The Zappos Culture (Essay Sample)

The Zappos Culture [Name of Student] [Name of School / University] The Zappos Culture In order to dictate how duties are performed within organizations, companies come up with a system of shared values that govern how employees interact within the workplace. Zappos, an online retailer, has an organizational structure that emphasizes happiness for both its employees and customers. According to Riley (2014), the company utilizes holocracy which eliminates the different management levels and various job titles resulting in a flat management structure. Fewer management levels encourage employees to be self-organizing and to participate in decision making instead of reporting to managers for instructions. Employees who show interest in increased responsibility and accountability are then chosen as team leaders. Delivering happiness through excellent customer service is a core value at Zappos. For any online retail company, response speed is the biggest factor that influences customer service. Zappos has a customer call center where employees respond to customer comments and questions. This ensures customer requests are processed as soon as they come in. Moreover, the employees also focus on ensuring that the items that customers order are delivered as quickly as possible. In addition, the company treats every client as a person with unique individual needs and challenges. Since customers love personalized services, when Zappos employees attend to each client personally, they ensure improved customer service and loyalty. In order to ensure delivery of great customer service, Zappos has put in place various measures to empower its employees. An example is the free access to company tools that all employees have regardless of their position in the compa...