Google: Two Stanford University Graduates' Revolution

Google Inc. was founded in 1998 by two Stanford University graduate students collaborating to create a new search engine. Today, Google employs over 19,000 people, has become the most widely used search engine in the world and now offers e-mail, mapping, video sharing and social networking services, just to name a few. The company’s success is notable, but not just for its financial growth, in 2007 Google was listed as the number one company to work for by Fortune 5 magazine (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2007/full_list/). Google has been noted for its unique corporate organizational culture, to which many attribute the company’s success. The employee friendly culture at Google is meant to create a sense of importance and belonging. From the quirky and comfortable office décor to the many eateries on site at Google’s headquarters, the goal to maintain a “small company feel” seems to be evident (http://www.google.com/corporate/culture.html). At Google, the onsite amenities and planned activities and events available for employees create an at-home atmosphere creating a family like community within the workplace. When Google employees have been asked about their individual work, they often report that they are just working toward a shared goal that is the mission of the company. The values and identity of Google’s culture are seen and heard throughout the company’s campuses and offices—the luxuries of this culture are made possible through expenses incurred by the company and justified by the pervasive dominance of company values throughout all areas of Google’s corporate domain. Google’s organizational culture could be defined as a mix of a clan culture and an adhocracy culture, the two main focuses being collaboration and creativity. The aspects of the clan culture with focus internally on keeping employees united, respected and empowered and aspects of adhocracy culture with an external focus on keeping up with the constant