I’ve been seeing a lot of ‘Amazon’s harsh wakeup calls’ articles in the news lately – maybe you have, too. ‘Hard-nosed messages’ for employees, ‘harsh news’ for shoppers. Is ‘harsh [emotional reaction]’ the new ‘you’ll never believe what happened, next’ for journalism?
Who knows, or cares? The main thing I want to do: point out a ‘missing stair‘ in the discussion about Amazon, it’s business practices, employees or shoppers. Amazon’s a business, like Sears, Circuit City, or K-Mart. All these ‘harsh’ messages – where’s the ‘harsh wakeup call’ for senior leadership, or the C-Suite? Are they somehow immune to the ‘harsh wakeup calls?’
I dunno, perhaps I’m overthinking it. I ignored the first two or three ‘wakeup call’ news stories – the persistent ‘manufactured consent’ of Amazon’s bottom line, it’s stock price, being ‘everybody else’s fault except management’ doesn’t sit well with me. If you want a metaphor – it reminds me a lot of Lil’ Sebastian on Parks & Rec:
Where Adam McKay says “I don’t get it at all it’s kind of a small horse. I mean, what am I missing?’ at 7:00 of this clip? Yeah, that’s how I feel about Amazon’s harsh wakeup calls. I don’t get it – what am I missing?
Now here’s the thing: I’m an author, not a businessperson. But … everything I’ve read about Amazon screams out “It’s a business – leadership sets the strategy, goals, and direction.” Similarly, if Amazon’s structure – which was decided by leadership – isn’t working, who set up that structure? If those aren’t responsible for increased sales, stock prices – that’s leadership’s fault, right? Did the employees vote leadership in, is that why leadership thinks they need a ‘harsh wakeup call?’
I’m an author, and people aren’t reading my books – I can’t shame my readers into reading. Amazon’s leadership seems to be above that simple transactional capitalist precept. Or not. Maybe this is just rage-bait journalism. If not, I suspect Amazon’s in need of a harsh wakeup call. We’ll see.
