My father told me about it many years ago, before Microsoft was a big company. (How's that for a folkloric answer?) He said the octopus looked like a flying stomach. I say a piece on CBS Sunday Morning (news program) about them, including their management seminars. I don't know if you'd be able to get anything from the CBS website, as the show was more than a year ago, but it's worth a try. I got the impression that the workers do enjoy themselves, that it's not just an act for the gringo turistas.
You might want to look into the management philosophy of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream at http://www.benjerry.com. since the company was bought out a couple of years ago, I don't know if it still holds, but this company used to be managed a similar way.