As you may expect from a prestigious-yet-rebellious company like Google--where where recruits from top 10 colleges provide tech support --the question of management is tough for people on either side of the hierarchy.
Back in 2002 they wiped away their management layer in an attempt at becoming a totally flat organization. The idea was to strip away barriers to idea development and allow for a more grad-school type collegiality. But the experiment soon ended: folks were coming to Larry Page with questions about expense reports and interpersonal conflicts. And so they were left with a conundrum of just how to manage with management--one which HBS professor David A. Garvin helps us see the resolution of.
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