Introduction
Google is a multinational corporation founded by Larry Page and Sergy Brin in 1998. It was founded with the sole aim of organizing information in order to make it available to everyone worldwide. Since its foundation, Google has evolved significantly. Several products have been developed, partnerships have been formed, and acquisitions have taken place.
For example, in 2007, Google launched a mobile operating system know as Android. The company also moved into development of communication hardware, software, and applications for computers and mobile devices.
A business-level strategy refers to a set of commitments, plans, and initiatives that businesses, corporations, and organizations use to develop competitive advantage through exploitation of strengths of certain products in the market (Hitt 45).
The five main generic business-level strategies used to develop competitive advantage include cost leadership, focused differentiation, focused cost leadership, differentiation, and integrated cost leadership (Hitt 47). Google uses the differentiation strategy that involves providing goods and services in ways that are different from those of competitors.
Google’s business level strategy
Companies adopt several business-level strategies depending on their operations and organizational structure. Google adopts the generic business level strategy of differentiation (Ireland, et. al, 54). This strategy involves offering an array of products and services to customers in ways that differ from those of competitors. The search engine is the most popular service offered by Google. It has dominated internet searches for a long time.
Moreover, it is the most reliable and most preferred internet search engine because it has several features that make it fast and reliable. For example, the search engine uses a scheme known as the PageRank system that is unique to it only. It ranks different web pages and makes searches based on the interest of the user instead of the repetitiveness of a search word or phrase.
The strategy has given Google competitive advantage over other companies that offer similar services and products such as Yahoo (Ireland, et. al, 55). The company has successfully developed customer loyalty due to the high quality of its products and services.
The differentiation strategy explains the competitive advantage developed by Google. Through this strategy, the price of goods and services are set at levels that exceed the cost of production. On the other hand, more attention is accorded to innovation rather than production of low cost products (Ireland, et. al, 57).
Sources of differentiation strategy include incorporation of advanced technological features into products, use of creative designs, and use of responsive initiatives to fulfill customers’ needs.
Strategic issues facing Google
The main strategic issues facing Google include privacy disaster, hiring and retention, competition from new companies, risk of disruption by new startups, risk of antirust and copy infringement, and violation of privacy (Ireland, et. al, 71). Goggle has reproduced more than 15 million books without the permission of copyright holders.
This has resulted to massive copyright infringement cases that might lead to massive losses in litigation. Security is one of Google’s strategic challenges (Ireland, et. al, 72). Privacy and property issues have presented challenges to the corporation’s management. Google has a lot of private information on people such that it is unable to secure appropriately.
Liabilities for security breaches are a critical corporate weakness that Google has to deal with (Ireland, et. al, 73). It also faces the anti-piracy legislation risk for several violations that have cost a lot in litigation cases. Piracy is also another threat to Google’s brand and dominance in the market.
New startups are emerging every day and pose threats to Google (Ireland, et. al, 74). With new and innovative products, Google faces stiff competition and risks suffering disruption from new entrants.
SWOT analysis
Goggle’s strengths include competitive advantage due to its brand equity, brand loyalty, financial leverage, unique products, innovative culture, and economies of scale. Weaknesses include bad acquisitions, weak customer service, privacy compromise, technology defects, and filtering of materials (Ireland, et. al, 79).
Opportunities include innovation, development of new products, new markets, and increasing demand for technological products and services. Threats include new entrants, intense competition, government regulations, and risks of piracy and security breach liabilities (Ireland, et. al, 81).
Recommendations
It is imperative that Google deals with the aforementioned strategic issues to guarantee sustained growth and dominance. First, it should develop measures to deal with security breaches because customers are likely to move to other corporations that provide secure services (Kourdi 64). The company risks losing loyal customers due to rampant security breaches if amendments are not made.
Secondly, it should develop stringent measures to fight piracy that threatens its dominance and uniqueness of products. Thirdly, it should invest heavily in innovation because of the risk of disruption from new entrants (Kourdi 64). Lastly, Google should provide better remuneration benefits and incentives for its employees in order to deal effectively with hiring and retention issues.
Conclusion
Goggle has dominated the internet and technology sectors for a long time. It has developed a strong brand that has a great following. However, certain strategic issues risk its dominance. Such issues include security breaches, anti-piracy legislation, stiff competition from new entrants, and hiring and retention issues. A SWOT analysis of the corporation reveals that much needs to be done to eliminate the threats and weaknesses it faces.
One of the most viable initiatives is investment in innovation. Recent technological advancements and emergence of new startups have led to stiff competition in the industry. Google should strive to develop new products and services that fulfill the needs of customers. The numerous privacy and security breaches might lead to deterioration of customer loyalty if Google fails to take the necessary measures.
Works Cited
Hitt, Michael, and Ireland Duane. Competing for Advantage. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
Ireland, Duane, Hoskinsson Robert, and Hitt Michael. Understanding Business Strategy: Concepts and Cases. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
Kourdi, Jeremy. Business Strategy: A Guide to Taking Your Business Forward. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print.