Evaluating Google's Human Resource Strategies Across Global Markets

The assignment delves into Google's human resource management practices worldwide, highlighting how the organization modifies its strategies to align with local cultural norms and labor regulations. It explores the balance between globalization and localization in HR practices, underscoring Google's efforts to maintain a consistent corporate culture while respecting regional differences. The analysis draws on various academic references to understand the effectiveness of these practices in achieving competitive advantages and fostering innovation.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to mention about the human resource policies that have been
implemented by Google Inc. in different nations all across the globe. The difference in the HR
policies is dependent upon the difference in the cultural policies. Cases of India, UK and US are
taken for this report and the HR policies of the respective nations are being compared along with
mentioning the positive and negative aspects. It is relevant to mention that the labor laws and
reforms vary hugely. With the help of different type of HR policies, it is possible for Google to
deal with local issues and also help in the Talent development programme. It is also possible for
the company to provide opportunity for the local talented candidates, which can help the
company to improve the productivity. It is also possible for the company to deal with local legal
issues by proper implementation of Human Resource policies.

2
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Company Background.....................................................................................................................2
Countries of Google Operations......................................................................................................4
Cultural and Institutional settings in India, UK and US..................................................................4
Issues faced by Google in India, UK and US..................................................................................8
Impact of cultural institution of India, UK and US in talent development and Compensation
strategies........................................................................................................................................13
Reflection upon best HR practices................................................................................................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
Reference.......................................................................................................................................19

3
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The Human Resource Department is one of the essential parts of an organization, which
decides upon the overall business plan and practice that are implemented in order to ensure
proper employees are being recruited by an organization. It also helps to ensure that all the
employees are positively motivated, which helps them to provide full potential within in the
workplace. The human resource strategies are implemented based upon the organizational
behavior and also the objectives of the organization. The local culture also plays a significant
part in deciding about the human resource policies. Better level of understanding of the local
policies is believed to be one of the effective ways that can help the MNCs to implement
effective forms of business communication.
The aim of this current report is to discuss the human resource theories and policies that
are implemented within the human resource department of Google. The report will take the
examples of the work culture theory and practice of Google from three different nations from
Asia, Europe, and North America. The report will compare the HR policies that are implemented
in each of the nations. The positive and negative aspects of the HR policies will be mentioned
and thereby make it possible to distinguish the best HR policies of all the mentioned nations. At
the end of the report, a reflection will be provided, which will be based upon the best human
resource policies that are implemented by Google in order to improve upon the working
capability of employees.

4
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Company Background
Google Inc. is a multinational technology company based in the United States and is
currently one the biggest, popular and largest company in the globe. The company is mainly
known to provide internet-related service that mainly includes internet search engine service.
The company later expanded their service in the category of software and cloud computing. The
company was established in the year 1998, which was initiated with the help of various
Investments made by large-scale organizations. Headquarter of the company is currently located
in California of United States. Being one of the largest multinational corporations and most
popular Internet service providers across the globe, Google has its organization spread in all the
major nations. Currently, the company has more than 60,000 employees working in different
places. With the help of effective organization policies, it has been possible for Google to be one
of the successful multinational companies in domain of internet technology. The HR policies that
are implemented in different regions the organization is done in accordance with that of the
Local cultural diversity.
Google is currently believed to be one of the reputed organizations in terms of workplace
environment, which provides huge opportunity for talented candidates to make better future. An
effective way to manage the cultural diversity among different nations is believed to be one of
the major causes of success for Google over the past many years. It is possible for them to bring
about new innovation the technological and internet market. This is mainly possible due to the
high level of employee motivation that is present within the workplace of Google. The company
has also implemented effective selection criteria, which has enabled them to select the best
candidates having dynamic range of capability. This has helped to improve upon for all products
of the company, thereby making it one of the most successful multinational corporations.

5
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Countries of Google Operations
One of the biggest multinational organizations, Google has its operational parts in all of
the major nations of the globe. This report will, however, consider the cases of India, UK, and
USA for comparing the company's policy. There is a huge cultural difference in the three
Nations, which is why it is essential for Google to implement different HR policies. By
considering these three different nations, which are located in Asia, Europe, and North America,
it is possible to analyze the huge difference that exists in the Google's policy in managing the
human resource.
It will be also possible to consider the positive and negative aspects of the respective
local culture and diversity that has a significant impact on the overall performance of Google
over the past many years. The cultural difference in these Nations will help the company to
assess the best possible human resource policy that can be implemented within the workplace of
the organization in order to improve their productivity and maintain the existing reputation.
Cultural and Institutional settings in India, UK, and US
The institutional and cultural settings of different countries across the globe are diverse
and multifaceted, implying that multinational companies are influenced to a large extent by these
factors when it comes to doing business in different countries. The cultural and institutional
settings of India and UK are diverse and distinct from each other as well as from that of US. The

6
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
impact of Google’s global HRM practices on its host country employees and managers are
noteworthy in this regard.
The significant differences drawn between the working culture of India and the US are
related to working hours, flexible shift timings, HR centric work, blockers and promotions.
According to Patel and Rayner (2015), Indian organizations have long working hours for their
employees since the break taken in between the shift timing are long, while the counterpart teams
in the US have shift timings less in duration. Conference meetings are held mostly outside the
office premises, and it is noteworthy that US companies have no fixed office hours. Flexible shift
timing is a key feature of US-based companies that allow employees to work at their disposition
keeping productivity and communication with seniors into consideration. The number of
meetings held in among professionals in India is far less than the average number of such
meetings held in the US. In India, the common culture is to drive the main burden of work
towards the Head-Quarters, implying that the substantial amount of work is not distributed
equally among the different teams scattered in different geographic locations. The operations
work is usually done at the headquarters, leaving the other departments to supervise the rest of
the functioning. Further, an employee might be blocked by an infrastructure related concern or
team dependency issue in India, unlike in the U.S. Further, in India, the workforce is driven
towards climbing the ladder of corporate success by gaining promotions based on technical
expertise solely. The importance of leadership skills is not given much worth and value across
the different organizations. Employees are more focused on showcasing their technical
knowledge and management, and leadership skills take a backseat.
This is supported by Stahl and Tung (2015) who state that in western countries, there are
no restrictions of office working hours. However, employees have an urge to maintain

7
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
punctuality and complete the set work within the supposed deadline. In countries such as India,
employees are not often punctual and stretching the working hours is a common scenario that is
perceived to be a sign of increased dedication towards work. Kaur (2017) opined that there is a
huge difference between the work culture of IT companies in India and other countries such as
the US and the UK. The authors have mainly focused on the productivity, processes, and
hierarchy. In western countries, the productivity is higher as compared to the countries in the
East. In the Indian IT sector, processes are often made complex, and the tendency is to maintain
the status-quo rather than coming up with novice strategy and ideas. Further, the hierarchical
structures in Indian organizational systems are multi-layered, making it difficult to find
resolutions in issues in a simple and time-saving manner. It is also to be highlighted that
hierarchy has a strong relationship with the work-experience of an employee. Even if an
employee is a phenomenal performer, he would not be promoted to the position of a manager lest
he has a considerable amount of experience. In the UK and the US, organizations are way
flatter, and a person holding a designation proves his real worth through his daily interactions. In
such countries, the performance of an employee is valued, and promotion is gained on the basis
of multiple factors.
Dickmann, Brewster and Sparrow (2016) outlined the differences in business culture
witnessed in the US and UK and gave special attention given to the definitions of success in each
of these countries and work-life balance. Different cultures have different forms of definition for
success, and this principle is prominent in this case. In the US, a successful employee is more
defined as a person who has achieved success regarding finance. In contrast, in UK, position
holds more importance rather than monetary gains. Therefore, in the latter country, the entrusting
of responsibilities and duties take the lead when it comes to organizational functions. The work-

8
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
life balance is also drastically different between the two countries. Employees in the US give
more emphasis on work-life balance and aim to engage in interests outside their work life.
However, in the UK, socializing and establishing social relationships with colleagues is a
common instance. With regards to professionalism among employees Cadden, Marshall and Cao
(2013) state that employees in the UK are more apologetic as compared to American standards.
They appreciate individuals showing modesty and maintain strict professionalism by not taking
any favors. In the US, the culture of self-confidence implies that professionals are more
approachable for speaking up their minds and putting forward their views and opinions.
Since different countries in the East and the West have different definitions and
principles embedded in cultural and institutional settings, the differences of HRM practices
between home and host country impact vastly on employees and managers. Since it is a difficult
process to transfer the HR policies between different countries, managers face difficulties in
adhering to the policies as there are arising conflicts. The HR practices are affected by the
business style and strategy of the host country as well as its culture. Employees are impacted in
terms of selection and recruitment, compensation and benefits and training and development.
There is an increased level of autocracy in a number of countries. Managers, therefore, need to
follow the autocratic style of leadership for managing the employees. Decisions are to be taken
without input from the employees, who have no decision making authority within the workplace
(Tung 2016).
The underlying differences in institutional and cultural settings across India, UK and US
have driven the employees and managers at Google to adapt to changes brought about in the
workplace. Unlike in India, managers of Google in the UK and US focus more on leadership
attributes and come up with strategies to keep the leaders on track. Focus on leadership drives

9
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
the vision of the employees of Google towards being emotionally connected and mission-
aligned. Critical thinking ability and rational thought process are distinct features of the
employees of Google in UK and US unlike India (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016).
Warner (2014) point out that transferring policy of human resource between home and
host countries is quite problematic. The obstacles are related to the institutional environment.
Since there is a diversification of behaviors, attitudes, and values, there is no single approach
through which managers at Google address the employee's concerns in different countries.
Management policies are influenced by the cultural factors. Since failure in adopting the HRM
practices in the host country's culture is the cause of negative consequences, employees are
always under pressure to perform as per the evolving and dynamic set of guidelines outlined by
the managers. The employer-employee relationship is highly impacted in this process. Under the
pressure of performing as per international standards, conflicts arising between the two parties
are more prominent whose resolution is difficult to attain. Lastly, while one of Google's host
countries might be adjusting to the corporate values they uphold, the other might not, further
aggravating the issue.
Issues faced by Google in India, UK and US
In the current world of globalization, the relationship of labors has no borders. For large
scale multinational corporations like Google is highly affected due to the policies of International
Labour. According to toSteiber and Alänge (2013), the cultural difference across various Nations
all across the globe has been one of the major issues for multinational corporations for dealing
with matters related to global labor relations. As mentioned in the previous section there is a

10
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
huge cultural difference in the workplace of Google at various countries that are in India, UK,
and USA. There are many cases in the past records, which suggest that due to cultural difference
between these Nations and workplace procedures, it is not possible for the company to
coordinate their activities according to their organizational objectives (Nyberg et al. 2014).
Given lower significance to the issues related to global labor relations, Google has not
enabled to deal with the issues related to that of workplace cultural difference. There are several
risks that are associated with issues related to International Labour unions, which can be a matter
of concern for large scale multinational corporations. The Global labor relations are not only one
of the major corporate social responsibilities; it is also related to the issue of non-binding nature
of International Labour standards. Different nations all across the globe have implemented
various different types of labor standards, which are implemented depending upon the local
cultural and institutional settings.
According to Wagner (2013), the major risks that are encountered by Google due to
difference in global labor relations strategy is mainly due to the fact of negative reputation of
workplace culture. The relationship between the client and investors are also compromised due
to lower level of coordination that is an impact of cultural diversity across Asian European and
American Nations. The supply chain can also be disrupted, which can compromise upon the
value of International Labour. There is also the risk of exposing sensitive information, which can
compromise upon the planning process of an organization. Economic activity of a local region
has also a strong influence upon the labor relations.
In Asian countries like India, labor relationship strategies have been implemented in
order to resolve the conflict among the labor unions and also resolve cases related to internal

11
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
economic conflict. Due to the high rate of cultural diversity within various states of India,
Google has to face with severe issues related to internal conflict within the employee. In spite of
the advanced level of institutional and cultural settings, within what place across India, the
internal conflict has compromised upon the overall performance rate. There are several external
factors related to restrictions of the employees, which is mainly due to the protocols that are
implemented by labor unions.
Strong influence of the government in the internal activity of the labor unions has been
one of the major obstacles faced by Google in managing the employees of India. There is also
the hierarchical management system, which is the reflection of the external social system that is a
major source of disrupting the organizational communication (Laudon and Laudon 2016). It is
important to mention in this context that due to the effect of globalization employers have to
push less regulatory policies within the organizational function.
The main purpose of the labor law that is implemented by the United Kingdom
government is to establish an effective relationship between the workers and the employers.
There are standard sets of Benefits and fundamental rights that the employees in all the
workplace of UK can enjoy. This includes the right to minimum wage along with other health
and safety benefits, that every employer needs to provide to their workers. Maintaining high
level of transparency if one of the essential component in all the major workplaces in the United
Kingdom. This helps to establish an effective relationship between the employees and employers
thereby helping the business organizations of UK to improve their productivity by creating
healthy environment within the workplace (Kianto et al. 2014). Nevertheless, for large-scale
multinational corporations like Google, have to share huge amount of information with the
employees of the workplace in the UK in order to maintain transparency. This can be one of the