Abstract

The case ‘Kara Hurst: Can She Steer Amazon Toward its Sustainability Goals?” is about the sustainable initiatives undertaken at Amazon under the leadership of Kara Hurst (Hurst) (She). Amazon had always been perceived as a laggard in sustainability and had persistently distanced itself from sustainability compliance, which most of the top corporates in the US followed. After she joined Amazon as the Vice President for Sustainability in 2014, Hurst and her team carried out several sustainable initiatives and Amazon published its first sustainability report in 2018. Subsequently Amazon had brought out its sustainability report every year till 2022. The case discusses Hurst’s background and the challenges she faced in implementing her sustainability initiatives at Amazon. The sustainability initiatives at Amazon are described in the case along with the collaborative leadership guidance that Hurst provided. The case also discusses the impact of the sustainability initiatives along with the use of AI to achieve Amazon’s sustainability goals. In the future, Hurst planned to continue her efforts in the areas of sustainable transportation, recycling, sustainable products, electric vehicles, and circular economy to drive the organization’s goal of achieving net-zero emission by 2040.Can Hurst and her team drive Amazon toward net-zero emission standards by 2040?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Examine the role of women leaders in promoting sustainability
• Evaluate the significance of collaborative leadership

Keywords

Collaborative Leadership; Women in Leadership; Sustainability