ZAPPOS AND TONY HSIEH

In this article, I can recognize some of the factors that possessed by Mr. Hsieh as the successful chief leader in Zappos. Those factors are include personal traits, leadership style, organizational culture, and employees satisfaction.

After reading some article, I realized that Zappos organizational culture is a huge part of every association's success. Just like Mr. Hsieh said in the interview: I think it really boils down to our focus on company culture. How do they continue their unique culture in Zappos? One important thing is that they use formal orientation program to indoctrinate new employees to the company culture. Once they hire someone, they immediately enter into four weeks of training, during this time, they are immersed in learning about what is Zappos, what Zappos do, and what is Zappos culture. This means people learn and become part of the culture right away, instead of learning about it over time by watching others. In addition, company's physical layout is one of their culture. Zappos creates an environment of comfort for employees such as they can play musical instruments when they feel tired or wear what they want during the work, so that employee can focus on producing their best possible product. A casual observation of their work environment sends the message that employees who work there see their work as fun.

For leadership style, Mr. Hsieh's personal traits are including the following: openness, creativity, open to new ideas, and sociable. For example, in regard to the openness and open to new ideas, Mr. Hsieh is willing to talk with employees, and collect creative ideas from them. He also respects all of the employees who work with him, and considers them as one of the important partners of the company. For example, according to the article, employees know that they were hired not only because they are a great culture fit, but because they have innovative spirits, and a “look outside the box” mentality. By allowing employees to have the power and authority to make decisions, Zappos shows them that not only trust their judgment, also appreciate their contributions to the team and company. Therefore, Mr. Hsieh is a people-oriented leader. He concerns employees' feelings and treats them with respect in his actions or decisions.

This leadership style affects his decision making such as democratic decision making. For example, he encourages employees to participate in decision making processes. Also, productivity and engagement can increase with empowerment, as it allows for a creative and open work environment. Zappos' employees feel great level of trust, and be inspired to do what is best for the overall success of the business.

Furthermore, Mr.Hsieh thinks that employees can enjoy their works and will endeavor to achieve the organizational goals. Mr. Hsieh assumes that employees will act in the best interests in Zappos, thus he allows employees' autonomy and encourages strong employee commitments to achieve particular goals. For instance, some of the call center supervisors even took out the walls between their cubicles to allow for more employee interaction. Mr. Hsieh emphasizes on maintaining a work environment, where employees can be innovative and prosperous within their roles.

In the end, Amazon has agreed to a stock takeover of Zappos in 2009. After these two company acquisition, will Zappos change their unique culture in order to cooperate with Amazon? Or they should insist on their culture or continue it's unique organization culture for next ten years?

Reference:

1. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10293262-93.html

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/fashion/10HSEIH.html?_r=2&pagewanted=3&sq=Zappos%20Tony%20Hsieh&st=cse&scp=1

3. http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/ANowDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=43360

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