Amazon’s mission statement and vision statement influence the multinational technology and e-commerce business toward long-term growth and success. This success is attributed to stringent measures to ensure that the vision and mission statements are fulfilled. In theory, the corporate vision statement provides organizational direction toward a desired future condition of the business, while the corporate mission statement presents the business purpose and goals that guide strategic management in the company. Based on this business analysis case, Amazon’s mission statement focuses on customer satisfaction. The business strengths identified in the SWOT analysis of Amazon are applied while focusing on this purpose. In relation, the company’s vision statement shows a target future of global leadership in human resource management and workplace safety in the online retail industry and beyond.
Amazon’s mission and vision statements support strategic competitive advantages over other IT and consumer electronics firms, like Google (Alphabet), Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung, as well as retail and e-commerce companies, like Walmart, Aldi, Home Depot, Costco, and eBay. Amazon’s vision and mission also guide competitiveness against other entertainment content producers and distributors, including Netflix, Disney, Sony, and Facebook (Meta Platforms). These competitors create the rivalry evaluated in the Five Forces analysis of Amazon. Moreover, the company’s vision and mission statements influence subsidiaries, like Whole Foods Market. Amazon’s vision statement and mission statement unify its e-commerce, retail, and computer technology businesses.
Amazon’s Mission Statement
Amazon’s mission is “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company.” This mission statement’s focus implies customer satisfaction in the retail, online service, and IT business. The following characteristics are associated with Amazon’s mission statement:
- Lowest prices
- Best selection of goods and services
- Convenience in e-commerce
- Global industry leadership
The “lowest prices” variable based on the mission statement guides the pricing strategies included in Amazon’s marketing mix or 4P. Low prices are a selling point that makes the company’s e-commerce website and services attractive to customers. A corresponding strategic objective is to reduce operational costs to enable the business to minimize prices. Amazon’s corporate mission statement also points to having the best product mix and selection to satisfy customers. For example, the wide selection of products on the company’s website and mobile app is a factor that attracts shoppers. Moreover, Amazon’s mission statement emphasizes convenience, such as in accessing the company’s products via the Internet. This characteristic is a response to customers’ use of “convenience” as a criterion when evaluating the quality and attractiveness of online retail services. The inclusion of “Earth” means that Amazon’s corporate mission statement pushes the multinational business to become a leader in customer satisfaction relative to all firms in the global market.
Amazon’s Vision Statement
Amazon’s vision is “to become Earth’s Best Employer and Earth’s Safest Place to Work.” This vision statement underscores the aim of becoming the best e-commerce company in the world, with emphasis on human resources and workplace safety. The following characteristics are identified in Amazon’s vision statement:
- Global reach
- Best employer
- Safest workplace
The “global reach” component of Amazon’s vision statement is all about international leadership in the market. For example, in stating the “Earth” as the market, the company shows that it aims to continue expanding globally. A corresponding strategic objective is international expansion through market penetration and market development, which are included in Amazon’s generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies. The employee-centeredness of Amazon’s corporate vision statement shows that the company considers employees as among the most important stakeholders in the online retail business. This consideration agrees with Amazon’s corporate social responsibility strategy for its stakeholders. Furthermore, the corporate vision’s emphasis on workplace safety indicates continuing efforts to address the e-commerce firm’s workers’ needs. These efforts contribute to business growth and to making Amazon’s services more attractive to workers and, in turn, more attractive to target customers based on corporate or brand image.
Evaluation of Amazon’s Mission & Vision
Amazon’s mission statement satisfies only a few of the conventional characteristics of ideal mission statements. For example, the company includes target customers and market (customers in the global market), and basic business aims (industry leadership and customer satisfaction) in the corporate mission. However, the company does not include technology and the nature of the business and its operations. In this regard, Amazon can add details in its corporate mission to give employees and investors a better idea of what the company is all about. These details should make the corporate mission statement more comprehensive, especially in representing the company’s businesses, such as online retail services, cloud-based computing services, digital content delivery, software and hardware, and brick-and-mortar retail (e.g., Amazon Go).
Similar to the corporate mission, Amazon’s vision statement satisfies only a few of the ideal characteristics of vision statements. The e-commerce firm’s vision statement is one-sided, in that it focuses on workers only, without details about the long-term strategic targets of the business with regard to customers, products, industry, and market. Amazon’s corporate vision statement needs a holistic description of the target future condition of the e-commerce and technology corporation. An appropriate recommendation is to improve the vision statement by including how the company’s product mix (e-commerce service, cloud computing service, consumer electronics and other merchandise, etc.) relates to being the best employer and being the safest place to work. Additional details about long-term industry positioning can also make Amazon’s vision statement more relevant to the business and its investors. Such improvements to the vision statement can strengthen it in clearly guiding the technology firm’s long-term strategic planning.
References
- Amazon.com, Inc. – Form 10-K.
- Amazon.com, Inc. – Our Approach.
- Amazon.com, Inc. – Who We Are.
- Jaworski, B., & Cheung, V. (2023). Getting Started on the Journey: Mission, Vision, and Purpose. In Creating the Organization of the Future (pp. 55-64). Emerald Publishing Limited.
- Lüthy, A. (2023). From the Mission Statement to Value-Oriented Corporate Management. In Value-Oriented Leadership in Theory and Practice: Concepts-Study Results-Practical Insights (pp. 79-93). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
- U.S. Department of Commerce – International Trade Administration – Retail Trade Industry.
- U.S. Department of Commerce – International Trade Administration – Software and Information Technology Industry.