Literature Review-Google Inc.

Literature Review-Google Inc.

A mission and vision are standard and critical elements of a

company's organizational strategy. Most established companies
develop organizational mission statements and vision statements,
which serve as foundational guides in the establishment of company

Literature Review-Google Inc.

objectives. The company then develops strategic and tactical plans for
objectives. This paper will provide literature review on Google Inc,
including information about vision, goals, strategy and investment
philosophy. Furthermore it will discuss Googles close competitors.
The article To Give Your Employees Meaning, Start With Mission,
written by Amabile, talks about the importance of companys mission
and the relation with the employees motivation. Many companies
dont even try to make work meaningful for the people doing
it(Amabile, 2012). This can lead to killing employees motivation,
engagement and creation. Most of these companies mission
statements of some fall flat, focusing solely on shareholder value,
competitiveness in the marketplace, or staying out of trouble. The
companys mission statement should inspire everyone, including the
employees of the company. The organization must actually support
employees ability to achieve meaningful goals. In the best companies,
where employees are engaged and performance shines, leaders at all
levels respect employees and consistently strive to give them the
autonomy, help, resources, and time they need to do great work.
The article Google's Vision Statement & Mission Statement,
written by Thompson, talks about how Googles mission statement and
vision statement reflect the powerful position of this company in terms
of what it wants to achieve. Google has been following its mission
statement and vision statement, since their start in 1998. This lead
them to its current position as one of the most valuable brands in the
world. Googles mission statement defines the strategies of the
business, such as the development of new products. In a similar way,
the companys vision statement pushes the organization to achieve
new heights, such as through rapid innovation. The success of Google
is directly connected to the efforts of the company to fulfill its mission
statement and vision statement. The companys leadership in the
market satisfies theuniversal accessibility component of the mission
statement by making Googles products widely used (Thompson,
2015).
The article Googles goal: To organize your daily life written by
Daniel and Palmer talks about Googles future goals. In this article, Eric
Schmidt, Googles chief executive, is stating that gathering more
personal data was a key way for Google to expand and the company
believes that is the logical extension of its unstated mission to
organize, then secretize the worlds information, for monetary gain
(Daniel & Palmer,2007) Furthermore he talks about the companys
future :The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask it
questions such as What shall I do tomorrow? and Which religion
should I join? We think the religious questions will prove especially

Literature Review-Google Inc.

popular with our users, since in an age of changing morality and

sectarian strife, who is more objective on these matters than an entity
without a soul? Google is that thoughtful, soulless oracle. (Daniel &
Palmer,2007).
The article Ten years in: how Google raced ahead written by Liz
Warren, reports that Google has become a poster child for successful
internet businesses. Much of its success derives from a business
strategy which chief executive officer (CEO) Eric Schmidt has described
as "ubiquity first, revenues later." Commentators frequently mention
the freedom Google gives to its employees to work on projects of their
own choice, and the fun atmosphere created at the company's
headquarters. Another key component is Google's technology platform.
Moreover, one of the reasons Google is able to put much trust in its
staff is that it recruits carefully and continues to manage them in ways
that encourage innovation.
In the case study The new role of developers in the mobile
ecosystem: An Apple and Google case study written by Schultz,
Nygen, Zarnekow,& Wulf, two case studies are conducted on Apple and
Google. Porter's approach of key activities is used to identify, how the
two companies create a sustainable competitive advantage and which
roles developers fulfill within the strategies. The cases reveal two
different strategies, showing how both companies integrate developers
to increase their competitive advantage: While Apple created a `gated
garden,' focused on user experience and the lock-in of customers,
Google's strategy is based on a more open concept which has been
coined as `architectural control,' created by numerous strategic
partnerships.
In the case study written by Friesike, Case: Google Ventures it
is discussed about the Google Ventures which are the venture capital
department of Google. A corporate incubator strives to create
innovation, whereas a venture capital firms idea is to create money. As
such, corporate incubators fill their front end with new ideas and
innovative businesses in development that are related to the parent
companies businesses. And venture capital firms select their portfolio
of companies based on investment opportunities. Google Ventures tries
to combine both investment strategies. Today, Google Ventures has
invested in over 100 firms with a focus on the core topics mobile,
gaming, energy, and life sciences. Google Ventures differs from other
tech companies like Intel or Microsoft with regard to the form and
intensity of support and engagement extended towards the companies
Google invests in. Google Ventures makes no secret of investing
deliberately in companies whose aim it is to directly compete with
Googles products. The inclusion of the funded company into the

Literature Review-Google Inc.

parent company Google, or the sale of the funded company to another

investor represent two exit strategies Google Ventures pursues.
(Frieskie, 2014).
In the Google website segment, the company competes with
search innovator Yahoo, technology giant Microsoft, career social
networking site Facebook and Apple.
The article, Microsoft's new mission statement: It's all about
doing MAGICAL THINGS written by McAllister, talks about Microsofts
new mission, vision and culture.Satya Nadella, the Microsoft's CEO
believes the software giant is poised to achieve "magical things" in the
coming years. (McAllister). She states "Our mission is to empower
every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more,"
(McAllister). Furthermore this article states that Microsoft's vision will
be visible in Windows PCs, slabs, and phones. Also Microsoft is
expending in the gaming business , by bringing together Xbox Live
along with Redmond's PC, console, and mobile gaming efforts and
that includes HoloLens. Furthermore, the culture of Microsoft Is
changed to be customer-focused, diverse, and inclusive.

The article Strategy as Simple Rules by Eisenhardt & Shull,

talks about Yahoo and its corporate strategy in the new economy. The
central theme of the article is that in dynamic markets, strategy
centers on processes, not positions. Furthermore, this article explains
how Yahoo!s managers initially focused their strategy on the branding
and product innovation processes and lived by four product innovation
rules: know the priority rank of each product in development, ensure
that every engineer can work on every project, maintain the Yahoo!
look in the user interface, and launch products quietly. As long as they
followed the rules, developers could change products in any way they
chose, come to work at any hour, wear anything, and bring along their
dogs and significant others. (Eisenhardt & Shull).
The article, The Financial Value of Facebook written by Will
Bickford, talks about Facebooks unique investment philosophy. The
author states that Facebbok has no competition, since it is a unique
company and one of a kind. There are companies that look similar,
such as Google and LinkedIn, but their models differ in fundamental
ways from Facebook. (Bickford). Furthermore, the company has a
very large user base and they found ways to effectively monetize that
base Facebook is making revenue off its users (Bickford). Also in the
article it is stated that the company has a competitive advantage
over others right now. In the future, this competitive advantage may
erode or disappear. Investors feel that Facebook may lack a tenable
position in its advantage over other companies. (Bickford).

Literature Review-Google Inc.

The article Ambidextrous Organization: Managing Evolutionary

and Revolutionary Change talks about the evolution of organizations
and their changes. The main challenge for managers is to adapt the
culture and strategy of their organizations to its current environment,
but to do so in a way that does not undermine its ability to adjust to
radical changes in that environment. They must, in other words,
create an ambidextrous organizationone capable of simultaneously
pursuing both incremental and discontinuous innovation (Tushman &
O'Reilly, 1996). Furthermore this article discusses the strategy of Apple
and Microsoft. The author states Success at Apple and at other firms
is based on learning what works and what doesn't. Inevitably,
even Apple's strategy had to change. (Tushman & O'Reilly, 1996). The
apples managers had to change the strategy and re-balance the
congruence among strategy.
In conclusion, this paper provided literature review on Google
Inc, including information about vision, goals, strategy and investment
philosophy. Furthermore it discussed Googles close competitors and
the different strategies, investment philosophies, visions and goals that
they have. It was found that every company is unique, using different
tactics to distinguish themselves from its competitors.

References:

Amabile, T. (2012). To Give Your Employees Meaning, Start With

Mission. Harvard Business School.
Bickford, W. (2012, May 3). The Financial Value of Facebook.
Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/10286
Daniel, C., & Palmer, M. (2007, May 22). Googles goal: To
organize your daily life Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c3e49548-088e-11dc-b11e000b5df10621.html#axzz41fh4gm2c
Eisenhardt, K. M., & Shull, D. N. (2001). Strategy as Simple Rules.
Retrieved March 01, 2016, from https://hbr.org/2001/01/strategyas-simple-rules/ar/1

Literature Review-Google Inc.

Friesike, S. (2014). Case: Google Ventures. Retrieved March 01,

2016, from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-31901056-4_20/fulltext.html
Liz Warren. (September, 2008). Ten years in: how Google raced
ahead.
McAllister, N. (n.d.). Microsoft's new mission statement: It's all
about doing MAGICAL THINGS. Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/26/satya_nadella_microsoft
_mission_statement/
Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
http://www.techtarget.com/contributor/Liz-Warren
Schultz, N., Nygen, Q., Zarnekow, R., & Wulf, J. (n.d.). The new
role of developers in the mobile ecosystem: An Apple and Google
case study. Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/261483087_The_new_rol
e_of_developers_in_the_mobile_ecosystem_An_Apple_and_Google
_case_study
Thompson, A. (2015). Google's Vision Statement & Mission
Statement - Panmore Institute. Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
http://panmore.com/google-vision-statement-mission-statement
Tushman, M. L., & O'Reilly, C. A. (1996). Ambidextrous
Organization: Managing Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change.
Retrieved March 01, 2016, from
https://hbr.org/product/a/an/CMR063-PDF-ENG