong to claim, however, that the state authorities have welcomed the innovation with open arms – quite on the opposite, a range of governments have determined the newly create concept an obvious threat to economy and politics on the statewide and global levels (Patent Application Titled “Digital Currency Purchasing Flows” Published Online 5010). For instance, Bart Eitel’s recent article concerning the effects that Amazon coins show that there has been a major concern for the outcomes of the integration of the specified currency into the global economy. According to Eitel, people “will be forced to spend it on Kindle apps—not books, subscriptions or anything else sold by the site—bringing in real, physical, pass-the-bite-test dollars for developers” (Eitel para. 7). In other words, the concept of the Amazon coin can be considered as very dubious from an ethical perspective, not to mention the fact that its economic implications are rather vague (Dasgupta 91).

Speaking of which, the effects that the introduction of e-currency will have on the global economy cannot be viewed as entirely positive. First and most obvious, people will most likely abandon the use of actual currency sooner or later. To be more specific, the Amazon coin is most likely to trigger the phenomenon known as repricing;

When it comes to defining the characteristics of the approach undertaken by the Amazon Company, which makes their concept of coins so efficient, one must mention the fact that the organization handles a gift to each of the customers that decide to use the Amazon currency. The strategy mentioned above is truly brilliant, as it allows for attracting more target customers due to the seeming advantage that the company handles them. The approach in question has been described and explored in detail by Mauss: “The system would not be total if it did not include personal emotions and religion” (Mauss xii).

A closer look at the implications, which the gift system is bound to trigger in the environment of the global economy, will show that the possibility of simplification of the trading process and at the same time loading it with a range of powerful emotional undertones becomes increasingly big (Hirschman 17). To be more specific, the threat of money becoming not merely the means of retrieving goods and products, but also the method of identifying the status of the person possessing them within the environment of the virtual society will become much more tangible (Johnson 00:01:12). Granted that the effect mentioned above of money denoting the status of a person within a particular society can also be observed in real life, the very fact that the virtual reality interactions oust the real-life ones is the reason for concern. The fact that Amazon’s virtual money is among the major factors shows that the phenomenon of virtual currency deserves being looked at much closer (Patent Issued for Methods and Systems for Paying with Loyalty Currency during Online Payment 729).

Nevertheless, one must admit that the process of transferring the political and the social processes that are currently taking place in the U.S., as well as all over the world, into the realm of virtual reality means paying the toll to the evolution of the technological thought of the humankind. True, the political implications of the adoption of the Amazon coin, as well as the further incorporation of the economic factors, such as the fact that, much like bitcoin, the Amazon coin maybe later on accused of fraud in case some of its financial transactions may happen to be not as clear as they need to be: “The lack of intermediaries makes bitcoin an attractive technology for those who want to evade government scrutiny” (Rosenberg para. 3). However, the effects of introducing the very concept of the virtual money into the relationships between the producer and the customer take the relationships between the latter two to a whole new level, making it possible for people to adapt to the concept of the gift economy (Mauss 11). The latter, in its turn, can be seen as both an improvement in the economic relationships and a possible reason for concern, as the specified phenomenon introduces the customers to the concept of social Darwinism (Mauss xx) by creating the environment, in which only the right choices may keep a customer away from spending their money for falsely advertised goods and services (Mauss xx).

No matter how much people may like the concept of virtual money suggested by Amazon, it is still given a very cold shoulder by the American government, as the Amazon coin disrupts the state’s economy, devaluing the dollar; therefore, the solution that Amazon has found by achieving an economic and a financial consensus with all those concerned truly is fascinating. There is no need to stress that the creation of “virtual money” was a necessary step for adjusting to the environment of online trading, both for buyers and companies, and Amazon was one of the first organizations to understand it (Mitchell 29). The creation of the Amazon Coin is a major foot forward for the organization, as it allows for transferring the company’s financial operations to a whole new level, at the same time facilitating a faster and easier way of payment for its customers. Also, unlike bitcoin, Amazon Cons do not have a dubious air of poor reputation and possibility of a financial fraud around them, as they operate within a single system.

References

Amazon, 2014, About Amazon Coins. Web.

Dasgupta, Sayarmindu, 2013, Surveys, Collaborative art and Virtual Currencies: Children Programming with Online Data. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction 1(4): 8–98.

Hirschman, Albert O., 1997, The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Hughes, Jennifer, 2002, Online currency trading volume beats estimates. FT.com 10(1): 1–2.

Johnson, Boris, 2012, Ongka’s Big Moka. Web.

Mauss, Marcel, 1990 The Gift. New York, NY: Routledge.

Mitchell, Timothy, 2010, Fixing the Economy. Cultural Studies 12(1): 81–101.

“Patent Application Titled “Mobile Currency Messaging Systems” Published Online,”, 2014, Politics & Government Week 10(1): 1854.

Patent Application Titled “Digital Currency Purchasing Flows” Published Online., 2014, Politics & Government Week 7(1): 5009–5010.

Patent Issued for Methods and Systems for Paying with Loyalty Currency during Online Payment. 2014, Journal of Transportation 1(17): 729.

Plassaras, Nicolas A, 2013, Whack-a-Mole: Why Prosecuting Digital Currency Exchanges Won’t Stop Online Money Laundering. Chicago Journal of International Law 14(1): 377–407.

Rosenberg, Alyssia, 2013, Why The Federal Government Is Going After Bitcoin, But Amazon Coins Are Safe. Web.

Taylor, Paul, 2010, Investors Can Be Converted by Online Currency Offerings. FT.com 2(1): 1–2.

Wilk, Richard and Lisa Cliggett, 2007, Economies & Cultures: Foundations of Economic Anthropology. Westview Press.

Wolfe, Daniel, 2010, Facebook Pushes Its Credits As An Online Currency. ATM & Debit New 12(36): 1–3.

National Norms and Regulations

The patenting system in the USA presupposes strict regulations regarding patent protection in business and other spheres. According to Rustad (2016), Amazon.com received a patent that allowed the company to patent the idea of the affiliation program that was aimed at the owners of the third-party websites who were offered to attract customers to the company’s website for the additional payment. Such a concept was called “one-click” referring.

Another idea that Amazon had implemented using such a “one-click” concept was in the following. A customer had the opportunity to make an order making a single click in the case of having a previously saved credit card number and address. The procedure was patented as well. A federal court decided that such a practice of patenting was not appropriate, considering the previous patents of Barnes & Noble that had very similar procedure implemented in the online stores of the company. Amazon proposed to amend the patenting law and make the terms of the patents active state shorter (Rustad 2016). Strict regulations in this area could have made Amazon.com pursue the idea of penetrating foreign markets.

National Taxes

Amazon.com, as the online retailer, had a focus on global operations from the start of the business operations. The American government has rather clear and simple regulations regarding the taxation of sales. In the case of a company having a brick-and-mortar store in some state, it has to pay both local and national taxes according to the regulations, both local and national. The process of online sales’ taxation seems rather simple, as well.

When the company that sells products online is not present in the state physically, it does not have to collect additional taxes. The presence is determined as follows: it is the physical availability of the brick-and-mortar store, or the company’s storage, or an office. According to Lunder and Pettit (2015), “… With the increasing amount of Internet commerce, states have been motivated to develop new ways – “Amazon laws” – to capture uncollected use taxes, while still complying with the U.S. Constitution” (1). It makes the activities of Amazon fall under the legislation that should have made it go global. The idea was to avoid domestic taxation and generate revenue abroad.

Lobbying at Home and Abroad

One of the most well-known activities of Amazon.com in terms of lobbying its interests in the USA is the famous taxation policy aimed at tax collection in the different states. The company stands for the abolishment of such taxation, as it seems not appropriate to collect taxes for online sales in the states where it is not present physically. Amazon decided to distance itself from the unfair competition practices on the international market, as in the case of its agreement to pay taxes in Europe (News Wires 2015).

However, the company tends to pursue a policy that would allow it to avoid taxes on the domestic market. Additionally, Amazon is against the accusations in the monopolization of the online sales market in the USA, so the company has a strong interest in the control of the legislation in this area. Lobbying activities of Amazon expand on the support of the political parties in both Republican and Democratic camps in the form of donations (Plumer 2013). It makes obvious the efforts of Amazon to support any political power that could help the company to pursue its goals today and in the future.

References

Lunder, Erika, and Carol Pettit. 2015. “Amazon Laws” and Taxation of Internet Sales: Constitutional Analysis.” Congressional Research Service. Web.

News Wires. 2015. “Amazon to Begin Paying Sales Tax in Europe.” France24. Web.

Plumer, Brad. 2013. “Here’s What Amazon Lobbies for in D.C.” The Washington Post. Web.

Rustad, Michael. 2016. Global Internet Law. St Paul: West Academic.