The company that began as a loss-making book e-tailer near the dawn of the Internet has become an only slightly profitable behemoth with its tentacles in everything from smartphones to movie production and most recently, travel, with the upcoming launch of its travel site for which it plans to offer hotel deals in and around major cities. And that doesn’t even count the separate passel of ventures by Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.
But has Amazon spread its considerable resources and ambitions too far? Investors long have decried its unslakable drive to diversify as a main reason the company’s profit margins have remained thin at best. And there are some new bits of evidence, too, that Amazon has overreached, such as the awful marketplace reception for the Fire smartphone that it introduced last summer.
Amazon, of course, has come a long way from its origins as the bane of bricks-and-mortar booksellers. Not too far into its history, Amazon diversified into becoming a huge online store for all kinds of entertainment products, and then for all sorts of general merchandise. Now there are few shopping searches that would be complete without a review of Amazon.
But over the last several years, fueled in part by rivalry with Google and fellow tech titan Apple, Amazon had diversified widely into just about every adjacent business it could come up with. The company has poured cash into new brands of hardware such as Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets, has introduced Fire TV for watching digitally delivered shows and movies and has created “Echo” as its answer to Apple’s Siri virtual assistant.
Amazon also gave the impression of being an imperialistic juggernaut by hassling with Hachette over writers’ fees for e-books and by taking Meanwhile, Bezos has added to the uber aura around Amazon by personally buying—and planning to reinvent—the Washington Post and with other eclectic ventures that also includes a company that’s participating in the private race into space.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
