Strategic Role of Information Systems in Contemporary Business Organisations - Essay Example

Behind the Google search engine IT infrastructure are huge server farms and storage databases that enable the production of significantly high computational processing power. There is speculation about Google’s server farms, terabytes of storage disks packaged into shipping containers in order to allow for more set-ups of server farms around the world (Spencer 2011:35). These infrastructures are then distributed across numerous independent, which further provide resources for parallel computing.

The arrangement has enabled Google to expand its market worldwide, surpassing the 100 billion dollars market capital as well as gaining admiration and respect all over the globe. Additionally, the paper uses Porter’s 5-forces approach to elaborate the competitive environment of the company as well as highlights its competitive advantages. Introduction The Google search engine is among the most widely used search engines in the globe. The firm has captured the hearts of information-craving individuals searching the web for everything and anything in their imagination.

The growth of the company has been tremendous, dominating the search engine market by more than 60% worldwide (Scott 2008:162). Additionally, the firm currently has a market capital approaching the 200 billion dollars mark, which economically suggests that the company is doing great. The company capitalizes on information technology strategies to expand its market share, including improvement of its unique search engine algorithm as well as knowledge management techniques (Dalkir 2005:122). This paper seeks to analyze the conceptual framework of Google’s strategies and the application of knowledge management concept in developing and sustaining the strategic capabilities and the competitive edge of the company.

The research strategy focuses on the recent adoption of knowledge management techniques in the search engine, as well as other application like the new social network Google Plus. The paper utilizes materials from educative and scholarly articles, journals, and books. Conceptual Framework The success of Google in the web-based search engine industry is attributed to the adoption of knowledge management principles in its search technology. Knowledge management is a powerful tool that Google has incorporated at the centre of its search paradigm (Fernandez and Leidner 2008:81).

The search technology design is in such a manner that it polls the collective judgment of many web creators to optimize its search results. Consequently, the company has created a multi-billion dollar business empire from super-targeted advertisements that give magazines and newspaper classified a run for their money. Google was a first-mover in the many/ordinary business model, leaving most of the other competitors on the few/expert model (Bottletree Books 2011:23). The company capitalizes on the fact that search results be ranked based on collective judgment.

The search results improve as more people conduct web search using their application, enabling Google to associate relevant contents with keywords. Findings and Analysis The development of search engines began in early 1990s with aims of facilitating