The New York Times Versus Amazon: Is Jeff Bezos’ head still in the clouds?

Abstract

This description-based case used secondary data to provide students with the controversy centered around Amazon’s highly criticized culture. An article published by the New York Times illuminates current and former employees’ disapproving perceptions of the culture Amazon has adopted which has ironically contributed to its overwhelming success. Although some have touted their allegiance to such cultural pragmatism, others, who define the culture as “modern-day Darwinism”, have experienced consternation as cultural practices have created unpleasant work conditions thus causing dissatisfaction that lead to voluntary or involuntary exiting. In light of Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, questions have resonated regarding the dichotomous collision of cultural disparities that could have either fortuitous or catastrophic implications. Founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, has adamantly defended Amazon amidst such allegations of mistreatment of employees and refutes claims of rejecting underperforming employees and granting reprieves for those only conforming to its cultural model. Bezos strongly maintains that the company’s cultures embodies the industry’s standards and defines its hypercompetitive and aggressive nature as distinctive and incomparable to other companies.