Management control concerns the ways in which organizations ensure that their management

behaves in line with organizational objectives. As organizations differ in the objectives they seek to
attain, they also differ in the ways in which they control the behaviour of their managers and
employees. Google is one of the companies that is well known for its focus on organizational
culture to influence and stimulate managerial behaviour in the right direction. Thriving on creativity
of its employees, it applies a combination of organizational arrangements that include performance
measurement, project management and typical cultural instruments to obtain goal-oriented
behaviour. This is well illustrated by the following excerpt from Google’s public information:
"Google culture
Google culture revolves around our mission: to organize the world’s information and make it
universally accessible and useful. Googlers are proud of this mission and work to better serve our
users each and every day. Googlers are passionate and dedicated individuals who really want to
make a difference in the world. When you give smart people space to innovate, you unleash the
power of imagination, ideas and connectivity to change the world for the better. This ethos
embodies the essence of Google culture.
Project-Based Work
Despite our size and expansion, Google still maintains a start-up culture. Google is not a
conventional corporation, and our workdays are not the typical 9 to 5. Our work is project- based,
meaning that Googlers focus on specific projects and goals every quarter. If you happen to be
hitting your project out of the park, then you might feel the need to come in to work a bit later the
next day! There would be no retribution – Googlers are passionate and self-motivated, and Google
trusts them to make responsible decisions.
Transparency and Openness
Googlers live and breathe a culture of openness. Our commitment to innovation depends on
everyone being comfortable sharing ideas and opinions. The ability to challenge or discuss a
company decision is never more than an open door, whiteboard, email, hallway or microphone
away. We highly value rigorous debate, and value all Googlers’ input in company decisions. One
example is our weekly company all-hands meeting – known as TGIF – where Googlers can ask
their questions directly to Larry Page and Sergey Brin from an open mic. Googlers also have the
opportunity to develop 20% Projects, where they take 20% of their work time to work on projects
that they’re personally passionate about. There are many examples of 20% projects that lead to
meaningful impact on the company, such as Gmail."
Questions
A Identify the ways in which Google tries to control the behaviour of its managers and employees.
B Which of these ways would you classify as ‘culture’? Why?
C What are potential costs of the ‘culture’ at Google, as described in this excerpt?