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Case study on the Analysis on Amazon Sustainable Supply Chains

Name of the student

Course

Professor name

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Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary.................................................................................................................3
2. Analysis of the sustainability performance of the Amazon’s Supply Chain............................3
2.1 Secure Workplace......................................................................................................................6
2.2 The Freedom to Choose One's Own Job....................................................................................7
2.3 Gender Equality.........................................................................................................................8
2.4 Fair pay......................................................................................................................................9
2.5 Ecological Sustainability...........................................................................................................9
3. The Triple Bottom Line Approach.........................................................................................10
3.1 Profits.......................................................................................................................................10
3.2 People......................................................................................................................................10
3.3 The Planet................................................................................................................................11
4. How Amazon’s Sustainability Model Relates to The Different Components of The Triple
Bottom Line...................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Society.....................................................................................................................................12
4.2 Environment............................................................................................................................12
4.3 Shareholders............................................................................................................................13
5. Benchmarking Amazon Supply Chain with Ocado (United Kingdom) Firm........................13
5.1 Procurement.............................................................................................................................13
5.2 Production................................................................................................................................14
6. Recommendations through ISO14001 Program.....................................................................15
7. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................16
8. References..............................................................................................................................18
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Case study on the Analysis on Amazon Sustainable Supply Chains

1. Executive Summary
The purpose of this case study report is to analyze and evaluate the sustainability of

Amazon supply chain, and the application of triple bottom line tool to facilitate and monitor

improvements within the online shopping firm. Triple bottom line provides an analysis on how

businesses like Amazon should resolve to monitoring their social and environmental effect in

conjunction to overall financial results. Profits, persons, and the planet are the "three Ps" of it.

Also, a benchmarking of the Amazon’s sustainability is given by comparing the Amazon

sustainability with that of Ocado firm found in United Kingdom. The comparison is made based

on how they both carry out their sustainability issues. Finally, a recommendation of ISO14001 is

implemented to the amazon organization as one of the frameworks to improve the organization

sustainability and also, to lay out the standards for a quality environmental sustainability policy.

2. Analysis of the sustainability performance of the Amazon’s Supply Chain

Amazon.com is a global electronic commerce company created in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, an

American. The corporation is America's world ’s largest online, selling a variety of consumer

goods such as textbooks and other items. Amazon.com has bought five separate firms since its

establishment. The organization began by selling textbooks and has since expanded to include a

variety of other consumer goods. These range from simple database management systems to

video. It has also entered the European market, where it has set up its own websites. This

company's success can be ascribed to its reasonable competitive rates and the ease with which

customers can make purchases from everywhere.

The corporation has taken significant steps to accommodate the diverse needs of its

customers, resulting in higher earnings. The first challenge that the internet store faces is that,

although its massive profits, it still loses money on a regular basis. These massive losses are the
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result of a big amount of capital invested in its inception, as well as poor execution of various

initiatives, product promotions, and seasonality of purchases. For example, in 2005, the turnover

for the hundred days leading up to June fell by 32% to $52 million, compared to $76 million the

year before. As a result, the organization should continue to employ tactics such as Salesforce as

a strategy for achieving its goals.

Amazon is dedicated to carrying out business operations in a legal and ethical manner,

which includes working with suppliers who uphold human rights, create supportive and

comfortable workplaces, and encourage a sustainable society. Its mission is to deliver goods and

services that are respectful of environmental and human rights. The multinational organizations

form strategic alliances to explain their expectations and to assist them in improving their

efficiency to deliver safe and humane work conditions. Every purchased item in within

their stores is subject to our Supply Chain Standards, and they require their distribution

associates to conduct their own reasonable care to ensure that all products are manufactured in

secure, pleasant, and diverse work environments.

Amazon consider allegations of wrongdoing or complaints of selling vendor violations of

their Supply Chain Standards, including those issued by government agencies, recognized

prosecutors, bloggers, or human rights advocates, among others. If they have reasonable grounds

for believing that certain products do not meet their Supply Chain Requirements, they may ask

the selling colleague to display that the goods it sells in their store were designed and produced

in full compliance with Amazon's Supply Chain Standards, such as by presenting proof of

internal audit policies and procedures, demonstrating methodologies for evaluating production

line workplace environment, participating in undisclosed assessments, engaging in an authorised

trade association that involves factory surveillance, or verifiying that the items it retails in within
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their store were produced in conformance with Amazon's Distribution Network. Also, the criteria

and obligations for all vendors, their distribution networks, and marketing associates that feature

commodities in their stores are outlined in their Supply Chain Standards. Distributors of

Amazon-branded items can use their Supplier Handbook to learn how and when to fulfill and

surpass the requirements defined in their Supply Chain Guidelines.

The Amazon management team altered their program in 2020 for example, to address the

economic and social issues that both vendors and their workforce were experiencing as a result

of the COVID-19 outbreak. In order to recognize the most significant and substantial risks,

it proceeded to explore additional segments of their various Amazon-branded goods supply

chains. Amazon is prepared to assist their customers, employees, and their localities as the

COVID-19 outbreak affects them. Amazon established a $1.3 million endowment in 2020 to

invest in groups that provide vital direct assistance to COVID-19-affected personnel (Ivanov,

2021).

Amazon collaborate with industrial team to resolve systemic issues and establish

initiatives that promote their customers' and employees' continuous improvements. They use data

from multiple data sources, as well as input from diverse stakeholders such as industry

professionals, activist groups, and quasi bodies, as part of their thorough research attempts to

define, eliminate, and mitigate detrimental effects. They are dedicated to evaluating their

influence and concentrating their attention in the major priority areas listed: a secure workplace,

the freedom to choose one's own job, gender equality, fair pay, and ecological sustainability.

2.1 Secure Workplace

Amazon places considerable emphasis on a healthy and safe workplace. They have

multinationals teams that engage with manufacturers to raise worker understanding of safety

hazards, encourage employee engagement in their station's safety performance, and promote
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change that concentrate on employees' well-being on matters that important to them (Huera-

Lucero, et al., 2020). Their manufacturers must provide a healthy and safe work environment for

their employees; at the very least, they must follow all relevant labor regulations. M oreover,

they are dedicated to making progress in the following critical priority sectors: (1) workplace

safety, including proper equipment protecting and guaranteeing suppliers continuously analyze,

assess, and manage physically demanding activities to guarantee worker’s health and safety; (2)

disaster preparedness and risk response; and (3) Housing and cleanliness; if manufacturers offer

housing for their employees, they should provide safe and healthy facilities.

Throughout their business partnership, they undertake on-site evaluations of Amazon-

branded vendors to evaluate safe operation. This involves evaluations of fire protection system,

hygiene hostels and amenities, and proper machinery shielding, among other things. Prior to

initiating manufacturing with Amazon, they demand that these vendors handle material security

concerns. The Amazon-branded enterprises' administration reviews query result on a routine

basis, and remedial action strategies are conducted with suppliers as appropriate.

Having expanded their collaboration with the International Labour Organization's (ILO)

Sustainable Competitiveness and Responsibility Enterprise (SCORE) project in 2020, a lean

production initiative aimed at boosting efficiency and workplace circumstances in businesses of

all sizes. SCORE skill helps workplaces arrange their production planning, restructure assembly

lines, and adopt standards for excellent social distancing and security during the start of the

outbreak. They partnered with manufacturers in China and India to give care and guidance in

five domains: workspace coordination, health and security, quality control, sustainable operation,

and personnel management. They had delivered occupational health and safety awareness to

4,398 employees in their supplier chain using SCORE. To now, Amazon suppliers that took part
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in SCORE program have executed 1,517 programs to enhance safe and healthy workplace, based

on the 1,219 appropriate methods made by employees. SCORE Training centre has awarded

SCORE participatory certifications to eight locations so far, proving that they have implemented

SCORE approach into their activities and regulations.

2.2 The Freedom to Choose One's Own Job

In Amazon supply chain, they will not accept the use of slave labor. All types of slave

labour and human smuggling are prohibited under the Supply Chain Guidelines, including

demanding employees recruiting charges, keeping passports or sensitive documents, and

compulsion to perform through fears of repatriation or alerting immigration agents. They

monitor workers' homeplace and how much they spent in remuneration during their evaluations

of Amazon-branded vendors. They expect the provider to refund workers in full if charges have

been made. Slave labour is a well-kept secret that is difficult to fight. They believe that the only

way to make genuine advancements is for corporations, legislatures, and society organizations to

work together to drive scheme change.

Amazon is constantly collaborating with a number of groups to develop comprehensive

strategies for eliminating slave labor. Some of these organizations include:

 Polaris: Polaris, a quasi-organization that helps victims and witnesses of human smuggling, is

supported by Amazon. Since 2007, Polaris has detected and reacted to over 63,000 incidents of

human trafficking and exploitation of workers through all the US Federal Human Trafficking

Helpline. AWS collaborates with Polaris to integrate snipping technologies into its network,

allowing it to generate the world's largest statistical model on human trafficking in the United

States faster (Bush, 2017). Polaris uses the information to analyze and optimize how human

trafficking is recognized, how victims and witnesses are helped, and how exploitation is

prevented.
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 Responsible Labor Program: The Responsible Labor Project is a cross, multi-stakeholder

strategy designed to ensure that the rights of employees in international supply chains who are

subjected to bonded labor are regularly recognized and supported (Jung & Polasky, 2018).

 Stolen Youth: Amazon has partnered with StolenYouth, a Portland nonprofit group dedicated to

ending child sex abuse in Washington by preventing it, linking victimized adolescents to access

and assistance, and encouraging survivors on their healing journey and a better world (Tallman,

et al., 2020). Amazon assist StolenYouth with both economic and material gifts.

2.3 Gender Equality

Gender equality is a basic human right as well as a prerequisite for a fully sustainable

supply chain. Amazon is constantly striving to enable women to make independent health -

related decisions, money, and career progression, which has a good influence on society (Heller,

et al., 2021). Amazon has teamed up with BSR's HER project, an effort that pulls up

multinational businesses, their vendors, and regional partners to devise and execute place of

work wellness, access to financial services, and gender mainstreaming solutions. They work with

vendors in China, Pakistan, Vietnam, and India via their cooperation with HER project. By 2021,

HER project curriculum had surpassed 12,000 women, encompasses healthcare and money

management skills coaching, as well as improve the flexibility of workers and management of

suppliers to resist sexual identity harassment in the workforce.

2.4 Fair pay

 Amazon remain devoted to collaborating directly with suppliers, business associates, and

multi-stakeholder organizations to oversee and support continued progress in labor environment,

particularly equitable and timely wages and salaries. They have specialized teams working with

manufacturers all across the world to audit and interested in reviewing against all these

requirements (Werther & Chandler, 2010). Their suppliers must provide legally required
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remuneration (such as extra hours and bonuses), and also urge them to assess if their workers are

making sufficient to gather their basic requirements and those of their dependents on a regular

basis. Amazon are starting an in-depth investigation of equal pay in all Amazon-branded supply

chain networks, with the objective of discovering potential coding prospects by 2021.

2.5 Ecological Sustainability.

Amazon goal is to guarantee that the production of their commodities does not impact the

surrounding environment. Amazon is an associate of the Sustainable Apparel Alliance, a

manufacturing entity of renowned textiles and apparel product lines, retail outlets, distributors,

quasi nonprofits organization, scholars, and governmental agencies dedicated to reducing the

environmental effects of apparel goods in the world (Moutinho, et al., 2016). They urge our

Amazon-branded producers to assess their policies using the High Score, a tool developed by the

Alliance to assist companies assess their operations' sustainability performance. They are

dedicated to promoting the use of this analysis and assisting their suppliers in understanding their

environmental implications. Amazon set a target for the end of 2021 to gather environmental

management data from 200 vendors.

3. The Triple Bottom Line Approach

Plate 1: Representation of how Triple Bottom Line approach looks (Miller, 2020).
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The triple bottom line is a marketing plan that states that instead of concentrating solely

on earning profit, or the traditional "bottom line," businesses should resolve to monitoring their

social and environmental effect in conjunction to overall financial results. Profits, persons, and

the planet are the "three Ps" of it (Alhaddi, 2015).

3.1 Profits
A company's success in a capitalist economy is mostly determined by its financial results,

or the profit it creates for shareholders. In general, long term planning activities and critical

company choices are clearly intended to make more profits while lowering expenses and

mitigating risks. Many companies' objectives have previously terminated there. Nowadays, intent

leaders are learning that they can use their enterprises to make a positive impact on the world

while also achieving financial success (Arowoshegbe, 2016). Embracing sustainability in

business operations has been shown to drive corporate success in several circumstances.

3.2 People
The triple bottom line's second element emphasizes a company's societal influence, or

dedication to humanity. It's critical to distinguish between a company's shareholders and

investors. Traditionally, corporations have emphasized value for shareholders as a metric of

success, i.e., they try to increase the income of the company's stockholders. Firms have adjusted

their attention toward providing returns to shareholders touched by business operations,

including consumers, workers, and general public, as they have progressively championed

sustainability (Colbert & Kurucz, 2007). Companies can help society by guaranteeing equitable

employment processes and fostering volunteerism in the workplace, for example. Entrepreneurs

can also look to the outside world to bring about change on a bigger scale.

3.3 The Planet

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Making a beneficial impact on the earth is the final stage of the triple bottom line. Large

firms have generated a stunning volume of environmental contamination since the start of the

Industrial Era, and has been a primary contributor to global warming. According to a recent

analysis, 100 power companies are equivalent to approximately 71% of all industrial pollutants.

While corporations have consistently been the most significant causes of climate change,

organizations also have the power to effect progressive change. Many company leaders are

increasingly aware of their obligation to do so. This initiative isn't just the responsibility of the

world's greatest enterprises; practically every company has the ability to cut its carbon emissions.

Modifications such as employing humanely raised products, reducing energy use, and

simplifying shipping procedures are all positive moves. Amazon employs Triple bottom line as

its current approach to sustainability.

Amazon’s Triple bottom line approach is compared with Ocado online shopping supply

chain.

4. How Amazon’s Sustainability Model Relates to The Different Components of The

Triple Bottom Line
The triple bottom line is made up of three pillars that show how successfully a

corporation achieves its social obligations, economic condition, and ecological consequences.

Amazon is a company that is conscious of its societal and environmental responsibilities. They

altered their company policies to ensure this obligation by releasing 100 % renewable energy

using solar cells on their completion locations (Savitz, 2013). The triple bottom line considers

society, the ecosystem, and stockholders from three points of view. Exploring all of these

categories will help one see how Amazon has created a long-term business plan.

4.1 Society
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The triple bottom line's society section relates to an organization's social impact. Amazon

recognizes its responsibilities by providing equality of opportunity to all staff who perform in its

regional warehouses. Amazon made a conscious choice to hire numerous native Mexican

laborers from Mexico's Yaqui community, in addition to becoming cautious of other

corporations using employees from all across Mexico, which spurred a massive amount of

unscrutinize immigrants to come to the U.S.  These workers get paid double the Mexican basic

wage, which is significantly much more what they had earned in previous jobs.

4.2 Environment
The triple bottom line's environmental section relates to a company's environmental

impact. Amazon recognized that its warehouses were consuming a tremendous amount of

energy, so it devised a strategy to become more eco-friendly. Amazon devised a business model

that emphasized the utilization of sustainable energy sources such as solar electricity. Amazon

has drastically reduced its environmental effect by generating zero carbon dioxide and other

greenhouses gases into the atmosphere throughout its regional warehouses as a result of

executing this business approach.

4.3 Shareholders
The triple bottom line's stockholders section relates to a company's influence on its

owners. Amazon has launched a campaign to boost the volume of products available on its

platform by third-party retailers. They can improve the amount of profit they earn from all these

orders by growing the number of items supplied by third-party vendors.

Amazon has made significant initiatives to protect these three aspects in order to improve their

marketing strategy and become even more helpful to social and environmental issues.

5. Benchmarking Amazon Supply Chain with Ocado (United Kingdom) Firm

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Ocado is a type of sustainability supply chain that uses technology to innovate their

distribution network and delivering for its global retail partners. For most of Ocado highly

automated facilities in the UK and around the globe, their supply chain departments are

accountable for the acquisition, distribution, and post-installation servicing of specialized

electrical tools and devices.

5.1 Procurement
 Ocado

Ocado's marketing strategy is recognized widely as 'highly centralized logistics' or

'storage facility,' and it gets 100% of its purchases through its website www.ocado.com

(Nicoletti, 2020). The company, that is the only one from its sort in the UK, is not dependent on

a matrix of huge supermarket chains.

 Amazon

Every time Amazon acquire quasi services and goods for global Fulfillment Centers,

experienced Contractors aim to provide worth for Amazon by reducing costs and improving the

distribution network (FCs). Amazon's marketing strategy, according to Jeff Bezos, is focused on

three main core competencies: low prices, timely service, and a large product range (Rodrigue,

2020). However, based on the following three consumer advantages, they may conclude that

flexibility is Amazon's strongest fundamental value.

5.2 Production
 Ocado

Ocado use AI to accomplish in minutes what millions of people operating together

couldn't. Here are some of the reasons that the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) is a concern AI

powerhouse. Every day, the forecast systems of the OSP create billions of extremely accurate

forecasts. It then uses these to monitor inventory levels by applying them to requests with
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vendors in real-time. Elevated bots rush around Ocado warehouses, 'grabbing' commodities for

clients' requests from amid a 3d space of containers stuffed with goods. In minutes, a multiple -

choice order is chosen and packed for delivery. This is usually done by a coworker (Dash, et al.,

2019). However, robot workers are used in one of their warehouses. In workplaces, robots are

becoming extremely prevalent. 3,000 robotic systems fill products or services online at the

British online store, Ocado's facility in London (Cotugno, et al., 2018). Whenever a request is

being sent to the depot, the robots awaken and proceed to the appropriate container.

 Amazon

Amazon uses a method known as "Working Backwards," in which the initial deliverables

are the articles at startup, and then the team works backwards to the elements nearer to execution

(Gonzalez, 2021). Working backwards to refine a product brings simplicity and flexibility – you

know what the consumer may anticipate on the front line, and operating backwards lets the team

to develop it. When a consumer places an order, Amazon's sophisticated backend technology

gets to work. Amazon receives a request from third-party merchants and receives a percentage of

the sales.

The majority of orders, on the other hand, are processed using Amazon's global depots.

These are loaded using technologies that forecast the sorts and quantities of commodities that

will be requested in that area. These algorithms, as well as fulfillment hubs, are among the things

that set Amazon apart from other online stores. They are the firm's secret formula, allowing it to

reliably execute quickly and at reduced costs to clients. The order is routed towards the closest

completion facility, where it is found by a picker. Regardless on the shipment method, the

merchandise is wrapped and then loaded in a designated transport truck. From the time the
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consumer confirms the final order until it is loaded into the delivery truck, the entire procedure

could require only minutes.

6. Recommendations through ISO14001 Program

ISO14001 program is one of the frameworks that has been applied in Amazon

organization. ISO 14001 is a globally recognized code that lays out the standards for a quality

environmental sustainability policy (Ahmed, et al., 2021). It assists firms in considering the

environment through much more effective resource usage and waste minimization, resulting in a

significant advantage and shareholder confidence. The ISO14001 would improve Amazon

sustainability through the following:

 Improves the organization confidence and competitivity: After achieving ISO 14001 certification

in 2013, Amazon was able to efficiently publish the intricacies of their technique for all

employees to express and harmonize the standard of work at all of their locations. In addition to

enhancing company profitability by revealing that their approach emits 90% less CO2 than solid

substitution, ISO 14001 also boosts consumer trust in their process by exhibiting that it creates

90% less CO2 emissions (Waxin, et al., 2019). Furthermore, since their accreditation, staff

involvement and enthusiasm have improved, comfortable in the assurance that their goods and

services are helping to protect the natural environment.

 Improving shareholder and staff interactions: Amazon have been using ISO 14001 since 2013 to

achieve significant progress, such as raising their recycling efforts. Since March 2013, they have

been at "zero disposal," reclaiming and reusing 100 percent of their site garbage. Since they have

measures in place to quickly respond to any issues, they have continued to strengthen their

connection with their neighbors. Amazon procedures, as well as the nomination of Green Matters

Heroes, make sure that employees are ecologically involved and informed of the platform's

negative environmental effects, among other things.

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7. Conclusion
Key challenges such as CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases from transportation

and pollution from manufacturing and packing were addressed when looking at the company's

competitiveness using the triple bottom line. The organization now has the chance to solve these

difficulties by using the ISO14001 model as an illustration and learning from their practices

about possible solutions to the problems. It has also been proven by using the triple button as a

roadmap might help Amazon become much more socially responsible and environmentally

sustainable in the long run. Ultimately, improving Amazon's sustainability goals will not only

preserve the environment, but will also provide the corporation with the standards it needs to be

more profitable and increase its operations.

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