Today we took time out of our day to visit another huge company, Google. It was intriguing to see the work place environment and the culture by which they did their jobs. Although it wasn’t a good fit for me, it was still interesting to see how a company like Google can manage themselves within their office, as well as nationally and internationally. Similar to Ernst & Young, the employees promote a work environment built around leadership and cooperation. However, with Google, it’s a much more free way of working, with emphasis on ideation and allowing everyone’s idea, no matter high or low in the company, to be looked at and used in projects. They base their work on four values: culture, communication, creativity, and cognitive skills. It’s a much more relaxed and informal environment, promoting the culture of the company through means of equality to help form the ideal workings of a team by having a cooperative effort. On the other hand, Ernst & Young was much more driven to get things done in order to please their clients, and it seemed like the employees there worked cooperatively because they wanted to, rather than because they were forced to for the sake of the job. In my eyes, the culture and environment of Ernst & Young would just be a better fit in the long run.

However, Google also plays a role in the community development of neighborhoods around the Pittsburgh area. They believe it’s their corporate responsibility to give back to the community and they do that in a variety of ways. Google partners with various entrepreneurs and small businesses, because they see it as a way of giving back, but also as a way of pushing their company further. They use it as an extra source of innovation that can be introduced to the company. Google also plays a huge role in education in the Pittsburgh area. In fact, they have a partnership with some of the schools, allowing them to teach students about computer science, as well as other skills needed to succeed in the industry. They are aware of their environment and use it as a catalyst to thrive as a company, adhering to the principle of open systems extremely well. So although Google may not be the fit for me, it is no wonder that they are a huge success with the culture that they have and their drive to continue improving. It was great getting to visit the company and take a look at how a company of their size really functions.