Organizational cultures, powers, and politics and its impact on organizational behavior
in Google Inc.
The organizational culture shapes the ideological and referential frame of the
employee’s behavior, it is definitive that acceptable act which inspires the founders and the
organization to do it, and the unacceptable act which is predicted to be rejected by them
(Obeidat, 2018). The culture of an organization affects every facet of operations, from
timeliness and politeness to legal protections and compensation. Power and politics are critical
in the running of any organization, and as such, they need to be handled with care as they can
be the make or break of an institution. Politics in organizations will mainly focus on those who
influence organizations. Power, on the other hand, shall mostly put into focus those in
managerial and leadership positions.
One of Google's core values is encouraging and rewarding high performance among
staff. This culture is used by the corporation to inspire and encourage its employees. Google's
organizational culture is not typical, in part because of how the company's organizational
structure works. Fundamentally, the capabilities and cultural features of an organization are
influenced by the interplay between the structure and culture. Google's organizational culture
encourages employees to speak up in meetings with supervisors. Innovative ideas are welcome
from all employees. Because they feel innovation is at the heart of Google LLC because of the
organization culture. Google's employees are encouraged to be as intelligent as possible by the
company's culture. The purpose is to encourage workers to perform to the best of their abilities.
Google also uses legitimate power among its employees when exerting such influence.
Employees at Google, for instance, might follow a manager's instructions at a crime scene if
that manager relied on legitimate power based on his or her position in the company's hierarchy.
By applying this power, the employees will understand who is their leaders they need to follow
and report while something is happening. Structured organizational politics is also necessary
for putting beliefs and policies into action within an organization. Politics and power are
inextricably linked and intertwined inside any given organization. Politics, power, and the
process of politicizing issues are all necessary, cannot be avoided, and will inevitably occur.
The influence of power, politics and culture on individual and team behavior in Google
Inc.
As organization politics , in Google, the politics within the groups of people who are
culturally embedded, try to influence the operational actions in accessing the organizational
materials. Presence of politics in Google allow the employees to divert the decision making of
the management in their beneficial way which is not productive for organization. As Google
hires "people who are smart and determined," politics in Google is higher due to different
groups of people who are culturally linked. So, cultural background of the employees is the
main concern based on which the politics is developed in the Google influence their operations.
This move is a big test to the employees to show how they interact with the organization and
how their relationship with the organization will be affected by working from a personal space
while maintaining the professional relationship that their duties and responsibilities demand.
They should provide high motivate managers to deliver high level of response to their
employee for reducing politics and increasing employee confidence and work performing. It
also means that people in higher-level jobs gain power through respect and communication
with workers instead of by forcing them to do things. When employees are given the chance to
discuss concerns and collaborate in an organization, employee withholding rates are high . Its
success depends a lot on how its organizational culture and how people see its values are
seen.(Robbins, 2018)
Understanding how conflicts within groups affect the organization
positively and negatively illustrates that Google takes immense pride in its communication
tactics among its employees. In taking pride in its communication tactics, Google has remained
number one on Fortune's top 100 companies to work for along with number two on their most
admired companies. Google's distinctive way of conducting business attracts many. It is this
kind of organizational culture that encourages individual creativity and motivation that leads
to employee loyalty, respect, and overall success.
The influence of power, politics and culture on employee’s motivation in Google Inc.
The business environment is supported by cultural norms, political structures, and
power dynamics. Companies with effective organizational politics encourage employee
participation in projects and experiments designed to evaluate novel approaches. Then, the
employees will be motivated to innovate and test on their new ideas for the company. If they
make mistakes, their leaders take corrective actions give suggestions and recommendations
warmly. Because Google’s organizational culture creates a social ambiance that is warm.
Warmth is a factor that facilitates information sharing and employee satisfaction. The smallcompany-family atmosphere allows CEOs like Larry Page to freely discuss ideas. Thus,
Google's company culture encourages innovation through exchanging ideas and responding
quickly to the worldwide market for information technology, cloud computing, Internet
services, and consumer goods. Moreover, it create result oriented environment culture. Leaders
are actively involved with team in all operations in order to accomplish the project deadline on
time. The leader used reward power for the team that handled customer inquiries and
complaints calmly as a way to motivate employee, Google motivates its employees by
generously disbursing bonuses. In 2007 it distributed three and a half thousand bonuses. Every
aspect of the culture of Google is designed so as to create a culture on information sharing and
collaboration. Employees feel motivated and empowered by the company’s mission statement:
“To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful .”
Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation tactics influencing on employees in Google Inc.
Extrinsic motivation is when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an
activity because we want to earn a reward or avoid punishment. (Kalsoom, Z., Khan, M.A.
and Zubair, D.S.S, 2018) Intrinsic motivation is employees are performing an activity for its
own sake rather than from the desire for some external reward. The behavior itself is its own
reward.
In Google, the company uses both two tactics in order to influence on employees. As
the technology company is operating with difficult and challenging task, there will be a lot of
conflicts and stress for all level of employees. Such stressful and complicated working
environment can bring negative employee behavior. Using extrinsic motivation will reduce
such type of situations. (Moon, S.E., Van Dam, P.J. and Kitsos, A, 2019) suggested that the
high rewards and appreciations can improve the team success positively through moderating
role of project complexity. (Legutko B.J, 2020) But it is not effective always. Thus, Google
also use extrinsic tactics to influence. They inspire employees to feel like part of Google and
pleased to work there.
Using Content theories to be enable achieving Google Inc’s goals (ERG Theory)
There are three needs in ERG theory. They are as follow:
Existence Needs Fulfilled by Google
Every employees of Google receives salary plus bonus system. They also receive
overtime fees. Salary is increased with promotion by individual performance appraisal. They
can innovate many software applications freely. They can also give feedback and suggestion
to the organization which will, in turn, be beneficial for the organization. If they make mistakes
at work, their supervisors correct and advise it. Supervisors also watch and evaluate the
performance level of employees. Therefore, they feel safety and satisfy on their work. They
have to be provided basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter while they also need
acceptance, recognition. Special holidays are set for their enjoyment.
Relatedness Needs Fulfilled by Google
The relation of supervisor and employees are built in wide range of communication
activities in department. The department operates with open-door policy that employee can
present and consult any issues with their supervisor that can help to build transparency and
trust in work place. Hardworking employees are appreciated by their supervisor and co-worker.
Their needs and wants are observed, their efforts are recognized and then, necessary changes
are being made by supervisor. Social needs and problems are solved as much as possible within
the reach of supervisor’s responsibilities. The relationship with pears, colleagues and
supervisors instill their confidence at workplace. Therefore, they have a good working
environment.
Growth Needs Fulfilled by Google
Google encourages the employees for improving their personal skills and abilities, and
for creativity and own ideas. They are given through training in the methods of performing
their jobs, will be given opportunities to new skills. They also have the chance to fully utilize
their capability at work. Therefore, they can try to innovate in new ways for serving their
customers.
Using Process theories to be enable achieving Google Inc’s goals (Equity theories)
The equity theory is a hypothesis that aims to explain relational happiness in terms of
views of fair or unfair distributions of resources within interpersonal relationships. J. Stacy
Adams, a workplace and behavioral psychologist, is credited with being the first person to
establish the equity theory in 1963. He argued that employees want to maintain equity between
the inputs that they bring to a job and the outputs that they obtain from it in comparison to the
perceived inputs and outcomes of others. Equity theory is now categorized as one of the justice
theories. People are thought to value fair treatment, which makes them want to keep fairness
in their relationships with their coworkers and the organization. Google's global supervision
provides advice, skilled management, and oversight during office construction and
commissioning. (Mullins, 2016)The provide the highest level of service to our employees
because of our years of hands on experience and commitment to professionalism and employee
satisfaction. The employer tries for a thorough understanding of various kinds of feelings and
needs of the employees. Employees are also provided recreation activities which lead to
motivate in their work. Weekly meetings are held to discuss various issues relating to the
employees. Every employee knows their job responsibilities and accomplishes them on time.
Hardworking employees are appreciated and awarded by employer. Their needs and
wants are observed, their efforts are recognized and then, necessary changes are being made
by supervisors. Social needs and problems are solved as much as possible within the reach of
employer’s responsibilities.
Employees have to be provided basic needs such as food, shelter while they also need
acceptance, recognition and self-esteem. Rewards are used as motivation strategy of cement
factory. It creates the employee to feel their done is being appreciated. The rewards are
provided on a monthly/annual basic.
The influence on behavior of others through the effective application of motivational
theories in Google Inc.
By using the motivational theories in Google Inc, the behavior of employees are totally
change positively. People feel like their workplace is like their home or a place they want to
spend time at when it is comfortable. Having a lot of events helps coworkers get to know each
other and make friends. Because they don't have to devote all of their attention to their jobs,
Google employees are able to relax and enjoy themselves thanks to the company's employeesponsored activities. Increasing people's levels of happiness leads to increases in both the
quantity and the quality of their output. Belonging at work makes people happy, and how well
and quickly work gets done depends on how happy people are. Google has good performance
in working environment and building relationships between workers. With Google’s very
successful formula for employee motivation, it is no wonder that Google is successful.
Recommendation about what Technology/Digital Industry do to achieve sustainable
organizational development as well as individual development from a motivational theory
perspective in wider community
Google, as a corporation operating in the technology sector, has a responsibility to work
toward increasing the job satisfaction of its staff. Because if the employees are satisfied, they
will be more productive in serving customer services and offering products. Thus, the company
should provide fair opportunities, reward, and innovation for different categories of employees.
They also need to appreciate the skills and performance of employees. Moreover, good
working environment and training and seminars should provide to increase or sharpen the skills
of employees. They should concern their employees through regular meetings and requesting
their suggestions to participate improvement of their business. opportunities and training
programs. Therefore, satisfaction is the key not only to decrease labor turnover rates but also
to attract potential employees due to the present employees who are satisfied with their job.
Recommendation about the relation between culture, power, politics and motivation
toward Google Inc’s success and survival.
There is a one-to-one relation between Google Inc.'s culture, power, politics, and
motivation, which contributes directly to the company's success and ongoing survival.
Organizational culture is the study of frame of mind, faith and psychology within an
organization. Power and politics are the codes of conduct which are necessary for the employee
motivation in every organization (Tsai, 2011).
Culture is community; it has a substantial impact on how people interact with one
another. It is recommended that upper-level managers and executives establish a stronger
culture within the organization in order to increase the overall performance of both the
workforce and the company (Shahzad, 2012). According to Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones'
culture web models; there are four types of culture: “networked”, “mercenary”, “fragmented”,
and “communal”. Google present organization culture is “Networked culture” in this pandemic.
The best culture to change is “communal culture”. When an organization's workplace culture
is consistent with its mission and values, employees getting more at comfort, supported, and
respected in their job. This will lead the positive impact on achieving desired results (Shahzad,
2012).To attain communal culture, leaders should also promote growth mind-sets and provide
support for the development of dynamic capacities through internal and external integration.
By changing this communal culture, Google will be more transparent and can know easily
employees’ issues and feedback. Thus, it can reduce organizational risk such as conflict of
interest, ambiguity in decision making, etc.
In this transformation, Google should use
legitimate power in order to follow and apply this types of culture in the organizations. Then it
can also be a positive effective on the company success.
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