COOB121A - Reasons Google Deserves Its 'Best Company Culture' Award Case Study - South Africa Business Practices - Organisational Behaviour Assessment Answer

Assessment Task:

COOB121A - Reasons Google Deserves Its 'Best Company Culture' Award Case Study Organisational Behaviour Assessment Answer

Question 1

12 Reasons Google Deserves Its 'Best Company Culture' Award

It's official: Comparably has named Google as the tech company with the best corporate culture. But there's much more to the tech titan's successful culture than free meals and on-site amenities like massages and dry cleaning. There are other intangible qualities that keep Googlers happy, productive and dedicated to the company. Thirteen Forbes Technology Council on why the company deserves its "best corporate culture" title.

1. True Flexibility

Google has been one of the first companies to really understand the need for employees to have a flexible schedule and work on their terms to unleash their creativity and a greater level of productivity.

2. The Freedom to Be Creative

It gives people a chance to solve huge problems while delivering people the most important resource they can have: information.

3. A Fun Environment

Google is just a fun place and doesn't feel like work. However, with the perks, environment, and flexibility on where employees can work, Google has managed to create a very creative and enjoyable workplace.

4. The People and Their Expertise

You have instant access to experts in just about every technological field, and the intense hiring process ensures that the huge majority of Googlers are not just smart and capable -- they’re also kind and humble.

5. Shared Values Across the Organization

It’s the way management and teammates treat one another.

6. Constant Innovation

Google has a culture that promotes collaboration and emphasizes an atmosphere of innovation, permitting employees to plug into the culture.

7. Trust

Google embraces the most important element of an employer-employee relationship: trust. Google's willingness to trust their employees is what breeds creativity, above-and-beyond performance and job satisfaction. Google trusts employees to work accurately as data integrity is of paramount importance to the search engine and its credibility.

8. Alignment with Employees' Wants and Needs

If you take a look at Google’s amenities, pay, work-life balance and more, the company understands that employees need to be taken care of in all aspects of their lives to perform at the highest levels.

9. A Growth and Improvement Mindset

Google attracts people who are smart and high achievers but are also humble and always looking to improve themselves and the company.

10. A Dedicated Focus on Employee Happiness

Google has individuals whose one and only purpose is to keep employees more than happy and sustain productivity.

11. 'Radical Candor'

The concept of radical candor is a key ingredient in the success of Google’s culture. This minimizes politicking and drama and helps foster a workplace that is joyful and effective.

12. A Clear Purpose

Google has a great culture because it has a great purpose that is clear and direct: “To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Having a mission that the company sticks to helps Google have a leading culture.

There are seven primary characteristics that capture the essence of an organisation's culture. Describe Google’s organisational culture in terms of the characteristics which are most applicable based on evidence from the case study. Include an introduction, detailing what the role of organisational culture is.

 

Question 2

Study the scenario and complete the question(s) that follow:

SOUTH AFRICA: BUSINESS PRACTICES

The Fundamental Principles of Business Culture

South African business culture is marked by entrepreneurship, personal achievement and cultural sensitivity. Since the society is multi-ethnic, values and behaviours of individuals differ strongly depending on the micro-cultural groups to which they belong. But patience, tolerance and creativity are prevailing values for many South Africans. The business culture of the population is similar to Western culture: efficiency and competitiveness oriented. This cultural diversity can make effective team building complex.

The type of hierarchy may be different depending on the type of company you are dealing with: it tends to be vertical in traditional businesses and multinationals while power is more shared in start-up companies. More and more middle managers are looking proactively to become involved in decisionmaking. In all cases, respect for elders and rank is essential. When decisions involve consultation with subordinates, processes can be slower and more protracted.

First Contact

South Africans are often reluctant to deal with people they do not know. Building a business relationship often requires an intermediary to send a formal letter of introduction in order to win the trust of potential partners. It is often necessary to make contact one or two months in advance to obtain an appointment, and to confirm it by calling the day before. Summer holidays are to be avoided (mid-December to midJanuary). It may be difficult to arrange meetings with senior level managers at first; you may have to meet with lower-level managers to begin with.

Time Management

In general, South Africans value punctuality. You should always arrive in advance as many companies and public buildings require visitors to pass through security checks. Formal meetings and appointments usually begin and end on time. The South African approach to deadlines is generally flexible, so it is recommended to include strict deadlines in contracts.

Greetings and Titles

You should give a firm handshake (often quite lengthy), with direct eye-contact with your South African colleagues. Some women do not shake hands and just nod, thus wait for the woman to extend her hand first. South Africans can be quite tactile and back-slapping and hugs are common. Greetings are quite informal and include time for social discussions. In general, when meeting someone for the first time, South Africans use “Mr” or “Mrs”, except in the academic sector where professional titles are important. When addressing a woman, it is advised to avoid using the term “Miss”. First names are often used but it is advised to wait until you are invited to do so.

Dress Code

Even if business attire is becoming more casual in many companies, you are expected to be conservative: dark coloured business suits for men and business suits or dresses for women. When business meetings are held on a social basis, it is possible to dress more casually, while remaining quite formal.

Meetings Management
The initial meeting is often used to establish a personal connection and a relationship of trust. In-person meetings are preferred, rather than telephone or Skype appointments. During discussions, it is common to have the Before meetings, you should research the current differences across populations in South Africa to then be able to show you have adapted your behaviour, ideas and policies to respect the local conditions. Fancy slide presentations are not recommended, but it is advised to include good and self-explanatory visuals during your talk. Generally, South Africans looking for a win-win situation; thus confrontations, pushy behaviour and aggressive negotiation and selling techniques should be avoided. Business proposals and requests should be realistic in order to avoid excessive haggling. Business lunches and dinners are very common in South Africa, as well as business breakfasts. Business meals do not take place to conduct negotiations but rather to talk business in a more casual setting small talk before proceeding to business matters.

2.1 The scenarios below represent missed opportunities to make a good impression. Based on the case study, suggest what James, Jeremy, and Hammond could have done better.

a. James uses his professional network to arrange a meeting with a venture capitalist to propose his new business idea. This South African entrepreneur is dressed in a smart casual manner and is sitting comfortably in his boardroom. James arrives for the 12 p.m. meeting at 12:10, he rushes to set up his presentation. Once set up, he launches straight into his proposal to the entrepreneur. He tries to negotiate costs as he presents.

b. Jeremy gets invited to a work social as a service provider to Lewis. He shyly greets, shakes his host’s hand, mumbles a greeting, and quickly goes to meet his friend.

c. Hammond is a new employee at Honey Logistics; he is well qualified and experienced. On his first day dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, he aggressively interrogates colleagues and demands compliance.

Question 3 - Research

Personality and Motivation

There has been a lot of research into this area to see exactly what personality’s effect on motivation is, with much of the research concentrating on the influencing factors of motivation.

A study conducted by Hart et al, 2007 researched the relationship between the five-factor model personality traits and achievement motivation; they wanted to find out if you were scored as high in certain traits are you more likely to be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated towards achievement. The basic distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is the reasons or goals, that leads to action. While intrinsic motivation refers to doing something because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable, extrinsic motivation refers to doing something because it leads to a separable outcome.

In this study, they found individuals influenced by high intrinsic achievement motivation were high in conscientiousness, openness to experience and extraversion. While agreeableness was negatively associated with extrinsic achievement motivation There was also a positive relationship found between EAM and extraversion and EAM and conscientiousness. Implications of these findings are related to work and school settings, by understanding an individual’s personality, you may be able to understand how they are motivated which in turn could allow them greater achievement in those settings.

3. McClelland’s theory of needs describes three motivational needs individuals possess. These motivational needs are developed through life experiences, irrespective of demography, culture or wealth. Motivation is the driving force that initiates and directs behaviour. Research has shown personality can have an effect on an individual's motivation to progress. Understanding your motivational needs can be beneficial to your career progression.

a. Personality traits are inherent to each individual and enduring traits predict behavior over time. Identify your strengths and challenges by conducting some research on your own personality traits using:

i. At least 3 interviews with friends and family. Provide evidence of these interviews, by writing down the names of people with whom the interviews were done as well as the dates of the interviews. Give a brief summary of each interview.

ii. At least one online test. Provide evidence of the online test you attempted.

iii. Introspection (taking a good look inward at yourself). Give a brief reflection of your strengths and challenges.

 

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