Case analysis
The key issues that Bisciglia wants to accomplish for the company are competent recruitment, advance training, and expansion of the company to a new world of business. In order to enable Bisciglia realize this, the management should deploy situational approach of leadership.
This approach holds that there is no single best form of leadership. According to Hofstede, the best leadership is task-relevant and based on maturity (1977, p.109). It is apparent that what Bisciglia wishes to achieve requires flexible leadership with full participation of both the recruits/employees and the management.
Since a decision in situational leadership depends on the nature of the job, the management at Google will support Bisciglia in terms of both finance and morale, hence encouraging him to stay within the company. In order to train students and/or recruits about the cloud computing within the shortest time possible, the management should indeed provide the necessary resources to Bisciglia.
This is achievable only if the management breaks away from traditional acts of bureaucracy, which are inflexible. Records reveal that Bisciglia is no longer a Googler. These records further state that he might have left to pursue other interests.
Contingency and situational leadership
From the case study, contingency and situational leadership are vivid in Bisciglia’s relationship with his CEO, Schmidt. The CEO listens to Bisciglia’s ideas about the expansion of the business and freely allows him to go on without any delay. Schmidt is indeed a situational leader.
In fact, he employs Bisciglia fresh from university while most of the Google employees are PhD holders. This is an indication that Schmidt bases his decision on the nature of the job required.
According to Hersey & Blanchard (1972), contingency and situational leadership theory states that “there is no best way for managers to lead; different situations create different leadership style requirements for managers” (p.24). The major issue is to expand the Google-style computing such that it powerfully benefits researchers and other users. To achieve this, the management should make task-based decisions, as Schmidt does.
In addition, in order to ensure recruits “learn to work on large scale”, the relationship between the employees (recruits) and management should enhance two-way communication. Through this way, the management will realize the goal of advance training, which Bisciglia is trying to pursue.
To enhance training of the recruits, as situational leadership states, the leader has to spell out the responsibilities of the employees, as Bisciglia does for the recruits (Dubrin, 2010, p. 87). The relationship behavior should be two-way; the management freely listens to Basciglia’s views about the cloud project.
Bisciglia’s accomplishments helping him to be perceived as charismatic
Most of the accomplishments Bisciglia makes in this company focus on improving his relationship with the management and other employees, hence proving him charismatic. His urge to improve the Google-computing makes him attractive to most people including his seniors and college students. Google 101, which Bisciglia is continuously working on, is to ensure that students easily learn and expand the business for Google.
The software “MapReduce” which forms the heart of computing in Google is to enhance quick learning and ensure advance training to the students/recruits.
Since these accomplishments improve the Google-computing which is widely used by researchers, entrepreneurs and students from all over the world, Bisciglia becomes attractive and admirable worldwide and among his seniors at Google.
Although he is no longer a Googler, Bisciglia’s ideas in cloud computing are regularly emulated today by the Google researchers. His contribution in fact, makes him unforgettable at Google up to date.
References
Dubrin, A. J. (2010). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, Skills. Rochester Institute of Technology.
Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. (1972). Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Print.
Hofstede, G. (1977). Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill. Print.