At NUS Business School, learning takes place inside and outside of the classroom.
As part of their year one BBA programme in marketing, students take part in a range of company visits to get hands on experience.
Here student Devin Nathaneal recalls a recent visit to the new Google HQ.
Walking into the Google headquarters in Singapore, it’s immediately obvious this is not like any other company.
The atmosphere is nowhere near any of the places that I have worked at previously. It was vibrant, lively and far from conventional.
When Google opened its first office in Singapore in 2007 it had just 24 staff. Last year it moved into brand new offices after its numbers grew to over 1,000 “Googlers” (as it calls its staff).
When our host, an NUS alumnus, showed us around, I was particularly interested in the office design. Closed doors are almost non-existent.
Instead the design of the office aims to promote creativity and interaction. The atmosphere is very informal and staff are allowed to wear what they think is comfortable.
Our host told us about Google’s top down and bottom up approach, where even the youngest and newest Googlers have a say in the decisions made despite the huge size of the company.
I am very much in favour of this approach as it removes much of the hierarchy and seniority in the company, and empowers all the workers. It must be very exciting knowing that every day when you step into the office, you can make a huge impact in Google and society.
Hands on experiences like the visit to Google HQ show us how marketing concepts such as the 4Ps are applied in real life.
We were able to see and learn how marketers communicate and interact with each other, how the marketing team push the company’s objectives, and ultimately the execution process of the different strategies.
The Google visit was very personal to me as it is my dream to work in such an impactful company. This is probably the kind of job I would stay in for many years.
As someone who enjoys working independently and creatively, I feel that Google would be a great place for me to work after I graduate. Our visit to the Google offices has certainly inspired me to work even harder to earn my dream job.