MEMO
Date: June 25, 2015

To:

From:

Re: The Google Giant

Google’s distinct governance structure, corporate culture, and organizational processes are key factors in Google’s success in the search engine services industry. All three of these aspects of the organization have allowed Google to capitalize on superior innovation and ultimately obtain the majority of the market share worldwide. Overall, the structure, culture, and processes have proven to strengthen Google’s market share and core competencies. However, it is also important to consider the weaknesses associated with these factors.

Google’s governance structure for top management consists of the ownership of one-third of the shares but control over 80% of the votes. Although top management only owns one-third of the company, their control over 80% of the votes allows them to stay in control of Google’s future and prevents potential takeovers from investors. In Google’s case, this structure has proven to be a success, as top management has a clear vision for Google and has been able to capitalize on their independence from investors to date. This structure also allows for a significant amount of investment in Google (another two-thirds), without giving up decision control (only 20%). A potential weakness associated with this structure is that with only 20% of votes available to investors, it might be challenging for Google to find proper investors, as they’d simply act as a passenger. However, Google’s clear vision and strategy will enable them to use this structure to capitalize on the future.

The corporate culture at Google is one that innovative companies strive for in order to leverage the variety of skills of their employees. Google has created a corporate culture that gives employees freedom to work on their own projects, as well as collaborate in teams and solve problems