Alfred & Amazon: When Structure Becomes Strategy

How Jassy’s Segment Model Channels Sloan’s Revolution in Organized Scale

In my flagship analysis, “The Optimization Company: Amazon’s Algorithmic Reckoning,” I broke down Amazon’s recent financial performance and strategic transformation, operating margins quintupling from 2.4% to 11.5%, free cash flow compressing 60% as capex surges, and a deliberate workforce reduction strategy targeting 600,000+ avoided hires by 2033. That article examined Amazon’s earnings and economics in depth. This paid subscriber exclusive takes you deeper into the organizational architecture, enabling transformation at this scale. Andy Jassy isn’t just copying Jeff Bezos, he’s executing Alfred Sloan’s century-old playbook for “coordinated decentralization” that made GM the world’s largest corporation. For operators building or analyzing complex enterprises, understanding how structure itself becomes a competitive advantage is critical. This piece shows you exactly how Amazon’s segment model mirrors, and modernizes, Sloan’s revolution.

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