Netscape's Work Culture

ICMR regularly updates the list of free cases. To view more free cases, please visit our site at frequent intervals.

<< Previous

During 1998, Netscape faced increasing competition from Microsoft in the browser market. Netscape therefore entered new businesses like enterprise and e-commerce software development. By the fourth quarter of 1998, the enterprise and e-commerce software business accounted for 75% of Netscape's earnings. In November 1998, Netscape was acquired by AOL, the world's largest online services provider. Analysts remarked that Netscape's ability to respond quickly to market requirements was one of the main reasons for its success. The ability to introduce new versions of products in a very short span of time had made the company stand apart from thousands of startup dotcom companies that were set up during that period. Analysts said that Netscape's culture, which promoted innovation and experimentation, enabled it to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. They also said that the company's enduring principle 'Netscape Time'had enabled it to make so many product innovations very quickly.

Netscape's Culture

Netscape 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. 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 management¹² 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,¹³ who managed Netscape's internal human resources website, was allowed to make changes to any page on the site, without anyone's approval.

Netscape's management reposed a high degree of trust in its employees, which translated into empowerment and lack of bureaucracy. Beal,¹⁴ 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.

Next >>

---

12] 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.
13] 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.
14] An IT veteran who had worked for several high-tech companies like Apple Computer and NEC Corp.

---