Complete the questions for Case 1: Learning in Practice
Chapter 2, Page 109-110, “Alexa, Tell Me About Learning at Amazon.com, Inc.”
Questions 1-3
Your responses to each question should be very thorough, complete, and relatively comprehensive that should be reflective of college-level formal writing.
Provide a title page.
Use a “Question and Answer” format – i.e., type out the question in full and then answer it thoroughly. This will make it very clear as to which question you are answering, rather than one combined or blended essay answer for all questions.
Double-space your responses. You should be aiming for at least one page for each question and response.
You will need to cite the textbook as an authoritative resource in answering these questions, so include parenthetical citations, where appropriate, and provide a References list at the end of your paper.
Case 1: Learning in Practice
“Alexa, Tell Me About Learning at Amazon.com, Inc.”
Amazon.com, Inc. is a technology company based in Seattle, Washington, that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. The company strives to be Earth’s most customer-centric company. Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. You may know Amazon because you have shopped online for Amazon Prime, listened to music on Amazon Music, watched Amazon’s original shows, used an Amazon device like Alexa, Echo, or a Fire Tablet, or purchased food or groceries at Amazon Go or Whole Foods. Amazon has about 1 million employees after hiring 250,000 workers at the end of 2020 due to increased e-commerce sales during the coronavirus pandemic. It is important to consider that in the last several years Amazon has received unflattering press such as claims it has a demanding and demeaning work culture and it did not do enough to protect the health and safety of its warehouse workers at the beginning of the pandemic. And some would argue that the growth of Amazon has meant the loss of traditional retailers and jobs across the United States. However, it is important to consider that Amazon has created thousands of jobs around the world and made considerable investment in training its employees and contribution to the education of elementary, secondary, and college students and adults in the United States and around the world.
Amazon has a number of programs for its employees including the Amazon Technical Academy, Machine Learning University, Associate2Tech, Amazon Apprenticeship, AWS Training, and Career Choice. The availability of these programs is based on a $700 million investment Amazon made to supporting training. The investment supports Amazon’s goal of retraining one- third of the company’s U.S.-based workers, including corporate executives and warehouse employees, on high-tech tasks by 2025. For example, Amazon’s Career Choice tuition assistance program helps fulfillment center employees pursue certificates and degrees in high-demand fields. The company constructed dedicated classrooms at its large fulfillment centers to make learning more accessible to participants who may attend class before or after their work shifts, or on days off. Amazon believes Career Choice gives employees the skills they need to pursue their career path at Amazon or with other employers.
Amazon has also pledged to offer free skills training to 29 million people around the world. Much of the training involves mastering skills needed for cloud computing, which all organizations are increasingly moving toward. Amazon gave a $15 million donation to the nonprofit Code.org to support the development and launch of a new equity-minded Advanced Placement computer science programming curriculum. Code.org has the goal of expanding access to computer science in schools and increase participation of young women and students from other underrepresented groups. The dream is every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their primary and secondary school education. The new curriculum will teach students the same tools and concepts as an existing advanced placement high school computer science course, which earns students college credit. It will be developed inclusively to take into account the unique cultural perspectives, interests, and experiences of Black, Latino, Native American, and other minority students. Another program, Amazon Future Engineer, wants to motivate students to explore computer science through elementary school curriculum, middle and high school courses, and teachers to offer computer science courses. The awards made possible through the program include four-year $10,000 scholarships, guaranteed and paid Amazon internships to gain work experience, and $25,000 Amazon Future Engineer Teacher of the Year Awards. The program also creates partnerships with schools to bring new coding experiences to students.
page 110
Questions
Which forces or challenges influencing working and learning will Amazon’s efforts help it overcome? Explain your choices and the rationale supporting it.
Does learning at Amazon support its business strategy? Explain your answer.
Provide Amazon with a recommendation regarding the metrics it should collect to show the success of its training and education efforts. List the training and education initiative and the metrics you recommend for it. Provide a rationale for the metrics you recommend.
