Google's Leadership: Impact of Globalisation on Leadership Styles

This dissertation investigates the impact of globalization on the leadership style of Google LLC, a prominent multinational technology company. The study examines the influence of globalization on organizational management, analyzes changes in international leadership practices, and establishes a link between globalization and leadership styles. The research employs a case study approach, focusing on Google's evolution under different CEOs, and explores the challenges and transformations in leadership within the context of globalization. The dissertation includes a literature review, methodology, findings, discussion, and conclusion, offering a comprehensive analysis of how globalization affects Google's leadership and its implications for the company's success. The study highlights the importance of adaptability, cultural awareness, and employee motivation in a globalized business environment. The findings reveal the shifting leadership styles within Google and their relevance to the company's performance.

Running Head: DISSERTATION
DISSERTATION
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1DISSERTATION
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................3
1.1 Overview................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Problem statement.................................................................................................................4
1.3 Research rationale..................................................................................................................5
1.4 Research aim..........................................................................................................................6
1.5 Research objectives...............................................................................................................6
1.6 Research question..................................................................................................................6
1.7 Research structure..................................................................................................................6
1.8 Summary................................................................................................................................7
Chapter 2: Literature review............................................................................................................8
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................8
2.2 Impact of globalisation on organisational management........................................................8
2.3 Different aspects of current international leadership...........................................................12
2.4 Impact of globalisation on international leadership styles..................................................15
2.5 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................16
2.6 Literature gap.......................................................................................................................16
2.7 Summary..............................................................................................................................17
Chapter 3: Methodology................................................................................................................18
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................18
3.2 Method outline.....................................................................................................................18
3.3 Research philosophy............................................................................................................18
3.4 Research approach...............................................................................................................19
3.5 Research design...................................................................................................................20
3.6 Research strategy.................................................................................................................21
3.7 Data collection process........................................................................................................22
3.8 Data analysis plan................................................................................................................22
3.9 Ethical consideration...........................................................................................................23
3.10 Accessibility issue.............................................................................................................23
3.11 Limitation of the methodology..........................................................................................24

2DISSERTATION
3.12 Research timeline...............................................................................................................24
3.13 Summary............................................................................................................................25
Chapter 4: Findings........................................................................................................................26
Theme 1: Cultural predominance and change at Google...........................................................26
Theme 2: Leadership style at Google under Larry Page...........................................................29
Theme 3: Leadership style at Google under Sundar Pichai.......................................................32
Theme 4: Changes in leadership style in Google......................................................................35
Theme 5: Relevance of the change in leadership style at Google.............................................36
Chapter 5: Discussion....................................................................................................................38
5.1 Analyse the findings............................................................................................................38
5.2 Summary..............................................................................................................................42
Chapter 6: Conclusion...................................................................................................................43
6.1 Linking to objectives...........................................................................................................43
6.2 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................44
Reference.......................................................................................................................................45

3DISSERTATION
Topic: Impact of globalization on the leadership style of a multinational organisation. Case
study of Google
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Overview
Google LLC is a renowned and successful American multinational technology company
that specialises in internet related services and products. Online advertising technologies, search
engine and cloud computing are considered to be the most important products and services that
Google LLC has provided to the clients and normal customers, Due to its technological
expertise, innovativeness and dynamic business activities Google is identified as one of the Big
Four technology driven companies around the globe. The organisation was established in 1998
by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and gradually expanded its business successfully in the overseas
market. Currently, the organisation is operated across all the world and highly popular for its
Google Search Engine (Bellis 2020). A huge workforce has contributed to the success of the
organisation and still contributes to the excellence of the company. There are more than 100,000
people working in Google LLC throughout the globe. SundarPichai is the current CEO of
Google LLC. Due to the magnanimity of its business practices, it is highly essential for the
organisation to maintain a good organisational environment and leadership quality that can bring
success to the organisational practice effectively (Bellis 2020). In addition to this, employee
motivation and continuousinnovation are very important for Google to not only compete with the
rival companies like Amazon, Apple and Facebook but also maintain the brand image to a great
extent. Therefore, focusing on the leadership practices is considered to be the mainstay for the
organisation to provide sustainability in future business orientation.

4DISSERTATION
1.2 Problem statement
The advent of globalisation has a deep down impact over the operation dynamics of the
business organisations. As a result of that changes in the organisational management and
leadership can be seen transparently where the leaders are played significantly for achieving
success in the competitive market. In response to this, the research of Reicheet al. (2017)pointed
out that the current business organisations are suffering with a number of new practices like
diversity, inclusion and focusing highly on employee retention as the market competitiveness
enhances the value of human resource to a great extent. In addition to this, the leadership quality
is also identified as one of the most important aspect that the current business companies are
encompassing in terms of enhancing creativity, out-of-the-box thinking and high adaptability.
Watts, Steele and Den Hartog (2020) advocated that the current multinational business leaders
are highly associated with the cultural differences of the employees in association with
communication and knowledge development. As a result of that that a good and effective
leadership style is highly important for the leaders to encompass and develop. However, lack of
understanding the importance of human resources can pave the way for damaging the needs and
satisfaction of the employees which is considered to be a threat for the sustainability of the
business organisations.
In case of Google LLC, there are some challenges that the current business leaders in
terms of the managers are facing serious allegations in different aspects like organisational
culture, lack of diversity, skills of the leaders to manage the human resources effectively and so
on. For instance, the report of Brohiet al. (2018)pointed out that there is huge criticism over
lacking diversity in Google workforce. Moreover the former HR of Google also reported that the

5DISSERTATION
organisation has lack of motivational practice for the employees which is considered to be one of
the leading obstacle or challenge to the future orientation of the Google.
1.3 Research rationale
The research is emphasises on the purpose of understanding the impact of globalisation
over the leadership style in multinational companies. It is a very pertinent and relevant matter
that can help to provide more justification for putting enough highlights on the leadership skills
and abilities. It is important to note that this research is not discussing about the skills and
abilities that international business leaders must possess but focusing on the impact of
globalisation on the leadership style of the multinational managers. From the research of Le and
Kroll (2017) it can be argued that high competitiveness in the international market pushes the
business organisations to follow the process of delivering an effective leadership quality that not
only meeting the organisations objectives but at the same time also thriving sustainability for
future business orientation. For instance, the research of Watts, Steele and Den Hartog (2020)
put focus on the role of leaders in diversity in workplace. The practice of diversity in workplace
is closely resembled with the paradigm of talent management. In this context, talent management
and globalisation are linked in such a shape that globalisation directly influences the business
companies to opt for a systematic talent management practice.
For companies like Google, it is very much essential to establish a better and pro-active
leadership skill for the managers so that they are able to bring efficacy into the business
orientation and at the same time also cope with the changes that are created by globalisation. In
response to this, the research is going to find out the impact of globalisation on international
leadership style and how does it is relevant for the success of the organisation.

6DISSERTATION
1.4 Research aim
This research aims to find out the impact of globalisation on the international leadership
style in Google LLC.
1.5 Research objectives
The research objectives are as follows,
 To identify the importance of globalisation in organisational management.
 To analyse the changes in current international leadership practices.
 To create a link between globalisation and international leadership style.
1.6 Research question
The research questions are as follows,
 What are the importance of globalisation in the organisational management?
 What are the transformations that current leadership practices have witnessed?
 How far globalisation influences the international leadership styles?
1.7 Research structure
The research dissertation is divided into the 5 chapters started from Chapter 1 which is
the introduction chapter. In this chapter, the rationale and the problem statement is going to be
mentioned so that it will provide a clear guideline to the research. In addition to this, the chapter
also encompasses the research aims, objectives and hypothesis that are the mainstay of the
dissertation. Then a literature review is conducted in Chapter 2 where the research intends to
seek support from the empirical evidences. It is important to note that the purpose of the
literature review is to provide enough insights into the research topic by focusing on the previous

7DISSERTATION
researches and empirical evidences. The next part is associated with the methodology section
where the research method will be discussed. The research methodology chapter is highly crucial
for the research as it will help the research to formulate the research properly. After that the
findings and analysis of the research is going to be discussed in Chapter 4 with the name
research findings and analysis. In this chapter the research findings will be incorporated and an
analysis will be conducted based on the research outcome. The next chapter is discussion where
the focus of the researcher is fixed on assimilating and comparing the research outcome with the
literature review findings. Finally, a conclusion and recommendation chapter will be set.
1.8 Summary
The introduction chapter is trying to provide the initial information related to this
research in terms of the research rationale, research problems, aims, objectives and hypothesis.
The research problem helps to identify the problems that this research is going to address.
Leadership style in business in the age of globalisation is a very significant and pertinent aspect
that the research problem and rationale is going to find out. Based on the perception a research
aim is also be set with research objectives and questions. Therefore, it assists the researcher to
draw the hypothesis and continue the research with proper guidelines. Moreover, the research
aims and objectives also foster enough insights into the topic that can facilitate a proper literature
review further.

8DISSERTATION
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Introduction
The literature review is trying to focus on the previous research on the same topic.
However, there is a difference between the current research and the previous researches. The
previous researches are trying to elucidate on the link between globalisation and current business
leadership approach. There are some prospects that the literature review can provide in course of
delivering a better understanding of the topic. There are some conceptual analysis and theoretical
discussions that the literature review is provided in course of acknowledging the relation
between globalisation and the current leadership traits.
2.2 Impact of globalisation on organisational management
According to the research of Naqshbandi and Jasimuddin (2018) it can be stated that the
advent of globalisation has a deep down impact over the organisational management practice. It
is found as a dynamic aspect based on different attributes of the globalisation that lead to the
epitome of efficacy and professionalism. From that point of view, Brewster, Tasoulis, Krepapa
and Stewart (2019) advocated that globalisation has transformed the ways of perception and
believe of the business industries and companies as well. The free trade practice enhances
competitiveness in the international market as many of the business rivals are getting a free pass
to expand the business successfully in the overseas market. In response to this, the decision
making abilities and skills of the managers has become a crucial and pertinent aspect that most of
the business companies are facing with the perception to deliver a better and effective
organisational practice (Rao-Nicholson, Khan and Stokes 2016). Creativity and determination of
the managers are under scrutiny where it is found that the managers are highly influenced to

9DISSERTATION
develop their decision making skills effectively. The advancement in transportation and
integration between different cultures further intensify the situation where most of the business
organisations are trying to cope with paradigms like diversity, equality and professionalism.
On the other hand, Wooster and Paul (2016) was trying to analyse the impact of
globalisation from a different point of view. It can be stated that globalisation not only delivers a
better situation of competitiveness for different business companies but it becomes also a
relevant impact of globalisation where the importance of organisational behaviour has been
intensified to a great extent. Therefore, it is also a crucial strategy for the international business
companies to put emphasis on the organisational behaviour and set right cultures that can boost
the productivity and services of the organisation. In fact, Zhang and Xie (2017) corroborated the
fact human resource is becoming an asset for the international business organisations and
globalisation plays a pivotal role in increasing the demand and value of human resource.
Obviously, the satisfaction and motivation of the employees are very pertinent for the business
organisations and the international business companies are looking forward to the opportunity to
satisfy the human resource in order to maintain quality of workforce intact (Koveshnikov and
Ehrnrooth 2018).
The role of globalisation in business is also associated with expanding the market further
into overseas market. In response to this, the business companies have to recruit new employees
in order to run the business operation in the international market effectively. The purpose of the
recruitment is to run operation and also maximise profitability successfully (Dimitratoset al.
2016). In response to this, it is essential for the organisations to reduce cost of human resource.
Therefore, recruiting people from the local market is identified as a strategic measure that all the
business organisations must follow. In response to this, cultural assimilation is also considered to

10DISSERTATION
be an important aspect for the business organisations to survive in the international market. It is
the impact of globalisation that compels the business companies to deliver an effective
organisational practice in order to create cultural integrity. The factors of globalisation play
magnificently in forcing the business organisations to not only emphasize on the cultural
integrity but also attach more efficacies into the organisational practice due to the need of the
market and business operation (Richardson and Rammal 2018). In addition to this, it can be
stated that cultural integrity is also associated with the performance and productivity of the
organisation.
The prospect of cultural integrity is closely associated with the practice of developing a
better organisational productivity by satisfying the employees. Cultural difference in
organisation is a very justified and relevant aspect for current business. Globalisation makes it
more critical for the business organisations because of the high competitiveness in the market
(Oura, Zilber and Lopes 2016). It is important to note that the role of the cultural integrity has
deep impact over the satisfaction level of the employees where it is essential for the business
organisation to put more focus on the organisational development. The essence of cultural
integrity puts respects to all the employees and reduces any threat of cultural bullying or
disrespect. Henceforth, the employees from different cultural background feel secure to work in
the organisation and at the same time also able to focus more on their performance (Surdu and
Mellahi 2016). Therefore, it is highly essential for the business companies to put great deal of
emphasis over the cultural integrity. However, there is a change that can be seen in respect to this
as the business companies were reluctant to make any progress towards cultural integrity within
the workplace. It is the impact of globalisation that forced the business organisations to put a

11DISSERTATION
great deal of emphasis over the efficacy of cultural integrity and work accordingly to enhance the
productivity of the organisation.
In addition to this, it can be stated that globalisation has influenced the suitability of the
organisation to a great extent. For instance, it can be stated that the implication of globalisation
in international trade has enhanced the understanding of the values of the society and the role of
the business companies to deliver better practices for the benefit of not only the society but for
the future orientation of the organisation (Sarabiet al. 2020). According to the research of
Fletcheret al. (2018) it can be stated that the sustainability measures of the organisation is
considered to be a strategic advantage that can put enough effectiveness and opportunity for the
business to get developed. In response to this, Goedhuys and Sleuwaegen (2016) pointed out that
the impact of globalisation in business opens up wider opportunity for the companies to penetrate
into the market. In response to this, sustainability enhances the brand value of the business
organisation as they are following better a benevolent business practice. Therefore, the customers
will also appreciate the efforts of the organisation which in return helps the company to get a
loyal customer base. Moreover, globalisation also manages to shape the quality or service and
relationship with the suppliers through implementing the sustainable development (Azar and
Ciabuschi 2017). In response to this, facilitating good relationship with the suppliers is
considered to be one of the leading sustainability measures that corporate enterprises have to
follow for safeguarding its business orientation further.
From the research of Zhenget al. (2016) defined the theoretical perception regarding
globalisation. It can be argued that globalisation has transcended the role of the business
organisations to a great extent due to eradication of any geographical barrier across the globe. It
is important to note that the geographical barriers are no longer a consideration for the business

12DISSERTATION
companies as globalisation stretches its impact internationally (Bird and Mendenhall 2016).
However, Waal and Born (2020) pointed out that one of the most important characteristics of
globalisation in modern business is associated with the fact that the ownership of the business is
separated from management. In other words, it can be stated that the owner of the business does
not have to deal with the management of the organisation (Krauset al. 2018). Therefore, a
separation of power can be seen in case of the current business practices and it assists to create a
corporate governance practice within the organisational management. This corporate governance
practice is highly crucial for the business companies as the role of the organisation is to not only
ensure its success in business but also encapsulate the perception of installing a good Watts,
Steele and Den Hartog (2020) image that can help to foster its business sustainability to a great
extent. Therefore, McDonnellet al. (2017) opined that the process of globalisation has immense
impact over the success of the business organisation and it helps the business companies to
manage its organisation to a great extent.
2.3 Different aspects of current international leadership
There are some characteristics or trends in the current international leadership practice
that any of the business leaders must acquire and work on. For instance, Heet al. (2018)
advocated that overseas experience is a very important and major aspect that international
leadership must develop because the dynamics of business is also changing its nature and it
becomes more imbued with complexity and fluctuations. From that point of view, it can be
argued that the current international leadership must acquire the knowledge and efficacy that can
bring a successful leadership approach. In addition to this, Morris, Snell and Björkman (2016)
relied on the notion and practice of self-awareness. The notion is resembled with high skill of
adaptability and patience so that it can bring efficacy to the organisational practice.

13DISSERTATION
On the contrary, Funget al. (2020) opined that a strong sense of cultural diversity is
highly relevant and pertinent for the international business leaders in order to develop their
knowledge and understanding on different cultural perspectives. It is important to note that the
role of the different cultural perspectives and providing respect to different cultural values and
tradition is a very important practice that the current international leaders must possess. The
purpose of developing skills in cultural diversity is to maintain a strong workforce that are highly
skilled and effective to meet the organisational objectives and bring efficacy to achieve
organisational sustainability in future (Tenzer, Terjesen and Harzing 2017). The practice is also
associated with emotional intelligence of the international leaders where the emotional
intelligence helps the business leaders to gain abilities in practicing emotional intelligence.
Buckley (2016) pointed out that diversity is a very sensitive matter and it requires enough
insights into the abilities and practices to understand different cultural aspects of the employees.
In response to this, the emotional intelligence plays a very significant role where it is highly
pertinent for the leaders to understand and respect the diversity practices of the organisational
culture.
The nature and attitude of the international leaders are also considered to be crucial in
international business as the role of the organisation is to not only deliver better organisational
practice but also put great deal of emphasis on the positive environment within the workplace.
Henceforth, Bird and Mendenhall (2016) stated that the role of the international leaders is to
motivate and inspire the workforce in such a manner that can help to provide better productivity
and competitive edge in the overseas market. From that point of view, Naqshbandi and
Jasimuddin (2018) asserted that the attitude of the international leader should be positive and

14DISSERTATION
open minded enough so that it will help to motivate the employees and enhance the quality of
productivity to a great extent.
The use of emotional intelligence is also considered to be one of the focal point on which
international leaders are relied. It is important to note that the current leadership practice is not
only entitled to manage the organisation and its administration but also compels to maintain a
strong bonding with the employees. It is highly crucial for the success in international business
as the business leaders realise that competition in the market is not only resembled with the
market expansion for the business organisation (Tenzer, Terjesen and Harzing 2017). It relates to
the human resource market as well where motivation and satisfaction of the employees is also
considered to be an important aspect that the business leaders must follow. From the research of
Kochet al. (2016) it can be derived that the role of the business leaders is to develop their
personal attributes and link it with the satisfaction of the employees. In response to this,
Beugelsdijk, Kostova and Roth (2017) found out the importance of emotional intelligence. The
current business leaders are highly concerned about the importance of emotional intelligence and
it is within their jurisdiction to imbibe such an approach to make a better relationship with the
employees. As per the research of Taras, Steel and Kirkman (2016) emotional intelligence has
the ability to control the personal emotions of the leaders and create a lenient approach towards
the issues and interests of the business leaders. As a result of that the concept of emotional
intelligence incorporates factors like effective communication, empathy for others and defuse
any conflict within the organisational practice. For the current leadership style, it is considered to
be one of the pertinent aspect to console and encourage the employees so that they can also feel
to be a part of the organisation (Jain, Kothari and Kumar 2016). From that point of view, it can

15DISSERTATION
be stated that emotional intelligence is considered to be one of the core characteristics of current
business leaders.
2.4 Impact of globalisation on international leadership styles
Globalisation has a long drawn impact over the international leadership style. The impact
over the business organisations leads to an influence over the leaders as well. As a result of that
critical impact can also be found in the leadership style of the leaders as well. Henceforth, a
sharp change is also discovered into the leadership styles of the international business leaders as
well. For instance, a closer relation with the employees is identified as the most significant
characteristics that globalisation has made on international leadership styles. In the words of
Rao-Nicholson, Khan and Stokes (2016) it can be stated that the current global business leaders
are more focused on good personal relation with the employees so that the employees can feel
comfortable and focus on the job effectively. It is important to note that the current global
business leaders are highly focused on communication as well. Along with the verbal
communication practices immense focus is vested on the non-verbal communication as well
where the body language of the global business leaders is very important to motivate and inspire
the employees. In other words, Le and Kroll (2017) argued that the global business leaders are
highly interested to lead the workforce from the front and willing to provide guidance towards
achieving the organisational objectives.
From the point of view of Zhang and Xie (2017) cultural assimilation and integrity are
also part of the current business leaders due to immense impact of globalisation. Globalisation
encompasses the elements of integrity and it eventually associated with the organisational
development. Therefore, the role of the international leaders is highly pertinent to foster
guidance and effectiveness to the organisational practice (Buckley 2016). In addition to this, it is

16DISSERTATION
Change in leadership style
Globalisation
Leadership
High competitiveness
Increasing value of human resource
Diversity in workplace
Cultural integrity
Employee motivation
Emotional intelligence
Flexible workplace culture
Positive attitude
also a major concern for the international business leaders to maintain harmony and integrity
within the workforce in order to gain more strategic advantage in the competitive market
(Morris, Snell and Björkman 2016). Henceforth, globalisation plays an extensive role in order to
influence the current international leadership practice.
2.5 Conceptual framework
2.6 Literature gap
The literature review provides a gross analysis over the role of the globalisation on
international business leadership style. There are limited explanations of the direct impact of
globalisation on the international leadership style. Moreover, it is also pertinent to note that the
empirical evidences do not provide any information regarding the leadership style and qualities
of Google LLC. Therefore, the researcher intends to initiate a new research over Google LLC

17DISSERTATION
and finds out the prospect of initiating a link between the leadership style in current business
practice and globalisation.
2.7 Summary
The literature review provides enough insights into the link between globalisation and
current business leadership style. It is pertinent for the research to carry out further primary
research findings into the same topic. However, there are some differences between the empirical
evidences and the current research practice. It can be stated that there are several important
aspects that are being highlighted by the literature review. It is very crucial for the research to
have a conceptual background of relationship between globalisation and current leadership style
and the literature review provides an in-depth analysis on it so that it will foster better research
process further.

18DISSERTATION
Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
The methodology part is considered to be the most important aspect for a research
dissertation. It is important to note that the role of methodology is to shape the research layout
perfectly so that it will guide the researcher to get proper result. In response, this research is also
focusing on the methodology part extensively with mentioning different research techniques and
methods require for this research. Therefore, the methodology plays a pivotal part in dissertation.
3.2 Method outline
The research methodology is focusing on the positivism research philosophy with a
deductive research approach that can help to deliver better and relevant outcome as expected by
the researcher. A thematic analysis will be delivered on the secondary data analysis. It will be a
case study analysis and the researcher will put emphasis on the leadership practice and
organisational management of Google LLC. The impact of globalisation on the changing style of
leadership in Google is the main focus of the research as it is also the aim of the current research.
Therefore, qualitative data analysis technique has been followed in order to make the research a
success.
3.3 Research philosophy
According to Lundgren and Jansson (2016) the purpose of the research philosophy is to
identify the motive of the research so that it will enables the researcher to have extensive
understanding of the research process. There are four different types of the research philosophy
in terms of positivism, realism, interpretivism and pragmatism. From the research of

19DISSERTATION
Gomes,Barnes and Mahmood (2016) it can argued that the role of research philosophy is to set
characteristics that includes epistemology, ontology an axiology. Therefore, it is highly pertinent
for the research to set the research philosophy at first. Each type of different philosophies are
trying to provide different kinds of philosophical support to the dissertation that will be relevant
with the topic of the research.
In response to this, positivism has been taken as the most relevant and research
philosophy approach which is based on the existence of reality by using scientifically proven
techniques. López‐Duarte, Vidal‐Suárez and González‐Díaz (2016) opined that the role of
positivism as a research philosophy is to help the researcher to gather data from the research
mode whether it follows quantitative or qualitative or both, The research study aims to
investigate the impact of globalisation on leadership style of Google LLC. Therefore, the
positivism research philosophy will guide the research to link the outcome of the research with
the concepts illustrated in the literature review section. Henceforth, it will be easier for the
researcher to carry out the research properly.
3.4 Research approach
There are two specific research approach in terms of the deductive and inductive. The
role of the deductive approach is to analyse and scrutinise the available models and theories
mentioned in the research study. The data generation will also follow the same line by getting
analysed through existing models and theories. On the other hand, Boddewyn (2016) advocated
that the role of the inductive approach is to rely on new theories and models that are not
mentioned in the research study. From that point of view, it can be stated that research approach
intends to deliver a guideline for the researcher to draw actual and desired outcome. Moreover,
from the research of Rimboet al. (2017) also it can be derived that the role of research approach

20DISSERTATION
is to mark out every steps to meet the expected outcome of the research. Therefore, it is very
important for the researcher to choose the research approach wisely and fulfil the expectation of
the research.
In response to this, the researcher opts for the deductive approach so that the research will
follow the existing framework of the research. In addition to this, it is also crucial for the
researcher to have deep insights into the link between globalisation and leadership style in the
context of Google LLC. so that the aims and objectives of the research will properly be met. The
focus will be vested on the empirical evidences and the concepts that are discussed in literature
review. Based on this understanding, the research will conduct the research on the respondents
and intending to get results as expected.
3.5 Research design
Research design facilitates an opportunity for the researcher to guide the study towards
achieving goals and objectives of the research. In response to this, it is essential for the
researcher to choose the right mode of research design. There are different types of research
designs such as explanatory research design and descriptive research design (Martineau and
Pastoriza 2016). The purpose of the research design is to facilitate a process that can help to meet
the aims and objectives of the research. The explanatory research design is associated with the
cause-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables. As a result of that the
possible outcome can be forecasted properly and easily (Gaur and Kumar 2018). On the other
hand, descriptive research is associated with the defining the issues and problems of the research
by confronting the research study. In response to this, the focus will be vested on the opportunity
to develop understanding and knowledge related to the topic.

21DISSERTATION
This research emphasises on the descriptive research design where it will be easier for the
researcher to establish a link between the dependent and the independent variables. The
dependent variable is the leadership style and the independent variable is globalisation.
Therefore, it will be effective for the researcher to carry out the research effectively with the
perception to foster a better and effective research practice. The descriptive research process is
highly important for this research due to its analytical approach and understanding the
knowledge related to the topic.
3.6 Research strategy
According to the research of Welch and Piekkari (2017) the research strategy is a
fundamental need that a research must follow in course of getting the characteristics of the study
and target results. The primary data set focuses on the respondents who are chosen by the
researcher as per the research theme and aims and objectives. The purpose of the primary data
set is to generate data from direct human responses which is considered to be more authentic
than secondary data set. Moreover, it can be argued that the primary data set is divided into
qualitative and quantitative data. For the qualitative data the responses are limited but
emphasising on open ended questionnaire named as interview questions (Beamish and Lupton
2016). On the other hand, the quantitative data deals with huge chunks of data and the data
generation process is based on the survey questionnaire where close ended questionnaire is
developed.
This research follows a secondary research strategy where a case study analysis will be
applied. The case student analysis will be the suitable research practice for this research because
it will help to facilitate an in-depth analysis over the research topic and help to focus on the
research objectives effectively so that it can foster better understanding of the impact of

22DISSERTATION
globalisation over the change in leadership practice of Google LLC. The focus will be on the
leadership practice of previous CEO of Google, Larry Page and the current CEO Sundar Pichai.
It will not be a compare and contrast of the leadership styles but the focal point of the research
will be vested on the change in the leadership style of Google LLC due to globalisation.
3.7 Data collection process
There are two types of data collection process in terms of the primary data and secondary
data collection process. In the primary data collection process the research has to rely on the
efficacy of the interview and survey data that can be generated through the respective data
analysis tool (Sinkovics, Jean and Kim 2016). There is also another significant method, the
secondary analysis where the data will be collected from different books, journals, articles and
online platforms.
The current research is going to opt for the secondary data collection process where the
researcher has to pay some focus on the secondary resources like reviewed journals, article or
electronic materials. However, it has to keep in mind that the secondary articles have to be linked
with the aims of the research and the chosen organisation as well. In respect to this, the current
research aims to investigate the impact of globalisation on the leadership change in Google LLC.
Therefore, the secondary resources will also put light on the leadership of Google LLC.
3.8 Data analysis plan
The data analysis technique is divided into two types in terms of the qualitative analysis
and quantitative analysis. In the quantitative analysis the research must use peered review
journals and articles in order to create a justification for the research aims and objectives

23DISSERTATION
(Apriliyanti and Alon 2017). On the other hand, the qualitative analysis is generated by a
thematic analysis where the researcher can breaks down the research topic into different themes.
The current research is going to emphasis on the qualitative analysis. It means the
research will follow the thematic process and segregates the topic into different themes. As a
result of that it becomes easier for the researcher to narrow down the concept and anwer the
research questions properly with the help of the thematic analysis.
3.9 Ethical consideration
The research is willing to work on the ethical consideration related to the research and
during the collection of the data. As per the research of Gligor, Esmark and Gölgeci (2016)it can
be stated that ethical consideration is highly pertinent for any research as it provides enough
trustworthy into the research outcome. From this point of view, it can be stated that the
researcher facilitates will use peered review journals and articles and authentic data sources so
that the collected data will be authenticated. In other words, it can be stated that the researcher
will consider data validity; reliability and maintaining quality and standard of the study as a part
successfully completed the research. .
3.10 Accessibility issue
There are some potential threats regarding the accessibility issue of the information. It
can be stated that the research can face severe challenges while gathering data about the
organisational management and leadership practice that are prevalent in Google LLC. Moreover,
the authenticity of the newspapers and magazines can also create huge impact over the
accessibility issue of the researcher as many of the magazines and e-newspapers cannot be
accessed freely.

24DISSERTATION
3.11 Limitation of the methodology
Time and budget are considered to be a great limitation for the current research. In case
of any extension of the given time frame of completion of the research, it will increase the
budget as well. Authenticity of the data is identified as another major aspect for the research to
maintain and justify the research objectives effectively.
3.12 Research timeline
Task Week
1
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Selection of topic
and justification
Literature
construction
Formulating
research method
Collecting data
Representing and
analysing the data
Outcome review
and analysis
Conclusions and
recommendations

25DISSERTATION
Project draft
submission
Submission of the
final project
3.13 Summary
The research methodology is intended to develop better and relevant methodology that
can deliver better research layout and plan. The focus is set on the expected outcome of the
research and has been planned accordingly. The focal point of the research is vested on the aims
and objectives of the research. Therefore, the research methodology is also designed accordingly
where the research tries to maintain a relevance with the entire research process.

26DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Findings
Theme 1: Cultural predominance and change at Google
According to the research of Tran (20017) it can be stated that the management practice
and the organisational culture in Google are highly people oriented. It means the Google
management facilitates great emphasis on its employees and facilitate an extensive measure of
flexible workforce so that it will encourage and incorporate the employees effectively. It is
important to note that the culture and management practice in Google was predominantly
emphasised on non-acceptance to failure. In other words, it can be argued that the Google
managers are predominantly focusing on innovation and success at the same time. However, this
predominant feature of the Google’s culture is changing at a rapid pace and currently the
management is looking forward to make the organisational culture of Google more open and
flexible. Multiculturalism is also introduced into the organisational practice of Google so that it
will be better to make a harmony among the employees and focusing on creativity and
innovation. The link between the cultural change within Google and its leadership is a clear
example of the changing nature of the global business environment due to globalisation.
According to Bercovici (2018) globalisation is a continuous process and it has many transitions.
Therefore, the business companies have to put focus on the globalisation trends and adapt the
changes quickly so that it can cope with the market effectively. In case of Google, the same
change in the management perception can be seen where they are trying to make the workplace
more flexible and open for people due to the practice of multiculturalism.

27DISSERTATION
Image 1: Diversity in Google
(Static.googleusercontent.com 2019)
Emphasising on the diversity in workplace is considered to be one of the core principles
that Google practices currently. The data from the above image show that gender ratio was too
high in Google and gradually it decreases in a stable pace. In the year 2014, 30.7% of the entire

28DISSERTATION
Google workforce was women. However, within 4 years the percentage spiked effectively and
33.2% of the workforce were women. The incorporation of female employees I growing rapidly
as the organisation is interested in making a diverse workforce culture irrespective of race,
gender and ethnicity. It proves a cultural change has been initiated in Google and the senior
leadership is primarily responsible for it.
It can be argued that the transition in globalisation is driving by the paradigm of
innovation and change to shaping the workplace culture and retain skilled employees. Eadicicco
(2014) advocated that in the current scenario of the global labour market, shortage of skilled
labour is a very disturbing and threatening challenge for the business organisations. Therefore,
the question of employee retention becomes very crucial in the form of talent management
practice. The multinational organisations are started facilitating a better workplace practice so
that it will satisfy the needs and demands of the employees and help to reduce the annual
employee turnover to a great extent. As a result of that change in the global leadership style is
also become a crucial aspect where the leaders has to be more careful to retain its existing
workforce and flexibility in workplace is not enough to convince the employees. It requires extra
efforts from the global business leaders to carry out a positive and more employee centric
leadership style that will help to meet the demands and needs of the employees and satisfy them
to work in the organisation.

29DISSERTATION
Theme 2: Leadership style at Google under Larry Page
Image 2: Employment growth in Google
(Elias 2020)
From the CNBC report, it can be sated that since its inception in 2001, the leadership of
Google is trying to recruit smart people and the expansion of the organisation influences the
number of the employees as well. During the term of Larry Page as the CEO of Google and then
Alphabet, the number of employees spiked greatly as the expansion of the organisation was also
in its way (Zeng 2019). It is the visionary and long term thinking of Larry Page that forced him
to create a strong workforce and incorporating more people to facilitate the process of expansion
smoothly.
Larry page was the co-founder of Google with immense visionary abilities. Under the
influence of a mixed leadership style of transformational and charismatic, Page successfully ran

30DISSERTATION
the company since its inception in 1998 (Ezzat Le Masson, P. and Weil 2017). The visionary of
Page made the company one of the advanced and finest company on earth with its creativity and
innovation. Creativity was considered to be the most important aspect for Page to continue the
success of the organisation. Therefore, he created an employee-centric leadership style with a
touch of charismatic leadership style (Robinson, VanderPal and Nhat Hoang 2017). He was not a
media person and the employees often saw him in the campus but a presence of Page was firmly
existed within the workplace. As per the report of Nicas and Wakabayashi (2019) the innovative
and creative practice within Google made by Larry Page and the employees were highly focused
on making the company one of the finest technology based companies around the world.
Therefore, it can be stated that the leadership style of Larry Page was very much competitive in
nature where the workforce was continuously emphasising on the innovation and creativity
(Dodge et al. 2017). The Charismatic traits in the leadership style of Larry Page made him a
reputed and respected CEO of Google. From the article of Schwantes (2016) an employee of
Google patronises the visionary abilities of Larry Page that made the employees proud and ahead
of other companies in terms of technological advancement. Therefore, a positive impact of the
leadership style of Larry Page made the employees highly motivated to continue innovation and
creativity in full scale (Peters 2019).
However, there were some drawbacks within the leadership style of Larry Page as he did
not concern about the administrative actions and workforce management practice as the current
global business leaders are trying to follow in order to maintain a good and positive vive within
the organisational culture (Sinnema et al. 2016). His creation of a flexible workplace
environment gradually damaged the image of the organisation. For instance, issues like sexual
offenses and public protests by the Google employees became a daily phenomenon that

31DISSERTATION
ultimately hampered innovation and creativity within the organisation. In the article of Elmer
(2011) it was mentioned that the leadership style of Larry Page was very effective to continue
innovation and creativity within the organisation. However, it failed to guide the employees to a
right direction. As a result of that the innovation and creativity of the organisation was also
disoriented due to the lack of vision for managing the workforce in Google (Qiu and Dooley
2019).
Image 3: Workforce composition of Google 2014-2018
(Static.googleusercontent.com 2018)
In fact, over emphasis on creativity and innovation makes Larry Page less focused on the
diversity and inclusion practice within the Google workplace (Hensmans 2019). The workforce
composition table reflects that there was no such changes made on the gender equality and very
little effort had been made to check the condition of diversity and inclusion practice which is one
of the core practices that the current multinational business companies are practiced in order to
procure better performance in business (Schneider 2017).

32DISSERTATION
Theme 3: Leadership style at Google under Sundar Pichai
From the charismatic leadership traits of Larry Page to the humble and collaborative
leadership style of the current CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, a huge transition in leadership can
be seen. There are some important traits in the leadership style of Pichai that are focussed on
collectivism and workforce management practice (Nahavandi and Krishnan 2017). According to
the article of Ghoshal (2017) it can be stated that Sundar Pichai was not a charismatic leader and
he follows the traits of servant leadership approach. Henceforth, he always tries to maintain a
positive relationship with the employees and ask for their assistance in any professional
decisions. Therefore, it provides an optimism within the organisation where the role of Pichai is
to guide the company along with the help of the employees (Sanchez and Dalmia 2018).
Furthermore, another important trait in the leadership style of Sundar Pichai was on empowering
youths. Pichai emphasises more on the creativity and innovation of the youth and values their
vision for change. As a result of that it makes the future of Google very strong as the leadership
style of Pichai helps the organisation to shape a sustainable image in the global community not
only as a technology giant but also facilitates a benevolent approach to make a better world with
lots of promises for the youths (Halevy, Jun and Chou 2020).

33DISSERTATION
Image 4: Current attrition rate in Google

34DISSERTATION
(Parker 2020)
The leadership of Sundar Pichai helps Google to increase it attrition rate effectively. One
of the major reason behind the increase in attrition of employees is the development in
workplace diversity practice under the leadership of Pichai (Gandhi 2016). However, there is no
compelling graphs for the employee attrition rates at Google as in 2019 for the first time Google
reveals its attrition report (Kokalitcheva 2018). It is also under the influence of the leadership
style of Sundar Pichai as he is willing to make transparent organisational environment so that
people can get motivated and trust their seniors. Moreover, the transparency in organisational
data will also help to improve the brand image of Google in the international market.
The workforce management practice of Sundar Pichai is also commendable even in crisis
situation. The employee unrest in Google was handled efficiently by Pichai as he tried to make
some amendments into the workplace policy of the organisation (Deoskar 2020). The servant
leadership practice of Pichai helps to resolve the employee unrest within a month. It proves the
ability of Sundar Pichai to administrate and guide the people towards more realistic goals and
continue the organisational success to a great extent (Schwantes 2016). It is important to note
that Sundar Pichai focuses more on the learning practice and it becomes a core in the
organisational practice of Google. He values the vision of the employees and also motivates
them to learn more so that the traditional practice of innovation and creativity will continue
(Luiro 2018). At the same time control over the workforce and guide them towards the right
direction is also identified as core practice that Pichai follows. Therefore, he is identified as a
good coordinator who can help to make things right and beneficial for the employees as well by
satisfying their needs and incorporating them more into the organisational decision making. It

35DISSERTATION
helps to deliver a good coordination between the innovation and future orientation of Google by
retaining its skilled employees.
Theme 4: Changes in leadership style in Google
There is various differences in the leadership styles of Larry Page and Sundar Pichai in
terms of maintaining the workforce and operates with a vision for the future. For instance, the
first difference between Larry Page and Sundar Pichai is the leadership trait. The leadership
characteristics of Page were more of a blend of charismatic leadership style and transformational
leadership style whereas Pichai follows a servant and collaborative leadership style. As a result
of that the impact of different leadership approach can also be identified where Page tried to
create a long term vision and influenced the workforce to follow the vision effectively. a
predominant organisational culture was prevalent in Google where failures were not acceptable.
It was an aggressive style of empowering employees and push them to work hard for generating
more success. On the other hand, the techniques of Pichai are way different than Page. Pichai
enjoys a learning practice and inspire the employees to follow the same. As a result of that the
organisation does not bother about the failures but embraces it for future development. In
addition to this, the visionary of Page only made the employees productive. The flexible
organisational culture did not have any control. As a result of that it became a catastrophe where
employees were diverted from their vision and started protesting and walked out from Google.
On the contrary, the leadership style of Pichai is characterised with a good administration where
he monitored the workplace culture and guide the workforce to bring more innovation.
Moreover, Pichai also believes in collaborative development and progress. Henceforth, it meets
the interests and expectation of the employees to facilitate a better and good organisational
culture.

36DISSERTATION
Image 5: Employee inclusion data of Google 2019
(Parker 2020)
The inclusion strategy is a product of globalisation where the business companies are
highly motivated to create a better leadership approach so that the organisational management
and workplace practice can be effective and productive. This change in the leadership practice
definitely has an impact over the workplace efficacy and productivity of Google. The promotion
of Sundar Pichai as the CEO of Google makes it easier for the organisation to implement the
practice of multiculturalism more effective as Pichai himself has an Indian origin. Therefore, it
becomes effective to manage the workforce and control the activities of the employees in order
to make them more focused on the company’s interests. As a matter of fact, the leadership style
of Page created Google as a brand image for technological superiority. However, the leadership
practice of Pichai turned it into a more holistic and sustainable approach by empowering youths
and inspires them to work with Google.
Theme 5: Relevance of the change in leadership style at Google
Change in the leadership practice of Google was evident as the organisation faced severe
charges for sexual harassment and employee unrest. There are some potential factors that led to
the strife and disorientation among the employees. From the research of Tran (2017) it can be

37DISSERTATION
argued that the leadership practice of Page was effective to some extent. The aggressive progress
and continuous focus on creativity and innovation was a pragmatic thought in the initial phase of
Google. However, the leadership style of Page did not adapt new techniques with the changing
situation. Therefore, it becomes a problem for Google to maintain its global image and employee
retention process effectively. Perhaps the focus of Page was confined into the production and
progress in the operation of the organisation and he subsequently overlooked other
responsibilities. It had a great impact over the entre organisational culture of Google which was
predominantly customer centric.
A sharp change has been noticed in the leadership style of Google where the current
leaders are no longer emphasised on the innovation and creativity only but the employee
satisfaction and control over the workplace activities were built up for the benefit of the
organisation and the employee as well. The leadership style of Sundar Pichai was very different
from Larry page as Pichai intends to focus on the collaborative approach and development for all
principles. It makes a unitary process for the organisation to drive the creativity and innovation
practice and at the same time looking after the employee satisfaction. Close monitoring and
transparent policy making for the benefit of the employees have become the key aspects of
leadership change. Moreover, the changing leadership practice in Google no longer believes in
the former goal of leading the international technology market. It turns into a more sustainable
and holistic organisation that facilitates a global development through the use of creativity and
technology. Therefore, this change is relevant in the context of the success of Google in the
competitive market and at the same time reducing the employee turnover to a great extent so that
retain the skilled employees.

38DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Discussion
5.1 Analyse the findings
According to the research of Naqshbandi and Jasimuddin (2018)the change in the
organisational management is considered to be a one of the most important facets of
globalisation. The transformation of organisational management is infused with more effective
decision making practice along with efficacy and professionalism. The magnanimity of the role
and responsibility of the leaders also transform accordingly in order to influence the
organisational management. Creativity and innovation are no longer the only aspects that the
leaders must deal with. It becomes more dynamic where the interests of the employees are also
incorporated into the paradigm of organisational management. In the thematic analysis also the
same perception has been carried out where a sharp change in the leadership practice of Google
can be seen vividly. The leadership approach of current CEO of Sundar Pichai is completely
different from his predecessor, Larry Page. Pichai maintains a strong collaborative approach so
that the organisational practice resonates both the interests of the company and the satisfaction of
the employees. This transformation in the leadership practice is happened due to the impact of
globalisation where competitiveness in the market makes the corporates leaders more aware of
retaining the quality and operations of the organisation extensively (Brewster, Tasoulis, Krepapa
and Stewart 2019).
Rapid transformation in globalisation also enhances the value of human resource or
human capital for the sustainability of the organisation. The empirical evidences supported the
fact that in course of the development of globalisation, competition in the market is also
escalated very fast (Wooster and Paul 2016). Employee satisfaction has become one of the

39DISSERTATION
principle aspect for the business companies in order to retain the skilled employees who can
provide enough advantage to the organisational development. From the research of Zhang and
Xie (2017), it can be confirmed that human resource becomes an asset for any business
companies. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the leaders to ensure satisfaction of the
employees. It will help them to foster a steady growth in the market and prepare a better market
orientation for the business organisation. In case of Google also the impact of globalisation
compels the organisation to change its leadership style from a charismatic and transformational
approach to more employee lenient approach of servant leadership. For instance, the leadership
approach of Larry Page was highly associated with a charismatic practice where the employees
were influenced by his presence, personality and vision. However, no initiative had been taken
for the development of the employees’ interests. Therefore, the value for human capital did not
convey to the employees properly. In response to this, a need for leadership change was required
and the leadership style of Pichai close the gaps of leadership style in Google. He focuses more
on the employee benefits and integrate the interests of the employees with the organisational
development. By doing this, Pichai successfully proves the intention of Google by valuing the
interests of the employees and workforce. It definitely boosts the existing Google employees to
focus on their performance and provide strategic advantage to the organisation.
The cultural integrity is another major aspect that can be ushered with the help of
globalisation. From the research of Oura, Zilber and Lopes (2016) it can be derived that cultural
integrity is very important for the business organisations in international market to retain
employees belong to different culture and gain high competitiveness in the market. Diversity in
workplace is a perfect example of cultural integrity. As per the research of Beugelsdijk, Kostova
and Roth (2017) the international leaders must practice the skill to manage diverse workforce.

40DISSERTATION
However, in case of Google, from the initial phase the leaders are motivated to create a diverse
workplace culture and flexibility in the workplace is also identified as one of the major
contribution in it. Larry Page intended to make a better organisational environment by
implementing flexibility in the organisational culture. However, Pichai made it more effective by
adding some values on the human capital and creates better opportunity for Goggle to restructure
its diversity practice effectively. In response to this, focusing on the youth empowerment and
striving for more innovation lead Pichai to execute a transparent diversity practice in Google.
Actually, he carries out the legacy of Larry page to recruit employees as per their merits only.
Therefore, the diversity practice is imbued in Google from its inception.
As per the research of Tenzer, Terjesen and Harzing (2017) globalisation has made the
responsibilities of the leaders more dynamic and complex where it becomes a pertinent aspect for
the leaders to not only manage the organisation but also facilitate extra care for the employees in
terms of employee motivation. Therefore, the personal attributes of the leaders formulate an
effective measure for procuring motivation among the employees. The use of emotional
intelligence is considered to be a significant aspect for the business leaders to implement
effective motivation framework for the employees (Beugelsdijk, Kostova and Roth 2017). It
helps to make a better relationship between the employees and the leaders and formulate a better
organisational practice. In response to this, a leadership change can also be seen in case of
leadership in Google where it was found that the leadership style of Larry Page was not effective
enough to motivate the employees intrinsically. It was due to his charismatic leadership style
where his legacy was an inspiration for the employees. However, an interpersonal relation with
the employees is also required to maintain effective organisational practice. In response to this,
the leadership style of Sundar Pichai is considered to be effective enough for motivating the

41DISSERTATION
employees. Pichai maintains an interpersonal communication with the employees in association
with emotional intelligence practice. As a result of that it becomes effective to motivate the
employees and engage them into perform well. Therefore, a clear example of leadership change
can be seen in Google in the presence of globalisation.
The essence and prevalence of diversity in business requires further introduction of
flexibility in workplace culture. According to the research of Surdu and Mellahi (2016) the
flexible workplace culture helps the employees to carry out innovation and creativity
extensively. In addition to this, it is also pertinent for the organisation to maintain an extensive
measure of maintaining organisational integrity and diversity. The link between the cultural
integrity within the organisation and its impact over flexibility within the organisation is very
important to pave the way for the business organisations to continue its business practice in
future market success. In response to this, the leadership change in Google can also be identified
where the role of the leaders transforms its practice with the change in the globalisation. For
instance, the leadership approach of Larry Page supported the flexible workplace practice.
However, the flexibility in the organisation did not have any control and it turned into a chaos for
the organisation. The employees were started violating the executive orders to perform with
creativity and innovation. Rather they became more captivated with the protests for sexual
harassment within the organisation. The annual turnover of employees was also escalated at a
rapid pace. Therefore, a change in the leadership style was required and the leadership style of
Sundar Pichai replaced the existing leadership approach oif Larry Page. The leadership style of
Pichai was more effective to understand the issues and facilitate better approach to employee
motivation and effectively resolved the grievances of the employees. Therefore, it can be argued

42DISSERTATION
that globalisation has made huge transformation in the leadership style and practice and provide
a future blueprint for the leaders to follow and gain competitive advantage.
The impact of globalisation also changes the attitude of the mangers as well. The
empirical evidences show that the attitude of the managers becomes more lenient to the
employees and it links with the sustainability of the organisation. Due to the shortage of skill
labour and intense competition in the market, the managers are aware of the importance of the
human capital and gradually the organisational policy also delivers a better practice for the
employees. It is a very positive intent practices by the leaders or managers in business
organisations. From this perspective, the same instances can be seen in case of Google. The
leadership practice of Larry Page was to some extent employee oriented but mostly it focused on
the customers. As a result of that there was no control of Page on the workplace environment.
The employees became disorganised. However, Sundar Pichai follows a different aspect where
the focal point of the manager is to meet the interests of both the employees and customers. This
positive practice has occurred due to the pressure and impact of globalisation.
5.2 Summary
Based on the discussion, globalisation has a deep rooted impact on the modern business
leadership practice. Focusing on the case study of Google, it can be stated that the leadership
abilities and style of Sundar Pichai is very different from his predecessor Larry Page. There are
significant changes that can be seen in the leadership style of Google and the reason behind such
change is the advent of globalisation. The non-stop changes in the globalisation also compel the
leaders to change their leadership style as well. Therefore, a gradual change can be seen in
Google where the leadership style of Larry Page was charismatic in nature and it is changing in
course of time and the current leader of Google Sundar Pichai develops a servant leadership

43DISSERTATION
approach in order to incorporate the employees into important decision making of Google and
satisfy their needs on a top priority.
Chapter 6: Conclusion
The research is trying to elucidate the impact of globalisation on the leadership style of a
multicultural organisation-a case study of Google. Therefore, the literature review of the research
strictly emphasises on the impact of globalisation on the organisational management and its
influence on the international business leadership practice. It is important to note that the
literature review is designed as per the research questions. Therefore, the researcher tries to
discuss a general understanding and core ideas of leadership and the impact of globalisation on
it.
6.1 Linking to objectives
The first objective is associated with the importance of globalisation on organisational
management. Therefore, 2.2 section of the literature review and the 4.1 of the Chapter 4 of the
current research develops a theoretical and thematic idea regarding the role of globalisation in
the organisational management practice. Then the researcher intends to highlight the
transformation of the current leadership practices in business companies. In order to explain the
objective, the researcher carries out intensive research with the help of the empirical evidences.
2.4 of the literature review discuss the research objective from a general point of view. In the
Chapter 4, a clear description of the current leadership trend in Google has been discussed. The
researcher puts a great deal of emphasis over the link between the Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 and
finds out the practice of current leadership Google from a general point of view. Finally, the
research objectives intend to link the globalisation with the current leadership practice in Chapter

44DISSERTATION
4. There are two sections in terms of 4.4 and 4.5 where the relevant information and data
regarding the change in leadership style in Google due to the presence of globalisation is
discussed. Therefore, it can be stated that the research firmly delivers a deep insights into the
organisational practice where the role of leaders are highly depended on the globalisation and a
transformation in the leadership style can also be seen.
6.2 Future scope of the study
In future, the researcher can use primary resources so that apart from Larry Page and
Sundar Pichai, other executives can also participate in the research. The purpose of the research
is to formulate a deep down analysis over the impact of globalisation over the change in the
leadership style of Google. Therefore, it will be effective for the researcher to investigate on the
changes of other managers as well.

45DISSERTATION
Reference
Apriliyanti, I.D. and Alon, I., 2017. Bibliometric analysis of absorptive capacity. International
Business Review, 26(5), pp.896-907.
Azar, G. and Ciabuschi, F., 2017. Organizational innovation, technological innovation, and
export performance: The effects of innovation radicalness and extensiveness. International
Business Review, 26(2), pp.324-336.
Beamish, P.W. and Lupton, N.C., 2016. Cooperative strategies in international business and
management: Reflections on the past 50 years and future directions. Journal of World
Business, 51(1), pp.163-175.
Bellis, M., 2020. Google: The Story Behind One Of The Richest Companies In The World.
[online] ThoughtCo. Available at: <https://www.thoughtco.com/who-invented-google-1991852>
[Accessed 11 March 2020].
Bercovici, J., 2018. What Google Teaches Its Leaders. [online] Inc.com. Available at:
<https://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/google-anniversary.leadership.html> [Accessed 13 April
2020].
Beugelsdijk, S., Kostova, T. and Roth, K., 2017. An overview of Hofstede-inspired country-level
culture research in international business since 2006. Journal of International Business
Studies, 48(1), pp.30-47.
Bird, A. and Mendenhall, M.E., 2016. From cross-cultural management to global leadership:
Evolution and adaptation. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.115-126.

46DISSERTATION
Boddewyn, J.J., 2016. International business–government relations research 1945–2015:
Concepts, typologies, theories and methodologies. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.10-22.
Brohi, N.A., Jantan, A.H., Sobia, A.M.S. and Pathan, T.G., 2018. Does servant leadership style
induce positive organisational behaviors? A conceptual study of servant leadership,
psychological capital, and intention to quit relationship. Journal of International Business and
Management, 1(1), pp.1-11.
Buckley, P.J., 2016. The contribution of internalisation theory to international business: New
realities and unanswered questions. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.74-82.
Deoskar, A., 2020. Work Life Balancing Factors And Innovative Leadership: A Review. Studies
in Indian Place Names, 40(6), pp.87-94.
Dimitratos, P., Buck, T., Fletcher, M. and Li, N., 2016. The motivation of international
entrepreneurship: The case of Chinese transnational entrepreneurs. International business
review, 25(5), pp.1103-1113.
Dodge, R., Dwyer, J., Witzeman, S., Neylon, S. and Taylor, S., 2017. The Role of Leadership in
Innovation: A quantitative analysis of a large data set examines the relationship between
organizational culture, leadership behaviors, and innovativeness. Research-Technology
Management, 60(3), pp.22-29.
Eadicicco, L., 2014. The Main Difference Between Google's Rising Star Sundar Pichai And CEO
Larry Page, Summed Up In One Paragraph. [online] Business Insider. Available at:
<https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/the-main-difference-between-googles-rising-star-sundar-

47DISSERTATION
pichai-and-ceo-larry-page-summed-up-in-one-paragraph/articleshow/44984657.cms> [Accessed
13 April 2020].
Elias, J., 2020. Google Employees Are Complaining The Company Has Changed — This Chart
Shows One Reason Why. [online] CNBC. Available at:
<https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/02/google-employee-growth-2001-through-2019.html>
[Accessed 16 April 2020].
Elmer, V., 2011. What Would Larry Page Do? Leadership Lessons From Google’S Doyen.
[online] Fortune. Available at: <https://fortune.com/2011/04/18/what-would-larry-page-do-
leadership-lessons-from-googles-doyen/> [Accessed 13 April 2020].
Ezzat, H., Le Masson, P. and Weil, B., 2017. Extending lab results to advices for leadership
facilitating creativity in organizations. CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental
Innovation, 1(2), p.17.
Fletcher, M., Zhao, Y., Plakoyiannaki, E. and Buck, T., 2018. Three pathways to case selection
in international business: A twenty–year review, analysis and synthesis. International Business
Review, 27(4), pp.755-766.
Fung, H.G., Qiao, P., Yau, J. and Zeng, Y., 2020. Leader narcissism and outward foreign direct
investment: Evidence from Chinese firms. International Business Review, 29(1), p.101632.
Gandhi, L., 2016. Determinants of Best Manager-Lessons from Million Dollar Leaders to
Millennial Managers. Management Today, 6(3), pp.147-151.

48DISSERTATION
Gaur, A. and Kumar, M., 2018. A systematic approach to conducting review studies: An
assessment of content analysis in 25 years of IB research. Journal of World Business, 53(2),
pp.280-289.
Ghoshal, D., 2017. “Let Others Succeed”: Google CEO Sundar Pichai’S Simple But Effective
Leadership Style. [online] Quartz India. Available at: <https://qz.com/india/879633/let-others-
succeed-google-ceo-sundar-pichais-simple-but-effective-leadership-style/> [Accessed 13 April
2020].
Gligor, D.M., Esmark, C.L. and Gölgeci, I., 2016. Building international business theory: A
grounded theory approach. Journal of International Business Studies, 47(1), pp.93-111.
Goedhuys, M. and Sleuwaegen, L., 2016. International standards certification, institutional voids
and exports from developing country firms. International Business Review, 25(6), pp.1344-1355.
Gomes, E., Barnes, B.R. and Mahmood, T., 2016. A 22 year review of strategic alliance research
in the leading management journals. International business review, 25(1), pp.15-27.
Halevy, N., Jun, S. and Chou, E.Y., 2020. Intergroup conflict is our business: CEOs’ ethical
intergroup leadership fuels stakeholder support for corporate intergroup responsibility. Journal
of Business Ethics, 162(1), pp.229-246.
He, W., Zhou, R.Y., Long, L.R., Huang, X. and Hao, P., 2018. Self-Sacrificial Leadership and
Followers’ Affiliative and Challenging Citizenship Behaviors: A Relational Self-Concept Based
Study in China. Management and Organization Review, 14(1), pp.105-133.
Hensmans, M., 2019. A new matrix for building platform portfolios: how companies can sustain
their leadership. Journal of Business Strategy.

49DISSERTATION
Jain, N.K., Kothari, T. and Kumar, V., 2016. Location choice research: Proposing new
agenda. Management International Review, 56(3), pp.303-324.
Jean, R.J.B., Sinkovics, R.R. and Kim, D., 2017. Antecedents and outcomes of supplier
innovativeness in international customer–supplier relationships: the role of knowledge
distance. Management International Review, 57(1), pp.121-151.
Koch, P.T., Koch, B., Menon, T. and Shenkar, O., 2016. Cultural friction in leadership beliefs
and foreign-invested enterprise survival. Journal of International Business Studies, 47(4),
pp.453-470.
Kokalitcheva, K., 2018. Google Releases Employee Attrition Rates For The First Time. [online]
Axios. Available at: <https://www.axios.com/google-releases-employee-attrition-rates-for-the-
first-time-cd3cabd2-226f-4055-9005-558abe5f61bc.html> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Koveshnikov, A. and Ehrnrooth, M., 2018. The Cross-Cultural Variation of the Effects of
Transformational Leadership Behaviors on Followers’ Organizational Identification: The Case of
Idealized Influence and Individualized Consideration in Finland and Russia. Management and
Organization Review, 14(4), pp.747-779.
Kraus, S., Niemand, T., Besler, M., Stieg, P. and Martinez-Ciment, C., 2018. The influence of
leadership styles on the internationalisation of'born-global'firms and traditionally global-
expanding firms. European Journal of International Management, 12(5-6), pp.554-575.
Le, S. and Kroll, M., 2017. CEO international experience: Effects on strategic change and firm
performance. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(5), pp.573-595.

50DISSERTATION
López-Duarte, C., González-Loureiro, M., Vidal-Suárez, M.M. and González-Díaz, B., 2016.
International strategic alliances and national culture: Mapping the field and developing a
research agenda. Journal of World Business, 51(4), pp.511-524.
Luiro, A., 2018. Why do platform leaders acquire? A multiple case study of Google, Apple,
Facebook, and Amazon.
Lundgren, M. and Jansson, H., 2016. Developing international business knowledge through an
appreciative inquiry learning network: Proposing a methodology for collaborative
research. International Business Review, 25(1), pp.346-355.
Martineau, C. and Pastoriza, D., 2016. International involvement of established SMEs: A
systematic review of antecedents, outcomes and moderators. International Business
Review, 25(2), pp.458-470.
McDonnell, A., Collings, D.G., Mellahi, K. and Schuler, R., 2017. Talent management: a
systematic review and future prospects. European Journal of International Management, 11(1),
pp.86-128.
Morris, S., Snell, S. and Björkman, I., 2016. An architectural framework for global talent
management. Journal of International Business Studies, 47(6), pp.723-747.
Nahavandi, A. and Krishnan, H.A., 2017. Indo-european leadership (IEL): A non-western
leadership perspective. Global and culturally diverse leaders and leadership: New dimensions,
opportunities, and challenges for business, industry, education and society-A Volume in the ILA
Building Leadership Bridges (BLB) Series.

51DISSERTATION
Naqshbandi, M.M. and Jasimuddin, S.M., 2018. Knowledge-oriented leadership and open
innovation: Role of knowledge management capability in France-based
multinationals. International Business Review, 27(3), pp.701-713.
Nicas, J. and Wakabayashi, D., 2019. Era Ends For Google As Founders Step Aside From A
Pillar Of Tech. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at:
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/technology/google-alphabet-ceo-larry-page-sundar-
pichai.html> [Accessed 13 April 2020].
Oura, M.M., Zilber, S.N. and Lopes, E.L., 2016. Innovation capacity, international experience
and export performance of SMEs in Brazil. International Business Review, 25(4), pp.921-932.
Parker, M., 2020. Diversity | Google. [online] Diversity.google. Available at:
<https://diversity.google/annual-report/> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Peters, L., 2019. Leading a Culture Change Revolution: Your Leadership Challenge. In The
Simple Truths About Leadership (pp. 131-138). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Qiu, S. and Dooley, L., 2019. Servant leadership: Development and validation of a
multidimensional measure in the Chinese hospitality industry. Leadersh. Organ. Dev. J, 40,
pp.193-212.
Rao-Nicholson, R., Khan, Z. and Stokes, P., 2016. Making great minds think alike: Emerging
market multinational firms’ leadership effects on targets’ employee psychological safety after
cross-border mergers and acquisitions. International Business Review, 25(1), pp.103-113.
Reiche, B.S., Bird, A., Mendenhall, M.E. and Osland, J.S., 2017. Contextualizing leadership: A
typology of global leadership roles. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(5), pp.552-572.

52DISSERTATION
Richardson, C. and Rammal, H.G., 2018. Religious belief and international business
negotiations: Does faith influence negotiator behaviour?. International Business Review, 27(2),
pp.401-409.
Rimbo, D., Nagoya, R., Solihin, I. and Mongay, J., 2017. Perceptions of consumers in the airline
industry using a qualitative data analysis methodology: an applied research under an
international orientation. International Business Research, 10(5), pp.22-28.
Robinson, D.A., VanderPal, G. and Nhat Hoang, D., 2017. Entrepreneurs' Leadership
Experiences with Specific Regard to Mentorship. David A Robinson, Geoffrey VanderPal, Duc
Nhat-Hoang,(2017)" Entrepreneurs' Leadership Experiences with Specific Regard to
Mentorship," Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 14(3), pp.91-100.
Sanchez, C.M. and Dalmia, S., 2018. Why Aren't There More Women Leaders? A Look Inside
One West Michigan Organization. Seidman Business Review, 24(1), p.9.
Sarabi, A., Froese, F.J., Chng, D.H. and Meyer, K.E., 2020. Entrepreneurial leadership and MNE
subsidiary performance: The moderating role of subsidiary context. International Business
Review, p.101672.
Schneider, M., 2017. Google Spent Years Studying Effective Bosses. Now They Teach New
Managers These 6 Things. [online] Inc.com. Available at: <https://www.inc.com/michael-
schneider/analysis-10000-reports-told-google-to-train-new-managers-6-areas.html> [Accessed
16 April 2020].
Schwantes, M., 2016. Google's Insane Approach To Management Could Transform Your
Company. [online] Inc.com. Available at: <https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/googles-

53DISSERTATION
insane-approach-to-management-could-transform-your-company.html> [Accessed 13 April
2020].
Sinnema, C., Ludlow, L., Robinson, V. and Bryant, D., 2016. Educational leadership
effectiveness: a Rasch analysis. Journal of Educational Administration.
Static.googleusercontent.com, 2018. Google Workforce Composition 2014-2018. [online]
Static.googleusercontent.com. Available at:
<https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/diversity.google/en//static/pdf/
Google_Workforce_Composition_2014-2018.pdf> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Static.googleusercontent.com, 2019. Google Diversity Annual Report 2019. [online]
Static.googleusercontent.com. Available at:
<https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/diversity.google/en//static/pdf/
Google_diversity_annual_report_2019.pdf> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Strielkowski, W. and Chigisheva, O., 2018. Social, economic, and academic leadership for
sustainable development of business and education in the future: an introduction. In Leadership
for the Future Sustainable Development of Business and Education (pp. 3-8). Springer, Cham.
Surdu, I. and Mellahi, K., 2016. Theoretical foundations of equity based foreign market entry
decisions: A review of the literature and recommendations for future research. International
Business Review, 25(5), pp.1169-1184.
Taras, V., Steel, P. and Kirkman, B.L., 2016. Does country equate with culture? Beyond
geography in the search for cultural boundaries. Management International Review, 56(4),
pp.455-487.

54DISSERTATION
Tasoulis, K., Krepapa, A. and Stewart, M.M., 2019. Leadership integrity and the role of human
resource management in Greece: Gatekeeper or bystander?. Thunderbird International Business
Review, 61(3), pp.491-503.
Tenzer, H., Terjesen, S. and Harzing, A.W., 2017. Language in international business: A review
and agenda for future research. Management International Review, 57(6), pp.815-854.
Tran, S.K., 2017. Google: a reflection of culture, leader, and management. International Journal
of Corporate Social Responsibility, 2(1), p.10.
Waal, M.F.D. and Born, M.P., 2020. Growing up among cultures: intercultural competences,
personality, and leadership styles of third culture kids. European Journal of International
Management, 14(2), pp.327-356.
Watts, L.L., Steele, L.M. and Den Hartog, D.N., 2020. Uncertainty avoidance moderates the
relationship between transformational leadership and innovation: A meta-analysis. Journal of
International Business Studies, 51(1), pp.138-145.
Welch, C. and Piekkari, R., 2017. How should we (not) judge the ‘quality’of qualitative
research? A re-assessment of current evaluative criteria in International Business. Journal of
World Business, 52(5), pp.714-725.
Wooster, R.B. and Paul, D.L., 2016. Leadership positioning among US firms investing in
China. International Business Review, 25(1), pp.319-332.
Zeng, Z., 2019. Different functions between leadership and management in today's
enterprises. The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology, 1(3).

55DISSERTATION
Zhang, Y. and Xie, Y.H., 2017. Authoritarian leadership and extra-role behaviors: a role-
perception perspective. Management and Organization Review, 13(1), pp.147-166.
Zheng, N., Wei, Y., Zhang, Y. and Yang, J., 2016. In search of strategic assets through cross-
border merger and acquisitions: Evidence from Chinese multinational enterprises in developed
economies. International Business Review, 25(1), pp.177-186.