Netscape's Work Culture

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 management¹¹ 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.

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.

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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.

Case Details

Case Code : HROB013
Themes: Organizational Culture
Case Length : 13 Pages
Period : 1994-2000
Organization : Netscape
Pub Date : 2001
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : USA
Industry : Information Technology

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