In 1995, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were just a couple of college kids. Sergey was giving Page a tour of Stanford, where Page was considering attending grad school. The two immediately hit it off and became friends. They would later work on a research project as PhD students that would become the world’s greatest search engine, Google. Originally their search engine creation was called BackRub. In 1996, BackRub began operating on Stanford servers. After a year of being in service, the search engine took up too much bandwidth. (Google Inc.). This prompted Larry and Sergey to register their new site Google.com on September 16, 1997. The name Google was a play on “googol,” which is a mathematical term for the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. There was a method to the madness here, though. Larry and Sergey did this to establish their mission, which is, to process and give an infinite amount of information on the World Wide Web. (Google Inc.). The key difference between Google and other search engines was a new method to ranking results. Page and Brin created a system called PageRank, which would give a website its ranking based on the number of pages, and the importance of those pages. This would then be linked back to the original site. This made searching for specifics much easier.
The founders did not believe their search engine would become as big as it has. They never planned to turn Google into a business. “Brin and Page believed if they sold Google to a preexisting search engine that could use the technology to improve searching, they would make a nice profit and continue their studies.” (Google: The Company and Its Founders). In 1997, they contacted one of the creators of AltaVista about the acquisition of their start up. Brin and Page were hoping to get $1 million dollars for Google, but were turned down by the board of AltaVista’s parent company; Digital Equipment Corp. They later pitched their idea to Yahoo and that is where they were encouraged to take time away from school and start the business themselves. Brin and Page took Yahoo’s David Filo’s advice and incorporated Google on September 4, 1998. At first the company was based in the garage of a close friend in Menlo Park, California. Google’s first employee was a fellow friend and PhD student Craig Silverstein.
Since moving to their headquarters in Mountain View, California in 2004, Google locations have exploded all over the world. Today, there are more than seventy offices in over forty countries around the world. Along with that Google employs over 57,000 people worldwide. In 2015, Google announced the acquisition of a company called Alphabet. Along with it came a complete overhaul of their corporate structure. Sergey and Larry would now be the leaders of Alphabet and Google would fall into the company. Larry Page would be the CEO of Alphabet. Essentially, Alphabet is absorbing the company Google while getting the Google founders to head Alphabet. Google later announced its new CEO would be Sundar Pichai, a long time executive before the merger.
Google’s global reach is “ginormous” according to Stuart Johnston of InternetNews.com 95% of the worlds Internet users “Google search” every day. The company now processes 40,000 search queries every second. This translates to 3.5 billion searches per day, and 1.2 trillion searches per year. (Internet Live Stats, 2016). To put this into perspective, when Google was first launched they were averaging 10,000 search queries a day. This just goes to show the amount of growth they have had and will continue to have as technology increases all over the world. Google makes it a mission to grow with this technology and it shows in these statistics.
Despite its major success there is still a place Google has had issues. Google China went live on January 27, 2006. The problem in China was the government’s rules with censorship and abiding by them. The Chinese government did not make things easy for Google to enter the Chinese domain. Licenses were given then taken away, domain outages happened regularly, and many Chinese had written off Google as an unwelcome outsider. To avoid having to turn over personal data to the Chinese government, Google could not offer many of their services in China. In 2008 the Olympics were held in Beijing; and with that came more censorship restrictions. Things took a turn for the worse at the end of 2009 when they discovered they had been hacked. Google’s Chief Legal Officer said, “The more we learned as we looked into it, the more we realized this wasn’t just a classic hack, but folks who were after something. This was a hacking with a purpose.” (Google and Its Ordeal in China, Galileo). It was later found that some Gmail accounts of human-rights activist had been hacked. To Sergey Brin, his company had been used as a tool to identify and silence critics of a repressive government. (Google and Its Ordeal in China, Galileo). This led to the shutting down of Google China in 2010.
Search engine dominance is not the only market Google has asserted itself into. They are in several different realms of the technology world. Many people do not actually realize just what all Google does behind simply being a search engine. For starters, you can bet they are apart of your business in some shape or form. Whether that be Gmail, or Google docs, they have made doing everyday business much easier over the years. Businesses can also use their cloud computing systems to store documents. This makes it easier to share and find old files quickly. Google also has a big hand in the Android phone and tablet market. Google chromecast gives people the ability to plug a drive into their television and instantly get the most watched shows straight from their phone to television. Google just recently put their new cell phone the pixel on the market. The company has become so much more than the search engine they started out as. This is due to the fact their founders believed they could have a positive impact on more than just the world wide web.
Google Inc. has become a global powerhouse in this increasing technological age. They keep growing with the growth and increased use of technology. Their major strength is that Google has completely dominated the search engine market all over the world. Not to mention the Android has taken off in the cell phone market, becoming Apple’s main competitor. According to a company profile on Google, “Google holds the majority of the share in the global search engine market, and this does not look set to change.” (Google Inc. SWOT, Galileo). The company does not have many weaknesses, but a key weakness could be their excessive dependence on advertising. In the last three years advertising has accounted for at least 84% of their company’s total revenue. (Google Inc. SWOT, Galileo). The company does have many opportunities in the rising smart phone and tablet market. Google’s Android platform is currently the leading smartphone operating system in the world with a market share of 68.7% in 2016. (Net Market Share). Google’s ability to enter new markets is what has solidified them as the top search engine industry in the world.
The work culture at Google has been the talk of the business world since its inception. They are known to have laid back and relaxed working conditions, the kind often associated with startup companies. Larry Page said, “We strive to maintain the open culture often associated with startups, in which everyone is a hands-on contributor and feels comfortable sharing ideas and opinions.” (Google Inc.). Google has weekly “TGIF” meetings in very comfortable cafes or meeting eggs. All Google offices have offices that are prevalent in the cultures they are in. Not one office is completely the same. The only thing in common they have is the joint energetic atmosphere. They strive to keep the workplace fun and inspirational. This leads into the way Google communicates. Google goes the same way as the U.S. with this and uses low context communication. This was the vision of the founders, to communicate using precise and simple language to get things done the quickest and best way possible. Interaction is encouraged and they want to push for low context communication interaction by having the meetings in these cafes and other comfortable areas. This sparks open communication within teams and across teams, not only about work, but about play as well.
Communication within the company was a big pillar to the two men who founded this company. Even when hiring people there is an open communication between a group of interviewers. In the end if you veto a prospect you are expected to back up your decision with dialogue. The point of this is giving everyone a voice within the business. That is just one of the many business practices that makes Google one of the most successful companies in the world. In business, communication is key to get things done quickly and successfully and Google has mastered the low context approach, following suit with the United States in being up front and to the point.
Giving feedback at Google is much different than most big companies, but that is what makes it the best. Back in the early 200’s Google created a new internal grading system for giving feedback to workers. They named it OKR’s or Objectives and Key Results. The way this system works is employees create a set of goals for themselves and outline results that can help them achieve these goals. The CEO does this for the company as a whole as well. Google leans more to the direct negative feedback spectrum with their OKR system. They are rated on a scale of “needs improvement” to “superb”. (Business Insider). The interesting part is the company selects peers to review employees as well. This also includes employees that have not been at Google as long as the employee that is getting reviewed. In these reviews there is a written portion where they mention something the employee should more of and one thing they do that needs to be changed. At the end of the reviews, to keep bias at a minimum, the managers get together and go over review ratings.
Another big difference in the way Google gives feedback is the separation of annual reviews and their discussion for pay. Pay discussions happen a month after reviews, the reason is to get employee’s to be motivated not for the money necessarily, but the overall success of the company. Google’s senior vice president of People Operations Laszlo Bock says, “Employees want to be evaluated because they want to grow and eventually become the best at their job. It will be up to the employer to show them how to do that” (Business Insider). So Google does tell employers how they can improve in the workplace but they do it in an innovative way not done by many other companies. This is why they are more of a direct negative feedback company.
Coming up with new ideas for products or projects can be a hard task for some companies. But for Google it is easy with refreshing and laid back atmosphere. Google is absolutely an applications first company and this is even more so for them than some other U.S. companies because of the way their relaxed atmosphere. Ideas form at lunch tables, at the on campus gym, even at the bowling alley. Google’s employees come from many backgrounds and are curious and passionate workers. Persuading is another big part of the formation of these project ideas. You must be able to back up your idea with facts. There are whiteboards in every room of every office around the world. Larry Page said, “Visitors to any office can find a few common features: murals and decorations expressing local personality; Googlers sharing cubes, yurts and “huddles”; video games, pool tables and pianos; cafes and “micro kitchens” stocked with healthy food; and good old fashioned whiteboards for spur-of-the moment brainstorming.” (Google Inc.). There is no doubt that Google’s success in every market they are currently in is directly correlated with this approach.
Google’s use of inductive reasoning for their theories has put them in the traditional realm of most United State’s companies, however, they are known for this applications first persuading at all of their offices around the world. The office culture may be the same as their host countries but they rely on these methods to get things done the Google way. They hire employees that can work anywhere in the world because of this reason. Brainstorming is strongly encouraged, but there are facts presented before the brainstorming is conducted. This is what differentiates them from a concept first company in terms of persuading and thinking. Everything Google does is outside the box and employs common practices with a twist. This is what is known as the Google way.
The way Google executives lead for the most part does not follow suit with most U.S. companies. They are definitely more egalitarian than hierarchical. But they do have a corporate structure, and everyone answers to somebody. Google is actually known as the “flat organization” of the West. (When Google Meets Xiaomi, Galileo, 2014). This means they exercise “flat management” in their corporate culture. Google defines their corporate structure as less bureaucratic and more laissez-faire. While they do have a structure, they have achieved more through their small-team orientation, and vision of integrating innovation with business. (When Google Meets Xiaomi, Galileo, 2014). As I mentioned earlier the CEO is now Sundar Pinchai, who does make the decisions for the company. But that is not before getting opinions and information from employees and managers. Some of these practices that Google has implemented are becoming trends not only in the United States, but around the world as well. Their managerial standards are what have become known as modern corporate management. Expect these business practices to become more popular in the next few years.
In 2015 when they became a part of Alphabet, Google’s corporate structure was changed. But even with this change the same philosophies remain the same. The egalitarian effects of this company have been positive, and this just goes along with the laid back and refreshing atmosphere Google concentrates on having. The company is all about their employees and the revenues show as Google’s net revenue has risen every year. Erin Meyer said in her book The Culture Map, “People are more likely to move to action without getting the boss’s okay.” This could not be truer in Google’s case. Yes, the CEO makes most of the decisions at the end of the day but they do not have those whiteboards in every room for no reason. Creativity in the decision-making process makes Google who they are. It is truly amazing to see how they have harnessed this unorthodox form of management and has flourished with it.
Based on how Google makes company decisions they would be put in the category of consensual. This meaning that they build consensus as lower levels before making an ultimate decision. (Erin Meyer, The Culture Map). Google does not follow in line with the U.S. norm in decision-making. Most U.S. companies are top-down decision makers. Like mentioned before, Google not only includes executives and managers in the company decisions, but also normal employees as well. Everyone has a voice. This ensures all opinions are heard and every angle is covered. Consensual decision-making has the ability to offer refreshing ideas often not thought of because of limited people making decisions.
According to Erin Meyer the process of trusting coworkers and businessmen in the workplace is broken down into two categories, Task-based and relationship-based. (The Culture Map). Google is in between these categories. While they do follow in line with U.S. customs in being somewhat task-based, they are more evidently relationship-based. Google believes employees should not be in a work environment when they are at work. This gives employees a chance to build non-work related relationships in the workplace. Sergey and Larry wanted this from their humble beginnings. A place that has a laid back atmosphere and a charismatic work force. But there are some task-based elements as well. This comes with being in a western culture. According to Meyer this is because of the trust we have for the U.S. legal system to enforce contracts. SO elements of task-based are in all U.S. based companies but Google stands out as being one of the few companies that leans toward the relationship-based side as well.
As far as confrontations are concerned, Google seems to follow suit with most U.S. companies on this subject. The Culture Map says the U.S. is somewhere in the middle of being confrontational and avoiding confrontation all together. Google seems to be less confrontational but will definitely hold people accountable for their work or decisions. Google talks about how they tell their employees how they can improve on something but also making sure to talk about things they are doing well. As far as teams go, Google encourages open debate. But there are lines that should not be crossed. At the end of the day this is how they get most of their ideas, through this forum if you will. This has led them to some of their biggest products and successes.
The way businesses handle time is one major indicator of the culture they are in. This is the same in Google’s case. While being laid back in a lot of their business practices, they still follow in line with the U.S. in being primarily a linear time company. They can be a little lenient but this means that a scheduled time is meant to be the time business takes place. There is not a whole lot of wiggle room like some South American businesses where meetings can take place long after the set time that was scheduled. In America, business is just not done this way. Google also uses the linear time mindset at all of their offices around the world. This may contradict their opinion of having their foreign offices represent the cultures they are in but the fact is that it still has to be Google. They cannot afford to have communication breakdowns abroad because of scheduling conflicts. This would have bad effects on Google’s business output.
These different concepts Google uses in their everyday business life are what has made them who they are. The differences in business practices have made them one of the most successful companies in the world. For only being around for 18 years that is quite the feat. Sergey and Larry created this company to have these values and clearly their efforts have shown. People want to go work for this company because of the benefits and atmosphere Google provides. Google has conquered many different markets worldwide and cannot be known as only a search engine company. From their phones, and tablets, to their different business platforms, Google is global super power in every sense of the word. Larry and Sergey had no idea that their PhD research project would turn into this but have been huge assets to the continuously rising company. Even though Google has not taken off as planned in China, they have taken steps to get reacquainted in the country. However, the mishap in China cannot overshadow the overwhelming global success Google Inc. has had as a whole.
The business practices of Google might seem unorthodox to some, but you cannot argue with their successes. Their egalitarian business model really allows them to get a deeper understanding of their employee’s opinions. Their low context and consensual relationships follow suit with the egalitarian nature of the company. It has been shown that a U.S. company does not have to follow common American business practices to be successful. In many ways they do follow the norms of western culture but the certain flare they add known as the “Google way” really puts them on a whole new level. For instance, they have cultural aspects of the countries they are in in every global office. But they mostly follow linear time even in these other countries. Google Inc. has become one of the worlds leading revenue companies and this is a true testament to the work and dedication of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as their staff as a whole. The way they do business is an incredible thing to read about and that is why they have thousands of people wanting to work for them. In the end relentless effort to be successful, and having the courage to do things different is the recipe to Google’s incredible success. Look for this company to play an even bigger role in the technology world in the years to come.
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