Keeping Google Googley: Success Factors and Culture

Key factors that were crucial to Google’s early success can be attributed to the following:

• Partnered with right companies such as AOL & Yahoo spring boarded the company in success with more than 100m search enquiries per day paving the way for subsequent successes.
• Had the right products such as Adwords, which had 4x more click-­through rates than competing products. The company followed up with Google toolbar that further penetrated the market and expanded into the right area of search for mobile devices.
• Quickly expanded relevant services such as Google news, finance, book search, gmail, calendar documents etc. It also includes strategic acquisition of YouTube & Picasa that provided users with majority of Internet services and it increased stickiness to users achieving the results of 62. 4% for searches by December 2007.
• Mesh organizational structure ensured shares responsibility and teamwork by enabling all parties involved to work together in the case of AdSense. The non-­? departmental segregation increased teamwork and primed the organization for success.
• Fast expansion outside of US enabled he company to operate in a global scale that in turn boosted its revenue with more than half generated outside US. About 40% of total headcount was outside US indicating aggressive expansion plans.
• Googleplex promoted community building and was a platform for people from various business units to meet and mingle. This encouraged cross-­pollination of ideas and more importantly fulfilled the purpose of providing social interaction and intimacy that would make working with someone you already knew easier.
• Operate as market-­based company that listened o the needs of users. This is manifested in the number 1 of Google’s ‘Ten things’-­ ‘Focus on users and all else will follow’. Beta test versions allowed feedback from public that enhanced features before general release.
• Decision based on consensus ensured that all opinions are equally respected and taken into consideration before a decision is made. A consensus meant everyone understood and agreed with the best decision, which reduces resistance later in the project.
• New hires provided with training and induction into the company that bolstered their apabilities and reduced their learning curves, enabling them to hit the ground running at the shorted possible time.

As evidenced by the above, the 5 Words to describe Google’s culture are:

• Fast-­moving environment
• Community environment
• Innovative spirit
• Training as a way of continuous improvement and
• Consensus-­based decision-making process.

To effectively retain the Google culture, I would suggest the following:

• Continue to employ people with the culture and values close to the company’s values. Alternatively, take in young graduates s interns to spruce idea generation in the company.
• In tackling geographical expansion, Google can promote externships that encourage employee exchange to other locations. This will aid them in meeting colleagues from other parts of the world; promote cross-­border learning and import good practices to their local offices.
• Continuously develop new products and services that perpetuate innovative spirit. Having more products and services gives employees variety of thought that could ensure continuous flow of ideas that can be self-­reinforcing.