A deadly and horrific tornado struck and resulted in the form of collapse of Amazon’s warehouse killing approximately 6 employees. Jeff Bezos’ response was “thoughts and prayers” for the victims; it was very little and a bit late. It brought a lot of criticism to him; because the tornado devastated four states of the US along with the warehouse, and he didn’t mention anything else. Today, we’ll discuss Amazon crisis management; disaster relief service company; crisis response of Amazon’s leadership; and crisis communication of Amazon.
Disaster Response Background of Amazon
Amazon has a solid background in providing services to disaster response organizations and disaster relief services. Some of the main events are as follows;
- Delivering relief supplies to Syria and Turkey after the devastating earthquake
- Blankets and water bottles to the winter storm affect communities in Mississippi and Taxes
- Donating over 30,000 medical supplies to hospital and healthcare units in Ukraine
- Helping victims during the hurricane season
- Volunteer assistance, logistical support, and post-disaster relief service along with logistical support
- Supporting customers, employees, and communities with an active relief hub
- Donating 1 million critical relief supplies and equipment to the victims in Atlanta
Currently, the short and delayed communication response of the company’s leadership made people question the capabilities of the company during the crisis situation.
Amazon Crisis Management
Some of the key elements of Amazon crisis management as the Amazon crisis communication response; they’re as follows;
Donation for Victims
In order to make up for the short and delayed response of Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos; David Clark, chief logistics officer of the company strongly believed in the fact that the company could respond better. Clark posted a tweet on X Twitter’s social media platform announcing the relief support of 1 million US.
However, it is a great cover-up response from the company’s representative. However, Clark is not the head of the company; the mindset of the general public is set on Jeff Bezos as the CEO and chairman of the company.
Additional Response
Along with the “thoughts and prayers” messages, he thanked the Red Cross and other disaster relief-providing organizations. Here’s a full statement of David Clark on X Twitter;
“We’re deeply saddened by the news that members of our Amazon family passed away as a result of the storm in Edwardsville, Illinois. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone who has been impacted by the storm’s path across the US.”
Their message failed the address the rumors spread among people about the company. For instance, the girlfriend of one of the warehouse workers who died during the incident; texted her that the company doesn’t permit him and other colleagues to leave until the passing of the storm. Unfortunately, it took their lives along with it.
Questionable Labor Practices
Many media outlets and reporters questioned the labor practices of the company. The warehouse collapse incident pointed out many flawed and over-strict labor practices of the company Amazon; like restricting the usage of their phone.
However, Bloomberg’s report said that Amazon allowed the usage of smartphones during the pandemic crisis. But the storm incident showed that the company has put the restrictions back on again. According to the New York Times report, the Edwardsville warehouse was the leading delivery station of Amazon and the company employed very few staff. The brand heavily relies on the contractor employees to manage the multiple stories fulfillment center.
Documentary Advertisement
In response to the criticism of the 15 dollars per hour wage rate; Amazon launched a video storytelling advertisement in the documentary style on YouTube. It admired the lives and efforts of the brave workers and how they have moved up the ladder from poverty due to the fair wages of the company. It greatly attracted the attention of the public that how people used to share and exchange gifts without coming in contact with the person during the pandemic.
Shop Local Campaign
Amazon’s business and deliveries were at their peak during the holiday seasons and the pandemic crisis. It started declining soon after, because the brick-and-mortar stores were opening up again and the customers loved to go out for shopping, instead of buying online. Overall, Amazon is a great alternative to the shopping.
Labor Union
The labor union took the incident as an opportunity and turned the attention of the media toward the outdated practices of the tech company Amazon. They mentioned the fact that union voting for the Alabama warehouse failed early this year, but the company foul-played, and the National Labor Relation Board requested a new vote.
Conclusion: Crisis Management of Amazon | Strategic Crisis Management |Amazon Crisis Management Response
After an in-depth study of the Amazon Crisis management; we have realized that Amazon is the world’s leading tech giant e-commerce platform. If you are learning about the Amazon crisis communication response; then you should keep in mind the abovementioned background of the company’s response in crisis situations; and key elements of the crisis communication response during the tornado storm incident.
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