Google's Success In Digital Technology And Innovation Essay.

Introduction to Industry 4.0 and Google's Role

Industry 4.0 is a term used to describe the widespread use of digital technology in all aspects of an organization's operations. Due to the fact that new technologies provide technical market leaders an advantage over others who have not mastered their application, old business procedures are being dismantled. Methods for digitally transforming company have totally transformed the foundation of businesses (Scherer and Voegtlin, 2020). Using digital technology, businesses are rethinking how value is produced and the outcomes of new ideas. In the last decade, several of the world's largest digital corporations have radically altered society. There are tens of thousands of programmers, scientists, and researchers working tirelessly to provide cutting-edge solutions to the world's most pressing problems. The following section will discuss the aspect of digital technology and innovation in respect of Google as an organization who have adopted various technological innovation and processes in its working which has led the company to achieve a whole new level.

It is estimated that Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (parent company: Alphabet) has a market share of around 87%. Founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, Google has become one of the world's leading technological companies. Third American tech company will enter $1 trillion club in January 2020 (market cap of Alphabet). Because of Google's relentless pursuit of new ideas and the ever-expanding digital ad market, the company has seen massive development in just over two decades (Bekkers and Tummers, 2018). Google is not just the world's most popular search engine, but it also has a stranglehold on the digital advertising business. Google's revenue is heavily dependent on digital advertising. In 2019, the company's sales grew at a steady pace. Almost all of its divisions are experiencing stronger financial growth as a result of this.

The search engine dominates the worldwide market, giving Google a leg up on the competition. The most important factor in Google's dominance of the search business is that it is far more sophisticated than any other contemporary search engine. Google's algorithms are far more intelligent than those of its competitors. In July 2020, Google's desktop search engine has an estimated 87 percent market share, as per Statista. After Google, Bing is the second most used search engine. Bing, on the other hand, has a little percentage of the desktop search market compared to Google (Ghalavand et.al., 2020). There was just 6.43 percent of desktop search traffic for Bing in July 2020 compared to 2.84 percent for Yahoo. Including China's Baidu, the rest of the search engines had less than 1% of the desktop search market.

Google is the most widely used search engine on both desktop and mobile devices. Google is the #1 mobile search engine in the world, and this holds true for both desktop and mobile searches. Since Google is the default search engine for Android-powered devices, it has a significant advantage in mobile search (Abubakar et.al., 2019). Google is, by far, the most popular search engine. Because of Google's relentless pursuit of better search results, it is unlikely that any other search engine will overtake it in the near future in terms of market share.

Google's Dominance in the Search Engine Market

After a few years, it is indeed apparent to see how much Google cares about making their products better for their customers. With its widely used search engine as well as other businesses relying largely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), the evidence is clear (Greer and Egan, 2019). When it comes to understanding how its consumers use its services, Google's prime focus has always been to learn as much as possible about their habits. Many applications of deep learning may already be found today, and the technology is already driving innovation at the leading edge of artificial intelligence. There will be an even greater influence on society as a whole as data quantities continue to rise and processing technology becomes more accessible. 

In order to better understand how their products are used, Google will need to create, adopt, or acquire new technologies. As a result of Google's infrastructure and algorithms, consumers can now do more with fewer clicks and taps thanks to the company's continuous product improvement efforts. One of Google's most important contributions to artificial intelligence has been to advocate for the use of deep learning in cutting-edge applications as it is shown to be effective (Almansoori et.al., 2021). For decades, data scientists have been unable to solve complex problems like speech and picture recognition, and natural language synthesis, thanks to deep learning.

For a variety of reasons, cybersecurity has grown in importance in recent years. We are witnessing a spike in illicit activities, such as malware, since data is becoming increasingly important to many firms. As hackers look for new ways to exploit systems, we're seeing an increase in the number of data breaches and incidents. Increasing their cybersecurity efforts is a priority for technology firms in order to maintain business continuity as well as supply chain security. When it comes to using technology, we are only as good as the people who manage and utilise it. As per CompTIA data, 93 percent of companies report an overall IT skills gap, indicating a discrepancy between required and existent skillsets (Hartono et.al., 2019). Data protection and information security are essential components of a trusting connection between a customer's financial institution as well as a financial institution's data protection and information security. Businesses now have to contend with a crowded market of SaaS platforms, enterprise systems, and multi-cloud environments. People's mistrust of technology has grown due to recent political unrest, misinformation, and an increase in cyberattacks. Many times, the technology underlying a problem is blamed when it causes a delay or failure in business (Jaziri, 2019). To survive in the next years, it is imperative that IT businesses continue to assist consumers in their digital transformations and to manage and accept new technologies. Similarly, Google also faced these challenges in regard to the adoption of technological upgradations and is working upon mitigating these effects.

Technology, specifically information and communication technology, is reshaping the way organisations generate and capture value, as well as the way individuals work and communicate with one another on a global scale. Cloud and mobile computing, big data as well as machine learning, sensors including, sophisticated robots and drones, intelligent manufacturing and clean energy technologies are all revolutionising the fundamental underpinnings of global business and the organisations that power it (González et.al., 2021). Rather than just enhancing productivity, these technologies are allowing fundamental shifts in the way work is carried out in businesses. "All of these advancements are hurling us into a new industrial revolution".

Google's Revenue Growth and Dependence on Digital Advertising

Corporations with savvy CEOs recognise that they must either figure out how new technologies will revolutionise their operations or suffer disruption by those who figure it out first," During the last technology revolution, social connection was the driving force behind it all. Ubiquitous computing, a developing universal technological paradigm, may be included in the future. There isn't a single technology that is the focus of this notion. Computer sensors (like radio frequency identification tags, smart watches wearable technology) as well as other equipment (tablets as well as mobile devices), such as computers, are united with a wide range of things (people and information), as well as with the physical environment (Games and Rendi, 2019). A new form of world, "one that is hyperconnected as well as data saturated, a world where an Internet of everyone is linked to an Internet of everything," has been created as a result of these advancements. Even though these new technologies are disruptive, they have been around for a while now. As a matter of fact, many other technological advancements came before them, and their impact on work and organisations over the previous few decades has been extensive. An architecture of information and communication technology underpins this era. Not only is this new infrastructure making it easier for people to perform things faster and more efficiently, but it is also making it easier for people to collaborate and regulate their activities at lower costs, as defined by the rule of declining costs. The cost per unit of marginal or extra output reduces progressively as a result of digital products' features, although the amount of all other production components remains constant. Borders and geographical distances are no longer as important as they once were since digital resources may now be accessed, processed, transferred, and stored at any time and from any location.

Google has a reputation for constantly launching new products and expanding into new industries. Employees ranked seven organisational aspects based on their perceptions of their impact on Google's innovativeness in the following section. The founders of Google were instrumental in creating and promoting the company's culture. A defined purpose to organise the world's knowledge and make it universally available and helpful was part of their initial vision to alter the world. Continuous innovation may be described as a dynamic and open corporate framework for innovation, which is supported by an innovation-oriented board of directors and an innovation-focused senior management (Kianto et.al., 2018). There are five primary building components to the system: core drivers, facilitators and hygiene aspects; external contact; and the foundation. There are organisational qualities in each block that are critical to Google's ability to innovate. Organizational qualities include a culture of innovation, and employees that are both competent, devoted, and motivated to be innovative. A culture of constant innovation was fostered by a combination of a forward-looking company leadership team and a creative and intelligent workforce with a desire to make a difference in the world. A great sense of community at Google fuelled this desire even further. Individuals in this society were well-versed in adaptability due to the culture's emphasis on continual rebirth. Change-prone culture, for example, influenced the organization's structure, management practises, and employees' expectations. These factors all played a role in reinforcing the need for ongoing renewal. Culture and people' relevance imply that human resources played an active role in creating/hiring and nurturing the correct culture/talents (Almansoori et.al., 2021).

Google's Pursuit of Better Search Results and Market Share

The founders as well as other members of the Operating Committee and the Board of Directors of Google all held positions of responsibility and were known for their openness to new ideas and a willingness to adapt. They laid the groundwork for Google's ongoing innovation by having a significant impact on the company's culture, organisational structure, and every other aspect of the business. By serving as cultural ambassadors, connectors and facilitators for new ideas, leaders were able to inspire their employees to innovate. A "bottom-up leadership in tandem with an overarching direction offered from a top management perspective" was used to characterise Google's leadership style. For the purpose of encouraging and sustaining innovation, leaders were carefully chosen both during the employment process and through the internal promotion system, among other things. Internally, recent years have seen an increased emphasis on the leader's function (Hartono et.al., 2019).

Innovation is a major challenge for most of the businesses. New and better products and services must be constantly introduced to clients for maintaining a steady flow of revenue. Companies' advantages in terms of educated personnel as well as attain strong market position are eroding as other nations, following drastically increasing investments in education and research, emerge as efficient goods producers and new centres of knowledge and innovation.

Internal and external capabilities that the organisation might use to adapt to quickly changing environments. People are at the heart of the company's philosophy, which encourages each employee to unleash their creative potential. According to this theory, people want to be creative, and a company's job is to provide them with an environment that allows them to do so. In order to maintain a culture of continuous innovation, a business must employ two distinct types of organisational logic (Abubakar et.al., 2019). A typical planning-and-control method works well for everyday production, whereas an innovative approach calls for more latitude for error and an openness to new ideas. When it comes to integration, a corporation might be open or closed. Permeable boundaries and a continual and deliberate flow of information with their surroundings are hallmarks of continuously inventive firms.

The traditional linear manner of working is replaced with a systems approach. As a result, a systems approach necessitates an in-depth knowledge of the organisation as a whole as well as how its many parts interact with one another.

The Google model, with its 'googley' leadership, emphasis on people, innovation culture, and semi-structure, is founded on the 6 management principles, as are the company's other characteristics. Examples of this can be found in the following paragraphs: Many indications point to Google's dynamic capabilities. Google's top executives have a proven track record of accurately predicting where the company will focus its efforts in the future. In addition, Google is indeed not scared to build new goods when old ones are threatened. A third example is the decision by management to devote hundreds of engineers to the development of Google+. Employees and management alike are motivated by the company's culture to adapt to the ever-changing outside environment. Companies of all kinds must be able to maintain a culture of constant innovation in the face of more competitive markets. The Google approach of management has shown to be both unconventional and successful in encouraging innovation. For instance, the leadership, culture, HR/processes and structure of Google are all based on six essential management concepts (Greer, 2019). It is possible that these six concepts and Google's actual uses of them may form the basis for a completely new management concept— and deploy effective management strategies for continuous innovation in an ever-changing environment.

Google's Use of AI and ML

In this context, knowledge management is defined as the formalisation of and accessibility to knowledge, expertise, and competence that allows for the development of advanced functionality, the achievement of higher performance, the encouragement of innovation, and the enhancement of customer value (Scherer et.al., 2020). Knowledge management is identified as an umbrella word covering a range of interconnected categories, like knowledge generation, knowledge appraisal and metrics, knowledge mapping as well as indexing, knowledge transportation, storage as well as distribution and knowledge sharing.

When it comes to driving innovation in today's corporate climate, the primary motivation is to use information and collaborative methods to establish, build, and sustain competitive advantage. Due to shifting client requirements and intense competition, the process of creating and sustaining an innovation programme has become increasingly difficult. A growing number of organisations are having a hard time incorporating new ideas into their operations. Large corporations like Xerox and Hitachi have so begun to collaborate beyond organisational boundaries in order to assure long-term innovation and a competitive edge. Such collaboration can be supported by knowledge management (Barney et.al., 2019). Close collaboration with other organisations can offer access to procedures that could be used in multiple settings. Collaborating with others to gain information and skills is believed to be an efficient and effective method of innovation. Knowledge management's second driving force.

To minimise the complexities of the innovation process, knowledge serves as a resource, and as such, the management of that resource is an important aspect of knowledge management in the field of innovation. Because innovation is so heavily reliant on knowledge availability, the complexity that has resulted from the increase in the richness and scope of available knowledge must be acknowledged and controlled. Knowledge management and strategically focused knowledge-intensive units can help reduce the complexity of new product development due to an increase in the amount of readily available knowledge. This complexity, however, can be mitigated.

Incorporating information from both within and outside the company is a key component of using knowledge management for the advancement of the innovation process. Existing knowledge is recombined in novel ways as part of the process of innovation. It is possible that knowledge management might play an important role in the making explicit knowledge accessible for the recombination of new and inventive ideas. In order to guarantee that knowledge is easily accessible, knowledge management offers the tools, methods, and platforms to do so. Explicit knowledge, that can be utilised as an input in the innovation process, may be collected both internally and externally through the use of knowledge management (Mollov, 2019). As a last step in assuring an organization's innovation programme, knowledge management gives the ability to identify any gaps in the explicit knowledge base and to fill those gaps. Integration of knowledge imply that timely insights may be derived at the right moment for sense making, i.e., information can be shared, expanded and perfected to be made accessible at the point of need. Knowledge management platforms, methods, and procedures must thus encourage reflection and conversation in order to allow for personal and organisational learning and innovation to take place. " This necessitates the capacity to link, adapt, and dynamically portray business data. If firms do not have systems in place to effectively manage their information and knowledge, they risk underutilizing knowledge as a resource for new ideas and, as a result, losing out on the opportunity to gain a lasting competitive advantage via innovation (Lokuge et.al., 2019).

Importance of Cybersecurity in Technology Companies

One of Google's knowledge management strategies that feeds as well as is fed by the company's continuing success is its growing reputational capital. Google has built a reputation as a technological and commercial powerhouse by inventing new products and services that are both innovative and commercially viable. With this, their reputation has a powerful impact on the public's expectations for future items. A company's track record is used by customers, suppliers, investors, and other stakeholders as a gauge of its capacity to consistently grow and re-conceptualize its knowledge within the areas of information, technology, and communication. Despite the fierce competition in the internet search engine business, Google has been able to deliberately drive its product range to the top (Fernando et.al., 2019). The corporate strategy, which includes the marketing plan, determines the competitive power of the firm. Google, as an instance, would have to begin its business strategy of providing a wide range of services so that competitors would be forced to match its own strengths or follow a different policy approach, such as reduced rates, in order to attract new consumers. The internal organisational qualities, such as leadership style and employee motivation, will determine how well Google can match its competitors in this context of increased rivalry (Kahn, 2018).

Conclusion

However, information and knowledge management systems on their own cannot provide organisations with a sustained competitive advantage, but the combination of these systems with other organizational resources as well as core competencies are the crucial component to creating as well as maintaining sustainable competitive benefits with the help of product and process innovation. Because they enable and revitalise organisational learning and resource development, knowledge management systems thereby, plays an important role in the translation of learning skills and strategic capabilities into greater strategic advantage. With its autonomous approach to managing a globally diversified strategic operational environment, Google's strategic business environment has evolved into a more complex and diverse phenomena. The strategic study demonstrates that Google has been heavily influenced by a wide range of operational environmental factors, both within and outside the company. Strategically speaking, the business has been confronted with a number of challenges, which may be broken down into four categories: product and marketing strategy, competitive strategy, growth strategy, and financial strategy. Despite its relative youth, Google has had the rare honour of being a pioneer in a slew of cutting-edge technologies. Despite these limitations, Google has been able to effectively implement several far-reaching policy consequences which can clearly be seen in the success of company as a major leader in the competitive world.

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