Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Joycelyn Jones
McDaniel College
eBay Inc. 2
Abstract
This is an analysis of the Meg Whitman at eBay Inc. case study. This case details the creation of
eBay as the world’s largest person-to-person trading site on the Internet (Hill & Farkas, 2005, p.
2). The successes of eBay are attributable to its values, leadership, team structure, and most
importantly its culture. This analysis focuses on the organizational culture of eBay. It begins
with an Introduction section to familiarize the reader with the case organization. Then, this
analysis focuses on key aspects of eBay’s organizational culture and their relative importance.
eBay Inc. 3
In 1995, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay (originally called Auction Web) as a pet project.
The original purpose of this project was to allow equal access to all users (Hill & Farkas, 2005,
p. 2). Furthermore, Omidyar aimed at leveraging the vast potential of the Internet by developing
(Icmrindia.org, 2003, p. 1). Soon, eBay became the largest person-to-person trading community
on the Internet where customers could list items for sale and buyers could bid on items using a
fully automated, easy to use online service (Hill & Farkas, 2005, p. 2). Lastly, Omidyar’s
brainchild also included a Feedback Forum, a self-regulating mechanism that encouraged good
behavior. This tool was just one way that eBay fostered a sense of community on its site (Hill &
In 1997, Omidyar realized that due to the enormous growth of eBay, he should hire a
more seasoned CEO. Early on Margaret C. Whitman (Meg) became a top candidate. Meg had
an extensive background that includes such impressive organizations as Walt Disney, Hasbro,
and FTD to name a few. With this breadth of knowledge and experience, Meg was quite capable
of making an already successful organization, the greatest organization ever. As Meg met with
representatives of eBay, she realized that her style and beliefs about organizational culture were
inherent in the eBay business model. Thus, Meg set out to do just that by keenly assessing and
respecting eBay’s organizational culture. Organizational culture outlines the collective attitudes,
beliefs, common experiences, procedures, and values that are prevalent in an organization
Organizational Culture
After being at eBay just a short time, Meg soon realized that the eBay community was an
integral component of the company’s foundation and business model. For that reason, the
primary element of eBay’s culture is a respect for its community (Hill & Farkas, 2005, p. 4).
Whitman’s experience taught her the importance of being respectful of culture and past
achievements when entering a new company (Hill & Farkas, 2005, p. 5). Organizational Culture
(2007) states that a “strong culture” responds strongly to organizational values and easily passes
To no surprise, eBay’s internal culture closely resembles its external community culture. This
concept is extremely important to eBay since all internal decisions ultimately affect the external
culture.
eBay is extremely smart with respect to its culture since research indicates that culture
plays a strong role in organizations. eBay knows and research implies that the items listed above
positively contribute to increased job satisfaction and lower turnover. This is why it is
organization-wide change (McNamara, 2000, p. 1). Failure to do this generally results in failure
of the change effort. Additionally, research reveals that it is imperative that leaders not only
possess excellent management capabilities but that leaders share values with the organizations
Conclusion
This writer believes that Meg Whitman indeed exemplifies the eBay culture and
understands what it takes to move an organization to the next level with commitment and support
from the team. She truly believes that she must do what is right for the company as well as the
community. Even in the face of controversy and growth, she perpetuates an environment of
morality, openness, creativity, and excitement. In addition, Meg’s unbelievable ability to seek
and acquire additional team members to assist with delivering her vision for strategy for
This writer concludes that eBay’s organizational culture will remain essential to the
organization’s success. Most organizational scholars and observers recognize that organizational
culture has a powerful effect on the performance and long-term effectiveness of organizations
(Masood, S. A., Dani, S. S., Burns, N. D., & Backhouse, C. J, 2006, p. 943).
This is evident in this quote from Hill and Farkas (2005), “Whitman describes eBay as a
site of the people, by the people, for the people”. The organizational culture is the “glue” that
holds an organization together as a source of identity and distinctive competence (Masood, S. A.,
Dani, S. S., Burns, N. D., & Backhouse, C. J, 2006, p. 943). With this mindset, how can they go
wrong?
eBay Inc. 6
References
Egan, T. M., Yang, B., & Bartlett, K. R. (2004). The effects of organizational learning culture
and job satisfaction on motivation to transfer learning and turnover intention. Human
EBSCOhost database.
Hill, L. A., & Farkas, M. T. (2005). Meg Whitman at eBay Inc. (A). Harvard Business School,
9-401-024.
Icmrindia.org. (2003). Meg Whitman - The Driving Force Behind eBay. Retrieved May 13, 2008,
from http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/LeadershipandandEntrepreneurship
Masood, S. A., Dani, S. S., Burns, N. D., & Backhouse, C. J. (2006). Transformational
McConnell, B., & Huba, J. (2003). Meg Whitman: How eBay rules. Retrieved May 13, 2008,
from http://www.creatingcustomerevangelists.com/resources/evangelists/meg_whitman
http://www.managementthelp.org/org_thry/culture/culture.htm
Organizational Culture. (2007). Organizational Culture. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from
http://www.organizationalculture101.com
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2008). Essentials of organizational behavior (Ninth Ed.). Upper
Simpson, R. B., Parkes, S. J., & Ott, J. S. (2008). Classic readings in organizational behavior