Systems & Operations Society

presents

Company Compendium
Company Brief
1. Amazon is a public American-electronic-commerce and cloud-computing
company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet-
based retailer in the United States, and was founded by Jeff Bezos in July 1994.
2. Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling
DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, video downloads/streaming, MP3
downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel,
furniture, food, toys and jewelry.
3. The company also produces consumer electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle
e-book readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV and Fire Phone—and is the world's largest
provider of cloud infrastructure services (IaaS). Amazon also sells certain
low-end products like USB cables under their in-house brand Amazon Basics.
4. Amazon has separate retail websites for United States, United Kingdom &
Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia,
Brazil, Japan, China, India and Mexico. Amazon also offers international
shipping to certain other countries for some of its products. In 2016, Dutch,
Polish, and Turkish language versions of the German Amazon website were
also launched.
5. In 2015, Amazon surpassed Walmart as the most valuable market
capitalization. Amazon is the fourth most valuable public company in the
world, and the largest Internet company by revenue (US$ 136 billion) in the
world.
6. Since June, 2000, Amazon's logotype has featured a curved arrow leading
from A to Z, representing that the company carries every product from A to
Z, with the arrow shaped like a smile.
7. Revenue: US$ 232.887 billion (2018)
Net Profit: US$ 10.073 billion (2018)

News and Facts

1. Amazon Go is a chain of convenience stores in America operated
by the online retailer Amazon. It is located in 4 places, each in
Seattle and Chicago, and 2 in San Francisco, and a single one in
New York as of May 2019. The stores are partly automated where
customers are able to purchase products without being checked
out by a cashier or using a self-checkout station. The first store,
located in the company's Day 1 building was opened to employees
on December 5, 2016, and to the general public on January 22,
2018. The flagship store has ready-made foods, meal kits, limited
groceries, and liquor available for purchase.

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 2. Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is the richest man on earth, is also
the head of space company Blue Moon.
3. Amazon claimed the status of becoming the first foreign company
to start with its food retail venture in India with Amazon Pantry
and Amazon Now.
4. Amazon overtakes Alphabet to be World’s 2nd most valuable firm
with a market capitalization of $768 Billion.
5. Amazon dethrones Google as the top Global brand in 2019.
6. Alexa is learning: Amazon's virtual assistant may anytime
communicate with the people in flawless Hindi.
7. On May 9, 2019, Amazon launches a flight booking service in India.
8. Amazon is developing a wearable gadget that will understand your
sentiments - and direct you on how to socialize with people.
Investments - Amazon.in
2014: Amazon announces a US$2 billion investment in India
2016: Amazon announces an additional US$3 billion investment in India
2017: Between May and July 2017, Amazon pumped ₹2,000 crore in India, with
₹130 crore pumped into its payment arm, Amazon Pay India.

Major Acquisitions
1998 IMDB, PlanetAll, Junglee 2010 Touchco, Toby Press
1999 Alexa, Drugstore.com 2011 LoveFilm
2003 CDNow 2012 KivaSystems
2004 Joyo.com 2013 Goodreads
2005 BookSurge 2014 Doublehelix Games
2006 Shopbob 2015 Annapurna Labs
2007 Dpreview.com 2016 Curse, Inc.
2008 Audible.com 2017 Souq.com, Graphiq,
2009 Zappos Whole Foods Market
In 2018, Amazon's 2nd biggest acquisition took place, RING, the smart doorbell
maker was acquired for more than $ 1.2 Billion. Amazon is expected to keep
Ring as an independent business, as it has with its other acquisitions, like
Zappos and Twitch. Amazon previously invested in Ring through its Alexa
Fund, which exclusively invests in companies that help scale its Alexa voice
technology, so this isn't the first time that they are joining hands.

On January 10, 2019, CloudEndure, an Isreal Cloud Computing company got

acquired for $250,000,000.

On January 14, 2019, TSO Logic, a Canadian Cloud Computing company was
acquired by Amazon.

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On February 11, 2019, Eero Technology got acquired for $97,000,000 by
Amazon.

On April 10, 2019, Canvas Technology, a Robotics company got acquired by

Amazon and will be used as Amazon Robotics. Amazon displayed that the
acquisition that is inspired by Canvas Technology’s innovations, and shares a
common vision for a future where people work alongside robotics to further
improve safety and the workplace experience.

Leadership Principles of Amazon

Amazon judge candidates on these principles. One should keep them in mind
while giving suggestions/answers in interviews. One should try to frame
answers for college projects and work-ex around these principles.
1. Customer Obsession
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to
earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors,
they obsess over customers.
2. Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for
short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their
own team. They never say “that’s not my job".
3. Invent and Simplify
Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and
always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from
everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here". As we do new things, we
accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.
4. Are Right, A Lot
Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek
diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.
5. Learn and Be Curious
Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They
are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.
6. Hire and Develop the Best
Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They
recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the
organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching
others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development
like Career Choice.

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7. Insist on the Highest Standards
Leaders have relentlessly high standards - many people may think these
standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and
driving their teams to deliver high quality products, services and processes.
Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are
fixed so they stay fixed.
8. Think Big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a
bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around
corners for ways to serve customers.
9. Bias for Action
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not
need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
10. Frugality
Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency
and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size or
fixed expense.
11. Earn Trust
Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are
vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do
not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark
themselves and their teams against the best.
12. Dive Deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and
are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.
13. Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree,
even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction
and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once
a decision is determined, they commit wholly.
14. Deliver Results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right
quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and
never settle.

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Lines of Business
The company itself defines its lines of business in terms of product sales, service
sales, AWS, fulfillment, publishing, digital content subscriptions, advertising,
and co-branded credit cards. For primary purpose, Amazon's lines of businesses
can be defined as:
1) Online retail – Amazon.com, .in, .cn, .sg etc.
2) Internet services – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Simple Email Services (SES)
3) Device ecosystem – Alexa, Kindle, Fire, Audible etc.
A business canvas (*Business Model Generation) is made up of nine building blocks
that help focus attention on key attributes of a business. Following is a business
model canvas for Amazon:

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Amazon Flywheel
Amazon flywheel is a system where each of the
components is an accelerator. Invest in any one
of the components and, as the flywheel spins, it
benefits all components. And the flywheel
spinning is how the system grows.
Amazon’s customer obsession leads to great
experiences for customers and helps in bringing
more traffic to Amazon.com, which, in-turn,
attract more sellers wanting to reach this larger
number of potential customers. Attracting
more sellers increases product selection, which improves the customer
experience. This brings more traffic to Amazon.com. Therefore, focusing
attention on any of these components – traffic, sellers, selection or customer
experience – distributes more energy to all of them, and the whole system grows.
Then, as a result of the spinning, cost structure is minimized which allows lower
prices, also enhancing the customer experience. So, the flywheel spins even
faster as it grows; the growth itself is an accelerator.

Products and Services

➢ Retail goods
Amazon product lines include several media (books, DVDs, music CDs,
videotapes, and software), apparel, baby products, consumer electronics, beauty
products, gourmet food, groceries, health and personal-care items, industrial &
scientific supplies, kitchen items, jewelry and watches, lawn and garden items,
musical instruments, sporting goods, tools, automotive items and toys & games.
➢ Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service that gives users access to free fast
delivery, streaming video/music and other benefits for a monthly or yearly fee.
As of April 2017, Prime has more than 80 million paying users.
In 2005, Amazon announced the creation of Amazon Prime, within the
contiguous United States on all eligible purchases for a flat annual fee of $79
(equivalent to $95 in 2015), as well as discounted one-day shipping rates.
Amazon launched the program in Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom in
2007; in France (as "Amazon Premium") in 2008, in Italy in 2011, and in Canada
in 2013.

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It was launched in India in July 2016 at a ₹999 and a 60-day trial period. It was
temporarily priced at ₹499 in India, but has since returned to ₹999/year or
₹129/month. It offers:
a. Following Guaranteed Free Delivery on eligible items
i. One Day Delivery
ii. Two Day Delivery
iii. Standard Delivery
b. Discounted Same-Day Delivery to pin-codes in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,
and Hyderabad
c. Access to Prime Video
d. Exclusive access to deals, events, and coupons
➢ Consumer electronics
In November 2007, Amazon launched Amazon Kindle, an e-book reader which
downloads content over "Whispernet", via Sprint's EV-DO wireless network. The
screen uses E Ink technology to reduce battery consumption and to provide a
more legible display. As of July 2014, there are over 2.7 million titles available for
purchase at the Kindle Store.

2) Amazon Web Services

Amazon launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2002, which provides
programmatic access to latent features on its website. In November 2005,
Amazon began testing Amazon Mechanical Turk, an application programming
interface (API) allowing programs to dispatch tasks to human processors.
In March 2006, Amazon launched an online storage service called Amazon
Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). An unlimited number of data objects, from
1 byte to 5 terabytes in size, can be stored in S3 and distributed via HTTP or Bit-
Torrent. The service charges monthly fees for data stored and transferred.
In 2006, Amazon introduced Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), a
distributed queue messaging service, and product wikis (later folded into
Amapedia) and discussion forums for certain products using guidelines that
follow standard message board conventions.

3) Amazon Technology
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Information Management (IM)
support Amazon’s business strategy. The core technology that keeps Amazon
running is Linux-based. As of 2005, Amazon had the world’s three largest Linux
databases, with capacities of 7.8 TB, 18.5 TB, and 24.7 TB. The central data
warehouse of Amazon is made of 28 Hewlett Packard servers with four CPUs per
node running Oracle database software. Amazon’s technology architecture
handles millions of back- end operations every day, as well as queries from more
than half a million third-party sellers. With hundreds of thousands of people

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sending their credit card numbers to Amazon’s servers every day, security
becomes a major concern. Amazon employs Netscape Secure Commerce Server
using the Secure Socket Layer protocol which stores all credit card details in a
separate database. The company also records data on customer buyer behavior
which enables them to offer or recommend to an individual specific item, or
bundles of items based upon preferences demonstrated through purchases or
items visited.

4) Amazon Pantry
Amazon Pantry is an online supermarket wherein customers can buy grocery
and household items., and have them delivered the next day to their doorstep.
The delivery charge ₹20 for Prime customers and ₹49 for non-Prime customers.
However, if Pantry order value is above ₹599, the delivery is FREE.

5) Amazon Go
Amazon Go is a prototype grocery store operated by Amazon.com in Seattle,
Washington. The store, opened on December 5, 2016, is partially-automated,
with customers able to purchase products without using a cashier or checkout
station.

The store concept utilizes several technologies, including computer vision, deep
learning algorithms, and sensor fusion to automate much of the purchase,
checkout, and payment steps associated with a retail transaction.

6) Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay was launched in December, 2016 as a rebranded version of its Gift
Card balance feature which allowed users to top up and generate an online gift
voucher. In April, 2017, Amazon India received a PPI (pre-paid instrument
license) from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which enabled it to do away with
the two-factor authentication system for Amazon Pay. The Amazon Pay service
works as a:
1. Wallet service: It can be loaded with digital cash using credit and debit cards
and net banking. Users can shop on the ecommerce website and with third-
party services as well using this balance.
2. As a refund option and as a faster check out option: Via Amazon Pay, refunds
for orders will be processed in 24 hours while ensuring faster checkout at the
payment stage.

Major Initiatives
i. Apki Dukan!
Intended to grab attention by providing things on Amazon.com,
which were not available in Indian Markets.

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 ii. Fresh It Up
It is drawn from their never-ending quest to experience something
both fun and meaningful, uncompromising on their
individualistic style.
iii. The Saheli Store
Amazon India collaborated with social organizations to empower
women entrepreneurs, it presents handcrafted and handloom
products that are carefully created by women entrepreneurs.

Key Terminologies
1. FBA – Fulfillment by Amazon
2. MFN – Merchant Fulfilled network
3. Seller Flex
4. ATS – Amazon Transport Services
5. FC – Fulfillment Center (warehouse)
6. AWS – Amazon Web Services

Interview Experience
1. Mahotsavy Dama – Category Management
Round 1: She was asked a guesstimate "What is the number of smokers in India"
and most of the questions were based on CV and on MR (FSC) project. She was also
asked the marketing strategy to launch a rival for Rado watch (This was in line
with MR project "Consumer behaviour while buying luxury goods")
Round 2: This round was mostly focused on work experience including some
technical questions, some HR questions on her work experience, and few CV
based questions. Again, the questions were asked on MR project, and after that
they asked her preference for Product or Marketing management.
2. Tushar Singh – Category Management
Round 1: The interview was centered around the category role. Started off with
what does a category manager do and then on how to introduce a new category,
steps involved in that, data points to be considered to evaluate customer need,
how the data will be collected. Discussion was solely focused on men's shoes as a
category. So, what's most important here is that he knew very less about the role
but talked from the point of view of the customer and mentioned how the overall
experience in the shoes category could be improved.
Round 2: This was a typical HR interview with such question as: introduction,
job profile, biggest challenge faced, one thing he was proud of. He was also asked
whether he had any questions for the panel.

3. Harshad Marwaha – Program Management

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Round 1: It was a 1 Hour 15 Mins Interview. Started with introduction, then
some questions on his work experience, a walk-through on a project, etc. This
was followed by a Case - "The rejects of the order are increasing, find out why".
He solved it (COD problem) and then discussion followed on how to solve it, how
to influence customers to use Online payments, etc. Post the case, he was checked
on few of the Amazon principles, where the expectation was to subtly show
Customer Experience, Deep Dive (specially during the case) and ‘Having a
Backbone’. In the end, he was asked if he had any questions for the panel.
Round 2: It was a 1 Hour interview. Started with Introduction and then straight
to a product he had owned in the previous organization, what was it, what did he
do for it, how he grew it, challenges faced, etc. (detailed discussion - interviewer
was interested in getting the detailed overview of the product). This was then
followed up with a guess estimate (Number of package deliveries in Delhi), and
again some HR question. In the end, he was asked if he had any questions for the
panel.
4. Kunal Kishan - Program Management
Round 1: Interviewer introduced himself at the start of a 45 minutes long
Interview. Following are the questions asked of the candidate:
a) “Tell me something about yourself”.
b) “Your work seems to be interesting. Tell me more about it.”
c) “What is your proudest achievement?” – he talked about a personal proud
achievement.
d) “Tell me one proud achievement from professional area” – he talked about
taking ownership of a process within a year.
e) “This you did in 1 year, what did you do for the rest of the time?” – he talked
about the projects that he had handled.
f) Was asked to elaborate on the CBD project that he did at his previous
organization – Detailed answer for 10 minutes in addition to a detailed
overview.
g) Case I: “Try to find out the reason of low sales in Punjab region, with so many
rich farmers living there?” – he came up with 8 points.
h) Asked him to pick one major point and address it – he picked assurance of
quality as the one major point which would culminate into all others being
addressed.
i) Discussion on Amazon Prime.
j) Case II: “Pricing of Netflix in Indian market?” – Value based pricing. Customer
segmentation. Weighted average.
k) Asked him to factor in cost and margin – he told that creating a habit is more
necessary initially. Akin to what Ola and Uber had done.
l) Asked if he had any questions for the panel.

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Round 2: This was a culture fit interview that lasted for 25-30 minutes.
Following are the questions that were asked of the candidate:
a) Asked for his Introduction – Discussion on his hobby of singing, favorite
singer etc.
b) Asked to briefly explain his work experience? – Talked about it for 2-3 mins.
c) Asked about his greatest achievement.
d) “What did that achievement do for you?” – Explained keeping the 14
principles of Leadership of Amazon in mind.
e) Asked about his favorite superhero (based on my interests/hobbies)? -
Discussion on who is it and why
f) “What is your preferred work area?” -Discussion on his preference for finance
but how he liked to get involved in all domains.
g) “Gen-Man is dead, why study everything?” – Again, an answer with Amazon’s
14 principles in mind.
h) Questions for the panel – Asked about the overlap in Product Management
and Program Management role. Discussion ventured into Payments system
and UPI. He also asked for the possibility of getting to work in payments
platform.
5. Manish Jain – Capacity Planning Management
Round 1: Interview went on for about 40-45 minutes. Interviewer introduced
himself and followed it up with the below listed questions to the candidate:
a) “Tell me about yourself”.
b) Asked about his major projects in previous organization – Detailed
discussion.
c) Role he played in the projects – Detailed discussion.
d) Asked a guesstimate – “Estimate the Size of the Customer Service Team of
Amazon”.
e) Asked about various metrics which can be used to analyze whether selling
FMCG goods on E-commerce platform is feasible or not.
f) “Which e-commerce platform, do you use?” – Answered “it depends on which
site is offering the best deal” – reinforcing his previous comment during a
question about low consumer loyalty.
g) Some more questions from his CV.
Round 2: Interview went on for about 15-20 minutes. Following are the
questions asked of the candidate:
a) “Tell me about yourself”.
b) “What are your strengths?”
c) “What is the biggest achievement of your life?”
d) Asked about Amazon recent news
e) A question about E-commerce industry in general
f) Told him that Amazon PPO conversion rate is very low, and if he still wanted
to join – was grilled a bit.

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6. Mahendra Goswami – Product Management
Round 1: Following are the question asked of the candidate:
a) “Tell me something about yourself that is not on the CV?”
b) “What is your long term goal?”
c) “Why do you want to go for ops if you have finance and marketing workshops
and certifications?”
d) Discussion on his previous role?
e) “What do you consider as the most significant achievement in your previous
role?”
f) Case: “How would you price Amazon Prime?”
g) Asked if he had any questions for the panel?"
Round 2: Following are the question asked of the candidate:
a) Asked about a project he was part of in previous organization? ( Was the same
project he had explained as his most significant achievement in the previous
round)
b) “What were the challenges faced in the project?”
c) “Have you ever disagreed with your superior in the previous job?”
d) Case: “What is the market size for a compact hatchback?” - discussion on
competitive offerings, USP, customer segment, price etc.
e) Asked if he had any questions for the panel?
7. Ranjan Singh Baryal – Product Management
Round 1: Following are the question asked of the candidate:
a) “Tell me about yourself?”
b) “What is the proudest moment in your life?”
c) “Instance where you failed your team?”
d) “Tell little bit about your home town? What is most interesting thing about
that city?”
e) “Define a situation where you disagreed with your boss? How did you
persuade him that your idea is better?”
f) “Explain what was your project and how did you approach it?”
g) “Did you have any client interactions and any situation where you negotiated
with them?"
Round 2: Following are the cases that were asked of the candidate:
Case 1: “A person in a village has income for 3 months, and spend the rest of the
year without any earnings. What product will you design for these kinds of
people in Amazon?” – He approached this case by starting with a customer that
will mainly be farmers, then he discussed about pain points of farmers like: lack
of information of seed and fertilizers, lack of availability of seeds, fertilizers and
equipment, lack of price transparency, lack of information about soil attributes

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Then he gave suggestion to make a content blog for these farmers in their home
language to provide information and price transparency to them and educate
them about soil features, crops to grow etc. He also talked about linking this blog
with amazon website, so that a farmer who wanted to buy these products online
could do so through the website.
Case 2: “If you are given a responsibility to open a department in amazon, What
kind of work environment would you prefer and why?” – Answered According to
the 14 Leadership principles of Amazon.

8. Trishna Dhiman – Product Management

Round 1: Following are the question asked of the candidate:
a) “Tell me something about your previous job.”
b) “Tell me about a situation where you have conflict with your
manager/senior. How did you handle it?”
c) “Tell me about a situation where you faced failure at your workplace.”
d) “Tell me about the most challenging project you handled at your workplace.
How did you approach it? What was the timeline of different phases in
detail?” – She gave a description in details with timelines, and was cross
questioned as to why did she follow that approach only, why not something
else etc.
e) Case: “Assume that Amazon wants to enter Fresh-Flower business. Should it
go for it or not? Why? If yes, tell the approach and various factors it should
take care of.” – She estimated the annual market size of flowers in India, did a
cost benefit analysis assuming costs incurred on the project. She was then
asked about the various revenue opportunities from this business, followed
by questions on a framing a complete launch plan for the business. Case was
discussed for half an hour with cross questions at each stage.
f) Questions for panel: Asked about Diwali sales and discounts, latest marketing
campaign of Amazon, and why amazon was not available in Hindi.
Round 2: Following are the question asked of the candidate:
a) “Tell me about yourself.”
b) “You have got good academics which are perfect for consulting. Why not
consulting? Why ecommerce?”
c) “Where do you see yourself after 4-5 years?”
d) “Do you do online shopping? Have you used our app and website?” – answered
that she did most of her online shopping from website.
e) Was asked to suggest any out of box improvements in ecommerce website
which could potentially enhance customer experience. – she recommended
sharing with family and friends the items one has shortlisted, using
augmented reality, interactive on call support through internet directly on
laptop, something about using videos instead of images, giving the option to

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 try and return the products to customers. Each was discussed in details about
its impact, challenges in the implementation, its need etc.
f) Was asked to discuss the addition of videos feature in details as if she had to
convince higher management to go for it. What were her main sources of
data? What data will she use? – she told him about using primary and
secondary information sources, launch plan, factors considered. She also did
a small guestimate about number of persons who would want this feature,
and followed it up with a discussion on increase in revenue vis-a-vis cost. She
talked about technological challenges, cost, marketing etc., and did a of cost
benefit analysis.
f) Asked if she had any questions for the panel?

Interview Tips
a) Thoroughly revise your work experience and be updated about the current
trends of the industry you worked in
b) Learn a lot about different Business models, products, services, innovations
in E-commerce industry and Amazon. Also, read about the change in
regulations for ecommerce industry.
c) Learn about offered roles
d) Your answers/suggestions should be in accordance with the leadership
principles of Amazon

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