Zappos Faces Competitive Challenges
Read “Zappos Faces Competitive Challenges” found in Chapter 1 (p 99) of Human Resource Management 12 edition. Also, view the YouTube video “Zappos is a weird company — and it’s happy that way” and answer the following questions:
- Zappos seems to be well-positioned to have a competitive advantage over other online retailers. What challenges discussed in Chapter 1 pose the biggest threat to Zappos’s ability to maintain and enhance its competitive position? How can HRM practices help Zappos meet these challenges?
- Do you think that employees of Zappos have high levels of engagement? Why?
- Which of Zappos’s 10 core values do you believe that HR practices can influence the most? The least? Why? For each of the core values, identify the HR practices that are related to it. Explain how the HR practices you identified are related to the core values.
- How might the change to the holacracy management style undermine Zappos’s core values and cause employees to have lower levels of engagement?
