Google’s localised work culture in Asia

Hello and welcome to another session. My name is Tinkuma Edafioghor, and I'm a senior lecturer in human resource management from the University of the West of England in the United Kingdom. In this session, I'll be speaking to you on Google's localised work culture in Asia. The case today looks at how Google tackled a classic challenge in international human resource management. So managing performance across borders. We'll examine what happened when its famous informal feedback culture clashed with different cultural expectations in Asia and how the company adapted.

Google, known for its flat structures and continuous feedback culture, found that this didn't translate well in certain Asian contexts. In particular, employees in Japan and South Korea perceived the informal feedback as vague and even disrespectful. These cultures place a high value on hierarchical clarity, formality and structured evaluations. As a result, employee satisfaction and retention were declining, especially among high performers who wanted clear guidance and acknowledgement.

Now, to solve this problem, Google's human resource team didn't abandon its global approach. Instead, what they did was they adjusted it. In Japan, they implemented structured performance reviews with clearly defined hierarchies and timelines. Managers received cultural competency training to communicate feedback in ways that aligned with local expectations. In India, where team dynamics allow flexibility, Google leaned into peer-driven feedback or still framed it in culturally relevant ways. For example, they provided feedback in group settings rather than individual critiques. This hybrid model allowed Google to maintain its core values around open communication while respecting how different cultures prefer to receive feedback.