During class 19, Danielle van Jaarsveld talked about organizational culture and used Zappos as the main example to discuss the importance of creating a ‘happy’ workforce. When we discussed about Zappos’ positive and enthusiastic work environment, I immediately thought of Google’s workplace, which has slides, outdoor activity areas, nap pods, and much more.

Google is similar to Zappos as they both have created a positive atmosphere and attitudes to its workforce, which from my perception is a smart way of maintaining efficiency in communication; as seen in Zappos’ organizational culture, where Tony Hsieh (Zappos CEO) does not have his own office and works next to his employees. Thus, employees can easily communicate with the CEO and Tony is able to observe the changes of his workforce and see what he could improve upon.

Back to Google, its employees may feel less stressful as they are working in a family-like-community, and provides almost everything (daily needs/leisures). However, Danielle did mention some skepticism behind Google’s intent on developing this type of organizational culture. Google may be cultivating an environment in order to hold on to its employees; prevent them from leaving the company. This may be a negative move, as the company is secluding its employees in an environment that it has created; as if they were working in a ‘bubble’.

However, there are many tips that other firms can learn from firms like Google and Zappos that have established a well known organizational culture. Such as changing interviewing techniques, by implementing active techniques to test the skills of applicants; this could “build a strong foundation for [the] company” despite the fact that it can be timely.

Articles Used Links:

7 Secrets of Google’s Epic Organizational Culture – Jihon Kim:

http://www.officevibe.com/blog/7-secrets-of-googles-epic-organizational-culture

Happy-Feet – Alexandra Jacobs:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/14/happy-feet

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