Assignment 2: Integrating Culture Diversity in Decision Making

BUS 520 – Leadership and Organization Behavior

The culture of an organization is the heart of a company. This is the way that a company is able to separate from their competition no matter what market they are in. There is an article in Business Insider that says “Corporate culture is the personality of a company and it is something that cannot be faked” (Schawbel, 2013, Cultural research section, para 1). This paper will examine the culture of the Google Corporation. Larry Page and Serey Brin met at Stanford University in 1995 and they founded Google in 1998 (Google Company Website).

What is the organizations culture at Google? The organization culture at Google is represented many different ways such as the structure of management, general transparency, and the way they treat their employees, etc.

The overall management is a flat structure. Employees are offered food in the cafeteria that is fee. The core values of the company have been made public. The founders of the company still do work which includes keeping fresh cereal in the cafeteria.

Feedback is ongoing at Google from employees by the use of a tool which is called the Google-O-Meter. There are also culture clubs and these are a group of employees that come together and they talk about issues with the culture in their office and country or how they are able to improve things. Google is a place that is very special to work. The way spaces in the offices and groups are designed it is to make you feel like you are working in a company that is just starting however within a major company.

DuBin (2011) states that “an organization that has a flat structure has the ability to be less bureaucratic”. There are less managers to review the decisions that workers make. The chain of command is short which means that both workers and managers are at levels that are low and this allows both to make decisions independently (p274). Google’s culture is progression and openness which ensures the employees are always at the centers of the progress of the company.

The culture of Google shows that their main focus is to continuously make progress by making sure employees are satisfied and comfortable. The founders in a company like Google where they ensure that the cereal is fresh and continuously get feedback from all employees, this shows that the effort is vested and shows how the employees are valued. When that is coupled with an organizational structure that is flat this empowers that employees are on low levels the ability to make decisions that qualifies the culture of the organization. The people of Google make this the kind of company that it is (Google Company Website).

The culture Google represented shows they decided early that they are focused on their employees which caused them to choose a culture that is employee-friendly. Google wanted to be different with their approach by surrounding themselves with individuals that were able to do just that.

The leader at an organization such as Google has an inspiration that is bountiful. The structure of the organization has positions that are vertical and the individuals in those positions are able to inspire many individuals about decisions while doing their work. The environment at Google is changing continuously and improving the things they are doing by helping people find the things they are looking for. The leader at Google has the ability to see the picture that is big and they look forward to a future that is improved and new which remains in a position that is leading.

Google has to find a way to adjust to any demands that are new, if web searching was to ever decline. This is the main reason people are hired the way they are hired. Curious thinkers and people that are smart are the individuals that Google struggles vigorously to hire. Google has employees and resources, as well as employees that are the smartest and most thoughtful (Bulygo, 2013) to adjust to any decline in web search which is their primary service.

References:

Bulygo, Z. (2013, Feb 11). Inside Google’s culture of success and employee happiness. [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from http://blog.kissmetrics.com/googles-culture-of-success/DuBrin, A. J. (2011). Essentials of management. Stamford, CN: Cengage Learning.Google company website. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.google.com/about/company/facts/culture/Google company website. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2014, from https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/company/Schawbel, D. (2013, May 8). It is becoming increasingly difficult to fake a great corporate culture. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/its-difficult-to-fake-corporate-culture-2013-5