LEADERSHIP

Characteristics of Business Leadership



Characteristics of Business Leadership

Introduction

Leadership defines as the method of organizing a group of people to work together for achieving a common task. Effective leadership is necessary for the organization, in order to achieve its goals and objectives efficiently. In today's modern age, a successful leader is a person who guides others toward a common goal, showing the way by setting his own examples. He creates such an environment for the team in which all the members feel actively involved in the entire process, rather than just obeying someone. A leader must not consider himself as the boss of the team, instead, as the person who is committed to carrying out the mission of the project.

This assignment describes the challenges faced by Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com, in establishing and leading the company. We also discuss the leadership styles, strategies and theories, practiced by the leader. The assignment will conclude by discussing that how Bezos and his company has impacted the world.

Primary Business and Business Challenges for the Leader

Jeff Bezos is considered as one of the founding fathers of the e-commerce technology (Spiro, 2009). The online bookstore Amazon.com was founded in 1994, in Washington. The two business partners of Bezos invested a sum of $140,000, with the aim of converting their garage business into a global retail empire. By the year 1997, the company had already generated amount of 15.7 as revenue.

The major challenge for the company was the reliance on the e-commerce. Jeff Bezos took the risk by assuming that in near future, everyone would like to enjoy the comfort of online shopping. Second major challenge was to compete on price, while maintaining the optimum level of customer service. The CEO managed this challenge by offering high discounts, and gradually increasing the product line as well as the alliances with suppliers. For example, initially Amazon used to have its own warehouse, but very soon management took the decision of forwarding their orders directly to the suppliers (Applegate, 2009). This strategy clearly helped the company in enhancing the product line, as well as reducing the operational costs. The third challenge for the company was to build positive reputation among the customers. Bezos believed that if they would be able to provide quality service to the customers, the company would very soon get success, as word of mouth is more powerful and customers are the best source for building reputation for the company.

Today, Amazon.com does not sell only books but a wide variety of items, from laptops, gift baskets, jewelry, baby items, electronic products and even shoes; as Bezos believes that the customers should be able to find and buy anything they may wish to find online (Strategic Business Team, 2012). With the rise of information and communication technologies, particularly with the advent of public internet, it has become difficult to maintain the different market position as does the Amazon.com; it is only possible due to the leadership and business strategies of the company's ...