“Giddy up! Let’s get this moving!”
Andy Jassy is Amazon’s incoming CEO. He likes to use that phrase when he gives his approval for an idea. Jassy is about to embark on a wild ride if running the tech giant is anything like riding a horse.
Jeff Bezos is Amazon’s founder and will give Jassy the reins on Monday. He makes Jassy the leader of the corporate version of a country. Jassy’s 100-day first 100 days will set the tone and determine the company’s future as with a presidency.
There are many stakes. Walmart’s former online bookstore is challenging it to be the country’s largest private employer. This milestone will bring with it obligations that few other companies are willing to take on. Since 2000, Amazon’s revenue has increased by at least 20% nearly every year. As with all large tech stocks, shareholders are keen to see that this continues. Amazon’s 1.3 Million workers are feeling restless, while rivals are devising ways to win, and regulators are investigating unfair business practices.
Insider spoke with Jassy about his first 100 days, including interviews with Amazon employees and business experts who have been studying the company. They suggested that he improve working conditions and relationships with merchants while still adhering to Bezos’s philosophy of hard-driving, innovative innovation. They told Jassy must spend less time micromanaging and pay greater attention to antitrust matters.
Brian Dumaine (author of Bezonomics) said, “He’s going need to focus on many different things.” It will be interesting to see how Dumaine reacts in public forums and how dynamic he is.
A threat exists
Amazon’s leadership changes are taking place at a critical time. The company uses software to streamline and automate nearly every aspect of its retail business and customer experience. This technology is now falling apart due to a large workforce feeling increasingly underappreciated, strained, and monitored. Jassy currently faces the greatest existential threat, which is a national union push.
Sunil Gupta from Harvard Business School said Jassy should prioritize improving the company’s relationships with its warehouse workers. Gupta explained that Amazon hadn’t done an excellent job on this.
Bezos recognizes this. In his final shareholder letter, he promised to make Amazon “Earth’s most trusted employer and safest workplace.” It’s the equivalent of giving orders to the new CEO to change the company’s top goals and prioritize labor issues.
David Niekerk, an ex-Amazon HR leader, said that Jassy’s top priority should “championing work environments filled with purpose” and that he will have “very creative” and “innovative approaches to accomplish that goal.
Improve your seller relations
Amazon has been a popular sales channel for reaching broader audiences. But third-party sellers have complained about increasing fees, unfair suspensions, counterfeit goods, fake reviews, and other challenges.
Jassy must build trust with these critical partners who account for over half of all products sold on Amazon’s Marketplace. Andrea Leigh, who was formerly an Amazon manager and is now vice president for strategy at Ideoclick (an e-commerce consulting company), said that failing to do this could affect the quality and market share of Amazon’s merchants and products.
Leigh explained that “many of our clients now have greater e-commerce sales than Amazon. This has never been the case before.”
Hire and retain builders
Amazon is facing a sudden rise in its senior ranks’ turnover. The unusually high rate of departures has seen dozens of VPs leave since the beginning of last year. Jassy will be closely monitoring the situation, according to several former and current employees.
Many of those who left the post were former executives. According to these former executives, this could reduce the company’s risk-taking building and increase its focus on maintaining the status. A former executive spoke on anonymity to say that they feel like the lead levels are losing builders and hiring managers/administrators. This is because they fear retribution.
Jassy must make bold long-term investments that could lead to failure or even the destruction of existing Amazon businesses. Jassy is a managing partner at Loup Ventures.
Murphy said that Jassy should keep in mind the virtuous circle of failure: Risk, fail and grow. Make enough big bets, and you’ll reap big rewards, just like Amazon did in the cloud, grocery, or many other areas.
Minimize micromanagement
Jassy is well-known for his meticulous attention to detail. An insider previously reported that Jassy likes to read every press release before publication. He also approves nearly every significant change in the branding and naming of new services.
According to former Amazon employees, Jassy’s interest in specifics can be a double-edged blade. Although it is beneficial to have his input on all significant issues, it could slow down the decision-making process, resulting in him spending more time on less important subjects.
Jassy was the head of Amazon Web Services, the cloud business. The company now has complex operations like a Hollywood studio or consumer-hardware design, which Jassy is less familiar with. He will have to prioritize his time more efficiently and become less of a micromanager.
It is a severe issue. Insider spoke to an anonymous former executive who said that he reviews all things. “There is no delegation, which could prove problematic for a company of this size.”
You should pay more attention to the regulatory environment.
European and American antitrust regulators are currently investigating Amazon’s operation. Bezos has been required to testify before Congress in defense of the company. Jassy’s job will be now. Being a Big Tech CEO. Tim Bray, a former Amazon Vice President, said that this would be Jassy’s job. He also criticized Amazon’s treatment of warehouse workers.
Bray warned that an intensifying political environment poses a risk to the economy, especially since Lina Khan is now the chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Khan is also the author of a paper widely read on Amazon’s antitrust violations.
Bray said that Amazon should pay more attention to the civic/political environment, regardless of Andy’s feelings. He is the company’s face.
