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ABSTRACT
Google Inc. of the West and Xiaomi Inc. of the East are recognized as 'flat organizations'. They exercise 'flat management' in their corporate culture, wherein mid-level management is abridged, leaving the corporate structure less-bureaucratic, top-down-and-less-hierarchical, and more laissez-faire. Using the Confucian criteria of Wu Yu, namely morality (or, virtue), intellectual (or, wisdom), physical ability (or, sportsmanship), groupism (or, cooperation), and aesthetics (or, elegance), this paper assesses managerial philosophy and corporate practice of Google and Xiaomi. It is found that under flat management, although each company nevertheless reveals its corporate idiosyncrasy, they achieve business success and sustainability through adopting small-team orientation, vision of integrating innovation with business, effective communication, work liberty and flexibility, working with best talents, and cultivating collegiate workplace, of which these administrative components may suggest new managerial standards to modern corporate management.
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, who doesn't know 'Google'? When one hears a question about something without knowing the answer, the most frequent phrase one would refer to is: why don't you 'google' it? Google Inc., one of the multinational computing and technology titans in the world, is increasingly renowned for its laissez-faire corporate management and bounteous company benefits. A 2014 survey, jointly undertaken by Universum and The Wall Street Journal (at http://read.universumtop100.com/), among college undergraduates, MBA students and career professionals, ranks Google as the Number-One employer in America in 2013 where these individuals would like to work. Fortune Magazine (2014, at http://fortune.com/best-companies/) also ranks Google Number-One of the 100 best companies to work for in 2013 and 2014. So, why are young talents and professionals attracted to Google? How is Google different from other companies? As stated in Alsop (2008), college students see Google as a rapidly-growing tech-pioneering company. From its cool corporate image to its unconventional office environment -which is energetic, liberal, and multicultural - Google upholds its philosophy of valuing ability over experience (i.e. de-emphasizing the seniority-based standard) and deprioritizes formal education to be all-embracing and non-hierarchical, visionary and revolutionary (see Worstall, 2013). CBS News calls Google the Whimsical Idea Factory, where employees are encouraged to be creative and self-developed, and to cultivate the work-life balance: a collegiate lifestyle which promotes the blended enjoyment of work and play (see Blakely, 2008).
Beijing Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd., known as...