The Organizational culture at MAANG companies often serves as a benchmark for others to emulate. What is MAANG? MAANG comprises – Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, together these organizations make MAANG. They provide a clear illustration of the specific cultural values they uphold as discussed below:
Microsoft’s Innovation and Creativity
Microsoft’s new chapter of cultural exploration began with an experiment in innovation and creativity. While executives are vocal about the current developments and their willingness to accept them, they are emphasizing on the importance of developing a new workforce with “right brain qualities.” This means they are looking for individuals who possess qualities such as empathy, curiosity, adaptability, and open-mindedness.
Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has emphasized the value of diversity and inclusion in fostering innovation in addition to design and empathy. The business has put a lot of effort into finding and keeping a diverse workforce, as well as making sure that every employee feels appreciated and encouraged.
Apple’s Leadership Vision Is Shifting with a shift in their working methods
With the company’s rapid growth, Apple’s founders understood that a shift in their working methods, motivation, and work atmosphere was unavoidable. As a result, the visionary leadership team led by Roger Rosner, the VP of Applications, established the Discretionary Leadership Model.
In this model, employees are expected to allocate their time as follows: 40% for innovation and taking full ownership of projects, 30% for learning new skills, ranging from honing general abilities to mastering the latest technologies, 15% for teaching, and the remaining 15% for delegating their responsibilities to the team.
Amazon – Vein Principles
Amazon’s culture and work environment are governed by 16 Leadership Principles, which influence their Organizational structure and daily operations. The concepts serve as the foundation for their hiring activities, employee development programs, and determining the capabilities of individuals to remain in the workplace.
There are in total 16 Leadership principles given by Amazon, here are the top 6 mentioned:
- Customer Obsession: Leaders work backward from the consumer starting point. They put up a lot of effort to gain and maintain client trust.
- Invent and Simplify: Leaders continually look for ways to make things simpler while expecting and requiring innovation and inventiveness from their people. They are open to fresh ideas from wherever and are not constrained by the phrase “not invented here.”
- Ownership: The employees are the owners. They have a long-term perspective and do not compromise long-term worth for immediate gains. They do not state, “That’s not my job.”
- Are Right, A Lot: The leaders possess solid intuition and sound judgement.
- Hire and Develop the Best: Amazon’s leadership prioritises continuous performance improvement, identifying and nurturing talent, fostering leadership development, and creating innovative mechanisms for employee growth, such as Career Choice.
- Deliver Results: Leaders concentrate on providing the essential components of their organisation with timely, high-quality service.
To read more about the principles, you can visit: https://www.aboutamazon.in/about-us/leadership-principles
Netflix – All it takes is Culture
Netflix is not the only brand associated with entertainment, they are also the market leader for its 128-slide ‘Culture Deck,’ which reinvented the definition of remuneration and culture. What makes it so special?
They let their staff be the sole decision-makers on their projects, and they give them some authority to make the final decisions.
The CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, described their culture as driven by the following seven aspects:
- values,
- high performance,
- freedom and responsibility,
- context not control,
- highly aligned,
- top of the market pay, and
- promotions and development.
Google says Culture and Performance complement each other
Google is the public face of innovation and market revolution. Have you ever considered what made them the best? It is their ongoing priority to have the ‘best workplace culture‘. Google has implemented a range of measures to support its workforce in response to the changing work landscape brought about by the pandemic.
These initiatives include additional support for parents, virtual cooking classes, and practical ways to enhance well-being while working from home. Google has introduced “No meeting days” to promote work-life balance and productivity, along with “Focus Time” in Google Calendar to enable undisturbed work periods. To combat employee fatigue, “Reset” days offer much-needed breaks. The office environment is being transformed into collaborative spaces, and new communication technologies are being introduced to accommodate remote and in-office work. Google also offers the flexibility to work from any location for up to four weeks a year. Modern collaboration tools like Smart Canvas enhance teamwork, and the company aims to achieve a flexible balance between office and remote work while encouraging focus time for employees. The firm’s primary operational concept is based on one thing: Organizational Culture.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai made a note to his staff in an email that “We’ll move to a hybrid work week when most Googlers spend approximately three days in the office and two days wherever they work best.”
Besides the MAANG, here are a few examples of some Indian companies working globally and creating exemplary organizational culture.
Tata’s culture
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting, and business solutions enterprise that provides actual outcomes to global businesses while providing a level of confidence that no other firm can match. TCS provides an integrated portfolio of consulting-led IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering, and assurance services.
TCS promotes the oneness of its culture by diversifying its services but in the end, coming under the same roof. This is their motto – “We are #OneTCS”. TCS has an inclusive culture in which employees are valued and encouraged to reach their full potential. Our variety is our greatest asset. Despite our diverse backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints, we are united by a shared goal for our organization.
Tata has also focused on 5 basic principles condensed into a single-word philosophy – DRIVE.
D- Daring
R – Responsive
I – Inclusivity
V – Venturing
E – Ethical
Mahindra & Mahindra
The core values of Mahindra & Mahindra set upon good corporate citizenship, employee dignity, professionalism, quality focus, and customer-first – inspire the associates to achieve the organization’s core purpose.
Driving positive change in the lives of their communities, only when they enable others to rise. Their motto – #TogetherWeRise
Employee performance is driven by their culture’s main ingredients: innovation, leadership, decision-making, and communication. As a result, they are a team that is continually seeking to achieve and create collective expertise.
Let us know what unique culture/leadership styles you follow in your Organization?
