Google Started Out as a Very Modest Business Launched by Two

question 1

Essay

Google started out as a very modest business launched by two Stanford University graduates, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who had the simple idea of the Google search engine. Google's success was built entirely on innovation. Brand new products, new services, and news ways of conducting business were the means through which Google rose to fame. All this required a strong company culture of innovation. Its most fundamental challenge has always been to generate an environment where new ideas can flourish. Therefore a critical requirement for its organizational structure is to ensure that the network of relationships, the rules governing work, and the administrative framework all support and encourage innovation. Undoubtedly, Google's organizational design has played a central role in the company's culture of innovation.
Brin and Page implemented a very flat level of hierarchy whereby top level management
was only one level up from lower level employees. Why? Because in traditional, hierarchical structures, authority systems and reporting levels would slow down the decision-making process and any unnecessary delays in bringing new ideas to the market could mean losing out to competitors. So, instead of hierarchal levels, Google was divided up into small teams that worked on individual projects. Team members rotate to take on the role of team leaders with every new project. This is in contrast to other organizations that often establish one team leader who is always in that role.
The fact is, the fewer the levels of hierarchy, the greater becomes the opportunity for employees to interact freely, collaborate, and make their own decisions. This also has the effect of encouraging leaders or experts to arise naturally rather than being held to a specific job title. The other benefit of creating this relatively flat structure is the ability of employees to readily communicate with the operational leadership, which affords the company a tremendous amount of flexibility.
At Google, the role of the manager or team is to help build consensus among team members rather than to "control" or "manage" them in the traditional sense. In this kind of structure, the role of a manager or leader is analogous to that of an editor who relies on a team of journalists to generate decisions based on the team's input. These teams range from five to ten people depending on the project. The relative small team size also gives the teams more flexibility and speed for decision making. In addition to dividing into these small teams, every six months, a mutual peer evaluation questionnaire is completed by all team members and this leads to a public ranking where natural leaders are identified.
Of course, while teams are central to Google's successful innovation, all this is not to
say that there are no other elements of structure or departments at Google. Given the fact
that this company has grown so large, it needs a certain degree of departmentation. Google is overseen by a board of directors that directs the company via an executive management group. This group oversees the Engineering, Products, Legal, Finance, and Sales departments. In turn, these departments are each divided into smaller units. For example, the Sales department has branches focused on the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. However, beyond this traditional-looking structure, Google's organization minimizes power differences and formal authority.
The organizational structure is designed to offer employees extensive freedom in making
decisions and trying new ideas. This requires a structure that is not managed by "command and control." The aim is to de-emphasize job titles and power and instead focus on teamwork. Employees need to know that they can take on much decision authority and power over their work. This, too, means that job standardization is a foreign notion to this company. After all, you can't standardize the process of innovation. The decentralized manner of decision making is also reflected across the organization in such functions as hiring decisions, where at least four Google collaborators co-decide on a new hire. In addition to reinforcing the empowered culture, such participative decision- making helps to ensure that new recruits will "fit" within the organizational culture.
Employees are given the autonomy to make changes to a current project or to start their
own. Google employees follow something called the 70/20/10 rule. This requires that each employee devotes 70% of every work day to whatever projects are assigned by management, 20% to new projects or ideas related to their core projects, and 10% to any new ideas they want to pursue. Many believe that this rule has driven the development of Google's innovative products and services. This rule is not restricted to one set of employees. A broad range of programmers, salespeople, and even executives are provided with enough "down time" to be creative. While critics might argue that allowing employees the opportunity to work on whatever they want is a waste of time, that is precisely one of the reasons for Google's success. It encourages employees to create innovative products by surrounding them with an open environment. Given the fast-paced environment that Google must compete in, its organizational structure is designed to meet market demands efficiently.
How did the contingency of strategy influence how Google designed its organizational structure as organic?

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Definitions:

Employee Assistance

Programs or services offered by employers to help employees deal with personal or professional issues that may impact their job performance or well-being.

Role Strain

The stress or strain of meeting obligations that are associated with certain roles (e.g., caregiver).

Available Resources

The assets or materials that individuals or organizations have at their disposal for use or to aid in achieving goals.

Daily Hassles

Category of stressor that is chronic and cumulative in its effect.