Leadership Style 9 Running Head: Leadership Style Leadership Style: What Do People Do When They Are Leading? James E. Walton II BUS 520 – Leadership and Organizational Behavior Dr. Laura Jones Strayer University August 27, 2013 Larry Page, CEO, Google Larry Page is the current CEO of Google, the world’s most popular search engine. His father was a pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence and his mother taught computer programming, so the most logical educational route was for Larry to study computer engineering. He is a graduate of Stanford University where he met his partner and co-founder Sergey Brin; as a research project, Page and Brin created a search engine that listed results according to the popularity of the pages. They called this search engine Google after the mathematical term “Googol” which is a 1 followed by 100 zeros (Biography). Their mission was to take all of the world’s information and organization it in such a way to be useful to people in any location, country and industry. Google started with donations family and friends in 1998. Google receives over 200 million queries a day. Google headquarter in the heart of the Silicon Valley in Californian and has been a public traded company since 2004. In 2006, Google purchased YouTube, the most popular video streaming website which added $4 Billion to Larry Pages net worth of $23 Billion of March 2013. Larry Pages Leadership and Philosophy Google has never operated like the traditional company and it does not have to base on its successes. Pages believes to be successful you do not need to focus on beating your competition, instead he focuses on innovations. Page thinks there’s a fundamental problem in how companies are run and the media plays a large role in that, as if it’s a sporting event (Levy, 2013). This creates two issues; one is motivation. He explains that you do not get the best out of people when all your concentrating on is what are the other guy doing. The second is, making small changes to be ahead of the competition. If all you do is small improvements on existing things, you will just get incremental improvements. Google has stood out in since they emerged on the scene. One big innovation is Google’s Street-view Maps, when everyone said it could not be done, Page insisted in driving his car around Michigan, taking pictures and proving everyone else wrong. Page collected still pictures from the back of an SUV, lined them up to create the first street view (Crum, 2013). The original launch happen in 2007 in the United States and now has expanded to all seven continents with a 360-degree panoramic view all streets in most cities around the world. Now, Google Street View can be used for small to medium companies who want to provide a sneak peek into their company similar to a virtual tour. This is a great insight to gyms, restaurants and attractions. Google Street View even has a off the grid view where any person can see tourist attractio ...

1. Leadership Style 9
Running Head: Leadership Style
Leadership Style: What Do People Do When They Are Leading?
James E. Walton II
BUS 520 – Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Dr. Laura Jones
Strayer University
August 27, 2013
Larry Page, CEO, Google
Larry Page is the current CEO of Google, the world’s most
popular search engine. His father was a pioneer in computer
science and artificial intelligence and his mother taught
computer programming, so the most logical educational route
was for Larry to study computer engineering. He is a graduate
of Stanford University where he met his partner and co-founder
Sergey Brin; as a research project, Page and Brin created a
search engine that listed results according to the popularity of
the pages. They called this search engine Google after the
mathematical term “Googol” which is a 1 followed by 100 zeros
(Biography). Their mission was to take all of the world’s
information and organization it in such a way to be useful to
people in any location, country and industry. Google started
with donations family and friends in 1998. Google receives over
200 million queries a day. Google headquarter in the heart of
the Silicon Valley in Californian and has been a public traded

2. company since 2004. In 2006, Google purchased YouTube, the
most popular video streaming website which added $4 Billion to
Larry Pages net worth of $23 Billion of March 2013.
Larry Pages Leadership and Philosophy
Google has never operated like the traditional company and it
does not have to base on its successes. Pages believes to be
successful you do not need to focus on beating your
competition, instead he focuses on innovations. Page thinks
there’s a fundamental problem in how companies are run and
the media plays a large role in that, as if it’s a sporting event
(Levy, 2013). This creates two issues; one is motivation. He
explains that you do not get the best out of people when all your
concentrating on is what are the other guy doing. The second is,
making small changes to be ahead of the competition. If all you
do is small improvements on existing things, you will just get
incremental improvements. Google has stood out in since they
emerged on the scene. One big innovation is Google’s Street-
view Maps, when everyone said it could not be done, Page
insisted in driving his car around Michigan, taking pictures and
proving everyone else wrong. Page collected still pictures from
the back of an SUV, lined them up to create the first street view
(Crum, 2013). The original launch happen in 2007 in the United
States and now has expanded to all seven continents with a 360-
degree panoramic view all streets in most cities around the
world. Now, Google Street View can be used for small to
medium companies who want to provide a sneak peek into their
company similar to a virtual tour. This is a great insight to
gyms, restaurants and attractions. Google Street View even has
a off the grid view where any person can see tourist attractions
like the Grand Canyon, Stonehenge, Volcanoes and so much
more.
Larry Pages philosophy on how his organization should be
operated reflects the ideas of his leadership style. Pages’
leadership style is distinct and evident from his background in
engineering and his upbringing a son of two computer science
professors. One approach is to pay attention to our idea and

3. cultivate the nest of them (Elmer, 2011). Page urges his staff to
believe in the presumptuous ideas. By tackling these big ideas
that could potential change the world, he attracts extremely
smart people and achieve outrange goals. In 2009, during a
Google Faculty Summit, the Google group researching artificial
intelligence came across an “ad targeting system” which now
accounts for more than half of revenues. Page pointed out that it
was a pretty good side effect.
For the first several years, Page insisted in being part of every
new hire for Google and even though some have moved on to
build their own companies or joined other companies, most have
stayed because of his approach. The ones that stayed make
enough money to buy and do whatever they want and yet they
choose to work for Page. As Steven Levy mentions, the author
of In the Plex, A look Inside Google and a person who has
interview Page six times, his employees believe in him. Page
recently restructured Google to allow for a more open door
policy, reducing the middle management clutter in his
organization. Page beliefs in the non-traditional management of
Google is evident as one of his new approaches to have Google
executives gather once a week for an entire day to encourage
faster decisions, collaboration and quick choices (Elmer, 2011).
This approach leads to a faster time line and provides new
technologies to their customers.
Larry Pages Personal and Organizational Values
In the case of Larry Page, his personal values and
organizational values seem seamless. His father, Carl Page was
a highly regarded computer science professor at the Michigan
State University who imbedded the idea that computer
technology will change the world. This idea was the driving
forces of Pages ambition for Google. As Google started as
BackRub in his dorm room in Stanford University, his intention
was to make the research better and user friendly. As BackRun
morphed into Google the idea stayed the same; “to make Google
an institution that makes the world a better place” (Flynn,
2004). Page knew he had something, even if the companied

4. remained a small private business, I am sure he would have
been happy with those results as he never wanted to be rich
from his idea, but Google grew in 1999 with the help of family,
friends, professors, colleagues and other search engine investors
of the time like, Netscape, AOL and Yahoo. Google mission
statement now; “to organize the world’s information and make
it universally accessible and useful” (Google, 2011) reflects
those personal and organization values that started BackRub in
1995 with the inspiration of utilizing computers to make the
lives of people a bit easier.
Larry Pages influence Ethical Behavior in Google
Larry Page’s most valuable strength would be his passion for
innovations and his intelligence when it comes to making
general things easier for the customer of Google. His original
idea of making the worlds information accessible and easier to
manage has been his foresight from day one. He has introduced
Google maps when everyone around him said it would not work
or it’s not worth it and it has become the most use instructional
direction platform since MapQuest. I believe Page to be an
Introvert because of his approach to meetings and formal
functions, which I believe could be a good component of his
success. His quiet and reserved demeanor could settle most
conflicts as a CEO and he takes his time to think of his actions
or words. Page seems to disdain all traditional core functions of
a CEO which make his approach once again unique. Also in the
tech industry, I believe the person in charge should know the
company inside and out, which make Page the perfect CEO.
Leaders come in many shapes and fashions but in this industry
in which Page is a major component being intelligent of what he
is saying will be better appreciate or accepted then a
charismatic leader who may dodge technical answers. His
strengths in believing what is right will come in handy for Page
as his new role of CEO for Google.

5. Communication for Page is nothing new; he spoke and met Brin
to start this idea, he met with people to help fund those ideas
and he made great success. Just like most people, Page is also
timid when it comes to public speaking. In fact Forbes
Magazine wrote an article that Larry Pages claims to have
“vocal cord paralysis” and doubted his ability to be an effective
CEO. This is something that will need to unfold as Pages settles
in his role of CEO (Elmer, 2011). Page may also want to
consider taking a lesson or two on adversity, especially in
government anti-trust regulations. As Google becomes a much
bigger entity the Federal trade Commission is considering
taking action against Google and its dominant position in the
Web (Thomas, 2012). Page has been also been known to sit
through meetings not concentrating on what is being said and
when confronted or asked for his opinion he is such a smart guy
that he takes a moment to catch himself up with the notes in
front of him and replies. When asked, Page mentions he gets
distracted from ideas floating in his head, so he write them
down but gets too involved with them. As newly appointed CEO
he will need to control his thoughts and manage his
surroundings. Taking a page from his earlier years, he will need
to be involved in every meeting as he was in every interview of
a potentially new employee.
Qualities Which Contribute to Good Leadership
After researching Larry Page I can see what makes people
gravitate towards him. He is an innovative leader who shares his
ideas with those close it him and allow other into his success.
He seems to be that guy at the playground that will let you kick
the ball during his turn when you where the person kid picked
to join the team. His ability to recruit talent young talent,
expose them to wonderful new technologies and allow them to
bloom in their own world is nothing short of a mistake. Page
has taken an idea expanded it to an enterprise. The one quality I
admire from Page is that he is not worried about his
competition, he is more concern about his products and services
to his customer or technological advances which will peoples’

6. lives easier. Google is just not a search engine of information; it
categorizes information so that your time searching the
abundance of information is use wisely and effectively. The
additions of YouTube helps people like me in doing Do-It-
Yourself projects around the house and pass time watching
funny videos of people falling, prank each other or getting into
accidents. GoogleMaps does not only allows to know where we
are going in a 2D scale but now major cities have a 3D function;
also, it allow you to see the neighborhood in which you will be
visiting and actually look at landmarks to ensure you’re in the
correct location. So far, none of Page’s competitors have even
attempted to duplicate this accomplishment, which is what set
Google apart from other search engines and what sets Larry
Page apart from other entrepreneurs.
Influencing Group Dynamics
Communication is key in any relationship and it is what sets
human apart in the animal kingdom. Pages public speaking may
not be his strong point and challenges will arise in his new role
of CEO of Google, but in an untraditional corporate setting is
where he thrives. From their very first meeting on a campus
weekend familiarization Page and Brin argued about anything
on computers. Eventually the two settled down and agreed on
one great thing which became their livelihood. The two
collaborated on ideas, functions and design with themselves and
introduced the idea to a selected few Stanford University
professors who loved the idea and by their ability to express
themselves, provided funds and advice for the two as they
continued to build on their idea. Page was never one to make
himself better than the person next to him yet he admired and
welcomed ideas from his fellow man. His ability to believe in
his product led him to discuss and be seem by other
organization such as Netscape and Yahoo who in 1999 funded a
large portion of Page and Brin’s BackRub to become a public
traded company as Google (Flynn, 2004). Although this action
of becoming a public traded company made both men
Billionaires overnight, they both were not influenced by it and

7. never lost sight of what they started and what they wanted to
do. Google remains today as one of the largest technology
producing companies in providing searchable information,
mobile devices, social media and many more.
References
Biography, (2013) Larry Page. Retrieved on August 14, 2013
from http://www.biography.com/people/larry-page-12103347
Crum, C., (June, 2013) Google Adds Behind the Views Content
to Street View Collections, WebProNews/Technology. Retrieved
on August 14, 2013 from http://www.webpronews.com/google-
adds-behind-the-views-content-to-street-view-collections-2013-
08
Elmer, V., (April, 2011) What Would Larry Page Do?
Leadership Lesson from Google’s Doyen, CNN Money.
Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/18/what-would-
larry-page-do-leadership-lessons-from-googles-doyen/
Flynn, L. J., (April 2004) 2 Wild and Crazy Guys (soon to be
Billionaires), and Hoping to Keep it that way, The New York
times; Technology. Retrieved on August 20, 2013 from
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/technology/30founders.htm
l
Google, (January, 2011) Googles Mission is to organize the
World’s information and make it universal accessible and
useful. Google. Retrieved on June 17, 2013 from
http://www.google.com/about/company/
Levy, S. (January 2013) Google’s Larry Page on Why Moon
Shots Matter, Wired; Business. Retrieved on August 14, 2013,
from http://www.wired.com/business/2013/01/ff-qa-larry-
page/all/
Scherhorn, J. R., Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G. (2012)
Organizational Behavior (12 ed.) Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons
Thomas, O., (October 2012). Google CEO Breaks his Silence to

8. Warn Against Government Regulation, Business Insider.
Retrieved on August 26, 2013 from
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-larry-page-
antitrust-2012-10
CASE 2B – MENDEL PAPER COMPANY
Mendel Paper Company produces four basic paper product lines
at one of its plants: computer
paper, napkins, place mats, and poster board. Materials and
operations vary according to the line
of product. The market has been relatively good. The demand
for napkins and place mats has
increased with more people eating out, and the demand for the
other lines has been growing
steadily.
The plant superintendent, Marlene Herbert, while pleased with
the prospects for increased sales,
is concerned about costs:
"We hear talk about a paperless office, but I haven't seen it yet.
The computers, if
anything, have increased the market for paper. Our big problem
now is the high fixed
cost of production. As we have automated our operation, we

9. have experienced increases
in fixed overhead and even variable overhead. And, we will
have to add more equipment
since it appears that we need even more plant capacity. We are
operating over our normal
capacity as it is.
The place mat market concerns me. We may have to discontinue
printing the mats. Our
specialty printing is driving up the variable overhead to the
point where we may not find
it profitable to continue with that line at all."
Cost and price data for the next fiscal quarter are as follows:
Computer Paper Napkins Place mats Poster board
Estimated sales volume in units 30,000 120,000 45,000 80,000
Selling prices……………………. $14.00 $7.00 $12.00 $8.50
Material costs…………………. 6.00 4.50 3.60 2.50
Variable overhead includes the cost of hourly labor and the
variable cost of equipment operation.
The fixed plant overhead is estimated at $420,000 for the
quarter. Direct labor, to a large extent,

10. is salaried; the cost is included as a part of fixed plant
overhead. The superintendent's concern
about the eventual need for more capacity is based on increases
in production that may reach and
exceed the practical capacity of 60,000 machine hours.
In addition to the fixed plant overhead, the plant incurs fixed
selling and administrative expenses
per quarter of $118,000.
"I share your concern about increasing fixed costs," the
supervisor of plant operations replies.
"We are still operating with about the same number of people
we had when we didn't have this
sophisticated equipment. In reviewing our needs and costs, it
appears to me that we could cut
fixed plant overhead to $378,000 a quarter without doing any
violence to our operation. This
would be a big help."
"You may be right," Herbert responds. "We forget that we have
more productive power than we
once had, and we may as well take advantage of it. Suppose we

11. get some hard figures that show
where the cost reductions will be made."
Data with respect to production per machine hour and the
variable cost per hour of producing
each of the products are given as follows:
Computer Paper Napkins Place mats Poster board
Units per hour 6 10 5 4
Variable overhead per hour $9.00 $6.00 $12.00 $8.00
"I hate to spoil things," the vice-president of purchasing
announces. "But the cost of our
materials for computer stock is now up to $7. Just got a call
about that this morning. Also, place
mat materials will be up to $4 a unit."
"On the bright side," the vice-president of sales reports, "we
have firm orders for 35,000 cartons
of computer paper, not 30,000 as we originally figured."
Questions:
1. From all original estimates given, prepare estimated
contribution margins by product line

12. for the next fiscal quarter. Also, show the contribution margins
per unit.
2. Prepare contribution margins as in part (1) with all revisions
included.
3. For the original estimates, compute each of the following:
a. Break-even point for the given sales mix.
b. Margin of safety for the estimated sales volume.
4. For the revised estimates, compute each of the following:
a. Break-even point for the given sales mix.
b. Margin of safety for the estimated sales volume.
5. Comment on Herbert's concern about the variable cost of the
place mats.