Title: Multi-dimensional nature of innovation at Amazon

Authors: Jesse Arnett; Brion Goldfinch; Ravi Chinta

Addresses: University of Phoenix, 1625 West Fountainhead Parkway, Tempe, Arizona 85282-2371, USA ' University of Phoenix, 1625 West Fountainhead Parkway, Tempe, Arizona 85282-2371, USA ' Department of Business Administration, College of Business, Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, AL 36117, USA

Abstract: The paper presents the evolution of Amazon as a company case study based on the analysis of documentary data and interviews with industry consultants responsible for advising strategic growth plans for large and fast growth firms in technology-intensive industries. Our analysis reveals many distinct and diverse patterns of innovation at Amazon that come under customer-driven innovation (based on unmet needs revealed from customer research), technological innovation (leading to radical process redesigns), business model innovations (stemming from bold new visions about the future), and open innovation (co-innovation partnerships with other firms). While our examples from Amazon provide the empirical basis for the paper, we believe that the patterns of innovation revealed by these specific examples underline broad patterns of innovation models that other firms can emulate. We conclude the paper with implications for future research and practitioners.

Keywords: Amazon; B2C innovation; continuous innovation; open innovation; firm transformation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2018.088461

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2018 Vol.15 No.1, pp.1 - 13

Received: 22 Sep 2015
Accepted: 11 Mar 2016
Published online: 11 Dec 2017 *

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