Google was founded on 4th September, 1998 by Lary
Page and Sergey Brin. Since its inception Google has consistently worked for
providing information to people worldwide. To enhance its user experience it uses
innovation as its major tool. Since 2003, every year it added at least two
major developments in its products and services which helped to increase its
market share as well as its profitability.
Google Inc. has a
sound business strategy supported by successful implementation and execution. 95%
of its revenues come from advertisement. Google gives its users the best
service luring them to use it more and more, and then target them with relevant
advertisements. At first they attained expertise in their core area that is “providing
information” worldwide that helped it to gain world recognition at fast rate.
People from all over the world started using it and then it used its popularity
and wide user base to market its other products and services like Gmail,
Youtube, Nexus Smarthones, etc. Some of the areas where Google has done good
job are following:
a) User/Audience/ Customer: From
identifying needs of users or customer to providing services to them, Google
has done his best. It knew that people needed information and that too at a
fast rate. To deliver faster search results it has used most efficient
technology and techniques like PigeonRank and PageRank. Its search suggestions
are useful. Its spellcheck feature allows users to search even those things on
the web about which the user has just heard of. All these things help in
gaining and retaining users.
As on
25/3/2014, there were 187 Million monthly unique visitors to Google sites which
show how popular it has become among people.
b) Reach and Market Share: Google has worldwide audience reach. Every
person uses it in some form, be it Google Search Engine, Gmail, Google+,
Chrome, etc. Almost 12 billion search results were executed by Google in
February, 2014.
After seeing growth in smartphone users, it
launched Android operating system for cell phones in May, 2010 and a new
version of Google Chrome for smartphones. These efforts resulted in Google
share of US search market reaching 67.5% and US mobile search result market
reaching 87.1% as on 20/03/2014. All these facts and figure suggests that
Google has successfully implemented its market strategy that resulted in
increased reach and market share and has also enabled it to fairly penetrate
those markets which were new to it.
c) Product and Service Innovation and Upgradation:
This is the area where google has outperformed almost every entity and has
set a high benchmark which Google itself keeps on increasing. Be it Google
Chrome, Gmail, Android or Nexus phones, Google keeps on delivering improved
version of its product and services.
Its
spending on R&D for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 were 5.165, 6.793 and
7.724 billion respectively. Introducing Android which is a Linux based
operating system for cell phones was an innovative idea welcomed all over the
world and now every 7 out of 10 smartphones are based on Android. Google Street view, introduced on 25th May,
2007 is another innovative feature of Google Maps which provides panoramic
views of various streets and places. This feature has enhanced user experience
a lot. Hence, we can say that Google has also worked well in product and
service innovation and its strategy regarding them, to some extent, is
flawless.
d) Human Resource and Corporate Culture: This
is also area where Google has distinguished itself from other entities. The
management team of Google consists of Executive Officers, Senior Leadership and
Board of Directors. The success of any entity depends on its employees.
Employee benefits, satisfaction and appraisal helps in gaining maximum output
from employees. Therefore Google has adopted a corporate culture where its
junior employees are free to ask questions and give suggestions to any member
of management team. Google values ability over experience. So there are chances
that a person who has less experience but more skills and ability than others
can join and even be promoted. It boosts younger employees to give their best.
Office interiors of every Google office has different theme. Google has also
carefully worked on the socio-cultural aspect for gaining employee’s loyalty.
For example, at one of its office in India its logo reads “Google Bharat”
which means Google India. By doing so it gives its Indian employees
a separate identity and coveys the message that Google respect their values.
The corporate
environment at top level is also very sound. This is evident from the fact that
most of the top management members are with Google for more than ten years and
half of the members are with it since its initial stage. This is remarkably a
positive sign for a MNC which is sixteen years old.
Considering all the above mentioned factors, we can say that
the Google Inc. has a sound business strategy which values its users & customers,
focuses on their needs and increases its market share and profitability, while
focusing on product and services and improving employee satisfaction.
However, Google faces tough competition. If we talk about Google’s core
area that is providing information, its competitors are Yahoo and MSN.
If we consider its Operating System (OS) industry its major
competitor is Microsoft which provides Windows based operating system for
smartphones. Microsoft has also a large customer base due to which there are
always great chances of it becoming a favourite platform for providing
advertisement services to many companies. This can severely affect Google
financial health which is mainly dependent on revenues from advertisement.
Microsoft is also a mature entity in OS industry.
The industry in which Google operates is fast growing and changing
rapidly. Google should adopt futuristic approach so that it can anticipate
changes of industry and adapt to those changes.
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