Free Essay Sample: Amazon's Corporate Social Responsibility

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility refers to a complete framework of policies, programs, and practices that organizations incorporate in their business strategies, decision-making procedures, and supply chains in the firm's entire framework. It comprises challenges associated with community wellness, business ethics, governance, environmental issues, the marketplace, human rights, and the workplace (Wang et al., 2016). Amazon has four values in its mission statement: consumer satisfaction instead of competitor emphasis, desire for invention, the obligation to work quality, and lasting thinking.

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The company's vision statement entails becoming the leading customer-centric organization and developing a space in which people can interact and determine what they desire to purchase online. The values of Amazon include delivering results, customer satisfaction, ownership, and earning trust. The company also strives to think innovatively, provide the highest customer standards, and invent and simplify (Wang et al., 2016). The company endeavors to recruit the best pool of talents, learn, think big, and become impartial for action. The purpose of this paper involves an examination of the CSR activities of Amazon Company.

Impact of Trends in Organizational Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility on Business Idea

Since Amazon became a public limited company in 1997, the e-commerce leading company has continued to receive criticism for its non-commitment to the CSR feature of the commerce. The current CSR initiatives of the company encompass assisting local societies through their Amazon Relief Fund offered in 2020 which consists of US$ 25 million in original support (Lins et al., 2017). The fund aimed to help the firm's self-determining delivery service associates and other shareholders manage the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry. Amazon Company implements a Device Donation Project that supports the distribution of electronic instruments and gift cards to learning institutions situated close to Amazon shopping outlets within the United States of America. The organization has an initiative called 'Girls Who Code' that assists actions that ensure girls remain engrossed in coding. The e-commerce company helps national and local non-profit organizations with finances and material donations.

Amazon also embarks on empowering and educating employees through programs like Amazon Career Choice which offers 95% of tuition fees to its workers. The fund helps workers take studies that comply with in-demand professions, such as nursing or airplane mechanics, irrespective of their relevance to Amazon's job demands (Lins et al., 2017). Over 10,000 staff have so far enrolled and received assistance from the program (Wang et al., 2016). The company has also rolled out a Virtual Contact Center that gives the firm's workers the flexibility to offer customer services at their homes' comfort. The 'Pay to Quit' initiative that provides warehouse employees with US$5000 whenever they want to resign allows such personnel to think first before taking action of quitting (Lins et al., 2017). The company also provides health and safety measures to employees, especially during this COVID-19 epidemic, to prevent the risk of infection by encouraging its employees to work at home for those who can perform their duties without going to an office.

Gender equality and minorities' inclusion remain a priority in Amazon by incorporating ten affinity groups called workers' resource assemblies. Amazon initiated a commercial project called 'HERproject' that appealed to over 8,000 females involved in its supply chain network (Baskentli et al., 2019). Another area that Amazon remains committed to consists of concerns about energy consumption. The firm has allocated solar and wind funds to attain 80% green energy levels in its entire business functions by 2024 (Baskentli et al., 2019). Amazon intends to reach 100% renewable energy usage by 2030 (Baskentli et al., 2019). The company has initiated a plan to recycle the energy from a nearby premise to provide heat for its headquarters in Seattle. Most of the company's outlets have the competency to recycle and harvest water from recharge tanks and rainwater. The company also deploys direct evaporative innovation for its air conditioning that minimizes water and energy usage.

Amazon launched a recycling and reduction of waste program that includes the Packaging-Free project in various urban centers. Consumers obtain their orders within the initial packaging without any extra wrapping. Amazon reported eradicating an estimated 665,000 tons of wrapping supplies and over 1.18 billion delivery packages in the last decade (Lins et al., 2017). The carbon release for the fiscal year ended 2019 stood at 44,400 million metric tons, a report released during the Global Optimism Declaration and the commitment to adhere to the Paris Declaration agreed a decade ago (Lins et al., 2017). The organization has stated its pledge to use its human resources and technology to attain zero carbon emissions by 2040.

To achieve zero carbon emissions, the company has booked 100,000 totally-electric supply cars and invested over US$100 million cash in reforestation programs worldwide (Lins et al., 2017). Amazon registered as a member of the Better Cotton Initiative to comply with sustainable sourcing, one of the globally successful sustainable programs. The approval of the Responsible Sourcing Network to stop forced labor from countries using such practices assures the company's obligation to sustainable resourcing. Amazon's efforts make it easier for shoppers to develop a positive influence on earth and society. The resulting outcome affects the company's relationships and marketing strategy. It also influences the business model of the company.

Potential Ethical/ Regulatory Issues that Affect the Corporate Strategy and Brand Development

Some of the ethical issues involve reports that Amazon has taken little or no effort in addressing such challenges as disclosing, measuring, or enhancing its productivity, performance, and profitability regarding workplace, environmental, charitable, political, giving, and diversity activity (Einwiller et al., 2019). The treatment of employees remains a concern for most interested parties. They claim the company lacks a policy on living wage with no clear framework on how salaries can satisfy basic personnel needs. Critics assert that Amazon takes little consideration of human rights involved in its supply chain by undertaking a hands-off tactic on such an essential concern. Environmental issues affect the company's corporate approach since the organization has no well-defined strategy on its textiles' effects in its apparel sector or electronic brands (Einwiller et al., 2019). Amazon does not offer much information on the hazardous substances released from its apparel manufacturing factories that negatively affect the environment.

Amazon operates a production line that entails using animal products; hence, it should have a clear policy on resources like silk, wool, and fur to ensure the protection and conservation of wildlife and endangered species of animals. Amazon has tax avoidance issues, such as settling workers' dues through shares that reduce its tax bill (Sethi et al., 2017). Such tax avoidance raises the issues of social financing that a company should meet in its CSR. Although the company improves its CSR, the absence of an incomplete sustainable report and insufficient charitable efforts undermine its brand development. By not creating a comprehensive CSR strategy, the company indicates inadequate respect and care for the community in which it operates which ensures its success and growth plan (Sethi et al., 2017). Such a viewpoint can destroy the interactions with their consumers.

Best Outcome of Amazon's Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts and Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards for the Company

CSR remains a prospective competitive advantage and a definite business model that optimizes revenue generation to companies. Extrinsic and intrinsic CSR involves positive interactions involving CSR and financial performance or moral duty. Workers' performance increases when personnel attributes both the extrinsic and intrinsic drives for CSR. When workers recognize that their company supports CSR initiatives, they tend to put additional effort into their tasks (Wang et al., 2016). Through CSR, Amazon has created brands that remain purpose-driven and do not emphasize on profits, thereby using CSR as a positioning instrument and a powerful marketing device. Amazon also uses CSR to gain customer loyalty and trust through the principle of purchasing decisions.

Besides, the company benefits from CSR through customer participation, whereby they perceive their contributions to the general good through the company's efforts in CSR activities that support communities. The buyers associate themselves with brands that tend to support sustainability and the general good. Amazon gains from customers who associate with their products regarding sustainable and responsible buying when they play an active marketing promotion of such products (Wang et al., 2016). Some buyers may spend more on brands that foster positive social influence.

Conclusion

CSR involves more than just doing good, but these good initiatives' inspirational concepts should remain the main point. CSR approaches that conform to an organization's objectives and goals remain beneficial to workers, society, customers, and the company. For Amazon to remain a good corporate company and a leader in international responsibility, it must ensure continuity in integrating effective CSR practices in its business model. CSR policy in Amazon helps the company provide consumers with the opportunity to advocate the firm's products, buy more, retain and attract a pool of talents, increase its customer base, and maintain a competitive advantage.

References

Baskentli, S., Sen, S., Du, S., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2019). Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility: The role of CSR domains. Journal of Business Research, 95, 502-513. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296318303667

Einwiller, S., Lis, B., Ruppel, C., & Sen, S. (2019). When CSR-based identification backfires: Testing the effects of CSR-related negative publicity. Journal of Business Research, 104, 1-13. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296319303960

Lins, K. V., Servaes, H., & Tamayo, A. (2017). Social capital, trust, and firm performance: The value of corporate social responsibility during the financial crisis. The Journal of Finance, 72(4), 1785-1824. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jofi.12505

Sethi, S. P., Rovenpor, J. L., & Demir, M. (2017). Enhancing the quality of reporting in Corporate Social Responsibility guidance documents: The roles of ISO 26000, Global Reporting Initiative and CSRSustainability Monitor. Business and Society Review, 122(2), 139-163. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/basr.12113

Wang, H., Tong, L., Takeuchi, R., & George, G. (2016). Corporate social responsibility: An overview and new research directions: Thematic issue on corporate social responsibility. https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2016.5001