As chief executive officer, Lary Page is responsible for in other words, Google is a change-driven, not a status-quo, Google's product development and technology strat- egy Sergey Brin co-founded Google Inc, with Larry Page in 1998. Today, he directs special projects. Eric Schmidt. Google's leadership sees it, great, creative things are more former CEO, is the executive chairman of the board. likely to happen with the right company culture. At Google. Together, these three men provide strategic leadership there is an emphasis on team achievements and pride in at Google. Google's mission is to organize the worids information The company puts great stock in its employees who are and make it universally accessible and uneful. By providing described as energetic and passionate. Google strongly the best user experience, Google and its leadership team believes in diversity. Its employees come from diverse believe that they can build a company that will create more backgrounds with creative approaches to work and play value, not just for its users but ultimately for its share holders. Its business model is based on providing a free informal This culture type is key to Googles success as an information search engine to milions of subscribers in ex change for the sale of ads that appear alongside its search development. A: Google. it is not uncommon for a new engine results. Google's advertising programs range from simple text ads to rich media ads that help businesses find gym. What sets Google apart from its competitors is the customers and help publishers make money off of their dizzying speed with which new ideas are traded, tested. content. The company also provides cloud computing tools and put into practice. for businesses that save money and help organizations be more productive Google has on its Web site a page titled "Ten things we available in 50 countries worldwide By any standard or know to be true."The 10th item states. "Great just ian't good metric. Google a a standout company, and perhaps the main enough." This 10th item discusses Google's goal-setting reason for its superionty is its remarkable style of leadership strategy: "We set ourselves goals we know we can't reach Google's results speak for its performance. The com- yet, because we know that by stretching to meet them we can get further than we expected" Googie sets stretch years faster than Microsoft. The Google brand is valued goals, a mark of strategic leaders whose vision stretches at $100 billion, making it the workld's first "one-hundred way beyond what others think is possible. Through innova- tion and iteration, Google aims to take things that work well and improve upon them in unexpected ways "We try to anticipate needs not yet articulated by our global audi 1. How effective has the executive leadership team ence, and meet them with products and services that set new standards This is the essence af strategic leadership anticipating customer needs and then designing innovative products/services that will satisfy those needs. The strate- gic management process is about having the right vision, setting challenging objectives, and formulating the right strategies to achieve these objectives and keep mov- ing toward the vision. Google is certainly pursuing a dif- ferentiation strategy. Google is always looking for new opportunities where it can make a diference. "Ultimately our constant dissatisfaction with the way things are becomes the driving force behind everything we do." organization. Google certainly strives for a strategy-culture fit. As individual accomplishments that contribute to its success The company's culture is adaptive, yet casual and very innovator idea gereration is the first step to new product idea to emerge in a cafe ine, at a team meeting or at the Google is one of the world's most dominant com- panies. Google can be accessed in 120 languages and pany reached $I billion in revenue in six years, ten billion" brand. OPENING CASE QUESTIONS: of Schmidt, Page, and Brin been in providing the kind of strategic leadership that Google has seen so far? 2. Critique Google's mission statement. 3. How well do Google's long-term objectives balance with the interests of its stakeholders? 4. Describe Google's business environment. How well is Google adapting to it? 5. What type of strategy is Google pursuing, and why do you think the leadership team has cho- sen such a course rather than the alternatives!