Strategic Planning Paper

Strategic Initiative Paper {text:bookmark-start} University of Phoenix {text:bookmark-end} FIN370 Rick Schutz, Instructor October 12, 2009 Strategic Initiative Paper Strategic Planning and Initiative The following is an excerpt from Amazon 's Frustration-Free Packaging Program Expands with Dozens of New Toys from Top Brands: “Packaging frustration is real – we hear about it from customers all the time,” said Sarah Wood, director of the Amazon.com Toys & Games Store. “Birthday parties and holidays should be as stress-free as possible for parents. Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging helps by eliminating issues some parents have with freeing toys from clamshells, wire ties and other packaging components. The Amazon Frustration-Free versions are ready to play right out of the box, which is a great thing for parents and kids.” At the present time, Amazon Frustration-free packaging consists of a selected range of toys and consumer electronics products. Amazon’s vision is eventually to offer the full catalog of products in Frustration-free packaging. Impact on Financial Planning “Amazon has declared FFP to be a multi-year project, but the current list basically boils down to 8 kinds of toys, 7 of the same Microsoft mouse in different colors, and 3 SDHC memory cards (Wise Bread, 2009).” Because the inception of the initiative in 2008, there has been plenty of positive feedback Amazon.com has received regarding the frustration-free packaging. So for future financial planning, they could only hope that with rising popularity that more manufactures will also be willing to offer the same packaging. This is a “win win” situation; the manufacturer saves on packaging material whereas Amazon.com offers an expedited service. Impact on Cost Amazon.com’s frustration-free packaging saves on cost because most products that are frustration free can be shipped in its original packaging without having to be re-boxed. Consumers will benefit from

References: Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging FAQs. Retrieved on October 10, 2009 from http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200285450 Amazon 's Frustration-Free Packaging Program Expands with Dozens of New Toys from Top Brands. Retrieved on October 10, 2009 from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Amazons-FrustrationFree-bw-2914369236.html?x=0&.v=1 In-Text Citation MSN Money. (2009). Amazon’s Frustration-Free Packaging Program Expands with Dozens of New Toys from Top Brands. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=BW&Date=20091001&ID=10440342&Symbol=AMZN StreetInsider. (2009). Amazon 's Frustration-Free Packaging Program Expands with Dozens of New Toys from Top Brands. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.streetinsider.com/Special+Reports/Amazon&apos%3Bs+Frustration-Free+Packaging+Program+Expands+with+Dozens+of+New+Toys+from+Top+Brands/4983996.html The history of amazoncom. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.essortment.com/hobbies/historyamazonc_ttas.htm Wise Bread. (2009). Does Amazon.com 's "Frustration-Free Packaging" live up to its name? Retrieved October 11, 2009, from http://www.wisebread.com/does-amazoncoms-frustration-free-packaging-live-up-to-its-name