Assignment Preparation: 1. Read Module 4 - SWOT Analysis in your textbook. 2. Read and respond to this week's discussion. The discussion responses may guide you in understanding the factors in t

Assignment Preparation:

1.    Read Module 4 - SWOT Analysis in your textbook.

2.    Read and respond to this week's discussion. The discussion responses may guide you in understanding the factors in the internal and external environment, which will help you complete this assignment. 

3.    View Amazon’s India site: https://www.amazon.in (Links to an external site.)

4.    Read the case below.

Amazon Expands in India Using Hindi Language (Links to an external site.)

Amazon recently hit the one trillion dollar mark in valuation – quite an accomplishment and it puts the company in rarified air. The path to the valuation has not been easy, or fast. Expansion into different services and countries were essential.

Amazon now operates in more than a dozen different countries, including India. India presents a very specific challenge to all of the companies that are operating within its borders; roughly only 10 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion citizens understand English. In effect, this limits the access to online shopping to a majority of the Indian people.

Amazon aims to fix this situation in India. It recently stated that it will make mobile websites and apps available in Hindi – India’s most popular language. Similar to how U.S. citizens can select Spanish as their language of choice, users of the India app will be able to choose Hindi as their preferred language. Although Amazon is the second largest player in India’s multi-billion dollar e-commerce market, the English language is not sufficient to reach the country’s customers.

The task is a difficult one. Using a translation algorithm was insufficient and a far cry from the language and cultural translations that are needed to gain customers’ trust. Only 40% of Indian customers use ecommerce, and of those, roughly one-third only make a single purchase. Amazon also has 14,000 retail locations across India as part of its Amazon Easy program; this allows a local shopkeeper to help customers place orders, receive packages, and deliver them.

The push to Indian languages will be key to gaining new Internet users over the next few years. Research studies forecast that by 2021, 536 million Indians will use their native languages to access the Internet.

Assignment Directions:

You will answer the following questions in an APA or MLA formatted Microsoft Word document.

Responses should be written in full sentences and paragraph headings should be incorporated to clearly identify which assignment question you are responding to. A template is provided to help guide you.

The paper should be double-spaced, at least two full pages, and will be submitted to Unicheck to check for plagiarism. Make sure to respond to the assignment questions in your own words and include quotation marks and in-text citations for any quoted or referenced information.  

Assignment Questions:

1.    Share your experiences with Amazon. What works well, doesn’t work the way you would like it to, etc.?

2.    What do you think are some of the challenges and barriers Amazon faces as it expands into India?

3.    Develop a SWOT analysis for Amazon in India (each SWOT element should be thoroughly explained in separate paragraphs). Make sure to refer to your textbook for an explanation on SWOT analyses and remember, strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization, whereas opportunities and threats are external to the organization (external environment). 

4.    What are the major issues and risks for Amazon?