When it comes to Google, the company uses innovative organizational behaviors, whereas Sears uses traditional organizational behavior management methods. It is stated that dynamic environments necessitate organizations to be managed flexibly, quickly, adaptably, and pragmatically with the use of informal and higher communication rates (Collyer, 2016). In the case of Sears, the company experienced a decline in its competitiveness due to the issue of ‘ossification’ of management. The latter term refers to a stagnation across the organization, which manifests in underperformance reflected 3 C’s of failures, such as change, customer, and culture. The first technique example is that Sears tried to stick to its established processes, where it did not go digital, which let Amazon outperform the company. Another traditional approach was that the organizational culture was stagnant and rigid unable to adapt to a new business environment. Sears also failed to capture the prime needs of its customers, which was followed by a late and ineffective attempt to change.
In the case of Google, the company’s top management utilizes innovative organizational behaviors. One of the techniques includes a bottom-up approach, where “the engineers are empowered with their tasks and responsibilities rather than just receiving orders to be completed as per deadlines” (Ved, 2020, para. 6). In addition, Google workers are also given a high level of flexibility to perform their responsibilities, which reflects the management’s trust in its employees (Ved, 2020). The organizational culture is fluid with increased mobility because engineers are encouraged to grow and progress. Google bases most of its decisions on data rather than the intuitive expertise of its managers. All of these differences show how the tech giant is managed flexibly, quickly, adaptably, and pragmatically compared to a traditionally managed Sears.
References
Collyer, S. (2016). Culture, communication, and leadership for projects in dynamic environments. Project Management Journal, 47(6), 111-125. Web.
Ved, K. (2020). Organizational behavior at Google — Culture of success and happiness.Medium. Web.