Sociology

Some of the issues or concepts in the case are as follows 1) firm globalization, 2) pervasiveness of organizational culture, 3) decentralization, 4) creation of team structures, 5) growth incentives, and 6) preponderance of human capital in business activities. For simplicitys sake, only (1) and (2) will be discussed in the paper.

At the start, Goldman Sachs had fewer than 40 employees and two or three partners with about 100 000 starting capital. After fifty years, the business boomed only to shrink in the Great Depression of the 1930s. Again after fifty years, the business expanded overseas. This presented new opportunities and threats from the global environment. The opportunities are as follows 1) prospect of new client companies, 2) expansion of capital base, and 3) decentralization of subsidiaries. The threats are as follows 1) oversensitivity from global economic events (like the 1997 Asian shock), 2) overexposure to bloated capital building, and 3) command restructuring (costly necessity). Because the firm is globalized, it must balance the need for capital expansion and oversensitivity. This balance ensures stability of equity and capital returns. This will also prevent the firm must overexposing its capital base to financial stock markets  as price fluctuations often deter sustained growth.

The pervasiveness of organizational culture has been described by one managing director as an entity
that makes the difference between us and other firms  its the glue that binds us together. We hold onto the values, symbols and rituals that have guided us for years, and anything new that we add to the culture always support what already exists (Groysberg and Snook, 20076).
Indeed, organizational culture is the thing which unites all members of the organization. It is both the substance of inclusion and the basis for formulating ethical rules. Now, the aim of the firm is always to maintain this sense of cultural pride  this is because it is a catalyst of growth.

The dominant aim of the leadership structure can be summed as cautious advance in the global economic arena and maintenance of organizational culture.