Although all human beings yearn for the same fundamental workplace benefits such as good pay, time off work and affiliation with others, organisations operating at a global level face the complex task of motivating employees with a diverse set of backgrounds, cultures and expectations.  LinkedIn recognised this challenge in redesigning their Sydney office in 2015. LinkedIn, the world’s leading web‐based professional network, originally employed Cliff Rosenberg in 2009 to establish a Sydney office after building a comprehensive Australian membership. Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO said at the time: ‘Establishing our first office in Australia allows us to accelerate our efforts to deliver the best user experience and expand our local partnerships’. By 2015, Rosenberg had become the managing director of LinkedIn for South‐East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and described how the global giant maintained its emphasis on local development through the redesign of its Sydney office. The focus was to create a ‘global office with a local feel’. The ‘local feel’ was designed to motivate staff by providing an Australian theme, such as kangaroo images on the walls and boardrooms named Strewth and Ozzy. Further changes also included a games arcade, cinema, indoor barbeque and smoothie station. And it is this ‘feel’ factor the new workplace environment provides that is critical in relationship cultures where employees may be concerned about how they are looked after.

QUESTION

How can global corporations benefit by developing cultural themes in the local setting of their operations? How might managers deliver global goals at local levels?

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