Book. One thousand five hundred billion dollars in stock market value, almost undisputed domination in cloud computing, logistics and book sales, and a conglomerate present in both the food trade and the production of television series: In twenty years, Amazon has become one of the most powerful companies in the world.
But Amazon Confidentialthe investigative book by the journalist from Wall Street Journal Dana Mattioli dedicated to the Seattle business, is very far from the success story. Like its subject, which tackles all sectors, the work paints an impressionistic portrait, in small touches, of what makes Amazon unique. On the journalist’s palette, a few light touches – a culture of efficiency, frugality and customer satisfaction – are quickly crushed by large, resolutely dark flat areas.
Aggressive tax optimization and difficult working conditions in warehouses and for drivers: Dana Mattioli returns to Amazon’s questionable but already well-documented practices. His investigation nevertheless stands out for the way in which it highlights Amazon’s aggressiveness, the ease with which the company has, for years, betrayed its partners, mercilessly crushed rivals and implemented a lobbying strategy. bold to protect his empire.
Toxic company culture
Fueled by dozens of examples and confidences from many former executives of the firm, the book details to what extent retaliatory measures were part of Amazon’s arsenal to force third-party sellers on its platform to comply. to all the conditions it lays down. The author also discusses at length how Amazon used sales data to copy products from successful third-party sellers under its own brand. But also how its investment program, Alexa Fund, was used to collect data from start-ups to which it promised a significant investment, before withdrawing and using this information to launch its own services.
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Aggression permitted, if not encouraged, by a toxic corporate culture, believes Mme Mattioli, who compares the operation of Amazon to that of Wells Fargo, the American bank at the heart of a scandal, in 2016, after opening millions of accounts in the name of customers who had not requested anything. The combination of unrealistic objectives, frequent dismissals of employees deemed less efficient and the absence of solid safeguards encouraged all excesses, she writes.
“Even the company’s most senior managers were becoming paranoid about their performance, with some claiming that Bezos viewed all employees as interchangeable and that this attitude had shaped Amazon’s culture. “You always knew, no matter how good you were, that you were only as good as your performance the day before,” Dave Clark told me.twenty-three years spent at Amazon, including several years within the “S-Team”, the close guard of the founder, Jeff Bezos. “This culture encourages patterns of behavior that allow bad actors to gain an advantage by cheating to maintain their position”analysis Mme Mattioli.
In the sights of the competition authorities
An internal culture made, moreover, of a certain arrogance, which sees Jeff Bezos validate tweets attacking American elected officials, to the despair of his public relations team. After choosing to largely ignore regulators, with a minimal lobbying team, Amazon caught up after the election of Donald Trump – who harbors personal enmity tinged with jealousy towards Jeff Bezos. Just in time: Amazon, like the other Gafams, has been in the sights of the competition authorities in the United States for three years.
Rather late procedures – especially compared to those launched by the European Union, covered in the book – and to which Amazon Confidential devotes several chapters accompanied by a reflection on the current weakness of American regulators. This weakness is explained, according to the journalist, by the philosophy that has prevailed over the last forty years within antitrust across the Atlantic, favoring the interest of low prices for the consumer, and which has recently been wavering under the impetus of the lawyer Lina Khan, director of the Federal Trade Commission, very critical of Amazon and herself challenged within the institution.
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Amazon today claims to have changed, and to have erected solid internal barriers to prevent abuse, but asks to be taken at its word, refusing to communicate, even to the American Congress, an internal audit on anti-competitive practices. Amazon Confidential is peppered with responses, often terse, from the company’s press service to M’s questions.me Mattioli. On several occasions, a global and vague denial concludes a chapter providing multiple proofs of questionable behavior.
“Amazon Confidential”, by Dana Mattioli, translated by Aurélien Blanchard and Anna Souillac, Grasset, 528 pages, 25 euros.
