Company history
Initially, Motorola Corporation was a multinational company in the telecommunications industry and was based in the Illinois. However, the company was later divided into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions, with each operating as an independent company (Spencer, 2011). The move took place in early 2011 after the company ran into massive losses between 2007 and 2009.
However, of the two branches of independent companies, Motorola Solutions stands out as immediate replacement of the entire Motorola Corporation. The corporation was founded in 1928 and was initially known as Galvin manufacturing Corporation. Later in 1930, the corporation introduced a Motorola radio that was used in cars.
The company was founded under “the stewardship of Paul Galvin together with bill Lear as the investor, who later created the brand name Motorola” (Spence, 2011, p.38). With massive developments in the line of telecommunication, Motorola demonstrated the first portable phone in 1973. The corporation continued in production and sale of mobile phone handsets, until when it was overtaken by the Nokia Corporation in 1998.
Over time, the corporation was involved in a series of innovations in technology; for instance, production of the first GPRS cell phone in 2000, first wireless cable modem gateway in 2002, production of the first handset that used a Linux operating system and java technology in 2003 among many other innovations.
After the split of the entire Corporation in 2011, Google purchased the Motorola Mobility later in the same year and it has its headquarters At Libertyville where it deals with the production of mobile handsets (Spencer, 2011).
Company’s culture
Researchers call for businesses to have their own, but unique styles in running day-to-day affairs of the organizations. The culture practiced within an organization is quite crucial as it determines a company’s direction towards achieving its goals and objectives. Culture incorporates several aspects that include the working environment offered to employees and the company’s vision (Mitchell, 2008).
Vision and mission statements of an organization guide employees and the entire organization towards ensuring success. Within the culture of Motorola Mobility Company, many bureaucracies are applied within the company, hence causing more stress to employees. However, the company applies high technology in their production, hence the high quality phones marketed under the company’s brand name all over the world.
In trying to increase its efficiency, the company has been involved in constant reorganization since 1990s (Crockett & Kharif, 2008). During this time, many job relocations took place within the organization. For instance, many engineers were relocated to overseas branches in Europe, China, and India among other countries.
However, the company values its employees for they form part of the entire company’s investment plan. Consistent and to some extent compulsory training is offered to employees to equip them with different skills and experience. Training is part of a development initiative taken by companies to ensure the wellbeing of employees.
In addition, this move also acts as a form of motivation to employees as they are recognized and rewarded though not on a monetary basis. Value addition in employees also calls for improved quality of output, hence the overall success of the entire organization. However, things changed when the company replaced the good values it had acquired over time with bad ones.
For instance, job security was not a guarantee, especially if one was not innovative. Random changes took place within the management and stringent measures were put upon employees, especially their modes of dressing and working hours (Crockett & Kharif, 2008).
Labor laws do not advocate for detrimental work environments, which cause stress to employees due to insecurity and long working hours. As for Motorola Mobility, this requirement was a complete opposite as employees worked for long hours without proper compensation, apart from the usual salary.
Over the years, Motorola enjoyed success due to exemplary governance and leadership offered by the Galvan family. However, since its acquisition by Google, the management has been on the gradual change. For instance, employees are allowed to have fun after work and stringent regulations on modes of dressing were removed.
After Chris Galvin left the company in 2002, employees did not receive the quality of training they could get in the past. In addition, the management team that took over did not put into consideration motivation of employees as they experienced unaccounted deductions, salaries postponement for months before payment, and bureaucracies were implemented in all sectors of the organization (Crockett & Kharif, 2008).
Although the culture depicted by Motorola is quite the opposite that of Google, Google Corporation is working tirelessly towards a positive change in the organization.
Purpose
After the split of the initial corporation, Motorola Mobility, which is currently owned by Google, deals with the production and marketing of mobile phone devices. The company utilizes various technologies and innovations to come up with mobile phone devices that suit various needs in the market.
Apart from the production of mobile handsets, the company also produces tablets, wireless accessories, and a wide range of other accessories within the telecommunications industry.
The company’s purpose is to bring together people through the utilization of innovative technologies to enrich their lives. In their production plans, the company ensures involvement of customers to ensure that various needs in the market are met, which is also a strategy towards implementing improvement in its products in future (Spencer, 2011).
The company’s executive team
Initially, the entire corporation ran under the leadership of Paul Galvin as the CEO and Bill Lear as an investor. The company’s management remained within the family as Chris Galvin took over from his brother. The company’s CEO assumed the responsibility of ensuring overall wellness of the corporation and that of employees.
In addition, the CEO ensured that overall challenges of the organization were addressed and that all teams within the organization worked together to ensure success within the organization. In 2002, Chris Galvin stepped down as the CEO of the company leaving it under the leadership of Edward Zander.
However, Zander went on to overhauling the management structure and came up with stringent rules that led to a near-downfall and poor performance of the company. After the acquisition by the Google Corporation, Motorola Mobility is currently under Denis Woodside as the chief executive officer. Under the CEO, there are senior vice presidents heading various sections within the company (Crockett & Kharif, 2008).
Successes and failures of Motorola Phone Company
Over the years, the company has been in a position to produce and sell high quality mobile devices that suit various needs of the market. Innovations in technology and provision of quality training to employees were attributed to the success that the company enjoyed in the past.
In addition, the company has not lagged behind in the telecommunication industry. Production and marketing of smart phones and tablets was one of the crucial moves made by the company. During the era of Chris Galvin, the company had successfully implemented a plan that saw proper training of employees, hence a form of motivation, recognition, and empowerment (Crockett & Kharif, 2008).
However, the company along its history made various mistakes not only in connection to its culture, but also other areas, which resulted to poor performance witnessed between 2007 and 2009. Motorola’s culture comprised of bureaucratic procedures and most products were based on ideas from engineers and not consumer’s tastes and preferences.
In addition, the company failed to provide job security to its employees among other complaints. On the other hand, the company failed to come up with and implement a proper marketing strategy (Crockett & Kharif, 2008). However, these missteps hinged on the shoddy culture as depicted by the company. The company’s deteriorating culture led to its inability to produce and release phones as quickly as possible in the market.
For instance, mid 1990s era was characterized by a shift from analogue to digital mobile phone devices in the market. However, engineers and the company’s management team failed to put a serious consideration on effects of such a shift. However, the corporation introduced digital phones in the market, but could not keep up with the competition posed by the Nokia Corporation (Crockett & Kharif, 2008).
Later on, the corporation invested in some sort of entrepreneurial skills that were implemented by various leaders. For instance, under the management of Edward Zander, the company improved its efficiency in production of slim phones.
However, this success did not last for long when consumers shifted their focus from hardware and laid strong emphasis on software that ensures additional phone functionalities. The company also failed to enter into the 3G phone market, a step that its competitors had already taken and the company remained completely disconnected from the market (Crockett & Kharif, 2008).
Recommendations
Since the company’s acquisition by Google in 2009, Mr. Jha took over as the company’s chairperson. He implemented various strategies aimed at overhauling the entire business culture that existed in the Motorola Corporation. For instance, he introduced casual wears to replace the strict dressing code that existed as he noted that the dressing code had nothing to do with the declining sales volumes (Crockett & Kharif, 2008).
Mr. Jha also worked hard to ensure consistent contact with the market, which involved a change on the company’s culture that was mainly engineering oriented; for instance, focusing on market need as they evolve from time to time. In this case, Mr. Jha implemented several improvements on the hardware and software to include the emerging developments to suit various needs of customers in the market.
On the other hand, Google should focus on a recruitment drive to enrich the company’s human resources and tap upcoming and fresh talents. Mr. Jha realized the need to overhaul some of the members of staff and replace them with new employees. Some staff members that worked for Motorola Corporation failed to produce a new product for years, and this aspect underscores lost opportunities.
In addition, some top talent and well performing employees had left the company for competitors like Apple Corporation and the like. The cost of hiring new employees can be quite high, but it is avoidable with the implementation of appropriate measures. However, the company should think of a motivation package and new ways to improve the existing workforce instead of conducting a fresh recruitment process.
Reference List
Crockett, R., & Kharif, O. (2008, Aug. 6). Motorola: The New CEO’s Real Challenge. The Economic Times, p.21.
Mitchell, C. (2008). A short course in international business culture: Building your international business through cultural awareness. Petaluma, CA: World Trade Press.
Spencer, A. (2011, Jan. 5). Motorola is split into two. The Wall Street Journal, p.38.