Google v. Wikipedia Workplace Structure and Management Styles
*This is the first part in my postings for the MBA program I am currently in. The course covers information technology in relation to a variety of topics.
Google and Wikipedia are both pioneers in the information industry and are revolutionizing the current market for information gathering and information sharing. These two companies share similarities but the management styles and philosophy surrounding these companies varies greatly.
Google has revolutionized searching on the internet and information finding for people of all walks of life. Google provides a new way to cultivate ideas internally and utilize the power of creativity. At Google, employees are able to utilize 20 percent of their time to pursue projects which interest them (Vise, 2005, p. 131). This practice was garnered from the ability of professors to utilize one day of their work week for academic projects (p. 132). Many of Google’s new features have been started as employee projects. These projects have lead to increased branding, market share, and profitability for Google. The projects have become integral to Google after being worked on by employees during the 20 percent time, includes Google News, Froogle, Google Reader and many more which are part of the Google Labs portion of Google (p. 137). This method of fostering innovation and creativity has helped Google better live up to its mission, “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” (http://www.google.com/corporate/). The top down management structure of Google contains rigid scrutiny for projects by Both Larry and Sergey account for the success of the 20 percent projects which become public tools (p. 138).
Google as a company despite its college like campus has a large portion of the control placed at the top of the structure. The original founders maintain a tight grip on many of the company decisions. Both Larry and Sergey were hesitant to give up control to a CEO with business experience and even after accepting a CEO, the duo kept him on a short leash (Vise, 2005, p. 111). The tight top to bottom control that Google utilizes has combined well with the freedoms which Google employees enjoy, including the 20 percent and the college like atmosphere to create a successful company.
Wikipedia has taken a much different approach to management, eschewing a top down approach and embracing a decentralized system. The structure at Wikipedia consists of a large number of dedicated users, “
Contrary to the practice at Google of allotting 20 percent of an employee’s time in order to foster creativity, Wikipedia looks to dedicated outside users for content. These dedicated users are the lifeblood of Wikipedia and allow Wikipedia to share cover the breadth of topics it currently does. This model became a much greater success than Jimmy Wales’ first online encyclopedia venture which relied on a core group of academics rather than many passionate experts (Tapscott, 2006, p. 72). The practice of gathering knowledge from a large group of passionate experts has proved very useful for Wikipedia.
Despite their many differences both Google and Wikipedia are succeeding at bringing together information into an easily accessible form. The different methods of reaching their current successes only serve to highlight the multiple paths to success in the current marketplace.
References:
Corporate Information. Google, Retrieved February 25, 2007, from http://www.google.com/corporate
Tapscott, Don, Wikinomics, Portfolio (Penguin Press), New York 2006.
Vise, David A. The Google Story, Bantam Dell, 2005
Josh Smith is a blogger, database manager and adjunct professor of business and technology. 
Interesting article…..Well-written!