Leadership Style of Larry Page of Google - Research Paper Example

 Leadership Style of Larry Page of Google Background of Mr. Larry Page Larry Page, the present CEO of Google Inc., was born on 26th March, 1973 in Michigan. Page received the degree of Bachelor of Science in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and went on to earn the degree in Master in computer science from Stanford University. Along with his friend, Sergey Brin, Page started Google in 1998 in a garage, which went on to become the top most search engine in the world. With the proficient knowledge and broad intelligence, he was able to invent page rank, an extremely proficient search engine algorithm which returns highly accurate and relevant search engine results to the users. This also happens to be the biggest reason for the success of the company. Apart from the extreme intelligence and technical expertise, Page is also well known for innovative and transformational leadership which has played a key role in developing strong and yet somewhat informal organizational culture in Google. According to an article in New York Post in 2011, due to the vision of Page, today Google has become a synonym of the number one ideal. Also, according to a survey conducted by Forbes Magazine, the company was recognized as the most attractive employer, and presently it employs 30,000 people in various offices across the world. Leadership Style of Larry Page with respect to the Organizational Culture of Google Even before discussing the leadership style of Larry Page with respect to the organizational culture of Google, it is important to understand different types of leaderships. Usually leadership styles are analyzed on the basis of two parameters, namely goal orientation and behavioral orientation. Based on these two parameters, there are four types of leadership styles such as autocratic, participative, country club and impoverished leadership (Buelens, Sinding, Waldstrom, Krietner, & Kinicki, 2011). In case of autocratic leadership, there is a high amount of value for goal but a low level of value for the behavior of people. Such leaders are goal oriented, but there is very little care for employee satisfaction. In case of impoverished leadership, there is low goal and behavior orientation. Such leaders show a very low level of commitment towards the employees and the organizational objective. In case of country club leadership, there is low goal orientation but a high level of behavior orientation. Here the leaders show a high level of care towards the employees and ask the employees to maintain discipline and encourage them to accomplish goals rather than actively participating in the accomplishment of goals. The last but not the least, there also exists participative or team leadership. In case of team leadership, the leaders show a high level of care for the employees. But the leaders also expect full commitment on the part of the management and team towards the organizational goal achievement. Also, the leaders actively participate in the goal accomplishment activities and believe in leading by example (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010). Based on the above discussion, it can be easily understood that the leadership style followed by Google and Page is team or participative leadership. Google has a relatively informal organizational structure and it encourages the employees and managers to take their own initiatives. In such a way the leadership team of Google including Page encourages team participation and a self-driven attitude where the employees can take major decisions without consulting the seniors. Such leadership style coupled with relatively informal organizational culture has probably helped Google to reach the pinnacle of success. However, it is to be added here that as an organizational objective, Google shows respect and care for the employees and their personal lives. Apart from healthy payouts, Google also provides various top class facilities and monetary and non-monetary incentives to the employees. In this way Page and the management team are able to build an organizational culture that has attracted various people round the world to be a part of Google. Page follows the team or participative leadership model by which Google has been able to become the most attractive employer in the world. Personal and Organizational Values of Larry Page Personal, cultural or social values tend to have a direct influence on the outcomes and future courses of actions. It is needless to mention that for a person who has played an instrumental role in the success of a company. However, among several of those values, two sets of values that stand out the most would be the refreshing and unselfish outlook. Such outlook has helped in creating a positive and inviting atmosphere in the company. One certain example may help in defining a hint as to what Page values the most. According to a post in Daily Beast, Page once took the risk of hiring almost 2,000 new employees and provided a ten percent salary hike to the existing ones just to ensure employee satisfaction and high morale. On the other hand, the reason for new hiring was to ensure that the customers get full value for money. This just shows the level of respect and belief that Page has for the employees. Such love for and belief in the employees is often reflected through the organizational values of Google. Such organizational values of Google can be well described through Douglas Mc-gregor’s theory X and theory Y. Theory X advocated that employees need to be constantly threatened and monitored as employees do not like responsibility. Theory Y, on the other hand, says that employees are self-motivated, and when the chance comes the employees would exhibit self-responsibility and a self-driven attitude. It has been mentioned before that Google puts great emphasis on team work and encourages the employees to be self-driven, innovative and responsible. This coincides with the level of trust and importance showed by Page for the employees from the actions mentioned above. Hence it can be concluded that the personal values of Page is well in alignment with the organizational values of Google and are often reflected through the overall organizational culture of the company (Maylor & Blackmon, 2005). Values of Larry Page Influencing Ethical Behavior Within the Organization While describing the influence of Page on the ethical practices of the organization, a combination of a few things needs to be discussed. It has already been discussed that Page shows a great degree of respect for and belief in the employees. Just as the employees, Page cares for the customers and that is why Page encourages the employees to focus on providing the best possible solution to the customers rather than focusing on number crunching. Also, from an ethical point of view, Page has been able to be respectable by keeping away from display of flashy ads or spam pop-ups, which could be irritating to the users. The ethical terms of Page also reflect in the organizational culture as Google has adopted an informal corporate slogan which says “Don’t be evil,” which emphasizes the fact that life is more than money and hence one should be doing good and doing well (Mullins, 2010). Strengths and Weaknesses of Larry Page The three greatest strengths of Page would definitely be respect for the employees and customers, honesty, and intellectuality. As it has been discussed before, Page has a great sense of respect for the users. Instead of indulging in number crunching, Page believes in providing quality services to the customers as he has often been found to say that one should think about the users, and everything else would then fall in place. Also, in the previous section of the study, it has already been discussed that Page puts a great amount of trust in and respect for the employees. Also, his ability to come up with an algorithm such as page rank to improve customer experience shows the high level of intellect of Page. And another major strength of Page is his honesty; even his fiercest critics have admired his honesty. It would be quite difficult to find out three weaknesses of Page. But one of them could be his introvert nature. It has been discussed on various occasions that Page does not often interact with the employees and due to this, many feel that he is rude. Page did not have a social media page either, which reemphasized the introvert nature; very recently, though, he has become a member of Google Plus. Quality That Contributed Most to the Success of Larry Page The quality that most definitely played a major role in the success of Page would be the ability to think as a user, as he often says that think like a user and everything else would fall in part. Such abilities coupled with a high level of intellectual knowledge in the domain of computer science helped Page to invent page rank to provide relevant and user friendly search results to people. Organizational Communication, Collaboration, and Politics Organizational communication is the way people within an organization communicate with one another. Organizational politics, on the other hand, is the use of power in an organization for the chase of self-interest and agendas without regard for the achievement of the organizational objective. In Google, there is no formal communication structure as communication can flow through various media. This is in alignment with the flat organizational structure of the company. Also, the company focuses on creating small groups to ensure that there is healthy competitiveness among the employees. However, suchsimple and yet unique organizational dynamics ensures that there is no conflict of interest among the employees, leading to harmonious organizational environment (Boxall & Purcell, 2007). References Boxall, P., & Purcell, J. (2007). Strategy and human resource management (2nd ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Buchanan, D., & Huczynski, A. (2010). Organizational behavior. Harlow: Pearson. Buelens, M., Sinding, K., Waldstrom, C., Krietner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2011). Organizational behavior. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. Maylor, H., & Blackmon, K. (2005). Researching in business and management. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Mullins, L. J. (2010). Management and organizational behavior (9th ed.). Harlow: Pearson. Read More