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.

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Name of the Student:
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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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