Employees Motivation and Empowerment - Essay Example

? Employees Motivation and Empowerment By: Nouf Altowairgi Alfaisal Dr. Nicholas Stephen Forster Managing Human Behavior in Multicultural Environment Abstract The primary purpose of this discussion is to highlight the importance and usefulness of employee motivation and empowerment in the success and development of an organization. It needs to be understood that motivation and empowerment are often considered as two of the most important aspects of leadership. At the same time motivation has different facets that need to be analyzed for a better understanding over this concept. In the discussion, the role of motivation and empowerment, as important aspects of leadership has been underpinned in an illustrative and logical manner. The first part of the discussion highlights wide arrays of theories on motivation and empowerment along with understanding its positive and negative implications in the competitive business environment. It needs to be understood that every organization has different ways of empowering and motivating its employees based on organizational goals and objectives and understanding over the internal and external environment. The discussion encompasses these elements while defining the use, importance and relevance of the motivation and empowerment. The second part of the discussion highlights the motivation and empowerment practices prevailing in Google along with relating the discussed theories in the first part with the operational framework of Google. This has been done to understand the overall worthiness of these theories in one of the highly admired and desired organizations across the world. The second part of the discussion also relates the prevailing motivation and empowerment practices of Google with other organizations in order to analyze the global acceptance and appeal of these practices and theories in the global business environment. This will also help in understanding the overall importance of key concepts of employees motivation and empowerment. Employee’s Motivation “Academic theories about employee motivation, empowerment and performance are just that -theories. They are of little practical use to business leaders or their companies”. This sentence can be considered as quite true and practical in the context of the current business environment as leadership is intangible in nature with no clear definition. It is a quality that reflects in the behavior and attitude of leaders along with affecting the behavior and attitude of others within the organization (Adams, 1997 p- 287). Moreover, this statement requires proper understanding and analysis to identify whether these are only theories or have some practical implication within the organization. It is important to assess whether organizations mould their culture and behavior as per the written theories or identify new ways by understanding their sources and resources. For this purpose, wide arrays of theories on motivation has been studied and analyzed. Motivation is one of the highly complex topics in the management studies with a number of theories defining the actual purpose and importance of motivation. These theories can be considered as of great importance for managers and leaders to identify ways of improving employee’s commitment level and performance at work. Motivation can be defined as the influences and processes that either increases or decreases an individual’s desire to achieve personal and organizational goals in the short as well as in the long run. On the other hand, performance can be defined as fulfillment of tasks and responsibilities in a desired manner affecting the operational framework of an organization. It can be assumed that there is a close relationship between motivation and performance. If the motivational processes and influences help in increasing an individual’s desire to achieve mutual goals, it will positively affect his performance by extracting the best out of him in any kind of situations. Empowerment can be considered as one key concept prevailing in a number of organizations across the world. Empowerment is often defined as giving power to followers along with enhancing and developing their existing and potential skills. This often helps in developing desired skills required to accomplish future goals and roles. There is a close relationship between empowerment and motivation as individuals can only be empowered if they are motivated. It is a two way process of mutual influence and causation that offers mutual benefits. Thus, it can be said that motivation and empowerment are often needed to enhance the overall performance of an individual that also enhances the organizational performance in the competitive business environment. Motivation is required to sustain for a long period of time in the complex business environment. It is important from an organization’s point of view to develop and increase the level of motivation in order to enhance the performance and productivity of its employees. This also helps in gaining competitive advantages and core competencies that positively affect the financial and operational framework of an organization. A motivated employee often gives his best when the motivation level is at high while an employee suffering from low level of motivation tends to be unhappy and underperforming that affects his and organization’s performance in the short and the long run. It becomes important to create a motivated work force through injecting motivation in the organizational culture. De-motivated employees are always indecisive, laid back and conflict prone while motivated employees bring positivity, new ideas and beliefs along with adding value to the organizational culture in an exemplary manner. It is important to understand the need of followers by developing effective leadership styles enhancing the overall motivation and performance level of employees within the organization (Kaplan, Norton, 2000 p-92-94) There is a great difference between the motivators and personal motivations. Motivators tend to think that what motivate them will also motivate others and create a sense of mental blockage that does not offer desired level of motivation to people. It is important to identify what exactly motivates people and what will help in enhancing their performance. This can be assessed by analyzing the personality, behavior and attitude of employees along with understanding and identifying their needs and wants that often push them to excel in the personally and professionally. The next part of the discussion showcases a number of motivation theories and its practical implications in the personal and professional environment. Motivation and Empowerment Theories Number of motivation theories has been developed in the past as well as in the present. However, this discussion encompasses present theory having serious relationship with the present business environment. Content Theories Content theories offer good amount of insight over what people want and what they do not want in terms of motivation. Kaplan (1997, p-43-55) stated that one of the best known and highly appreciated theories based on understanding and analyzing the needs and wants of people is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. Maslow suggested that motivation is the product of human beings striving to satisfy their intrinsic and extrinsic needs and demands in a sequence. These needs include, physiological needs (food, water, shelter and sex), Safety needs (safety from threats present in the environment), Social needs (love, affection, care and social interaction), Esteem needs (attention, recognition, self respect and acknowledgment) and self actualization (self expression, self growth, self fulfillment and self realization). Maslow argued that all human beings are motivated by the desire of fulfilling these needs and demands. The practical implication of content theory can be seen in Siemens where learners are advised to shift away from the theoretical approach by switching to learner centered education. Knowledge is distributed across information networks that is later stored in digital forms. Moreover, individuals are offered a free approach to learn and discover new things based on their ideas and information (Siemens, 2008). Alderfer also proposed the same theory in a different way by dividing five levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory into three levels. The ERG theory proposed by him states that existence can be linked to physiological and safety needs, relatedness can be linked to social needs and esteem needs while growth can be linked to the self actualization. He also stated that human beings look to satisfy the lower level of needs first in order to fulfill higher level of needs and demands. Once the lower level of needs and demands are fulfilled; they become insignificant and less important and focus rises on to the next level. This continues until there is a feeling of self actualization. The third theory in context to motivation and empowerment is proposed by Herzberg; known as Herzberg’s Two Factor theory. He presented a simple relationship between the motivators and hygiene. He suggested that if hygiene factors like good pay, good working condition, good supervision, job security and good relationship with everyone in the organization are not in place; this will lead to high level of dissatisfaction that negatively affects the performance and motivation level of employees. On the other hand, good motivators like achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement and increased competence will positively affect the performance and motivation level (Herzberg, 1057, p 23-45). Thus, it is important to identify the correct motivators in order to motivate and enhance the performance of employees rather than developing programs based on past ideas and references. The fourth content theory is McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory focusing on three human needs. These needs are; the need for achievement, the need for power and the need for affiliation (Ratzburg (2006). This can be related to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation tools as employees who are satisfied with their job, working environment and people around them will be more motivated based on intrinsic motivation and there will be little dependency on extrinsic rewards and motivation. Practical Implication of Content Theories The practical applicability of these theories has certain limitations based on the similarity and time period when they were introduced. All these theories assume that human beings have similar needs and demands that cannot be accepted in the competitive business and social environment. The change in the demographic, cultural and economic trends clearly states that people have different needs and demands based on changing nature of the society in the present as well as in the future. More or less, these theories are based on individual needs and demands and motivations often ignoring factors like organizational culture, climate, reward system and leadership style that may affect the motivation level of employees. Companies such as Siemens and IBM uses open innovation projects which integrate innovators to participate as volunteers without expecting monetary rewards (Schattke (2011). This is basically a need of affiliation that is driven by the need of achievement. Organizations across the world have been trying hard to create a sustainable organizational culture and climate that helps extracting the best out of employees. However, these theories fail to answer one basic question; whether a satisfied employee is more motivated than a dissatisfied employee. This question has strong relevance to the concept of motivation and empowerment and needs to be assessed and analyzed well for a better understanding over the subject matter. It is important to understand that how employees interact with their working environment as this helps in analyzing their motivation level (Robbins et al. 2001). Content theories have two major practical implications. The first one is to develop and design jobs as challenging as possible to enhance the skills and attitude of employees on a continuous basis while the other one states that empowerment comes from the freedom offered to employees. This enhances the overall motivation and satisfaction level of employees along with adding value to the existing organizational framework in a desired manner. It is important to assess other theories also for a better understanding over the subject matter. Process Theories Process theories define motivation from a different perspective by understanding how the conscience level and decisions of individuals affect their motivation levels. These theories also encompass factors like equity and reward systems. These theories also include Expectancy, Equity, Reinforcement and Attributions that will help in understanding the concept of motivation at a broader level. General Expectancy Theory General expectancy theory is based on analyzing expectations that lead to desired outcomes influencing the motivation levels. It includes effort performance expectancy that states that efforts will pay off in the form of performance, Performance outcome expectancy that states effort expended on task will create desired outcomes, instrumentality that states there is a meaningful relationship between efforts expended on a task and outcomes related with it and valence stating value courses of actions have high probability of achieving desired outcomes in the present as well as in the future. As per this theory, it can be assumed that if expectations are matched by anticipated desires and outcomes then motivation level is bound to increase. It needs to be understood that while recruiting a particular candidate, organizations often checks his desired and anticipated outcomes in order to identify their motivation level. A satisfied employee is less likely to leave his employer as he is motivated enough to perform well in the offered organizational culture and climate. It is also important to recruit people giving correct and logical expectation level about the job and organization as any sort of mismatch can create a problem for the employee and organization. Many organizations have different styles of recruiting and identifying people’s expectations. One of these organizations is Southwest Airlines often known as one of the most profitable airline organizations in its time. Google recruits people having desired knowledge and understanding of the business environment. Most importantly, the organization recruits people who can relate with the existing organizational culture and expectancy of the management. This helps in creating teams sharing similar ideas and thoughts that are often not resisted. This also creates mutual benefits and value making the organization to grow and develop in the in the long run. This also shows how important is recruitment and selection in terms of achieving organisation’s goals and objectives. Recruitment and selection adds value if done in the right manner as per the needs and objectives of the organisation. Employees expect a lot from the organisation in terms of value, benefits and advantages and it is important to state the same in a descriptive manner in order to make them informed on the organisation’s expectations along with understanding their expectations. If expectations meet mutually, it can be assumed that mutual benefits and value can be created. This clearly shows that organizations willing to analyze the expectance of potential employees often select the best willing to fit themselves into the organizational culture. This is often reflected by their mindset, beliefs, attitude and behavior. Organizations like Genentech, Procter and Gamble and Goldman Sachs have more than 20-40 interview rounds just to check the expectancy and desire of people to adapt themselves in a culture that may challenge them in the present as well as in the future. Practical Implication of the General Expectation Theory Education and development plays an important role in analyzing the expectations and desires of people. People with great skills will always enhance their skills that in turn will enhance their expectations that any effort put in by them will not be wasted. They also generate high level of self efficacy and self confidence to achieve higher performance goals and desires. Another practical implication of the general expectancy theory is the use of performance appraisal that serves as an incentive in enhancing the performance of employees in any kind of environment. Perform appraisal offers the belief that appropriate efforts will be matched by desired outcomes and rewards in the present as well as in the future. When an organization offers desired value, it becomes a role model for others and people want to get associated with it. These organizations become a part of peoples’ lives based on understanding, motivating and valuing them for a long period of time along with winning and earning their trust and loyalty to create a competitive environment based on achieving competitive advantages. Goal Setting Theory Goal setting is considered as one of the highly reliable motivation theories in the personal and professional environments. Goal setting theory states that it is important to set present and future goals along with identifying ways to accomplish them. This not only increases the self confidence but also minimizes the level of anxiety. People tend to achieve their goals when clearly stated and interacted along with aiming for higher goals and levels of achievements in the long run. It is a very simple, powerful and attractive tool for leaders and managers in order to extract the best out of employees along with motivating and directing them in the right direction. It needs to be understood that goals can be of any kind but what matters is the expected and desired outcomes in the form of positive results. It is important to state the objectives of the organization in a clear manner along with communicating short and long term goals with employees. This offers them an idea and systematically strategies and skills are employed to achieve the proposed and expected goals (Locke, Edwin A, 2001 p-43-54) However, it needs to be understood that simply setting goals will not offer desired benefits and outcomes, it is important to identify the feasibility and acceptance of the proposed goals through effective communication. Practical Implication of the Goal Setting Theory Goal setting theory should be specific, measurable, agreeable and manageable. Goals should be realistic but challenging along with a time limit. This helps in understanding the worth and importance of goals. In Google, goals are evaluated and assessed at regular period of time in order to identify the loopholes, resistance and distractions. This not only enhances the overall chances of achieving the goals but also creates a systematic approach that often adds value. Organizations like P&G, Southwest Airlines and HP also use the same approach and are highly successful. Equity Theory Equity theory states that motivation is the outcome of the equity and should be favored in every practice. Individuals often perceive and compare between the efforts put in by them and others along with rewards received by them for their efforts and rewards received by their co-workers for their efforts. A lack of perceived equity in efforts expended and rewards received for them can reduce the level of motivation. This also states that equity should prevail in every effort expended and should be practiced in every approach to create a positive environment within and outside the organization. Practical Implication of the Equity Theory The most important practical implication of the equity theory is to pay every individual equally for the efforts put in by them rather than practicing discrimination. The above-average performance should be appreciated and rewarded as this often motivates individuals for performing well compared to others. Though gender equality is considered as the right business approach’ empowering individuals as per the talent and potential but there are individuals especially females encountering discrimination at work. In 1995, the US Glass Ceiling Commission (1995) said that 95% of the senior level managers of the top fortune 500 and 1000 companies are men. The US unit of Japanese Car maker Mitsubishi was accused of sexual harassment of female workers at the company’s plant (Popham (2006). This states that equity theory is still considered as a theory with little practical implications in the business environment. Financial and Non Financial Rewards Theory Financial rewards are often considered as a tool to motivate employees and appreciate their contribution. Money is not only a powerful motivator for employees but it is also a great motivator in life. People with high incomes tend to be highly motivated for put in an extra effort. The highly paid CEOs are often highly motivated with an urge to motivate their co-workers. Financial rewards can be in the form of money or shares. On the other hand non-financial rewards are in the form of health and wellness programs, clothing allowances, travelling allowances and shopping allowances. All these non-financial rewards motivate employees in a manner that is closest to the financial rewards. However, in terms of practical implications, financial and non-financial rewards should be based on equity theory and performance in order to create equal level of motivation amongst the employees. Google’s financial rewards can be considered as the best in the business based on competitive compensation comprising the salary, yearly bonuses and equity grant. Employees also make money through employee referral program along with getting employee discounts that put additional cash in the pocket (Google.com) Motivation Theories and Google Practices Google is an American multinational organization incorporated in 1998. It was cofounded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google.Com). Google’s rapid progress can be credited to a number products and services launched by the organization with Google search engine topping the list followed by its social networking website Orkut, Google Ads and other applications with the recent one catching the limelight; Android. The market capitalization of Google is quite large with more than $180 billion in 2010. With this speed and robust growth and movement in share prices, Google may leapfrog the likes of Apple and Microsoft in coming years. With share trading between the price of $600- $700, it can be considered as a great move for the organization. The success of Google is largely credited to its organizational culture and climate offering great value to the employees and organization. Google often hands rewards to its employees in the form of company’s shares in order to motivate and retain them for a long period of time. “The Founders” award is designed to give extraordinary rewards for extraordinary personal and team accomplishments. This practice comes under the famous financial rewards theory where employees are rewarded for the expended efforts enhancing their motivation and performance level. Google does special things for special teams at the right time that acts as a motivation enhancing the short and long term performances of teams. Google practices participative leadership style that can be assessed from the outlook and reputation of the organization. Employees are often asked to participate in the discussion in order to come up with new ideas. This can be considered as a source of motivation empowering ideas based on knowledge along with practicing equity of ideas and participation in the business environment. The human resource policy is based on designing new programs to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of employees based on compassionate understanding. Much credit goes to the CEO, Eric Schmidt along with his team to introduce an exemplary culture. Moreover, Google believes in perceiving its employees equal by treating them in a similar manner. There is no discrimination on the basis of preference and liking. This has created a positive organizational environment based on the equity theory. When employees perceive themselves equal, they tend to enjoy their work by being highly motivated and this can be assessed by analyzing their commitment and performance level. Google has turn things upside down where superiors are envying their subordinates. This can be considered as an ideal situation where performance is measured as per the positive outcomes and results. There is always a transparency and clarity in the operational framework that enhances the commitment and performance level in an exemplary manner. In contrast to other company’s bonus strategies based on paying in cash, Google used to offer non financial rewards in the form of paid holidays that not only motivated employees but also rejuvenated them to accomplish present and future tasks (Google.com). Google always recruit people having profound knowledge of information technology so that they can understand the needs and demands of the organization. This approach is based on the general expectancy theory where employees with desired background are always culturally suitable to be recruited. Goggle also offers free meals, free doctor visits and free recreational activities like free access to the gym and games. It can be assumed that Google has understood the basic framework of Maslow’s Hierarchy Needs Theory where physiological, safety, social and esteemed needs along with the self actualization is assessed well to create desired level of motivation (Google.com). The basic needs of employees are fulfilled through the recruitment while safety needs are fulfilled by the money offered by the organization. Social needs are fulfilled by creating a social environment while esteem needs are fulfilled by appreciating the performances and contributions through financial and non-financial rewards. It can be assumed that the organization has incorporated all the discussed motivation theories in its operational framework and this can be assessed by analyzing the success of employees and organization in the recent run. Empowering Employees Empowerment can be defined as increase in the strengths of individuals through wide arrays of initiatives like compassionate behaviour, motivation and different kinds of rewards. Employee motivation can be considered as one of the most important practices in the business environment that often enhances the overall contribution of employees along with enhancing organisation’s worth and prospects in the competitive business environment. Workplace empowerment can be defined as providing opportunities to employees to take their decisions along with offering freedom of speech and expression. Employee empowerment is considered as one of the highly useful tools in enhancing mutual prospects of growth and development in a compassionate manner. Workplace empowerment is all about building a democratic organisation through sharing of power between the superiors and subordinates. It is all about cascading power to lower level of employees in order to hone their skills and abilities. Organisations often allow employees to tackle a complicated situation using their own ideas and perspective rather than imposing ideas on them. This strategy often extracts the best out of the employees along with making them realise about their attributes, potentials and skills. It is important to develop skills in employees through delegation of authority, accountability and responsibility in order to empower their ideas in the short as well as in the long run. However, the problem with traditional organisations is the hierarchy system that does not allow individuals to get empowered. Power and authority is often restricted to few while other acts as followers. The employee empowerment framework of Google is different from other organisations in the sense Google allows its employees to think as individuals along with handing tasks with authority, responsibility and accountability. Every organisation needs to understand the value of employee empowerment and motivation in order to be competitive in the competitive business environment. Google’s Culture The organizational culture of Google is quite impressive in the sense there is no discrimination in any sense. Employees take their lunch and dinner in the cafeteria and sit wherever there is a vacant place. They communicate with their co-employees as a part of a team and often are motivated to share their ideas and views in the weekly meeting conducted in the presence of the CEO. Diversity prevails in Google with employees speaking Turkish, Telugu and other languages with no strong focus on experience but on ability to excel and accomplish desired tasks and activities. A number of recreational activities like games, sports, video games, music, gym and yoga classes minimize the pressure and stress level of employees (Google.com). Moreover, break rooms offering healthy snacks always act as a natural booster for employees helping them to keep going along with making them feel rejuvenated and relaxed. There is no denying the organizational culture of Google acts as a motivator for employees enhancing their performance in a brilliant manner Employees in Google enjoy freedom of speech and expression along with enjoying a unique culture that does not impose values and beliefs. Employees are appreciated for their ability and not for their experience. Even a young employee possessing tremendous skills is appreciated and acknowledged for his efforts and contributions. With a balanced mixture of young and experienced employees from different cultures and background, Google has created an exemplary organizational culture that can be emulated by other organizations but to be Google, one needs to think and act like Google and can be considered as the biggest challenge especially for the traditional organizations. Google's Financial Performance Google’s initial public offering came in 2004 when the organization offered more than 19,000,000 shares at a price of $85. The sale of these shares offered a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. However, majority of shares were with the organization and many employees became millionaires. This did not affect the unique culture of the organization and it grew at a rapid pace. The stock’s performance soured new heights as prices of the stocks touched $700 in 2007 because of strong financial performances in the online advertising market. The current share prices of Google are $599 and can be considered as a quite healthy in terms of growth. In the last six years, the share prices of Google has witnessed upward trends and can be considered as a strong indicator of the organization’s robust financial performance. It needs to be understood that the financial performance of the organization witnessed upward trends because of high earnings and faith of investors. Employees committed themselves to come up with new ideas that in turn created economic value and benefits for everyone. Thus, the organizational culture can be credited for the strong financial performance making Google one of the highly admired and desired organizations across the globe (Hjelt, 2004 p- 47-52) Conclusion Google has a free and unique culture with no discrimination based on hierarchy and gender. Employees enjoy freedom of speech and expression that often motivates them to be open and happy. The organization culture of Google is based on little planning and more understanding as focus has been on earning the trust and loyalty of employees and other stakeholders. Employees are motivated in different manners by understanding their needs and demands along with valuing them in a unique manner. There is no denying that other organizations like Southwest Airlines, Tesco and Apple also offers a unique organizational culture in line to the organizational culture of Google (Elder, 2001, p-47-49) However, in order to identify organizations that can be related to the culture of Google, it is important to assess and identify their nature and mode of operation. It needs to be understood that emulating Google in terms of operational framework and organizational culture may not be suitable and ideal for other organizations. Companies like Wal-Mart have a different organizational culture and climate that cannot be related to the culture of Google. Wal-Mart follows a hierarchal structure where employees are motivated based on the performance. Moreover, self motivation is a mandatory requirement while working in the retail industry because of the continuous pressure of performing well for the organization. At the same time, not many organizations employ the strategy of communicating with the CEO directly. The CEOs interact and communicate with the top management officials and decisions are communicated to the employees either directly or indirectly. The free access to communicate with the top officials of the organization does not prevail in many organizations and to employ this strategy, organizations may be required to change the entire organizational and hierarchical structure. This may create a confusing situation where individuals will be required to change themselves and to become what they were not in the past. Consequences of Applying Google’s Practices Google can be assumed as an exemplary figure in the business environment because of its organizational culture, practices and environment (Hjelt, 2004, p-47-52). Organizations may want to emulate the strategies and practices of Google but understanding of the internal and external environment is needed. Moreover, organizations practicing similar practices can apply Google’s practices in their organizational culture. Organizations employing different practices may find it difficult to apply Google’s practices as they will be forced to restructure their organization from the scratches and can be a big problem. Moreover, there is no guarantee or assurance that similar practices will offer expected and similar results in the long run. It can be the case that organizations applying Google’s practices may achieve similar results and outcomes or may suffer heavy loss of sources and resources. The definite answer can only be given on the basis of understanding the organizational culture, practices and climate in a logically and critically. It needs to be mentioned that consequences can only be analyzed when the event happens and for that organizations need to apply Google’s practices rather than theoretically analyzing the impact and influence offering little value and understanding. In the mean time; organizations can only be perceived as being positively or negatively affected by applying Google’s practices as there is no evidence to support the argument. It needs to be understood that keeping a flat organization requires the management and employees to work in an integrated way along with thinking in a non-traditional way. Organizations need to recruit people managing the organizational culture and not many companies have chief culture officer like Google. In order to behave like Google, organizations need to understand and motivate people like the way Google does. This will create a positive environment affecting the behavior, attitude, skills, performance and motivation level of employees. Google focuses on recruiting employees who are fairly flexible, adaptable and not focusing on titles and hierarchies. This helps in identifying the prospects of being culturally fit into the existing organizational set up. A number of organizations like Southwest Airlines and Apple do the same and that is why stand besides Google in terms of being unique in the competitive business environment. Just like success, growth and development cannot be emulated, organizational cultures, practices and strategies cannot be matched and followed without identifying the overall usefulness and acceptance within the internal and external business environment. If an organization is willing to restructure its ideas, values and goals, then Google’s practices can be applied but in case of existing organizational structure; new values, ideas and goals may attract resistance along with dissatisfaction and low level of employees’ motivation and performance. This will affect the overall structure, image and performance of the organization. Rather than applying Google’s practices; organizations can develop superior practices to create a unique environment based on personal and shared ideas and values. Google created a name through the development of a unique organizational culture and practices based on personal values and beliefs rather than emulating the culture and practices of other organizations. The sense of belief and trust should prevail in the organizational environment to create a unique and sustainable organizational cultures based on admired, preferred and accepted business practices. Based on its culture, approaches and beliefs of understanding individuals in a compassionate manner; it can be assumed that the organization has all the potential to excel in the long run. The fact that Google was incorporated in the year 1998 and initial public offering happened in 2004; within a period of 12 years, it has proved its worth and importance in the business environment. Its journey of growth, development and success can be considered as a fairy tale. The organization has grown in stature by earning the loyalty and trust of its employees and customers. The benefits, culture and values offered by Google are far away from the trend and approach of any conventional organization. With all these approaches, it can be assumed that Google is here to stay for a long period of time and may surpass the likes of Apple and Microsoft in terms of value creation, profitable and market capitalization. The journey was started with an idea that took shape with the trust, loyalty and faith of stakeholders with Googlers contributing the most. References Adams, S. (1997), The Dilbert Principle, New York: Harper Collins. Elder, J. (2001), 'Out of the box', The Weekend Australian Magazine, 15-16 September, 47-49 Google.com (1998). Google Culture. Retrieved on December 03, 2011 from http://www.google.com/about/corporate/company/culture.html Herzberg, F. (1959), The Motivation to Work, New York: John Wiley. Hjelt, P. (2004), ‘The world’s most admired companies, Fortune, 15 March, 47-52. Kaplan, R. and Norton, P. 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