Google Incorporated Analysis (3050 words)

Describe and evaluate the effectiveness of Google's approach to business strategy; that is, how is Google creating a sustainable competitive advantage?
Describe Google's core products and business model—the basis upon which the firm makes money. Analyze the dual strategy that Google employs to execute its business model.
Review Google's mission statement and the values that are described in the case study. Analyze how Google applies the strategy and principle of options valuation to create share holder value.
Analyze how Google is competing. Conduct a high-level financial review.
Synthesize how the dual strategy is implemented in the user base, core market (search engine) and movement into adjacent technological areas.
Analyze Google's industry environment using Porter's Five Forces Model. Consider Grant's postulation of a sixth force. Identify the forces Google leverages to gain competitive advantage and/or alter the industry structure.
Identify and analyze Google's key resources and capabilities. Consider their core products and management capabilities. How does Google leverage its technical resources to achieve new product development leadership capability?
Articulate one or more strategic issues related to the degree to which Google has aligned its mission and capabilities to its business strategy and its ability to create a sustained competitive advantage.
Describe and evaluate the effectiveness of Google's corporate strategy–that is, where is Google focusing to sustain its competitive advantage?
Describe Google's organizational structure and management systems. Address how functions within the company are organized differently and identify the organizational theory that drives organizational design changes in response to industry changes.
Describe the basis of Google's competitive advantage. Explain the generic strategy (cost or differentiation or hybrid) that Google employs to achieve a competitive advantage.
Evaluate Google's corporate diversification strategy into new products and businesses.
Assess whether diversification creates value for Google shareholders; use Porter's three essential tests to evaluate:
Video sharing (YouTube).
Browsers (Chrome).
Mobile phone operating systems (Android).
Articulate one or more strategic issues related to Google management's ability to coordinate organizational activities and/or corporate diversification into new products.
Length, spacing, font, margin, and other layout requirements will be determined by your instructor. You must use APA style citations and references. Format your findings as a formal report addressed to Terry Bell, VP of Strategy, Google, Inc.

This material may consist of step-by-step explanations on how to solve a problem or examples of proper writing, including the use of citations, references, bibliographies, and formatting. This material is made available for the sole purpose of studying and learning - misuse is strictly forbidden.

Executive Summary
Google Inc is the leading search engine across the globe which seeks to cater to the varied information needs of the consumers. Since its formation in 1998 as a search engine, it has diversified into several fields such as mobile telephony, browser, etc. Its source of competitive advantage stems from its ability to better understand the needs of the consumers. Some of its core products include Gmail (which offers larger email capacity with less spam), Google Maps that can be used to view directions, Google Chrome that can be used for web browsing in a faster and simpler manner, Google Books that contains millions of digitalized books, Picasa which can be used to edit and store photos, Orkut & Blogs which serve the social networking needs of the consumers, Google Groups and Docs which can be used to share documents across the Web, etc. It has also been developing cloud computing services to enable communication and information sharing across geographically diversified subsidiaries of an organization. One of its latest developments – the Android mobile development platform, has been a revolutionary innovation since it seeks to bring the Internet world on the mobile phone. The company has strategically used the concepts of low cost and differentiation to establish itself in the highly competitive industry.
Google is guided by the mission of organizing the information available across the world and making it accessible to consumers all around the world in a useful and convenient manner. Over the period 2006-2008, its advertisement revenues have doubled from $10604 million in 2006 to $21796 million in 2008 which indicates the success of its marketing efforts and business strategies. The size, innovative ability and the leadership position of Google are its key capabilities that serve as the source of competitive advantage. It has used the organic as well as the inorganic route of growth to expand its product and services portfolio. By exploring the varied areas, it has established a strong brand image for itself that has helped it to increase its advertisement revenues. Even though some of its services may be incurring losses, it uses them for advertisement purposes so as to provide better visibility to the advertisers and hence gain more revenues.
The managerial and human resources are a key source of competitive advantage since they are the key drivers of innovation across the enterprise which is consistent with the company’s mission of catering to the information needs of the consumers. The organizational design represents the democratic and flat structure characterized by decentralization of authority and delegation of responsibility. Google has been able to differentiate itself from the competitors by providing them with the chance to shop for all their needs under one stop and get all their Internet and computing...