Netscape's Work Culture
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NETSCAPE'S CULTURENetscape promoted a casual,
flexible and independent culture. Employees were not bound by rigid
schedules and policies and were free to come and go as they pleased. They
were even allowed to work from home.
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The company promoted an environment of equality –
everyone was encouraged to contribute his opinions. This was also
evident in the company's cubicle policy. Everyone including CEO
Barksdale, worked in a cubicle. Independence and hands-off
management[11] were important aspects of Netscape's culture. There was
no dress code at Netscape, so employees, were free to wear whatever they
wanted.
Barksdale laid down only one condition, “You must come to work dressed.”
The company promoted experimentation and did not require employees to
seek anyone's approval for trying out new ideas. For example, Patrick
O'Hare[12], who managed Netscape's internal human resources website, was
allowed to make changes to any page on the site, without anyone's
approval. |
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Netscape's management reposed a high degree of trust in
its employees, which translated into empowerment and lack of bureaucracy.
Beal[13], a senior employee said, “Most organizations lose employees because
they don't give them enough opportunities to try new things, take risks and
make mistakes. People stay here because they have space to operate.”
Realizing that some experiments do fail, Netscape did not punish employees
for ideas that did not work out. However, to maintain discipline at work,
employees were made accountable for their decisions. They were also expected
to give sound justifications for their actions.
Job rotation was another important feature of Netscape's culture. By doing
so, the company helped its employees learn about new roles and new projects
in the company. For example, Tim Kaiser, a software engineer, worked on four
different projects in his first year of employment. The company believed in
letting its staff take up new jobs – whether it was a new project in the
same department or a new project in another department. Moreover, related
experience was not a requirement for job rotation. Netscape played a
proactive role in identifying new positions for its employees inside the
company.
Employees were offered a wide range of training options and an annual
tuition reimbursement of US $6,000. This opportunity to expand their skills
on the job was valued by all employees. The company also helped employees
learn about the functioning of other departments. There were quarterly
‘all-hands'meetings in which senior managers of different departments gave
presentations on their strategies. These efforts created a sense of
community among employees. An employee remarked, “They really try to keep us
informed so we feel like we are involved with the whole company.”
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THE SETBACK
EXHIBIT I - NETSCAPE – CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
EXHIBIT II - NETSCAPE TIME
EXHIBIT III - BENEFITS FOR NETSCAPE EMPLOYEES
EXHIBIT IV - NETSCAPE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
[11]
Hands-off management refers to the delegation of time-consuming duties by
senior management to employees, and also allowing them to make some major
decisions.
[12]
Patrick O'Hare joined Netscape in June 1997 to manage the internal human
resources website. He developed the site from scratch in just two months.
The site was Netscape's biggest internal site with more than 20,000 user
sessions a month, offering full-fledged benefits including education and
career management.
[13] An
IT veteran who had worked for several high-tech companies like Apple
Computer and NEC Corp.
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