Mne 3702 Dean Chamier student number 43900550

Assignment 2

1) The four organisational structures are organic, divisional, and simple and machine
bureaucracy. Organic’s characteristics are limited hierarchy and a highly flexible
structure, in general a group of trained specialists from different areas are employed
in different areas to collaborate to design and produce, it is complex and rapid.
Emphasis is on extensive personal interaction within Organic structures, the power is
decentralised and authority is linked to expertise , very few bureaucratic rules exist,
the management style is more entrepreneurial and they are sensitive information
gatherers ,which anticipate and monitor the external environment. The Divisional
structures characteristics are self-contained profit centres which exist for production
and marketing of different lines/groups, the divisions differ significantly from one
another, some are organic, more entrepreneurial and some are more bureaucratic
and less entrepreneurial. The divisions tend to become bureaucratic over time due to
the overall pressure for divisions to conform to formalization/standardization methods
and procedures and control is via sophisticated information systems which
coordinates a cross divisional view and interacts with staff infrastructure and
committee at head office .The simple organisational structure is characterised by a
highly informal coordination of tasks, accomplished with direct supervision , all
strategy is determined at the top and all the power is concentrated at the top of the
organisation. There is little specialisation, little formalisation of
procedures/rules/regulations, there is also a low degree of bureaucracy and
information systems are unsophisticated. Machine bureaucracy is characterised by
power concentrated at the top with little dissemination of information to middle and
lower management, mechanistic and rigid coordination of tasks and standardization
of work. Machine bureaucracy has a large technology structure to plan and design
operations, the technology is automated and integrated in to their operations. Formal
guidelines are stressed throughout their highly bureaucratic hierarchal structure, and
they have a well-developed information system focused on output and internal
tracking.

Open Rubric
2) Google uses an organic organisational structure and the following extracts will
show proof from the study case. Google has decentralised authority and as stated by
one of their employees “there’s no top down hierarchy”, this is typical of an organic
organisational structure, which has limited hierarchy and a highly flexible structure. It
is also stated in the study case that Google “has no distinct middle / Top
Management”, “The organisation hires people who are smart and determined”, “The
Company does not boast a large middle management and upper management it is
hard to qualify them in a separate category and they are “a highly collaborative
culture.” These inserts from the passage are indicative of an organic structure where
a group of trained specialists from different areas work and collaborate to design and
produce, power is decentralised, authority is linked to expertise and low levels of
bureaucracy and bureaucratic rules and standards are evident within the company.
“Googlers ask questions directly to the owners Larry and Sergey and other
executives” this quote from the passage also epitomises an organic organisational
structure which has an emphasis on personal interactions.
3) The concept of “creative abrasion” is a paradox which means the process is and
should be a continuous and ongoing process within in the organisation for it to be
maximally effective and for it to fully impact the company, creative abrasion shows
how to capitalise on frictions within the work place between different cultures,
opinions and perspectives of employees and how these collisions need not be
destructive but constructive in the creative process, these collisions are a vibrant
source of energy which create new, creative, innovative, adaptive and out of the box
ideas about current and future problems. Creative abrasion is about how to get
different perspectives (polarised views towards particular beliefs and viewpoints) to
grate together with each other and bounce off one another to create new ideas, so
that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Creative abrasion is needed in
certain departments to break down the conformed polarised assumptions within
them, which include eliminating standards, norms and procedures and starting from
scratch to bring in new, fresh ideas from all different participants and from different
viewpoints/perspectives within the organisation. Creative abrasion is about
highlighting the natural differences, levels of stimulation and the variety available
within the organisation which brings about new, creative directions and approaches
to achieving better teamwork, cooperation, ways of doing things and an improved
consensus from the conflict of ideas and opinions in the workplace.

The following quotes from the passage show how the creative abrasion process is
applied within Google “Googlers hail from all walks of life, speak dozens of
languages”, “offices and cafes are designed to encourage interactions between
Googlers within and across teams and to spark conversation about work and play”
and Google “strives to maintain the open culture often associated with start-ups,
everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas”. These quotes shows the vast variety of
employees working at Google which is good for the creative abrasion process and
they show the encouragement throughout the organisation for sharing ideas,
opinions and culture through the collaboration process between different people by
the culture present within Google, however the process is not formalized, prioritized
nor incentivised by senior executives which limits the potential output of creativity
from Googles current informal collaborative culture. This culture encourages the
intermingling of different people but Google leaves out the formal objectives,
incentives and the formal process needed to make full use of the creative abrasion
process through its collaborative culture. Although there is not a formal creative
abrasion process in Google the fact that Googlers are hired from different areas,
cultures, walks of life and often have very different ideas, opinions and cultures adds
to the variety needed to maximize creative abrasion, the high variety of employees
coinciding with a highly collaborating culture ,which encourages personal
conversation and intermingling between employees does lay a basic foundation to
work from for a successful creative abrasion process.
Google’s “offices and cafes are designed to encourage interactions between
Googlers within and across teams and to spark conversation about work and play.”
This specific quote shows that there is no dedicated work-time set aside towards and
no objectives given for the creative abrasion process currently at Google , it is done
more in rest and social time and more for fun and play in collaboration than for
creative output, which leads to less than maximal output of Googles creative
potential .These quotes also show that there is no emphasis, nor incentives placed
on creative output out of the collaborative culture which Google has endorsed, it is
very informal with no expectations of creative output however this does create a
basic foundation from which to work with for Google’s creative process but it’s still far
from its full potential.
Google's “willingness to learn from its experiment and learn from its mistakes" This
quote shows the fact that Google embraces a learn from its mistakes methodology
which will encourage its creativity and risk taking, even though the process is
informal, this forward thinking philosophy encourages people to look beyond the
industry norms, to be bold and look beyond what is already being done and innovate
and create new ideas and way of doing things.
Google is partly successful with it current approach to creative abrasion but to
continue pushing boundaries it will need to formalize, assign objectives and
incentivise its current approach to the creative abrasion process in order to maintain
and improve its position as” one of the world’s most dynamic and competitive firms”
4)Yes, I do believe the founders of Google Larry, and Sergey meet the
characteristics of an entrepreneurial mind-set .Larry and Sergey have a clear
definition for Google, their chosen opportunity they are pursuing “The scope of
Googles mission which is to organise the worlds information and make it universally
accessible and useful.” Larry and Sergey have passionately sought out the one
opportunity they have chosen, this shows how selective they are in pursuing only
their most worthwhile and best opportunities (Google).”Google the name reflects the
immense volume of information that exists and the scope of Googles mission.” This
shows their dedication towards the immense mission at hand to ensure they achieve
success in their selected opportunity (Google) and this is the reason why they were
very selective and only chose one opportunity opposed to multiple .The fact that
Larry and Sergey “still play an active role in day to day affairs” in Google the only
opportunity they pursued shows their discipline and sole focused dedication directed
towards Google. Larry and Sergey also habitually engage the energies of everyone
in the domain of their chosen opportunity, this is shown by the quotes “Google is and
will likely remain, one of the most dynamic and competitive firms in the world today.”
and “Googlers ask questions directly to the owners Larry and Sergey and other
executives”
5) The four flexible rules are comprised of number one to share the entrepreneurial
vision, this allows the employees to catch the dream/vision of the corporation and
become an integral part of the future of the organisation, it is the unifying of personal
desires and dreams with corporate desires and dreams so that the company can
progress together unified as one towards their objectives. At Google this is applied
through their open culture of “interactions between Googlers”, where “Googlers
share common goals and visons for the company“, “everyone feels comfortable
sharing ideas and opinions” and “core employees have autonomy but under the
regime of a single unifying philosophy”.

The second rule is to increase the perception of opportunity, which can be achieved
by careful job design, having clearly defined objectives that each person is
responsible for, by top management reviewing the company’s horizon and stretching
it, by enforcing focus upon opportunity recognition and careful coordination and
integration of the functional areas of the business. This is applied at Google by
Googlers who “ask questions directly to Larry and Sergey and other executives
about any number of company issues” and by “core employees having autonomy but
under the regime of a single unifying philosophy of the organisation.”

The third rule is to institutionalize change as an organisational goal this is done by

instilling a preference for innovation and change rather than preservation of the
status quo, by increasing the desire for opportunity, through increasing the resources
available to use and minimizing department bureaucracy. Although Google
emphasizes their open collaborative culture which minimizes bureaucracy, they do
not formally plan and emphasize institutionalizing change as an organisational goal,
there approach is more informal, relaxed (playful), un-incentivised, no objectives are
given and no additional resources are provided to put to use there cross team
employee discussions, improving this needs to be emphasized in order for Google to
maximize its innovative and creative potential. This is seen through the quote
“offices, and cafes are designed to encourage interactions between Googlers within
and across teams and to spark conversation about work and play.”

The forth rule is to instil the desire to be innovative, and this needs to be done not
just with words but specific steps need to be taken in the form of reward systems to
incentivise innovation, by establishing an environment that promotes learning from
failure, with flexible operations, flexible standards and status quo, by the
development of innovation teams with performance goals and by doing this it will
instil the desire to be innovative within the organisation culture. At Google this is
done by promoting flexible operations through their highly open and collaborative
culture and by promoting an environment that promotes learning from failure through
Googles philosophy and corporate policy, which encourages learning from mistakes
within Google, these quote shows this, Googles “willingness to learn from its
experiments and learn from its mistakes compliment perfectly its internal
collaborative structure” , “everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas and opinions”
and “Googlers share common goals and visons for the company”. Google has no
direct reward systems to incentivise innovation formally and has no specific
innovation development teams, I believe by adding these in to Googles corporate
policy Googles innovation would improve.
6) The five capabilities are adaptability, flexibility, speed, aggressiveness, and
innovation. Adaptability is the ability to adjust on a timely basis to changes in
conditions without losing focus or causing significant disruption. Flexibility is the
ability to design company strategies, processes and operational approaches that can
simultaneously meet demands of various key stakeholders. Speed is the ability to act
quickly on emerging opportunities, new product and service development and on
critical decisions without lengthy deliberation. Aggressiveness is an intense, focused
and proactive approach to eliminating competitors, delighting customers and growing
employees. Innovativeness is a continual priority placed on developing and
launching new products, services processes and technologies and through this
leading the marketplace.
7) Entrepreneurial intensity is the combination of the degree (the extent to which
events/opportunities undertaken are innovative, risky and proactive) and the
frequency (quantity of opportunities/events undertaken over a given period) of
entrepreneurship within an organisation.

In Google there is a high degree of entrepreneurship required and done in order for
Google to achieve the scope and mission that they have set for themselves ,”Google
the name reflects the immense volume of information that exists and the scope of
Googles mission” , also Googles recruitment process emphasizes ability over
experience, which shows that Google are investing in new, industry relevant skills
needed to partake in ventures with a high degree of entrepreneurship .The quote
from the passage “Google is one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in
the world today” and “its willingness to learn from its experiments and learn from its
mistakes compliment perfectly its internal collaborative structure” shows that Google
have a high degree of entrepreneurship which is why they are the leaders in their
domain because they encourage pursuing new, innovative ,forward thinking ways of
doing things by encouraging a learning from mistakes mentality within the
organisation. In Google the frequency of entrepreneurship is low, they are only
pursuing one venture (Google), I believe this is due to the scope of the mission of
Google, “Google the name reflects the immense volume of information that exists
and the scope of Googles mission”, this also shows the organisations lack of
emphasis on entrepreneurship frequency outside of the original opportunity of
Google itself. If Google wants to expand its frequency, I believe it should formalize
the entrepreneurship process, add innovation incentives through reward systems
and combine this with its open collaboration environment thus creating an
environment directed and incentivised towards entrepreneurial and innovate
creation. Google could also through its formalization process create specific
innovation teams with the sole focus of innovation and bringing about change
throughout the organisation so Google can improve on its current innovative ways
and further its place as “ one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the
world today”
 RESULTS
Total = 42 / 50 (84%)