THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM

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ENGLISH 1

TOPIC: COMPANY CULTURE OF GOOGLE

Class: 231_ENTI1011_08
Group: 4
Teacher: Ms. Bui Viet Thu

Ha Noi, 02nd October 2023

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
GROUP DISCUSSION................................................................................................................3

MEETING MINUTES...............................................................................................................4

PRESENTATION OUTLINE......................................................................................................5

I. Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................5

II. Body....................................................................................................................................................................5

1. Google - History and Facts..............................................................................................................................5

1.1. History of Google.....................................................................................................................................5

1.2. Some headquarters around the world.......................................................................................................5

1.3. Numbers of employee..............................................................................................................................6

1.4. Main mission............................................................................................................................................6

2. Some Google’s core values.............................................................................................................................6

2.1. It’s the best to do one thing really, really well.........................................................................................6

2.2. Fast is better than slow............................................................................................................................6

2.3. The need for information crosses all borders...........................................................................................7

3. Benefits of working at Google.........................................................................................................................7

3.1. Working space is creative, flexible and not restricted..............................................................................7

3.2. Foods and drinks are free........................................................................................................................7

3.3. Opportunity to meet and work with celebrity and talented colleagues.....................................................7

3.4. Employee’s health is esteemed.................................................................................................................8

3.5. Welfare system for employee....................................................................................................................8

4. Drawbacks of working at Google....................................................................................................................8

4.1. Brutal competition....................................................................................................................................8

4.2. Highly Proprietary Systems......................................................................................................................8

4.3. Minimal Supervision................................................................................................................................8

4.4. Questionable Work-Life Balance..............................................................................................................8

4.5. Self-Driven Learning................................................................................................................................9

5. What can Vietnamese enterprises learn from Google’s company culture?......................................................9

III. Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................................9

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 GROUP DISCUSSION
ENGLISH 1

Topic: Company culture of Google

Group: 4 Class: 231_ENTI1011_08

Teacher: Ms. Bui Viet Thu

Group preparation assessment:

Presentation assessment: List of students (in the order of presenting)

No. Name (for students) Comments (for teacher only) Mark

1 Thu Hằng

2 Lê Cẩm Ly

3 Đỗ Thị Lợi

4 Trần Thị Ngọc Linh

5 Nguyễn Văn Lượng

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 MEETING MINUTES
Time: from 8PM to 9:30PM on 25th September 2023
Place: Online meeting - Zoom
Participants: Ms. Le Cam Ly – Team Leader and four members in group 4: Thu Hang,
Do Thi Loi, Tran Thi Ngoc Linh, Nguyen Van Luong.
Contents for discussing: Choose one main content in our topic in Unit 1: The business
environment. After reviewing all the lesson in Unit 1 that we studied, we sorted out some
interesting topics such as foundation of Apple, the office routine in Amazon’s office,
introducing the workload in Front Office Department in JW Marriot Hanoi Hotel, ….
Conclusion: Choose topic - Company culture of Google
Duties for participants: Find information about Google company, send the draft outline,
give comments on the main outline and receive their sections and done before deadline
which was given by team leader.

Leader (Signature and name) Minute-Taker (Signature and name)

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 PRESENTATION OUTLINE

I. Introduction
Good morning, everyone, we are group four and wish everyone a day full of energy.
Today we are very happy to be here to present our topic. My group consists of 5
members: Le Cam Ly (Team leader), Do Thi Loi, Tran Thi Ngoc Linh, Nguyen Van
Luong, Thu Hang.
In today's context of deep economic integration, a business's competitive advantage
is no longer just its product, revenue or brand, but first and foremost is the company's
culture. To survive and develop in all aspects, businesses must build a suitable and
complete company culture and take it seriously. Therefore, joining with our team to
clarify this phenomenon in the Google Company Culture topic.
My group presentation consisted of the first part introducing the topic, the second
part will introduce the content including the history and facts of Google. The second is to
clarify some core values of Google. Three following sections are the advantages of
working at Google and the answer for What are the limitations of working at Google?
What can Vietnamese businesses learn from Google's corporate culture? Last but not
least is the Conclusion part.
But what makes the company culture at Google so special? Google doesn't have a
secret formula. It is the result of many years of testing and progress. So let's take a closer
look at Google's workplace culture.

II. Body

1. Google - History and Facts

1.1. History of Google

Google was originally a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin,
two doctoral students at Stanford University, California in January in 1996.
The name of the search engine originates from a misspelling of the word "Googol"
meaning the number 1 followed by 100 zeros, was chosen to indicate that the search
engine provides a large amount of information.
They officially established the company Google, Inc on September 4, 1998 at the
garage of Susan Wojcicki's house in Menlo Park, California.

1.2. Some headquarters around the world

The number of Google offices around the world has exploded as its global influence
has increased. As of Jan. 2021, there were 69 Google locations in the U.S. and Canada; 8

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in Latin America; 40 in Europe; 28 in the Asia-Pacific region, including the A-P
headquarters in Singapore; and 7 in Africa and the Middle East.

1.3. Numbers of employee

One of the questions that arises nowadays is “How many employees does Google
have”? Latest figures show that Google has 139,995 employees (2021). Even though it is
also affected by the global wave of layoffs in 2022, Google is still an extremely attractive
name for many workers.

1.4. Main mission

Google exists on the Internet under the address Google.com. Google works when a
user enters a query keyword into Google and will list all sources related to the user's
query.
Google provides users with website links to images, articles, maps, video, google
docs: word processing tools, online presentation spreadsheets...

2. Some Google’s core values

2.1. It’s the best to do one thing really, really well.

As Google pays attention to search and solve all exclusive problems to deliver the
best result for customers, they mostly focus on making the problem solved as soon as
possible and improving it continuously. Therefore, their dedication to improving every
small mistake assists them to develop new products with advanced technology. For
example, everyone can see that Google has many apps and products such as Gmail,
Google Maps,... they always have a team to test the products out and take all the guests’
comments seriously to recover that.

2.2. Fast is better than slow.

The Internet has to be fast and convenient and that is what it keeps the customers so
the aim can funny be said that “having people leave their websites as quickly as
possible”. What they do here is they save the bits and bytes from their pages to keep the
speed faster, so that they keep their goal to break their own goals over and over. They
provide the average response time on the search results within a second. When they
launch the product, they make sure to keep the speed on their priority list.

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2.3. The need for information crosses all borders.
Google was founded in California but the company mission was to facilitate easy-
to-access information to everyone in the whole world. Accordingly, they have offices in
almost 70 countries all over the world and maintain more than 180 internet domains to be
in charge of this.
They not only cross the borders but also remove the language barrier by presenting
Google’s search interface in more than 130 languages, offering people the ability to
restrict results to content written in their own language. Google Translate especially help
people to discover content written on the other side of the world in languages they don’t
speak.

3. Benefits of working at Google

3.1. Working space is creative, flexible and not restricted

Working space in Google is not as same as general pattern of office but it is built
with diverse topics, creative ideas and differences. For example, in Google’s office in
Switzerland, employees are working in private working spaces with images of big eggs –
picture that have never seen in any offices. This will help employees more comfortable
when they work here. Besides, it also helps arouse creativity in them in order to improve
their job performances.

3.2. Foods and drinks are free

Google is considered as a huge restaurant full free of foods and drinks. Google will
provide three free meals for employees with various dishes from Asia to Europe for
employees to choose. This will help employees to save money, feel secure about food
safety and hygiene and also feel happier after each meal. Moreover, Google usually
organizes free cooking training courses to connect their employees together.

3.3. Opportunity to meet and work with celebrity and talented colleagues.
To work in Google, candidates must pass many aptitude tests and have knowledge,
skill, creativity and the ability to work under pressure. Therefore, all employees in
Google are talented and excellent people from all over the world. Thereby, you will have
more motivation to move forward in your career.
When you work in Google, you can also meet or work with celebrities easily as
employees often take part in workshops or talk shows that are shared by celebrities from
many fields. Many guests have visited Google such as Lady Gaga, Tosh Groban and
Ryan Reynolds,..

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3.4. Employee’s health is esteemed
In Google, employees mostly work in offices and sit many hours to work with
computers which affect their health. Therefore, Google provides fitness equipment like:
treadmill, massage machine,..and gym room for employees to practice after working to
improve health. At its big headquarters, Google also has a physiotherapy room with
therapists who are always ready to help employees.

3.5. Welfare system for employee

When you work in Google, you can be on leave for 18 weeks if you have a baby
and dads will have 6 weeks off to take care of their wives and children with the salary
remaining the same. Furthermore, when they are back to work, Google will have a free
kindergarten to assist employees to look after their kids.
With new employees, Google will allow 15 days of unpaid leave a year and 20 days
if you work for 3 years or more.

4. Drawbacks of working at Google

4.1. Brutal competition

Due to the size and grip that Google has on society, it can afford to choose the best
and the brightest in each department, which results in a cut-throat competitive
environment. So it is important to develop beyond the skills required for the position to
beat the competition.

4.2. Highly Proprietary Systems

As a Google developer, you are expected to utilize specific proprietary toolsets and
systems. While this technology is highly efficient and specialized, any tools used in
school or previous work experience are obsolete.

4.3. Minimal Supervision

Minimal supervision is a double-edged sword. While this presents a large amount of
freedom and flexibility without having a boss breathing down your neck, some
employees need a more structured environment with superiors checking in on deliverable
milestones.

4.4. Questionable Work-Life Balance

Young, new and ambitious talent often hang out in the office after core business
hours learning or working. This often results in peer pressure to spend a significant
amount of time in the office, without personal time to decompress. Spending this much
time at the office is not healthy and can lead to burnout!

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4.5. Self-Driven Learning
The Google expectation is that you will actively expand your knowledge and
educate yourself as an employee which means you must commit to self-improvement and
expand your skills while completing important projects for the company.

Many may view this as a personal time imposition, but it’s common in many large
corporations, especially in a constantly changing work, technology-driven work
environment.

5. What can Vietnamese enterprises learn from Google’s company culture?

After discussing about the pros and cons of Google, here are some tips for
Vietnamese corporations to study about company culture:

Be innovative. Google is constantly innovating and this is one of the key reasons for
its success. Vietnamese enterprises should also strive to be innovative and they should
not be afraid to try new things.

Focus on data-driven decision making. Google makes decisions based on data, not
on gut instinct. This allows the company to make better decisions and to avoid costly
mistakes. Vietnamese enterprises should also focus on data-driven decision making other
than emotional decisions.

Be committed to continuous improvement. Google is always looking for ways to

improve its products and services. Vietnamese enterprises should also be committed to
continuous improvement which means constantly looking for ways to do things better
and to improve the customer experience.

III. Conclusion

We’ve just talked about the company culture of Google with diverse information
about its foundation, core values, some of its advantages and disadvantages and last but
not least things that Vietnamese enterprises can learn a lot from Google - one of the most
successful companies in the world. By being innovative, focusing on data-driven decision
making, and being committed to continuous improvement, Vietnamese enterprises can
achieve their own success.