Introduction
Google Inc. is a global technology firm that was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The company headquarters are located at Mountain View, CA, in the United States. The company business is basically focused around the main areas that include hardware and enterprise products, platforms and operating systems, advertising, and search. The company provides its services and products in over 100 languages and in over 50 nations, territories, and regions. The company mission is to organize the information of the world and make it universally useful and accessible. The company focuses on determined and smart workers. Since its formation, Google has managed to employ over 40, 000 workers worldwide, with a team of management that represents some of the most skillful technology experts in the industry. The company’s current CEO , who is also one of the company co-founder is Larry Page (Google.com, 2014). This analysis Larry Page: The CEO of Google Inc.
Larry Page Background
Larry Page was born in 1973 in East Lansing, Michigan by parents who were both computer experts. He did his engineering bachelor degree in Michigan University and later did his master degree in computer science in Stanford University. He together with his Stanford University schoolmate Brian created a search engine that would list results based on the page popularity. They later employed that idea to started Google Company in 1998, when Larry Page was pursuing his PHD in computer science. Page became the first Google CEO until 2001, where he became the president of the products. In 2004, Google held its first public offering making Larry Page and his co-founder billionaires. He returned to the CEO post in 2011 after Eric Schmidt who he handed over to in 2001. Larry is a trustee in the X PRIZE board, and he was voted in 2004 to the National Academy of Engineering (Biography.com, 2014).
Larry Page Leadership Style
Larry is a leader who cares more about innovation. He is constantly in the move to modify Google for the better. He contains an equal, open way of leading, encouraging his employees to take parts in idea development and sharing of any crazy ideas that come across their mind. He believes in quick decision making but a high level of efficiency in them. Beside this, he believes in smart workforce and thus, he always search for brilliant young graduates to join his team of intellectuals. He always encourages his employees to employ ability freely for development of the company. Larry philosophy is “developing new and unique things that do not exist and that have never been imagined”. His leadership and philosophy aligns with the organization culture since one of the organization cultures is focusing on the ability rather than experience while hiring. The organization also employs open culture, where all are allowed to contribute through giving opinion or ideas for the development of new products. To facilitate this culture, employees are allowed to communicate freely to the top management and among them through email. Diversity and free interaction is one of the most emphasized organization cultures. This aligns well with Larry philosophy of developing new products since interactive, diverse environment encourages the combination of ideas from individuals with different world perspectives and different cultural background to create new and unique products (Burrows & MacMillan, 2011).
CEO Personal and Organization Values
Larry being the co-founder of Google Inc. he shares the same value with the company. He defined 10 values that guide him and the entire organization. These values include working with great people, making innovation the organization lifeblood, making working in Google fun, being actively involved to honor commitments, not taking success for granted, but act and think like an underdog with great humility. The sixth value is doing the right thing and avoiding evil, seven is earning user and customer respect and loyalty on daily bases, eight is sustaining long-term profitability and growth as the key to the organization success, nine is caring and supporting the community surrounding Google, and finally, aspiring to change and improving the world by aiming high, taking risks, and thinking big. Beside this, Page values young, brilliant innovative mind and he always work to promote young innovators from universities. He value honesty, hard work, and earning through genuine means. Respect is another Larry’s value; he regards respect to his workers, customers and all Google users. He values relation and thus, he chooses respect and humbleness even when he is documented in the top richest people in the country (Joshi, 2014).
The CEO Influence on the Organization Ethical Behavior
The CEO values determines the CEO behaviors toward the employees and the thus, the organization working environment. When a CEO has value that initiates behaviors that makes employees to feel dominated, that encourage disrespect to any of the stakeholder or that encourage any form of fraud, the employees will also follow in that same line. Moreover, when a CEO adopt values that can shows disregard to employees, customers or other organization stakeholders, this can be extended to his executive body, to the management and eventually to the rest of the company. Such values will create a state of disrespect to employees’ right, dictatorial kind of leadership, fraud either in the company or to the customers, and other form of immorality. However, in this case Larry has adopted positive values that direct others to respect one another, to employ their ability to create products that would allow the organization to earn genuine income, and to create a good working environment where everyone feels comfortable. These values guide the entire organization into observing ethical issues of the organization. With the CEO being strict on doing what is right, even the most mischievous employee will be certain of the discipline employment for unethical issues. Therefore, good values will promote the development of unethical environment that is free of immoral practices (Cengage.com, 2004).
CEO Greatest Strengths and Weaknesses
One of the greatest strength of Larry page is that he is introvert. According to Nobel (2010), introvert persons have been found to make great leaders in a proactive environment. This is because there are more probable to listen to, process, and employ ideas of an enthusiastic team. What makes Larry strong as an introvert is the fact that he employs a vibrant, young team, fresh from university with a lot of ideas that they are willing to share. To motivate this kind of a group in a practical environment, an introvert leader like Larry will be very viable. The second Larry strength is that he is an honest person who believes in earning from doing what is right and by employing the right technology. Honesty is a strong virtual in business. With honesty, a leader is able to create an ethical working force, good relation with customers, and other stakeholders. Moreover, honesty promotes customer retention and development of more customers from referral. The third Larry’s strength is good computer technology background. Larry was not a usual child; he was born and brought up by computer experts. His father was a pioneer in artificial intelligence and computer science and his mother was a computer programmer. Therefore, Larry interacted with intensive computer technology at early age. He could witness his father developing robots and his mother creating system. Therefore, Larry believe in technology is well founded and thus, he can easily follow his parent footsteps to achieve more. Beside this, Larry has well founded academic background for computers and computer technology and thus, he can easily aid in the development of the technology in the organization.
Larry greatest weakness is that his character and educational background does not give him any advantage manager-of- internal politics or salesman-in-chief. Larry lacks qualities required in public relationship and thus, task related to interaction with the public will be very hard for him. Being an introvert person, Larry is least likely to be a persuasive person. Moreover, some of Google previous employees and also some of the current employees claim that Larry is mostly rude in his talks. Thus, Larry will highly struggle with public relation related missions. Another Larry Page weakness is discipline. Page is known to dislike personal meetings or schedules and he is highly resistance to restraining on his time by others. Page exclusively focus on the inward part of the company, and cares less about other external entities. This may put Google on the sport, since there are external entities that highly influence the company’s performance. The last weakness is that Larry being the co-founder of the company may try to influence the company direction to what he had initially in mind. The company has already taken its turn and thus any such influences at this point may make it loss direction.
Qualities Results to the Success of Page Larry
Some of leadership quality that makes Larry Page successful is his innovative nature and taking note of small details. Larry believes in development of new unique products that have never existed. This makes him a risk taker in technology business. This nature is quite appropriate in technology business, since it allows him to invent new products and become more competitive and viable in the market. Page has a highly level of perseverance, a quality that helps him to work on a development patiently until it bears fruits. Page is also concise and quick. These qualities enable him to make quick decision regarding various matters and thus, saving the company from unnecessary losses brought about by delay in decision making. These qualities are also very essential in a technology company where the technology is changing very fast and thus, making the field very demanding and very competitive. The last quality of Larry is the fact that he likes working with a strong team and he always employ all measures to build a strong team. Larry is a democratic leader who believes in giving people equal opportunities and a great working environment so as to be able to exercise their ability freely without interference. This has always enabled Google to share ideas and to develop new unique products within a very short period of time (Lester, 1975).
Communication and Collaboration, and Power and Politics Influence Google
Google has a culture of open relationship which means open communication and a high level of collaboration. This association has always helped the organization employees as well as management to work as a team and to share ideas and opinions in problem solving. Google has developed a café and an email where the organization employees and management can easily interact, share ideas, and solve problems. This open communication and collaboration has enabled the organization to develop a fun and great working environment where innovation and development of simple ideas is the order of the day. This has highly benefited the organization growth and expansion. Power and polities normally influences the economic activities of various organizations differently. Google previously never had a lot of involvement with politician. However, the company supported the last American general election by funding Barrack Obama’s campaign.
Obama’s campaign. This was basically as a way of developing relation with the government to ensure that the government and those in power do not employ new regulations that would suppress business operations of the company. The support was after a request from one of the government officials who wanted to develop friendship with the company prior to that election. Besides this, the company decision making and operations have not been highly influenced by the government officials or other politician. The organization management has highly stood by their course and they have not allowed great influence from external forces (Judge & Bretz, 1994).
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