The Hidden Cost of Convenience

Author:

O'Connor, Sean Patrick

Area of Honors:

Supply Chain and Information Systems

Degree:

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type:

Thesis

Thesis Supervisors:

Robert Alexander Novack, Thesis Supervisor
Susan Bering Purdum, Thesis Supervisor
John C Spychalski, Thesis Honors Advisor

Keywords:

E-Commerce
Supply Chain Management
Sustainability
Instant Delivery
Retail
Warehousing

Abstract:

The research presented here investigates the impact of ever increasing service levels provided by some of the world’s largest e-commerce players on the frontline workers who strive to fulfill them. One recent byproduct of the e-commerce revolution has been the demand for faster and more convenient delivery options when buying online. Thanks to what has been coined the “Amazon effect”, e-commerce retailers large and small feel the pressure to preform to the standards set by Amazon’s innovation. In the race to provide consumers with the best possible service, it is almost always the workers who face the harshest burdens in an effort to fill unrealistic quotas and meet exorbitant demand. Whether it’s the pickers and stowers overexerting themselves in the distribution centers or the delivery drivers recklessly breaking speed limits, the pressure of operating an “instant” or “on-demand” delivery network can have severe repercussions both in terms of physical and mental wellbeing. The following pages document only a sliver of the effects of employment in and instant-delivery environment but overall serves to paint a comprehensive picture of the nature of the work. The second part of the paper analyzes the issues discovered in the course of research and presents a number of potential solutions to those issues. A range of solutions are presented that attempt to increase worker wellbeing while providing minimal costs in either monetary or efficiency terms. In a world where consumers profess to care about and make buying decisions based on a business’s sustainability record, it’s only a matter of time before knowledge of working conditions in instant-delivery environments begins to impact profitability. It will be up to consumers and businesses then to decide whether efficiency is worth the cost of worker wellbeing and vice versa.