Organisational Culture at Google - Essay Example

?GOOGLE’S ORGANISATION CULTURE, POWER AND CONTROL Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Organisational Culture at Google 3 Google Inc.– An Overview 3 Google’s Informal Culture 3 Power and Control 5 Contribution to Success 5 Negative Aspects of Google’s Culture 7 Conclusion 7 References 9 Bibliography 10 Introduction Google is one of the top internet companies in the world. Google has been a high performing organisation over the years and is well known for its creativity and innovation. The study of the organisational culture of Google has been the interest of many people because of the uniqueness of this culture. It is considered to be fun working for Google. The organisational culture and its characteristics have been discussed in details in this study. How the management of Google has been able to impart power and control over its employees through its organisational culture has also been discussed. The effects of the Google’s culture on its success and profitability have been studied. This study makes a critical analysis of the Google’s culture, and the negative impacts of this culture have also been discussed in this study. Organisational Culture at Google Google Inc. – An Overview Google Inc. is a US based company headquartered at Mountain View, California. It was founded in the year 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They were students at Stanford University then. Google is specialised in online advertising and internet searching. It became a public company in 2004. The mission statement of Google is: “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” (Google, 2012). Google’s Informal Culture Google is well known for its unconventional, informal, and distinct organisational culture. Organisational culture can actually be thought of or analysed at three different levels, namely Artefacts, Espoused Values, and Beliefs and the Basic Assumptions (Schein, 2010, pp.23-24). The main belief of Google is that its organisational structure and its associated values are the representatives of spirits, assumptions, beliefs, performances, and attitudes followed by the employees of the company. Integrity of the values of the Google’s employees, which include commitment and loyalty, is an important aspect of the Google’s culture. This results in Google trying to create an organisational culture which is innovative in nature so as to provide motivational incentives for its employees to achieve the goals and objectives of the company (Hierling, 2008, p.9). For Google’s employees, money is not as important as their passion to work for the company. Everyone enjoys and feels happy about working for Google. The employees of Google do not have to follow a dress code. It is observed that the employees move around the office on skateboards. The office space is decorated with bicycles and exercise balls. Comfortable furnishings are provided for the workers, and they work in small groups in the office. Even dogs are allowed to accompany the employees in the office. The Google’s workers enjoy their meals together at the cafeteria, where all varieties of foods are provided to them free of charge. Other refreshments in between meals are also available for the employees (You Tube, 2007). Therefore, this culture followed at Google also contributes to employee satisfaction. According to the needs and requirements of the company, the roles and responsibilities of the employees also change from time to time. Much of the organisational culture followed in Google is attributed to the thinking and philosophy of its co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Jones, & Mathew, 2008, p.194). The thought power of the Google’s employees is given the highest priority. They are actually paid to experiment and create innovative ideas. They are also encouraged to take risks, even if the risk does not pay off. Such work environment is created inside Google that the mistakes made by its employees are considered to be learning tools used to encourage people. Cultural diversity is well acclaimed in the company. People from varied cultures are encouraged to work in Google. Cultural diversity may be thought of as a challenge for the managers of a company, but it should not be viewed as a limitation. It should be considered as an opportunity, potentially advantageous for the company’s growth and performance (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor, 2011, p.253). In Google, employees work in small groups, and everyone is encouraged to bring up new ideas. This helps promoting creativity, which is of prime importance for Google. Power and Control The strong culture followed by Google and its employees can be thought of as excessively controlling. Google’s culture is designed in such a way that its employees do not have to think of anything except being innovative in their thought process and bringing up new ideas to develop new services and products for Google. People working in Google have very little scope to think about themselves because all the thinking process about the employees is done by the management itself. Even employees’ physical needs like food, clothing, and shelter are all taken care of by the company on behalf of its employees. This type of organisational culture helps Google to impart power and control indirectly over its employees by ensuring that maximum productivity is obtained from them. Contribution to Success Google is one of the leading internet companies in the world. Google’s success is contributed by its core competencies and organisational culture followed by the company. Google is known for its innovative products that help to add to its significant profit generation. Google is a multinational company which operates globally all around the world. Hence it is a pre-requisite for Google to impart the culture of innovation within its members (Jennifer, & Jones, 2009, p.573). The managers of the company need to manage changes in the environment of the organisation because of globalisation through creativity and innovation. Google has created a sustainable competitive advantage for itself through the adoption of an integrated process and a friendly and supportive culture within the organisation. As opposed to small companies, large companies like Google are characterised by faster adoption of innovative ideas in its business processes because of its larger access to wide range of resources and information. New innovative ideas are timely put into effect by Google through its ability to adapt to any circumstances. Google has managed to excel in its performance effectively and efficiently in the midst of its somewhat chaotic management style and culture and within the risky environment at Google (Anon., 2007, p.26). In the modern era, a huge inflow of information practically from anywhere can ultimately result in information overload for any organisation. However, Google has managed to handle this situation very well. There is a stiff competition amongst all the existing internet companies in the world. Google has been able to stand out at top amongst all its competitors because of its inherent ability to come up with innovative ways in its products and services. The employees of Google are motivated to take risk, think out of the box, and help the company to gain a competitive edge. This has contributed to the unparalleled success and profitability of Google. Negative Aspects of Google’s Culture The management style and organisational culture followed at Google have paved the way towards its success. However, its chaotic management style may not help Google to sustain its business in the long term. Google is sometimes criticised about some of the negative characteristics of its organisational structure like the absence of formal working culture, chaotic management structure, and poor relations amongst its employees. Proper organisational structure is necessary for the implementation of various successful strategies in an organisation (Hunt, & Simms, 2005, p.4). Therefore, the organisational structure proves to be the key towards the organisational success because it facilitates decision making and proper planning for the organisation. As every Google’s employee has different skills, it can prove to be disadvantageous for Google by creating risk of conflict between its employees. Absence of hierarchy system in the organisational structure can also lead to confusion within the organisation about delegation of power and authority. The word “Google” turning into a generic term can be another potential issue for Google, which can also be disadvantageous for the company. Conclusion The organisational culture of Google has proved to be its strength as regards bringing fortunes for the company. Google follows an organisational culture which is unique in itself – it is quite informal. The employees enjoy working in the company. The main belief of Google is that its organisational structure and its associated values are the representatives of spirits, assumptions, beliefs, performances, and attitudes followed by the employees of the company. The employees of Google are very much loyal and committed to the company. The culture at Google leads to complete satisfaction for its employees. Most part of the existing organisational culture at Google can be attributed to the thinking and philosophy of its co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and they have been quite successful in making Google a great success. The employees of Google are paid to devise innovative ideas by experimenting and taking risks. Google exercises its control and power over its employees quite effectively by encouraging people to think of innovative ideas. The employees do not have to think of their own interests because they are taken care of by the company. This type of organisational culture has contributed considerably to the company’s success. However, some suggest that this type of culture will not help it to become sustainable in the long run. It is suggested that Google should follow a more constructive and formal organisational structure. The term “Google” is becoming a generic term and possesses a threat for the company in having adverse affects on its profitability. So far, however, Google has been successful. References Anon., 2007. Googling out of Control: Can Google's chaos management style ensure continuing success? Strategic Direction, 23(8), pp. 25-27. Google, 2012. Company Overview. [online] Available at: http://www.google.com/about/company/. [Accessed on May 8, 2012]. Hierling, M. et al., 2008. Organizational Culture and the Case of Google: What is Organizational Culture and how it can Influence the Performance of a Company. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Hunt, M. S., and Simms, H., 2005. Organisational Behaviour and Change Management. Cambridge: Select Knowledge Limited. Jennifer, G., and Jones, G., ed., 2009. Understanding and Managing Organizational Behaviour. Edition 5. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Jones, G. R., and Mathew, M., ed., 2008. Organizational Theory, Design, and Change. Edition 5. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J., and Kapoor, J. R., 2011. Business. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Schein, E. G., ed., 2010. Organizational Culture and Leadership. Edition 4. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Si3wth3ng, 2007. Work in Google. [video online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdrctZ3EDPU. [Accessed May 8, 2012]. Bibliography Huczynski, A., and Buchanan, D., 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Jersey: Pearson Education Ltd. Inglehart, R., 2000. Globalisation and Postmodern Values. The Washington Quarterly. 23 (1), pp. 215-228. Mullins, L., 2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour. New Jersey: Pearson Education Ltd. Robbins, S., 2010. Organizational Behaviour. New Jersey: FT Prentice Hall. Read More