Running Header: Google Visit & Tour

Google Global Headquarters Tour:

Creating a Culture of Innovation
Ashleigh Josephs
International College of the Cayman Islands

Seminar on Technology & Society [BE-422]

Instructor: Dr. David Marshall
Due Date: December 11th, 2016

Google Visit & Tour

2
Google Headquarters Tour

On our third day in San Francisco we toured the campus and met a representative of one
of the worlds largest search engine headquarters Google Global Headquarters (HQ). This to
me was the pinnacle of the Seminar, as not only were we visiting location of the leading
company in Technological and Social issues but academic institutions, such as universities and
colleges, worldwide rarely get accepted to be hosted by the company.
The morning started with a quick meeting in the hotels lobby to give additional briefing on the
policies and security of the Google complex and to double-check that the proper attire was being
worn before heading towards our destination. After boarding a large tour bus, we started an hour
long journey from the heart of Tourism San Francisco, Fishermans Wharf, and continued on
through the urban and rural sections of the city. As we drove, I remember being amazed by the
level of scenic diversity that the city had to offer as you could quickly tell from the classic city
view of large skyscrapers and rolling hills crowed with street trolley to see a large areas of
open greenery and segments of densely forested areas. At this time many persons toke the time,
like myself, to begin some of our writing assignments for that evening and preparing interview/
note taking tools for when we were to arrive on the compound.
Upon entering the massive complex you can begin to grasp the type of work environment
and personality of the notorious company. Some examples, are the bicycle parking area at the
front of the compound, where we witness many employees coming and going on their green
mode of transport. I found it interesting that each bike had the signature green, red, blue and
yellow colors of the google logo. Later, when you exit the bus, you could see more fun displays
of the companys trademark brands, such as the android mascot, and their logo on a near-by
building. Our representative and tour guide for the day was Joe DeMike, Head of Global

Google Visit & Tour

Business Operations, and Accelerator, who is a cavalry war veteran and earned a degree in
marketing before working for Google for about six (6) years. Another thing I found interesting,
while walking around the grounds, was when Mr. DeMike pointed out some statues that were but
there as an emphasis on the companys views represent things that are important to our
culture. (DeMike. J, 2016) One of these is a statue of a T-Rex skeleton and it is supposed to
represent the dinosaurs of past Internet companies, as well as serve as reminder that if they
dont try to always be the best search engine, they too can very easily become outdated and over
run by other companies. Later, we entered the lounge of one of the many office building to get
special security passes that allowed up to walk through to a conference room for Mr. DeMikes
presentation on the Creating a culture of Innovation.
During the presentation Mr. DeMike revealed to us some of the intricate mechanisms that
explain how the Google Company functions and what services the company itself provides as a
whole. He explained a brief history of the Internet in a post-Google era, development of Google;
how the engineering and organization of the site helps to maximize the customer experience;
Googles mission, vision, and philosophy on success; and what they believe the company can
become in the future, the steps they are taking, and some of the recent innovations that theyve
created in order to contribute to the ideal future they envision.
Overall, I believe the most important thing that I learned from visiting the Google HQ
was that technology now is applied and influences more aspects of ones life compared to when
it first developed. Google Company is known for their superior ranking in being the best search
engine on the market and leading company in Tech. innovation but there is so much more to the
company. They have a 20/20/10 policy where individuals are allocated certain percentage of
their time to focus on work (20%), company (20%), and then 10% on crazy things- outside

Google Visit & Tour

projects that have nothing to do with work at Google. This not only keeps moral up and maintain
a low turn-over rate amongst Googlers (employees), but keeps creativity which is the life
source of a thriving Internet company- flowing. I believe that demonstrating this, in their
working environment, is where Technology & Society come together. It also allows the company
to turn its interest towards thing outside of business technology and apply it to life. For example,
Google is currently piloting a project that uses weather balloon technology to travel internet
satellites to remote places of the world. This project will effectively connect more people to the
internet, while resolving a social issue of communication between places of the world that would
not readily have such advanced technology. Although, this is still a tech-based project Google
has still found a way to connect back to its roots and main source People. Unlike their
competitors, the company tries to tackle societal issues and better cater to as many aspects of
their target customers lives. Making technology that is not only more practical for every day, but
a technology that goes the extra mile to feel more personal towards satisfying individual need.
The applicable implication that I took away from this experience was that there are a lot
of things that can be accomplished with the Internet partnered with technology; the fields that
can be crossed with the combination of both is something that Caymans business economy
should consider. Instead of focusing solely on the FIN TECH side of technology, we should try
to branch and allow ourselves that 10% of crazy things to try and explore the possibility of
incorporating more innovating ways of attracting not only overseas business(es), but gain the
local consumers interest as well.

The topic, presented by Mr. DeMike on, cultivating a culture of innovation relates to
our text on the finding out if the distinction between basic and applied research useful?

Google Visit & Tour

(Easton, T. A. 2016). In the opener of the topic, Venkatesh Narayanmurti (2013) argues, that the
distinction between basic and applied fails to focus on the processes that make up the
scientific research, which promotes an invention/ discovery model that creates a more holistic,
long-term view of the research process. The emphasis on the importance of this method of
research on the impact of not only the scientific but technical development field is exactly what
the Google HQ displayed during our visit. They are a business that relay on and are driven by
this kind of research in the efforts to better and evolve their services in order to stay at the top of
their market.

References
DeMike. J, (2016, November 10th). Personal communication.

Google Visit & Tour

Easton, T. A. (2016). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Science, Technology, and Society (12th
ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.