Introduction
The internet bubble occurred from mid 1990’s to 2000. During this period, stock markets in the developed world saw a sharp rise in value of technology and internet stocks. As a result, people believed that the internet would be the major driver of future business, people would not need to physically go to the retail store and we could shop our groceries online and order our meals from a dot com site.
Unfortunately, this did not last as the stock market suddenly crashed. Despite the crash, most internet companies are still registering significant growth and it is clear that there are here to stay. For the purpose of this study, the paper will focus on Google Corporation.
Discussion
Google has registered significant success since its inception in 1998. The Company’s success is attributed to factors such as Google’s design to suit the final user and its simplicity in terms of design that has attracted many internet users over the years. Reuters (2009) reports that Google uses an excellent search engine that produces products that exactly fit into customer’s needs.
Google Corporation provides a software technology that is capable of continuous calculations that are performed simultaneously compared to traditional search engines that perform calculations one at a time. Due to the engine’s speed, the engine was able to perform over 85% of the search requests in 2004 on the World Wide Web.
Another key factor in Google’s success is the superb organizational culture. The working conditions for the company’s employees are conducive as they feel at ease at the work place. Moreover, the company’s top management is comprised of highly qualified MBA and PhD graduates from various fields that are important in the fulfilment of the objectives of the vision of Google Corporation.
They work together as a team to accomplish the goals of the company. In addition the employees are encouraged to be innovative. For instance, engineers are free to spend up to 20% of their work time in any interesting project that they believe can add value to Google, this has led to creation of innovative products like Ad sense, Google news and Google mail. Furthermore, the Google business model also explains its success.
This model makes it almost impossible for its rivals to catch up. Chaffey (2007) asserts that Google’s business model is summarised by the following phrase “to make the world’s information universally accessible and useful “(p.2). As noted by Chaffey, the firm has positioned itself well in the market in order to offer high quality products that cannot be compared to any competitor in the industry, thereby leaving its users satisfied and promoting the company through the word of mouth.
Strategic alliances also explain Google’s success. Google has acquired and in some cases formed alliances with several other companies such as YouTube, E-bay, Yahoo and Amazon. Through such alliances, Google has a better position to tackle its competitors.
Dwivedi (2008) further notes that Google has largely changed its core business to a variety of businesses in the field of marketing such as Picasa, blogger, keyhole, Gmail and Google news among others. It is estimated that 90% of Google’s revenues are from advertising therefore suggesting that Google is majorly an advertising firm (Dwivedi, 2008).
Google Corporation offers its consumers high quality products that enable its clients such as corporate organizations to make online advertisements for their products without hiring advertisement consultants. Largely, Google is the most recognized brand outperforming even household brands like Coca-Cola and McDonalds because of its excellent search engine (Google, 2009).
Conclusion
The evidence above shows that the business strategy pursued by Google is realistic. The company is better positioned to denominate internet associated business and activities. Unless something dramatic happens, Google will continue to be a going concern. In the search engine industry, one can deduce several lessons from Google`s success.
International internet retailers need competent and committed staffs that are creative and innovative. Furthermore, these organizations should give the professionals an opportunity to innovate by offering a free and favourable work environment. Internet retailers equally need financial and human resources in large scale. Without resources, Google could not have acquired companies such as You Tube.
It is estimated that Google has over 31,353 employees as at 30 September 2011. Gather (2009) notes that many people around the world will continue to “Google” things, not “Yahoo” or “Bing” them. This emphasizes the fact that Google has become a common household name more than any other search engine.
References
Chaffey, D. (2007). Google case study-covering Google business strategy and technology case. Web.
Dwivedi, J. (2008). Google’s robust strategy and business model. Web.
Gather, (2009). Microsoft and Yahoo in a war against Google. Web.
Google, (2009). Technology overview. Web.
Reuters. (2009). Google quietly declares email war on Yahoo. Web.