Exploring Employee Motivation and Google's CSR Initiatives

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes motivation theories and Google's CSR.

CONTEXT TO BUSINESS- MOTIVATION
THEORIES
1

Table of Contents
ASSIGNMENT 1: MOTIVATION.......................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
BODY.............................................................................................................................................. 3
CONCEPT OF MOTIVATION- ITS ROLE IN DYNAMIC AND CHANGING NATURE OF BUSINESS
WITHIN GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT...............................................................................3
IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATED WORKFORCE USING THEORIES OF MOTIVATION......................4
WAYS TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES..............................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................. 6
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................7
ASSIGNMENT 2: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY..................................................................8
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 8
BODY.............................................................................................................................................. 8
SUMMARY OF GOOGLE BUSINESS AND RATIONALE FOR CHOICE.............................................8
RANKING OF GOOGLE WITH CONTEXT TO CSR..........................................................................9
EXAMPLES OF CORPORATE ACTIONS WHICH LED TO THE COMPANY’S RANKING.....................9
DOES GOOGLE’S APPROACH TO CSR THAT INFLUENCES PURCHASING DECISIONS.................11
RELEVANCE OF CSR IN CURRENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT...................................................12
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 13
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................14
2

ASSIGNMENT 1: MOTIVATION
INTRODUCTION
Motivation is termed as one of the key organisational concepts which management and
organisation is more concerned about as due to the low level of motivation of employees the
level of the performance also falls (King and Lawley, 2016). Therefore every manager in
organisation seek for motivated employees and this report deals with the same in order to
identify the role of the motivation in the dynamic nature of the business environment in the
global business environment. Motivation theories used by the managers and the other ways to
motivate the employees are also discussed in this report which helps in devising the strategies
in accordance to the motivation levels of the employees.
BODY
CONCEPT OF MOTIVATION- ITS ROLE IN DYNAMIC AND CHANGING NATURE OF
BUSINESS WITHIN GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The concept of motivation is usually termed as the interpersonal drivers and the external
environment which stimulates the persistence to pursue and enthusiasm in people towards
desired goals. Employee motivation on other hand is defined differently by different authors
(Kacprzak-Biernacka et al., 2015). According to Mikkelsen et al. (2017), Employee motivation is
a psychological force which is created in direction of the person’s behaviour in an organisation
to achieve the desired behaviour towards a specified goal.
In highly dynamic and changing nature of the business environment due to global context the
management needs to determine the factors of the employee motivation and should be well
aware of the factors such as culture, composition, leadership and so on influences the
employee motivation (King and Lawley, 2016). There are many factors that motivate employees
which manager should intelligently understand such as financial rewards, perfectionism,
3

results, recognition, fear, competition, job security and praise and so on. These factors motivate
the employees and empower them for a better future (Kacprzak-Biernacka et al., 2015).
IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATED WORKFORCE USING THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Motivation can be injected in organisations by adopting various models and theories of
motivations which are largely classified under two heads, i.e. content theories of motivation
and the process theories of motivation (Stotz and Bolger, 2017). From these two heads,
Maslow's Needs Hierarchy and Vroom's expectancy theory respectively will be used to gain
insights about the importance of the motivated workforce.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s theory of motivation is condensed into five basic categories which categorise the
needs of the employees on five levels. This is in shape of a pyramid and these levels of needs
start at the lower level with the psychological needs which moves up from safety and security
to belongingness needs and reaches till self-esteem needs and ends at self-actualisation needs
(Kacprzak-Biernacka et al., 2015). These levels keep the employees motivated in an organisation
and a level unsatisfied leads the employees to less pro0ductive and less motivated. These levels
need to be fulfilled so as to fulfil their every level of needs of motivation and boost their
relationships and productivity. These levels will help in fulfilling the individual’s desires and
provide them with opportunities for growth (Stotz and Bolger, 2017).
Vroom’s expectancy theory
This theory lays emphasis on the content of motivation together with the process of
motivation. Under this theory, the aim is that motivation emerges from the beliefs regarding
the decisions which will provide the desired outcomes. Under this theory, three factors are
considered expectancy, instrumentality and valence (Stotz and Bolger, 2017). According to this
theory in an organisation, every employee believes that his efforts will lead to success and thus
better performance results which are then followed by instrumentality where there is an
expectation of being rewarded for goal achievement through efforts (Peters, 2015). Employees
may or may not values these rewards which lead to the creation of valence and when these
4

three factors multiplied together leads to motivation and if any of this factor is left unfulfilled
the motivation is zero. Thus through this theory, these factors lead to differences in motivation
(Stotz and Bolger, 2017).
WAYS TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES
From the discussion above it is evident that the manager plays a vital and salient role in the
organisation to motivate employees towards the organisation mission, vision, goal and
objectives. Managers consider motivation as a key role player in keeping best employees and
this is done in the following ways:
Effective communication
Managers should try to interact and communicate with the employees most frequently so as to
know their needs and value them and this leads to showing an appreciation for their hard work
leading to motivation (Lazaroiu, 2015).
Empowering employees
Another way to motivate the employees is to suggest the ways to improve their performance
which will include advising them and providing them with the authority of decision making so as
to motivate those (Peters, 2015).
Providing better opportunities for advancement
Managers that render their employees the better opportunities for self-advancement and the
growth leads to ending up with a retained and more motivated workforce (Lazaroiu, 2015). It
may involve grooming them and providing them with better opportunities to climb the career
ladder.
Providing incentives and rewards
Another manner and most effective way to motivate the employees is to bolster their
motivation by providing them with the incentives and the rewards in the form of the financial
5

as well as non-financial incentives which keep the best employees with organisation and help in
retaining the experienced workforce (Lazaroiu, 2015).
CONCLUSION
Thus this gives a clear idea about the role and growing importance of the motivation and
motivated workforce in the global business environment which helps in retaining the workforce
and focusing on employee retention in the organisation. The managers in different
organisations follow different theories of motivation and adopt different ways to keep the
motivated workforce so as to enhance productivity and ensure long term goals of the
organisation. This will help to create a business environment for the employees motivated and
will lead to avoiding employee turnovers.
6

REFERENCES
Kacprzak-Biernacka, E., Skura-Madziała, A., Kopański, Z., Brukwicka, I., Lishchynskyy, Y. and
Mazurek, M., 2015. The Concept of Motivation, its Types and Motivation Subjects. Journal of
Clinical Healthcare, 14(2014_3), pp.02-05.
King, D. and Lawley, S., 2016. Organizational behaviour. Oxford University Press.
Lazaroiu, G., 2015. Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical
Investigations, 14, p.97.
Mikkelsen, M.F., Jacobsen, C.B. and Andersen, L.B., 2017. Managing employee motivation:
Exploring the connections between managers’ enforcement actions, employee perceptions, and
employee intrinsic motivation. International Public Management Journal, 20(2), pp.183-205.
Peters, R.S., 2015. The concept of motivation. Routledge.
Stotz, R. and Bolger, B., 2017. Content and process theories of motivation. Underlying Principles
Series–The incentive marketing association.
7

ASSIGNMENT 2: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
INTRODUCTION
This report seeks the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility in context to the business of
Google by emphasising the importance of CSR to attain competitive advantage. The ranking od
CSR will be assessed by Google and the approach of CSR initiatives taken by it will also be
discussed. This report will also undertake the factors and the level of influence that is created
by the CSR approach of Google over the purchasing decision of the customers. At last, the
relevance and importance of CSR will be undertaken with context to the current business
environment that meets the shareholder's interest.
Corporate Social Responsibility has been increasingly important for years and it is helping many
companies in their business strategies. The companies are better able to overcome social issues
at local, national and global level due to the same and thus help in turn to improve the brand of
the company (Brammer and Pavelin, 2016).
BODY
SUMMARY OF GOOGLE BUSINESS AND RATIONALE FOR CHOICE
Google is considered to be an American multinational technology company that is more
inclined and specialised in the internet related services and the products. It was founded in the
year 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin that provides various products and has an employee
count of 98,771 till 2018. It provides services such as Google Sheets, Calendar, Google Drive,
Maps, street view, and chrome and so on. It is also increasing its business in hardware and has
released many products such as Google Pixel, daydream, Google Home and so on (Wang et al.,
2016).
8

There is a vital impact on the core dimensions of the CSR of the corporate communication
which leads the companies to openly communicate about their activities to the stakeholders
which impact the business results (Brammer and Pavelin, 2016).
Google is considered to be one of the best examples of the CSR initiative practiser company as
it has made aggressive moves on multiple fronts in the areas of good citizenship and through
Google Green, it has made efforts to use resources efficient by contributing a lot to the
renewable power (Wang et al., 2016). It has also installed energy-efficient lights and recycling
initiatives and the telecommuting which has resulted in quantifiable cost savings. Thus it has
been selected in the report for glancing and gaining insights about the CSR and its importance
(Brammer and Pavelin, 2016).
RANKING OF GOOGLE WITH CONTEXT TO CSR
CSR ratings are considered to be the perspectives provided by the ranking institute by ordering
the rank of company's ratings against all other ratings. Google is considered to be the search
giant that has fallen from its first position in terms of the CSR ratings in 2016 to the third
ranking in the year 2017 (Wang et al., 2016). The Corporate Social Responsibility score of
Google in 2017 emerged to be 73.9 (Strauss, 2017). The reason for the falling bar is the way the
public views CSR in terms of Google and therefore it has become more critical. The criteria for
ranking are clearly categorised into three categories such as citizenship, governance and
workplace. Here citizenship in context to Google was considered one the basis of the support of
good causes, environmental responsibility and societal influence. Governance factors were
judged on the basis of the level of openness and transparency at the workplace of Google in
terms of equal opportunities (Blevins and Kunz, 2017).
EXAMPLES OF CORPORATE ACTIONS WHICH LED TO THE COMPANY’S
RANKING
There are many reasons and corporate actions behind the company’s ranking in CSR that
involves since inception. Google since inception has rolled out many apps such as Google Drive,
Google Earth, and Gmail and so on which have made a lot easier the everyday tasks of the
people and society (Wang et al., 2016). The Reputation Institute has recognised that Google is
9

known for its innovation and is highly committed to CSR. For the same Reputation Institute has
ranked Google in third place in 2017 in alignment to the commitment to CSR. The corporate
actions which are undertaken by Google are considered by Reputation Institute while ranking it
which involves the Governance of corporate ethics, openness and transparency (Strauss, 2017).
Google also support the good causes that positively influence society through environmental
sustainability work. Google is also known for providing equal opportunities for advancements
to employees and for the same it also renders perks and incentives (Crowther and Seifi, 2018).
Google has also been partnered with the Ford Motor Company so as to create prediction and
this has emerged to be another example of flexibility, leadership and ingenuity of Google in
CSR. Google has also been creative by providing predictions for Google Maps which has helped
in better gas mileage, lower carbon footprints and lower emissions (Crowther and Seifi, 2018).
Some of the initiatives and actions of Google related to the CSR towards environment include
the groups that protect the wildlife by using Google Earth and it also utilises satellite services to
track indigenous tribes and helps in deforestation of the native lands. Google has also offered
incentives to its employees that avoid using cars and instead use bikes to work (Strauss, 2017).
Google has also diverted 84% of waste from the data centre operations that have helped in
waste reduction and in 2015 it has also used machine upgrades (Strauss, 2017). It has also
increased the range of its operations in the cloud which is rendering positive environmental
implications. Google has also reduced portable litres of water used by per employee who has
contributed to a 30% reduction at its Bay Area Headquarter (Crowther and Seifi, 2018).
For Google, it is also mandatory to donate nearly 2% of its average net profits towards CSR.
Google is a great company and so it is donating much for the welfare of society. Google has also
inclined its efforts towards the sweeping Google Green Program which includes many
components such as building green energy products and services. Google has also specialised in
Electronic controls and monitoring systems which helps its data farms produce fewer
greenhouse gases (Meyer, 2017).
10

DOES GOOGLE’S APPROACH TO CSR THAT INFLUENCES PURCHASING
DECISIONS
Yes, Google’s success is ensured to a great extent by the efforts contributed by it in CSR
programs that help in satisfying the needs of the stakeholders of Google. Amongst its
stakeholder's customers are key stakeholders that are influenced by the CSR initiatives taken by
Google (Schramm-Klein et al., 2016). Google’s CSR initiatives and efforts help to address the
interests of the customers and thus helps in increasing the popularity of the firm in the market
and help in reaching many customers. Through the CSR efforts many customers are attracted
towards the products and services of Google and thus the purchasing decisions are also
influenced. Corporate social responsibility is thus considered to be that characteristics which
consumers of Google rely highly on in term of the brand's reputation and thus makes their
purchasing decisions (Schramm-Klein et al., 2016).
Consumers of Google are increasingly aware of the growing importance of social responsibility
which actively helps in seeking products from it. For the same Google takes more efforts and
interest in wider social issues which helps in positively impacting the profit margins (Meyer,
2017). Through the CSR approach adopted by Google, it is likely to improve the brand image in
public which helps the customers in assessing the public image and then taking purchasing
decisions. Due to the increased brand awareness and recognition Google is highly committed to
ethical practices which help in boosting brand awareness and thus end up attracting more
customers (Meyer, 2017). Through CSR approach the sustainability is also influencing as due to
less packaging and focus on reducing carbon emissions the brand awareness is increased.
Therefore by embracing CSR Google stands out from competitors in the industry of technology
and thus helps in staying committed towards the social and environmental factors. Through
these initiatives and actions, Google also engages the brand and operations with the customer
are which helps in gaining better engagement levels (Schramm-Klein et al., 2016).
Google has program and policies which helps in addressing the interest of the customers and
the stakeholders group which helps in providing profits to the business and helps in satisfying
the regulatory requirements. Google also claims that it has been using only 50% of the energy
11

of other data centres and it is thus able to deliver the socially-beneficial technologies which
help in reconnecting people in case of major disasters such as Person Finder. Thus this
influences to a great extent the customers purchasing decisions (Schramm-Klein et al., 2016).
RELEVANCE OF CSR IN CURRENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
CSR is the concept that deals with the interest of both the company and society. It has three
wings which are mainly the consumers, society and the employees and therefore CSR helps in
attracting the customers to a great extent by fulfilling the responsibilities towards society and
the stakeholders. CSR policies need to be accomplished by all the companies so as to attain
their organisation goals and stay competitive in the market (Pérez and Rodriguez del Bosque,
2015). To boost its reputation CSR plays a vital role in case of Google as it helps in bolstering the
contribution towards the society which in turns boosts the trust of the customers and also
helps in adding value to the organisation. It is an ethical and sustainable way to enrich the
social and environmental impacts and it also considers the human rights and the community
where it operates. Thus this keeps in consideration the business environment where it operates
and thus brings in business more profitability and sustainability (Pérez and Rodriguez del
Bosque, 2015).
In a current business environment, CSR provides change to all the employees of the
organisation which indirectly or directly contributes to the society, environment and country,
through the CSR initiatives organisations have pledged to educate the children, upgrade society
and provide an environmental contribution in one way or the other. This thus helps in providing
betterment to society and thus helps in creating a positive word of mouth from customers. This,
in turn, ensures long term growth and helps in initiating a lot towards the betterment of the
society (Meyer, 2017).
12