In class we had talked about, performance management and talking about how we can measurement. There was a lot of emphasis on what kinds of people would make good managers in the perspective of the company (this was in relation to a reading assigned prior to the class, called Power is the Great Motivator, by David C. McClelland and David H. Burnham, link). The idea talked about, also mentioned in the article, was that people who are really motivated by power tend to make really good managers. There was focus on the organizational structure in looking at how a company may judge the performance of its managers, looking at centralized vs. decentralized structure. Whether one type of structure is good or not depends on the company and the industry it’s in. In the case of Google, its organizational structure is extremely flexible in that there is as much upward communication as there is downward communication within the organizational body. This is because of Google’s innovative strategy. In other words, a company’s structure is strongly connected to its strategy, and since performance evaluation is also connected to the company structure, performance evaluation is also tied to the company’s strategy. So, in the case of Google, the basic strategic approach is that of innovation, being as innovative as possible. As result, this is seen in Google’s structure, where there is a lot of decentralization, where employees are allowed to design products and be as creative as possible (in fact this is how Gmail, Google Earth, Google Talk, and Google Maps). So, in the case of Google, which is fueled hugely by innovation, probably conducts performance evaluation based on how much innovation there are in the products and in its effectiveness/application in reality.

A more detailed highlight of Google’s innovative approach in its business can be seen in the video below, by Douglas Merrill, a former CIO (Chief Information Officer) and Vice President of Engineering at Google.

Article

“Power is the Great Motivator.” David C. McClelland and David H. Burnham. Harvard Business Review.
November 1, 1996. Online Print.

Video

“Innovation at Google” – Douglas Merrill – 8/1/07.” Google You Tube. Web. 30 Nov 2010.

Images

“Google Logo.” Iboro. Web. 30 Nov 2010.

“Gmail Logo.” Iboro. Web. 30 Nov 2010.

“Google Earth Logo.” Iboro. Web. 30 Nov 2010.

“Google Maps Logo.” Iboro. Web. 30 Nov 2010.