For the past two lessons of SES (19/1/2012 and 26/1/2012), Ms.Yeo went through the management styles at three different companies, namely “The Google Way”, the Apple’s management style and “The Lenovo Way”.
These three companies have vastly different management styles. “The Google Way” created by Sergey Brin and Larry Page allows workers more liberty to decide different aspects of their working life. For example, they can decide what time to report for work and what they want to do “20% of the time”. On the other hand, at Apple, the CEO, previously Steve Jobs, decided almost everything, the employees have no autonomy. Lenovo is a hybrid, they give freedom, but only the executives have this privilege.
To some extent, the management style and working culture do tell us a little about the society. For example, in America, the people advocate freedom of speech and tend not to follow the typical hierarchy where the bosses decide and the employees just do as told. Sergey Brin and Larry Page are influenced to a large extent by such Western cultures and values that explain “The Google Way”, which emphasizes freedom.
Likewise, for Lenovo in China, the management style is linked very much to the Chinese values. Lenovo gives freedom to only the top executives. This is not surprising because in the Chinese society, those at higher ranks or are more senior have a lot of power and are accorded a lot of respect. Chinese are also more conservative and submissive. Such values and thinking is reflected in the management style at Lenovo.
However, to a large extent, I feel that the management style is the choice of the CEO rather than what the society believes in and how the people behave.
For example, since Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin are influenced by Western cultures, they tend to run Google in a more open manner. On the other hand, Lenovo is the way it is because Yang Yuanqing is a Chinese national with strong Chinese beliefs. At the end of the day, the CEO sets the culture of the company.
Let’s look at Apple. Steve Jobs resided in Silicon Valley since young. Because he was influenced by the Western Culture, we think Apple and Google should be run in about the same way. However, this is not the case. Contrary to what we think, Apple adopts a more autocratic management style. This is because Steve Jobs, according to Walter Isaacson (2011), likes to be in total control of everything, ranging from customer experience, to how the employees work and what they do. This goes to show that management style does not completely reflect the society, it is what the CEO believes in and how he wants to run the company.
I personally prefer “The Google Way” because I believe that the brain works better when people are more relaxed and then great ideas will come. I believe that if you want people to be innovative and creative, you cannot set too many rules and dictate the way they work. Even if it is a routine piece of work, there is always a better way to do it. But this is only possible if people start to think and try to make things better. So, I like “The Google Way” not because of the facilities and the massages, they are nice to have but I value their 20% time rule more. I like the freedom to dream and try out new things.
However, I am mindful of the two key assumptions that Sergey Brin and Larry Page made when they came up with “The Google Way”. Firstly, they assume that the people who work in Google actually enjoy their work. If the people like their job, they will do things related to their work and that is when new product ideas can happen. The reverse is also true.
Secondly, they assume that the employees like the management style. We must accept that there are people who prefer a more top down approach. Thus, “The Google Way” is not foolproof and will not work for all.
At the end of the day, management style is never one size fits all. The danger is to copy wholesale without any regards to the type of people and their aspiration. The important thing to note is not every company needs innovation and some jobs may only need efficiency and accuracy, so “The Lenovo Way” may work equally well. Also, there is no one management style that is better, neither is there one best model that suits most companies. The right style is one which fits the job and suits the people.
These two lessons went on very well compared to the earlier ones. The class is more participative and I am learning a lot from my friends.
In conclusion, I feel that the two lessons were fruitful and I hope that the class will continue to be spontaneous in expressing their opinions. I am looking forward to the next SES lesson.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that you are right in regards to the suggestion that the management style is the choice of the CEO rather than what the society believes in and how the people behave. I think a company’s management style will henceforth be unable to clearly reflect on the society of that country. Sometimes, the management style must suit the type of company as well, since we are not always dealing with computer software or internet companies like Google.
ReplyDeleteFrom this, I would like to point out that Lenovo is a hardware manufacturing company, whereas Google is internet and software base. Even though both are technology-related companies, I believe the working culture and environment must be different in order for them to survive. Personally, I think hardware companies handling computers, much like engineering, is relatively lacking in creation and creativity (however, innovation may step into the picture) since it is based on basic theory and application. Software companies require a lot of coding, creativity and innovation as well so that new software, widgets and social networks appear over the internet and gain recognition. So, I support your statement “not every company needs innovation and some jobs may only need efficiency and accuracy”.
Quek Yong Jie 3S2(20)
Hi Alastair,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that Steve Jobs seemingly takes total control over Apple, as he likes to be in control of everything, from customer experience, to how the employees work and what they do. By following this, he has created the many creative Apple products which the world has never seen before. Without a doubt, Steve Jobs still gets his inspiration from things in life, but I would like to comment on how Steve Jobs' level of taking total control is different from Lenovo, although they may seem to be about the same in that both management styles revolve around having a single and most important CEO.
Steve Jobs grew in a Western culture. While his management style does not reflect this, it is still evident that the Western culture has helped to build his creativity, turning him into a man of visionary. Let's look at this at another point of view. Google allows their "innovators" to be under comfortable and low-stress environments, enhancing their creativity. Google innovates in the form of internet and software- they could definitely afford to do so. On the other hand, Apple creates software as well as computers and other devices. Manufacturing is still part of their company. If we bring Lenovo into the picture, Lenovo is very much a manufacturing company. They do not create much with creativity, their workers simply work to get the computer out into the market. I believe Apple is a combination of both management styles. Steve Jobs is just like Google, where he is in his comfortable environment innovating by being in charge of people. He feels comfortable this way. When he develops new ideas, the material part is executed by his workers, who work like Lenovo. I think this is what created the Apple success today, being one of if not the most sought for brand in the technological market today.
From Apple, it is thus evident that both the Google way and Lenovo way have benefits, just as Apple has pieced them together.
Aik Yang (3S218)