The Use of Technology: Google Company - Research Paper Example

The interrelations between the growth path of Google and the globalisation context The interrelations between the growth path of Google and the globalisation context I. Summary of arguments Globalisation has the effect of interconnecting not only economies but also people. Globalisation connects people not only through greater migration but also with the use of technology which shrunk the world into a small “global village”. Technology virtually erased the boundaries of geography and political demarcation that used to divide people. The new economy in the digital age has also shifted to knowledge based products and services (UNESCO 2005) that is a byproduct of talent than abundance of resources. The interconnectedness brought by globalisation also has the effect of intensifying competition as goods and services can now be readily moved and availed. As a result of this intensified competition, business organisations now need to be innovative otherwise competition will either send them into obsolescence or worst, bankruptcy (Drucker, 1998). Google has responded well with this as it adapted a corporate environment suited for the globalized economy where innovation can easily grow. As a company, Google has always strive to ward off any tendency to mature as a company realizing that its strength lies in its youth whose energy always breed innovation and great ideas. It also strives to have that “small feel company” where its people can collaborate and work with each other closely despite the size of its organization. Its company structure and even its building Googlecomplex adapted an unorthodox structure designed to facilitate collaboration, team work and innovation. As a company, Google did not only adapt to the realities of globalisation but in fact an agent for the greater interconnectedness of people and information. So its products are created not only to cater an existing need but also to create markets for its revolutionary products. Google as a company is also responsive with the reality of the times where most consumers are sensitive to the ethical business practice of company. As a company, it clearly outlined its business practice as consistent with the ideal corporate citizenship. II. Short biography As a company, Google is famous for its search engine such as the namesake Google. It however has other innovative products such as the Gmail, banners and the revolutionary Google Maps. The company is animated with by its mission statement “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. It also enunciated the growth path of the company to “focus on the user and all else will follow” (Google nd). As a company, Google started as a search engine in 1996 with a different name “BackRub”. It was later changed to Google as we know it today in 1998. From then on, Google has created multitudes of revolutionary products and services such as online advertising services applications, digital email Gmail and Google Map to name a few. Google is famous for its unorthodox corporate culture. This is very obvious in its headquarter building called Googleplex (which is a product of “Google” and “complex”) where there are a lot of eccentric facilities available for employees to encourage and create an environment of innovation, team work and collaboration that brings about great products and services. For example, one can see game rooms in Googleplex where it has video games and baby piano. There are even massage chairs there and their employees can even bring their dogs there. The non-discriminatory policy of Google is also laudable. It is hailed as one of the best workplace for women (Google nd). It also do not discriminate against homosexuals and even posted on its official site the marriage of its employees Shaun Auckland and Michael (Google nd). To date, Google is named as the best company to work for by Fortune (Fortune, 2015) and is considered as one of the top performing companies in the world. III. Interrelations between growth path of Google and globalisation Google’s growth path to thrive in a globalized environment has always been to encourage innovation. That is, to create products and services that will help connect people in a very easy manner. Google anticipate that with globalisation in the digital age, the need of people as well as businesses for large digital delivery will increase (McDowell 2001) and it poses itself as an innovative service and product provider knowing all too well that the new economy is already based on knowledge as dictated by technological determinism (Webster 2008). As a company, Google realizes that the only way to survive and prevail in the highly competitive environment of globalisation is to become innovative otherwise competition will render the company obsolete. Consistent to this, Googles employees called googlers, are expected to be innovative and has to multifunctional or capable of wearing several hats. Google also knows that innovative ideas comes from the different interaction of different people and departments and such, they structured their building and organization to accommodate and facilitate interaction. For example, Google have free foods in their cafeteria to encourage everyone to talk to one another where a great idea may be conceived. It further cultivate this kind of environment by having facilities that may be deemed unthinkable in other business organizations such as having pool tables, video games at work. Rarely can one see a separate office at Google as everyone is expected to collaborate and work as a team. Employees can even bring their dogs in the office just to name a few of the eccentricities at Google that encourages innovative environment. This is also reinforced by the leadership at Google where “no one, no one hesitates to pose questions directly to Larry or Sergey in our weekly all-hands (“TGIF”) meetings – or spike a volleyball across the net at a corporate officer “ (Google nd). The idea of this openness and transparency is not to kill good ideas but rather to encourage it no matter how odd it may sound at first. These eccentric environment and structure at Google is also consistent with its drive to keep the company young. Google acknowledges that it derives its innovative spirit from its youth and thus it is doing everything it can to avoid maturity where ideas stall and become common. It knows that its growth path of innovation can only be sustained by youthful creativity and energy and thus doing everything it can to keep it that way. Every business organization knows that its human resource is the most important asset of an organization. In the case of Google, the company knows that its survival depends on its googlers especially in a knowledge base industry (information technology) where innovation and talent is everything. Consistent to this, Google hires the best and the brightest where it hire employees base on talent and not on seniority and experience. Google does not also discriminate on the school where they get their talent (Niesen 2013). Google also does not discriminate ideas by being selective of where it came from. Thus, it practice a non-discriminatory policy by making the company as one of the best place to work for women and a workplace where homosexuals are free to declare who they are and even to marry somebody of their own gender. Having this nondiscriminatory policy orientation, Google gets the best idea that could spell the next big thing in the market. IV. Conclusion The trajectory of Google’s growth path as it relates to globalisation is dictated by innovation. To support and reinforce the culture of innovation among googlers, it created an unusual work environment coupled with unorthodox organizational structure where googlers are encouraged to be creative, to think, to be multifunctional and to be innovative. This growth path is not a coincidence or a practice of some fancy management theory but is rather consistent with its growth path to be competitive in a knowledge based economy. Google realizes that the new economy is knowledge based and dictated by technological determinism. Such, it hires the best people and then nurture them through a youthful, collaborative and encouraging environment that help bring about the best among its people. The result of Google’s growth path as it relate to globalisation is phenomenal. Google did not only became as one of the leading companies in the world but is also the most sought and the best company to work for (Fortune, 2015) assuring the company a continuous supply of talent that keeps Google competitive in the globalized and digital economy. Bibliography 1. 100 Best Companies to Work For. (2015, March 5). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from http://fortune.com/best-companies/ 2. Company – Google. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from http://www.google.com.ph/about/company/ 3. Drucker, P. (1998). The Discipline of Innovation Harvard Business Review, November-December. 4. Google: A great workplace for women - Google Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from https://www.google.com.ph/about/careers/lifeatgoogle/women-at-google-apac.html 5. How we hire - Google Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from https://www.google.com.ph/about/careers/lifeatgoogle/hiringprocess/ 6. McDowell, Stephen D. (2001), Theory and Research in International Communication: A Historical and Institutional Account, in William Gudykunst and Bella Mody (eds.), Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (Second Edition) Thousand Oaks: Sage. Kessels, Joseph. (2001).Learning in organizations: a corporate curriculum for the knowledge economy 7. Nisen, M. (2013, June 19). Google HR Boss Explains Why GPA And Most Interviews Are Useless. Retrieved April 27, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com/how-google-hires-people-2013-6 8. Saying "I do" at Google London - Google Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from https://www.google.com.ph/about/careers/lifeatgoogle/saying-i-do-london-marriage-proposal.html 9. UNESCO (2005). Introduction in Towards Knowledge Societies (UNESCO World Report) Stehr, Nico (2007). Modern Societies as Knowledge Societies in Sales, A. & Fournier, M. (Eds) Knowledge, Communication & Creativity. London: Sage. 10. Webster, Frank (2005). Making Sense of the Information Age In Information, Communication & Society. Vol. 8, No4 December 2005, pp439-458 Read More