Introduction
Amazon is an American company that sells numerous products and services, primarily through the World Wide Web. The company offers millions of merchandise for sale through its online and physical stores. These products are offered both by the company and third-party sellers. Amazon also manufactures and sells numerous electronic devices including Fire TVs and tablets. In addition, the company offers services such as publishing, storage, advertising, and co-branded credit cards. Amazon has also recently acquired Whole Foods Market Inc. (Amazon 2018 Annual Report 3).

Effective leadership is necessary for business success in today’s highly competitive business environment (Mkheimer 1). Amazon has maintained a high performance ever since it was formed. For instance, the company had a net sales of $88,988 million in 2014, $107,006 million in 2015, $135,987 million in 2016, $177,866 million in 2017, and $232,887 million in 2018 (Amazon 2018 Annual Report 11). This strong performance shows that the company has very effective leadership. The founder and CEO of the company is Jeffrey Bezos. The research question for this study is “What aspects of Jeff Bezo’s leadership made Amazon a success?” The answer to the question is important as it will reveal what leadership elements are effective in creating and growing a successful global business. Amazon is well-known all over the world and is used by consumers from different countries. Business students and professionals who are interested in successful business management in today’s business environment can benefit greatly from learning about Jeff Bezo’s leadership style.

Methodology
Methodology Part 1: Sources
Primary research refers to research in which information (data) is gathered directly from original sources. This type of research provides information that is specific to the subject or issue being studied. The limitation to primary research is that it can be expensive and it can also be subject to researcher bias due to subjectivity (Devault). For the purposes of this study, primary data will be collected from the company’s website www.amazon.com. Secondary research refers to the use of data that is already available for research. Secondary research is easy to conduct and can be free or low-cost. However, data collected from unreliable sources and using poor methods can be inaccurate and misleading. Another drawback to using secondary data is that it may not exactly be specific to the issue being investigated or it may be missing some variable that the researcher is interested in (Devault).

In order for a secondary research to be of high quality, secondary data has to be collected from credible and high-quality sources who, in turn, used valid methodologies. For this study, the sources of secondary data are Amazon’s annual reports, magazine articles, business textbooks, and journal articles. Since the secondary data do not answer the research question directly, the research will link Jeff Bezo’s leadership aspects to Amazon’s success through looking at its effects on factors that promote high performance and organizational success.

Methodology Part 2: Tools
The tool to be used in this study is Quinn’s Model of Leadership which is based on the competing values framework. The competing values framework identifies four criteria that predict effective organizational performance namely internal maintenance, flexibility, stability, and external positioning. The leadership model then identifies the leadership attributes that promote these respective success factors (Lindquist & Marcy 5). The model is, therefore, appropriate for the proposed study as it will enable a detailed examination of the leadership styles or approaches adopted by Jeff Bezo’s leadership and how the leadership style impacts on the factor’s that promote the success of Amazon.