1.

APIGEE: PEOPLE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND THE CHALLENGE

OF GROWTH

Firstly, the case talks about change management as APIGEE had diversified into three
main areas of operations: products, consulting, and implementation and proved to be a
leading player in enabling digital transformation across industries. It had also become
a thought leader in the management of APIs.

In offering digital strategy consulting services to its clients, Apigee conducted a string
of strategy workshops and created a warehouse of knowledge through white papers
and cutting-edge research on APIs. These efforts enabled Apigee to offer its clients
credible and trustworthy advisory services related to digital innovation. Most of
Apigee’s target clientele comprised organizations that wanted to innovate while
reaching out to customers in the digital space.

When we talk about the digital transformation of APIGEE we see how diversifying
into three main areas helped in their digital transformation. Digital transformation has
become a necessity for organizations and every organization doesn’t have any choice
but to adapt to the dynamic environment. One of the strategies that sets leaders apart
is that they spend more on transforming their businesses instead of just running them.
APIGEE also enhanced their customers experience and made themselves more
competitive in the industry by constantly working on innovations.

Secondly, Apigee adopted a unique culture at their organization called “the Apigee
way,” which was the outcome of culture-building exercises that were initiated to
identify the company’s core values. Apigee’s way of building culture was markedly
different from traditional top-down culture-building approaches; Apigee’s leadership
team devised a bottom-up approach that was accomplished in-house.

Apigee’s culture-building exercise, primarily involved capturing Apigee’s

beliefs, sentiments, and values via interviews and conversations with employees.
The Apigee culture-building exercise provided an opportunity for employees to
express what they liked about Apigee, their reasons for working for Apigee, and their
perception of its culture. From the interviews and conversations with employees and
the leadership team, it became evident that, at Apigee, three critical values were
internalized and exhibited in behavior: passion, a bias for action, and respect.

When we look at the culture of APIGEE it is evident that the employees are well
respected, and they are given due importance. This is important for an organization to
be successful as employees are the backbone of the organization and without them no
work could be done. The employees at APIGEE were passionate about their work and
supportive of each other. The employees were treated equally and felt like they
belonged there. This shows us how important it is for an organization treat its
employees and well and then and only then could one get on the track of making a
successful company.