Shortly after World War I, Ford and GM created the large modern corporation, with its financial and statistical controls, mass production, and assembly lines. In the 1980s, Toyota stood out for combining quality with continuous refinement. Today, Google is reinventing business yet again-the way we work, how organizations are controlled, and how employees are managed.
Management consultant Bernard Girard has been analyzing Google since its founding in 1998, and now in The Google Way, he explores Google's innovations in depth-many of which are far removed from the best practices taught at the top business schools.
As you read, you'll see how much of Google's success is due to its focus on users and automation. You'll also learn how eCommerce has profoundly changed the relationship between businesses and their customers, for the first time giving customers an important role to play in a major corporation's growth. Finally, Girard speculates about the limits of Google's business model and discusses the challenges it will face as it continues to grow.
Google's culture is one of innovation. Why not make that spirit of innovation your own?
An Unorthodox Corporate Saga
Chapter 1 REBELS WITH A CAUSE
Direct Heirs of Artificial Intelligence
The Invention of Page Ranking
An Environment for Innovation
Job Mobility and the Exchange of Ideas
A Short Leash
Winning Independence
What About the Rest of Us?
Chapter 2 THE GOOGLE ECONOMIC MODEL
Google Is Free, But …
Two-Sided Markets
The Cost-per-Click Advertising Model
The Power of Minimalist Ads
Competitive Bidding
No Content, No Portal
How to Keep Channel Surfers
The Double Long Tail
A Formula 1 Engine
Chapter 3 THREE ICONOCLASTS AT THE TOP
A Triumvirate That Works ( Against All Odds )
How Can Google's Triumvirate Continue to Succeed?
Chapter 4 RECRUITING THE BEST
Why the Very Best?
A Recruitment Factory
Evaluating Technical Expertise
Chapter 5 THE 20 PERCENT RULE
Chapter 6 COWORKERS ARE THE BEST JUDGES
The Power of Reputation
A Tool for Quality Control
Chapter 7 AN INNOVATION MACHINE
Don't Formalize Research
Innovation Is Everybody's Business
Look for Ideas Where They Are
Acquire
Release Early and Often (or, How to Involve Users in the Development Process)
An Innovation Machine That Pays Off
Chapter 8 LIKE A SWISS ARMY KNIFE
Earlier Product Strategies
Consider Microsoft
The Google Swiss Army Knife
Is Google Lacking Direction?
The Online Swiss Army Knife: An Internet Operating System
Chapter 9 FOR THE LOVE OF MATH AND MEASUREMENT
Real-Time Data Analysis
Numbers Are Key
Mathematics and Management
Chapter 10 KEEP THE TEAMS SMALL
Fight the Bureaucracy
Small Teams Facilitate Innovation
Small Teams Are Efficient
It's Not Just the Size
Chapter 11 COORDINATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
The Technology of Shared Information
Moma: Abundant Information
Blogs at Work
A New Role for Management
Chapter 12 THE SECRET IS IN THE FACTORY
A Limitation Becomes an Asset
Redundancy
Powerful Production Equipment
Use Existing Infrastructure
Put Users First; the Rest Will Follow
Chapter 13 AUTOMATING SALES AND USER RELATIONSHIPS
Eliminating Conflicts Between Sales and Marketing Departments
Bernard Girard is the author of several books on management and has consulted for some of the world's best-known firms. He lectures globally on Google's management strategies and ways they can be applied to businesses of all kinds.
