To be honest, I have great interest in Information Technology so the first topic of Google's management style vs Apple's management style totally caught my interest in CDE. In my opinion, Having a course like this will definitely bring great benefits to our class students. Let me further elaborate on how is this beneficial to our class. Having to read all these interesting articles, our class students will be able to know how do companies around the world work (In this case Google and Apple). This broadens the students’ view as we’re now exposed to the reason behind their success and how are they different from Chinese companies that have traditional kind of thinking.
Secondly, this elective provides our classmates with opportunity to speak up and express their view during lessons thus improving their communication skills to an extent. This elective also doesn’t give us information straight away and or simply us to “read, read and read”. Instead, we are allowed to discuss in the class and by this way we can definitely learn from each other and thru that, we'll be able to always have different point of view instead of a single-sided argument.
Lastly, this elective also allows to know how these global companies links to the eastern ideas. Example will be the recent discussion between Google’s way/ Apple’s way relationship with the idea of Confucianism. It’s very interesting to know how these global companies have in common of the idea developed thousand of years ago. If I’m not wrong, We’ll further discuss the idea of Confucianism in a future tutorial.
All the facts stated above will help to develop one’s idea of how other people work and at the same time, linking back to what we have at the moment.
Besides that, having to read the interesting fact of how Google employers work in the Google office, I had developed some thoughts about working in there. Personally I love working in an environment that allows you to express freely of what you feel and what you think. That matches perfectly with Google’s working environment. Besides, Google office is kind of a “stress-free” environment, imagine an office having pools, free massage service, gym and more! I believe that if someone is able to work without stress, more creative and innovative ideas will come to their mind and the one who benefit from it is definitely their employers.
Another fact i will like to bring up is that by working in the Google Office, it gives the employees pride in their work. Just imagine yourself telling your friends when you open up www.google.com and say “Hey! I did part of it!”. I believe someone will do double as hard if he have pride in his own work.
Besides that, there’s also some potential negatives working in the Google Office. Firstly, someone may suffer from stress due to the fact that Google gives their employees 20% of their time to work on their own idea/project. If this employee failed to have an idea to work on, stress of getting reprimanded during the peer review session. Secondly, tension between employees in Google may build up during the peer review session caused by a slightly aggressive comment on other’s project. Lastly, “Google Way” may not be suitable for those that doesn’t have self discipline as someone can choose to work at anytime he or she want. If someone doesn’t limit himself or herself, he/she may have to rush the work given to them and ended up using the 20% of new productivity ideas.
Upon finishing this tutorial, I had improved my knowledge on Apple and Google and most remarkably, the reason behind their success. I had definitely developed my interest in this subject and I hope that I’ll be able to contribute to the class discussion in the upcoming tutorials.
After reading through your reflective journal, I feel that you really did a thorough and good job on stating out the positives and negatives in working in a "stress-free" environment like in Google, but I would just like to add on another point with regards to the stress level in the company.
ReplyDeleteMany of us would think that without stress, we would be able to generate more ideas or producing better quality of work. But some of us really need the stress to push us forward. Like in our own school, many so called "slackers" start to push themselves harder when many of their classmates starts improving or when they slowly start to become the weaker students among the class. This is a typical example to show that stress would not necessarily cause someone to do badly in what he/she is doing, but maybe in turn help motivate people to work harder.
Therefore, I think that working in a "stress free" company might not be suitable for everyone, especially for those who are not self-disciplined enough.
Hello Alvin!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that you are very interested in this elective, just like me! I am very impressed in your writing abilities and I agree with you on many points you have made in your journal.
I can see that you have put in a lot of effort in your reflective journal, as I can sense the meticulous thinking you have reflected in your writing. I particularly liked how you used the example of an employee telling his friends how he is proud to be "a part of Google.com". As childish as it seems, it is actually a true point that many Google employees are really proud of their company because of the intrinsic motivation Google has given them.
Moreover, I liked how you talked about how extrinsic motivation also helped in pushing Google's employees to go the extra mile. Why do I feel that way? Many reflective journals I read only emphasized on intrinsic motivation, but it cannot be denied that extrinsic motivation also plays a huge part in attracting and keeping employees. It was great that you went the extra mile to mention that free massages and other benefits give the workers a "stress-free environment", something that other companies cannot provide its employees with.
However, I feel that you could have emphasized a little more on the negatives of the Google Office. The negatives do not only include stress on the employees, but also pressure (and maybe even huge losses) on the company. This journal will be enhanced further if you raised up this point.
Overall, it was an intriguing read and I enjoyed your reflective journal tremendously.
- Lim Ming Kit (12)
Your classmate from 3B1
Hi ALVIN!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through the article, feel that you have done a comprehensive reflection of the course so far, explaining the good aspects of the course. I totally agree with you on the point that the course is enriching and will improve our public speaking skills. And it allow discussions to flow, improving our understanding of the topic along the way. I also agree that this elective will enhance our knowledge on global affairs, like the ideologies of MNCs and their culture as compared to China... etc
I am also impressed with the wide coverage of details in your reflective journal, as you manage to state all the points that we have discussed during the lesson, especially on the negative side of working in the Google Office. I also appreciate the extra amount of self-reflected work, where you manage to state the emotional and psychological motivation or impact the google management style will have on the employees.
All in all, i really enjoyed your reflective journal, and sincerely hope you will be able to pursue your interest in Information Technology further, as we attend future CDE lesson.
Regards,
Clarence Lee
3B1 (10)