Determining/To Determine/Determine Employees’ Attitudes Towards Changing Amazon’s Prime Video Services

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Introduction

According to Aversa, Haefliger and Reza (2017), Amazon is one of the largest online stores in the world. It provides its customers with many different products and services and is further associated with various other subsidiaries (Aversa, Haefliger and Reza, 2017). Even though it has a successful portfolio, it can still make some changes in its products and services to obtain further profits and gains. However, in such scenario, employee attitudes towards changing amazon’s prime video services could be a potential challange for the company. Prime video is one of the Amazon products with the potential for further growth. This study will develop and discuss a change plan for Amazon’s Prime Video, which will be implementable and relevant to the purpose of Prime Video.

Summary

As per Wu and Gereffi (2018), Amazon is one of the biggest online retailers in the world. It is a multinational that operates in several countries (Wu and Gereffi, 2018). Dolata (2017) contributes that Amazon has established itself by introducing innovative technology for its operations. It is further considered a big tech company, focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence (Dolata, 2017). As added by Althafairi et al. (2019), the products that are available on the Amazon retail website come under different brands that can be specified as AbazonBasics, Amazon Essentials, Pinzon, and many more. Amazon has more than a dozen subsidiaries which operate in different industries ranging from music to gaming (Althafairi et al., 2019). One of the subsidiaries that come under Amazon and has the potential to further evolve into something bigger can be identified as Prime Video. Prime Video is a video streaming service that provides different original movies and TV series on its platform for its viewers (Weber, 2016). Amazon Prime Video can majorly impact the video streaming industry by introducing different movies and series on its service from around the globe. For the identified change, the ADKAR change model is proposed. As per Karambelkar and Bhattacharya (2017), the ADKAR model involves awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement.

Impact

Increasing the portfolio of Video Prime will have a positive impact on the Amazon video streaming service. With its introduction, viewers worldwide can experience different movies and shows from other countries and cultures. Amazon will be implementing and monitoring the change through the ADKAR change model. As per Karambelkar and Bhattacharya (2017), the model is divided into five goals, each one’s goal to contribute to successful change. Amazon will first create awareness in its employees regarding the change, which will be intended to develop a desire for the needed change. Then the employees will be exposed to the relevant knowledge required for the difference, which they will apply during the implementation of the change. Afterwards, reinforcements will be made to ensure the change stays successful and the employees work accordingly.

The intended change will impact the employees that are used to the current operations of Prime Video. However, This may trigger unacceptable changes in employee attitudes towards changing amazon’s prime video services. Therefore, the change will further receive disapproval from employees afraid of changes in general. However, the employees are projected to get along with the change as time goes by and accept the change. The behaviour of the employees during the change process can be explained through the Kubler-Ross cycle. As defined by Sotelo (2015), the Kubler-Ross cycle is also referred to as the five stages of grief. Agreed by DÁvila et al. (2018), as per the model, there are five stages an individual goes through when they grieve about an incident or loss or, in this case, a change. The five grief stages involve denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. From the perspective of the intended change, employees that disapprove of the changes for any reason will first deny the change and avoid talking or thinking about it at all. In the second stage, the employees will get angry about the change and will use inappropriate means such as no enthusiasm for work to show their disapproval. In the third stage, the employees will use their influence and diplomatic skill to bargain and negotiate the change process to decrease the impact of change on them. The fourth stage will be depression, where the grief will peak, and the employees will know that the change is inevitable and nothing can be done to prevent it. In the final stage, the employees will eventually accept the change and play their part appropriately in the change process. These stages clearly highlight the series of employee attitudes towards changing amazon’s prime video services. During these stages, the company will try their best to win over their employees as it will be the driving force for the change. The company will explain how the change is necessary and what benefits it will provide for the company and the employees.

The major benefit the change will bring Amazon is the diversification of the material available on its streaming service. The streaming service will include different dubbed shows and movies around the globe that are well-recognised in the native country but not globally but possesses the potential to win over the audience. Apart from employees, the major stakeholders the change will impact will be its customers and investors, i.e., shareholders. From the customers’ perspective, it is projected that they will be delighted with the change as they will be able to watch moves and series developed in different countries with different cultures. Furthermore, the idea of the desired change was incepted, considering the impact of the change on the streaming service users. On the other hand, the shareholders will be directly impacted by the performance of the change. If the change is implemented successfully, the worth of their shares will increase.

When the change is implemented, and the users of Video Prime around the globe can stream different movies and series in English or other languages, the company will conduct surveys to receive customer feedback and interviews to get managers’ and directors’ reviews. Group discussions with company employees to know how the change was implemented and what difficulties were faced. This will eventually ease the process of changing employee attitudes towards changing amazon’s prime video services. For the surveys that will be conducted to gather customer feedback, different social media platforms and other Amazon services will be sued. Questionnaire surveys will be distributed on the internet, and customers will fill out the questionnaire they will receive on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and more. Furthermore, other Amazon services and subsidiaries will be used to conduct the surveys.

Organisation’s Objectives Analysis

Amazon currently works under different objectives for its various products and services. After completing these objectives, the company goes closer to its goals. There are certain objectives for the intended change. These objectives are parallel to the organisation’s objectives. However, certain aspects are different. The differences in the objectives make the desired change different from the company's current situation. For the transition, certain KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are developed. From the perspective of prime videos, certain KPIs can be developed for the desired change. The market shares in the respective industry, viewership, subscription, total or industrial revenue of Amazon, and share price can act as the KPIs for the change. However, for the intended change, the following KPIs have been selected.

1. Amazon Subscription
2. Prime Video viewership
3. Share Price

The above three KPIs will help determine and measure the change's success. The new users of Prime Video will have to subscribe to Amazon first. Thus the increase in the subscription can act as an indicator of the success of the change. The success of the change can also be indicated by the rise in viewership of Prime Video. When new movies and series from across the world are available on Prime Video, people will be intrigued and start viewing Prime Video. The increase in viewership and subscriptions will determine the success of the change. The success will further help in increasing the share price of Prime Video as its worth will increase.

Current Objectives VS Change Objectives

Plan for the Change

Gantt Chart

The implementation of change can further be linked to Kotter’s 8-step model. As per Tan, Gn and Goh (2015), an urgency is created in the Kotters change model, followed by a coalition. A vision is then formed along with the team that will fulfil the vision. The obstacles in the way of change are then removed, providing short-term wins. The process then gets sustained, and the change is implemented. For the change in Prime Video, the four steps, i.e. urgency, coalition, vision and team building, will be covered in project planning. Contacting owners, purchasing rights, marketing, and producing will cover obstacles and short-term gains. And finally, sustaining and implementing the change will be covered during the airing of the content and monitoring the performance.

Employee Engagement and Involvement                                        

Employee engagement and involvement will be given significant importance when implementing the change as it will help cater the employee attitudes towards changing amazon’s prime video services. The change process will involve employees, and their engagement will determine the project's success. As per Bekker (2015), employee engagement can be an employee’s commitment and connection towards their job. Employee engagement immensely benefits organisations in producing successful results as the employees are at the front line in achieving organisational goals (Bekker, 2015). Further explained by Albrecht et al. (2015), employee engagement is based on mutual trust between the company and its employees. Employee engagement can be determined by the employee's attitude towards the work. Their motivation level in day-to-day company activities can measure employee engagement (Albrecht et al., 2016). Employee engagement will be vital when implementing the desired change for the Prime Video service. The directors will make the decisions, but the employees will implement the change; thus, their commitment is necessary. Due to this aspect, Amazon’s employees must be committed to the desired change and do their utmost effort to take forward the change process. Having the support of the employees will play a vital role in the change process as they will determine the success; thus, Amazon has to ensure that the employees are on board with the desired change and view the change as positive for themselves and the company. Concisely, Amazon holds great responsibility towards monitoring their employee attitudes towards changing amazon’s prime video services so that they could be tackled accordingly.

One of the key principles that will influence employee engagement towards Amazon’s desired change will be employee involvement. As stated in the study by Hodgkinson (2018), employee involvement is one of the key principles of employee engagement. In employee involvement, the employee directly gets involved by participating in the activities of the organisations that take the organisation towards its goals. Similarly stated by Benn, Teo and Martin (2015), it is established that the more employees will get involved in the company and participate in its different activities, the more the employees will be productive for the company, which will result in the overall productivity of the company. As per Dutra et al. (2015), the participation of employees in the company's activities can be termed participatory management. In participatory management, the employees participate in the company by sharing their views and assisting the company in decision-making (Dutra et al., 2015).

Further added by Bożek (2015), employees take decisive roles in participatory management, where they make unilateral decisions aimed at benefiting the organisation. It is agreed that the participation of employees in the company enhances their respect and value for the company (Bożek, 2015). As agreed by Stefanovska-Petkovska, Bojadžijev and Mucunski (2015), when the employees start to enjoy working for the company, their engagement towards the company and motivation to do well for the company enhances significantly.

Further added by Stefanovska-Petkovska, Bojadžijev and Mucunski (2015), participatory management aims at employee empowerment as the notion of participatory management empowers employees. Similarly contributed by Farahiyanfar and Ghandehari (2016), in employee empowerment, the employees are given autonomy to make decisions for the company. The employees make autonomous decisions in their day-to-day activities intended to benefit the company (Farahiyanfar and Ghandehari, 2016). Further added by Mutai, Cheruiyot and Kirui(2015), employee empowerment reduces the responsibility of higher management by giving that responsibility to the employees. Employees use their skills and power to solve different problems autonomously, which enhances their productivity and helps them grow and develop, which benefits the company in the long run.

The employee responsible for the change will be heavily involved in the change process, as their views and opinions will be valued when developing project plans. The marketing team will develop a marketing strategy that will act as the stepping stone towards increasing Amazon subscriptions. The marketing team will make an autonomous decision to market the upcoming movies and shows on Prime Video. Furthermore, the individuals responsible for contacting different owners of different movies and TV series over the globe will be empowered to make their own decisions. These individuals will communicate, negotiate, and finalise the deals with the companies that own the rights to the desired movies and series. Apart from the departments mentioned above, the production department will play a vital role in determining the success of the change. The production department will dub these TV shows in English and other languages to attract Amazon’s current and potential customers that speak different languages and resides across the planet.

Expected Outcomes and Deliverables

The key deliverable of the desired changes is increasing Amazon's revenue through Prime Video. It is expected that with the successful implementation of the change, the viewership of Prime Video in and outside the US will increase. Currently, Netflix is the world leader when it comes to streaming movies and TV series (Uenlue, 2018). The intended change aims to disrupt Netflix’s market share by grabbing it when the modification succeeds. The changes will impact the KPIs of the change. The viewership will increase significantly with diverse content available on Prime Video for cinema lovers. The performance of the change can be evaluated through its impact on the KPIs. The following impact on the KPIs is projected due to the change.

Original and high-quality content available on the Amazon service will attract tons of new viewers and is projected to increase the viewership of Prime Video by 30%. Currently, Prime Video is not as renowned as Netflix over the world. However, introducing diverse content on Prime video will change the statistics in favour of Prime Video. Furthermore, with the increase in the viewership of Prime Video, the Subscription of Amazon, the 2^nd KPI, will increase too. As Amazon offers different products under different subsidiaries, the impact will not be as much as the impact on Prime Video; nevertheless, a degree of influence will occur. The Amazon subscription is projected to increase by around 7-8%. As far as the share price of Amazon is concerned, the impact will occur after the announcement of the new content and after the performance of the new content. However, the impact is projected to be small and similar to the impact of the 2^nd KPI as Amazon is a well-established company, and significantly increasing its share price will be difficult at this stage. Thus, it is projected that the share price of Amazon will increase by 5-6%.

Securing Support Plan

The above-discussed change will be put forward towards the CEO, board of directors, and senior company management. The difference will be presented on a presentation slide professionally during a requested meeting with the respected personnel. The proposed presentation is shared in the appendices. The projected impact, benefit, and cost will be discussed in the meeting, and as per their decision and agreement, the change will be transferred to the next stage of development and implementation.

Conclusion

Amazon is a successful company that has made its mark over the world. It has many products and services under its portfolio. One such service is Prime Video, where different movies, TV series and Shows are available for Amazon subscribers. The content on Prime Video is not diverse and does not compete with Netflix, the market leader, on the international level. With the change in its portfolio, Amazon will be dubbing different TV shows and movies in English and other languages that will attract users worldwide and contribute to Amazon’s revenue stream. For the purpose of increasing the viewership of Prime Video, a change is suggested. The change intends to put diverse content on Prime Video that exists in different languages worldwide.

The employees of amazon will be the driving force that will ensure the success of the change. Employees disapproving of the change might go through 5 stages of grief. However, Amazon will take appropriate actions to prevent harm towards the intended change and the company's well-being. The employees will be engaged during and involved in the change process. Participatory management will be adopted for the change, and the employees will be empowered. They will be taking decisive actions towards the change, which will be intended towards the company's profitability. The change will be determined by three KPIs: Amazon subscription, Prime Video viewership, and Amazon’s share price. It is projected that the change will be successful, and the company will benefit from it.