Managing Strategy ( case study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Strategy ( case study) - Essay Example 1. Amazon strategy Amazon current business strategy is based on high customer value and experience. Amazon has a low cost structure that ensures that customers access products and services at the lowest prices in the market. In addition, Amazon strategy is based on customer convenience through guaranteed on-time delivery with no compromise to the quality of the products and services (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p 76). The business strategy has been ‘customer-centric’ in terms of the wide variety of products and increased product innovation. The key pillars of the strategy include selection, price and convenience. Although Amazon was originally thought as an online bookstore, the company has established several physical strategic centers that are used to ship customer products such as the Hazleton facility that serves Northeast customers. The company has leveraged on technology to understand the customer purchasing patterns and needs and also delivery the products to t he customers. Technology enabled the company top expand the product portfolio with new innovative products such as Amazon web services, kindle and digital products. For instance, the Kindle which is a wireless electronic reading device was unveiled in 2007 thus enabling customers to conveniently download and save books from kindle store without extra costs for the wireless access (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010, p 235). Another innovative product is Amazon web services that allow IT vendors to host both hardware and software in their own data centers. The web services include products such as AWS premium support, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Amazon CloudFront, and Amazon EBS. In addition, Amazon expanded the digital products division in 2007 through launching MP3 music store that allows customers to listen to digital music without restriction. In 2008, the launch of IMDb.com which is a subsidiary allowed customers to watch more than 6,000 full length films and favorite TV series. The comp any is committed to enhancing the accessibility of the products and services to customers in order to create customer convenience and customer value. In 2008, the company launched a currency converter that enables global customers to pay for their products in US dollars and ‘Bill Me Later’s† which is a next generation payment service that enables customers to make instant online payments without using a credit card. Amazon TextBuyit service allows customers find and shop for Amazon products using a text message or web browsers. Amazon has implemented aggressive product diversification strategy. The company also diversified in the sale of motorcycle spare parts and software products that feature other languages such as Spanish. The company has also made various mergers and acquisitions in order to access markets and capital. For instance, it acquired Fabric.com which is a leading supplier of cut fabrics, sewing accessories and tools. The company has reported impres sive financial results over the past few years. Other major acquisition was that of AbeBooks and Reflexive Entertainment.