Case study: Strategic Management

The Microsoft Effect: Will Google Become What It Fears?

Abstract: The expansion of Google and how it becomes similar like the second Microsoft. And as Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, Google are expanding and spreading itself to many part of the social network. And because of that, Google will face lots of new challenges. Google is creating for itself risks and targets. Google know what it fear to become, and the way it avoid that.
Key words: The Microsoft effect, comparison between Google and Microsoft, how Google’s expanding, challenge and risk for Google as it growth to the open market.
Summary:
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that Google are becoming another Microsoft, which is dangerous. The company was “spreading itself too thin”. And like which Jobs said, they are turning into Microsoft. In the last few years, Google has grown from just a search company to a giant company which involve in any part of the internet. Analysts speculate that if Google continue that, it will make itself more difficult task.
“How Google can avoided some of the missteps made by Microsoft during its rapid expansion?”, also what can Google learn from its opponent. Still the huge remain question for Google is how to become remain profitable.
As professor of studies and business said, Google’s fear that it will become another Microsoft, which is known as a big company win through bullying. Now Google challenge is to remain open and innovative.
The comparison between Google and Microsoft began since 2004, right after the time Google went public. First of all, Google was only developing as a search engine. But by using the strength of well develop and technology, Google step by step able expand into display advertising, and later the mobifone market with its Android operation system. And it’s also the same story for Microsoft, as it expanded into other software product and entertainment sector. Microsoft, to compete with its rival, use Bing search engine to steal market share with Google. Also, Microsoft has tried to expand into mobile’s market by release Windows Phone 7 operating system.
According to November figures from research, Google now controlled 67.6% of the search engine market; to compare with Microsoft’s Bing only has 26.7%. It will make Google more like Microsoft, even more than what Google thinks. Many experts suggested that if Google don’t want to become the second Microsoft, they should examine and learn from Microsoft’s history.
As Google become larger, they will face a lot of new challenges. As Wharton new media director Kendall Whitehouse said: “It becomes challenging for any company to remain innovative after reaching a certain scale”. The larger a company gets, the more product development become procedural. Company like Google and Microsoft need to have new things in order to remain its competitiveness. Microsoft tried to maintain innovation through tasking smaller, autonomous groups with working on new projects. Even now, Google is trying to create Google+, to compare with Face book. But like Microsoft before, Google would not be able to complete the change in culture that occurs as companies grow. Now, in the hierarchy of Silicon Valley, Google is much less popular and exciting than it rival Face book. Microsoft, as an example for Google to understand why it might have trouble in staying nimble as it grows. Microsoft had bad timing when developing and spreading product to the market. Although it’s Microsoft who study and developing touch screen technology, Apple’s Iphone is the product which makes the feature become popular. Like Microsoft, Google “has a better sense of what consumers are ready for: But occasionally it missed the target. It’s a classic problem, as Chaudhuri said.

Question:
1: Conduct Internet research on benchmarking and benchmarking technique?
Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and/or best practices from other industries. Benchmarking is the process of determining who is the very best, who sets the standard, and what that standard is. The technique initially used to compare existing corporate strategies with a view to achieving the best possible performance in new situations, has recently been extended to the comparison of technical products. This process is usually referred to as "technical benchmarking" or "product benchmarking". Its use is well-developed within the automotive industry, where it is vital to design products that match precise user expectations, at minimal cost, by applying the best technologies available worldwide.

2: How does Google benchmark itself to Microsoft?
Google compare itself with Microsoft, in many part of the company. As both of them are well known and huge, it good for Google to know does it like Microsoft or anything it needs to catch up with rivals as Microsoft did. If Microsoft is known as the Windows operating system company, so Google is a search engine and company which have lots of part on the Internet. The things Google are now doing is the same as Microsoft: developing new technologies improve the existed market and try to steal some of its rival’s market share.

3: Do you think this strategy is appropriate, compare your answer with the view of Steve Jobs?
As Steve Jobs said, the strategy which Google are following is makes Google more and more become like Microsoft. He thought that the strategy will make Google dangerously close to spreading itself too thin. He already advise Larry Page, Google co-founder that Page better figure out what Google wants to be, and what is the product Google want to focus on. In my opinion, Google are trying to reach and develop in many part of the network. It wants to create its production in every market. And that will be a big challenge for the company. Spreading to much will reduce the strength of the company and also the labor force. The technologies always need to develop in many ways and for each of different market which Google try to develop.

4: How would you benchmark Google?
As in my point of view, Google now is a giant company which spread it’s affection in many part of the met work. And it’s such a huge search engine that even the word “Google” already come into the Oxford’s dictionary as the meaning of searching for information about something on the Internet. To compare with other’s search engine, Google is the strongest and the most well-know search engine in the world. Apart from search business, Google also try to reach other part of the social network and Internet, such as Android mobile phone operating system. But not like the search engine, all the rest of its “products” are still in process of developing. Like Microsoft and other huge company, when Google are developing and try to spread itself into lots of part, it has to face many rivals. But the advantage of Google it that the “brand” so it can have some strength against opponents. Literature: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking http://management.about.com/cs/benchmarking/a/Benchmarking.htm
http://www.google.com/about/corporate/company/