Corporate Strategy

Strategic processes and systems within the organization involve all management functions and corporate decisions (Grouw, 2008). Google would have to initiate its strategic functional processes and systems in keeping with its own strategic competitive environment as determined by SWOT and PESTEL analysis. For instance internal organizational arrangements for communication, quality management, internal value chain management, employee relations, HRM function, budgetary control, cash flow management, motivation and so on will have to be aligned with organizational goals. Google would have to take into consideration the competitive environment and available strategic choices.
While strategic market orientation is determined by its own internal strengths, strategic product orientation comes from selling branded and patented products. Strategic marketing capabilities coupled with brand loyalty of customers, help Google to position themselves in the internet search engine market at an advantageous level vis-à-vis their rivals who might lack such capabilities.
Product dimensions such as comprehensiveness & relevance, objectivity, global access, ease of use, useful commercial information and multiple access platforms give an added value to it in the eyes of the potential customer. Google which consists of strategic marketing and overall corporate strategies would be able to enhance those values through better customer relations (Schumacher, Thomas, Mack & Bell, 2008). Social and interactive appeal of the product plays a very significant role here as consumers tend to associate brand with product quality. Brand dependency is probably the most inescapable outcome related to this strategic approach.
Basically competitive strength of the organization is determined by its corporate strategies including the marketing strategy. For instance Google would have to initiate its corporate strategy of satisfying the consumer with a host of innovative and interactive services and benefits so that competitors would be compelled to match its own strength or adopt a different policy approach such as lower prices to attract customers
Google today is operationally successful in managing its critical success competencies including the corporate goals such as shareholder value and resource sustainability. Porter’s five forces model adequately demonstrates Google’s highly strategic competitive capabilities (www.theregister.co.uk). For instance the company concentrates on a few high stake core competencies such as the achievement of space time defined organizational goals including profits and sales volumes. Advertising revenue of the firm kept on increasing faster despite the global financial downturn. Google’s corporate strategy can be divided in to four segments as follows.
-Product & Marketing strategy
-Competition strategy
-Growth strategy
-Financial strategy

Product & Marketing strategy

Strategic orientation of the firm is based on its immediate policy focus such as the firm’s concern for competition related issues. In other words Google has been focused on the more pressing need to outdo rivals rather than being occupied with a strategic policy alternative to the unfolding other environmental pressures such as regulations. Thus product orientation strategy of Google was marked by an ever increasing tendency to identify existing vacuums and moving in there to obviate competition from rivals.
Similarly it was focused on the marketing strategy in the same vein to achieve what expansion into hitherto neglected mass market segments would afford it. In the process its marketing strategy was influenced by a number of variables that underlay its exhaustive approach to product placement. For example its marketing strategy was developed on the lines of a paradigm shift away from its competitors’ exclusive focus on aggregated synergies arising from gross revenues.
Google’s choice of managing customer relations is a good one, because its technological capabilities such as detection of bad practices, customer feedback, information management and result analysis have improved greatly through tracking and retention of a loyal customer base (Moran & Hunt, 2008).
In the eyes of the customer such value additions Google Calendar, Docs, Gmail, Groups, Blogger, Labs, Mobile, Checkout and Google GEO-Maps, Earth and Local have delighted them tremendously. The product and marketing drive of Google, on the other hand, has been characterized by its efforts to keep the business professional market to itself as the major destination along with current business strategies. They are treated to a highly comfortable experience. However its current product marketing drive is essentially determined by cost-cutting efforts. Google has designed effective viral marketing campaigns, word of mouth promotions and public relations to establish a brand identity for the organization.
Marketing clout of Google has been increasingly going after customer-driven value creation efforts plus the cost-effective achievement of marketing synergies through an aggregation process that involves a series of customer-care points both within and without the organization. The internet search engine industry is governed by highly fluid demand-side dynamics (Singh, 2008). For instance demand factors such as consumers’ attitude changes have a big impact on search engines’ own marketing strategy. Going in a tightly competitive market to place products at a strategically advantageous level is a very difficult task. However, Google has adopted a very innovative approach to marketing through its existing network of operations.