Netscape's Work Culture
Details
Themes: Organizational Culture
Period : 1994-2000
Organization : Netscape
Pub Date : 2001
Countries : USA
Industry : Information Technology
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Case Code : HROB0013
Case Length : 13 Pages
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But some analysts believed that there were other serious reasons for the exodus. Netscape employees always perceived themselves as an aggressive team of revolutionaries who could change the world. Before resigning from AOL, Jamie Zawinski, the 20th person hired at Nescape, said, "When we started this company, we were out to change the world. We were the ones who actually did it. When you see URLs on grocery bags, on billboards, on the sides of trucks, at the end of movie credits just after the studio logos - that was us, we did that. We put the Internet in the hands of normal people. We kick-started a new communications medium. We changed the world." Another ex-employee said, "We really believed in the vision and had a great feeling about our company." But the merger with AOL reduced them to a small part of a big company, with slow-moving culture. Some employees felt that AOL was more interested in the Netscape's brand name. An ex-Netscape executive said, "AOL always turned its nose up at technology - what Netscape was trying to do. The opportunity AOL had was to make Netscape the technology arm of AOL. |
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As rich of a resource as Netscape was for technology, equally notable is at AOL the lack of that resource. AOL had a hard time understanding how to best tap into it." They felt that AOL had just paid lip service to Netscape's technology by naming Andreessen its Chief Technology Officer. According to Rob Enderle, vice president of Giga Information19, "All Andreessen got was a corner. All they wanted was Web presence' They got the [Netscape] name, they just had to figure out how to get rid of the people."
AOL's corporate philosophy was also completely different from Netscape philosophy. Yoffie explained, "...The heart and soul of the Netscape engineers' culture was to try to change the world through technology, not to change the world through media." That difference made many employees feel that they were working in the wrong place. So most of the engineers left and Netscape was transformed from a technology to a media company. Zawinski said, "AOL is about centralization and control of content. Everything that is good about the Internet, everything that differentiates it from television, is about empowerment of the individual. I don't want to be a part of an effort that could result in the elimination of all that."
Would Netscape have survived on its own had AOL not bought it in 1998, when the company was reeling under huge losses?. The ex-employees of Netscape did not care to answer that question. They only knew that their old company and its culture had gone forever. An analyst remarked,20 "Unfortunately, AOL is a good technology company that doesn’t know what to do with good technology. It's sad what they did to Netscape."
19] Giga Information is a provider of information, analysis and advice for developments and trends in computing and telecommunications.
20] David Cassel, Editor, AOLwatch, an online newsletter.