Googles self-driven car is currently on the discontinuity stage of the S-curve, owing to the fact that the technology is completely new, as opposed to the conventional human-driven cars that are in use today. In addition, the technology or concept is yet to gain full acceptance and adoption into the regional and global market (Lee 324). However, if its adoption is successful, this new form technology will replace the old technology.
In this stage, the new technology can be said to be in the form of competition with the old technology where the old technology acts on the part of the defense while the new technology by Google takes the place of the offensive adversary. Several technologies may be competing with each other during the displacement stage of the S-curve. For instance, Tesla and other electronics car manufacturing companies are developing vehicles that are capable of similar use as current vehicles. However, they use electricity as their source of fuel. This situation can further confirm that Googles product is on a discontinuity phase on the S-curve.
The Prognosis for Googles Self-driven Car
The prognosis for success of the new technology is favorably good with the current track of things. For instance, the vehicle was already successful in logging on almost half a million miles by 2014. It also received approval for testing from the states of California, Nevada, and Florida. The state of California has made a directory to the DMV to embark on working with other agencies of the state to determine the process of their adoption and use once the vehicles are available (Morley and Parker 483).
Besides, the company has made good use of external suppliers such as Ford Car Company that will be responsible for the development of the cars basic software and components, thus giving Google the time to focus on the development of the cars autonomous driving systems (Foster 46). Such a close partnership will also enable Google to put more focus on the smarts of the car while loading off the difficulties that are associated with manufacturing of car parts (Summers par.1).
Challenges that Google will have to overcome to make the Self-driven Cars Marketable
One of the challenges that the companys self-driven car has is that it has led to the rise in competition among three competitors, namely Googles technology, electronic vehicles technology, and the old technology of human driven and petrol/gas fueled cars (Foster 45). Another presenting challenge to Googles self-drive car development has been the overall cost of installing a Research and Development and installation system (Miller par.3). The company will have to look for huge sums of money to have this system in place. Another emerging challenge for Google is the need to assure safety for the robotic vehicles to operate safely in both the urban and rural settings (Miller par.3).
Hence, it will have to invest much money to produce safe machines. However, Google Inc. needs to focus its attention on the effectiveness of its new product (Gomez par.5). Effectiveness in this context refers to the determination of which type of S-curve a company such as Google should pursue while efficiency mainly emphasizes the slope of the curve. This strategy entails determining the type of S-curve it intends to pursue, as opposed to efficiency, which is determined by the slope of the S curve, as it is a poor indicator of progress. This move will allow the company to know the challenges that it might expect to face in the future in the S-curve.
References
Foster, Richard. The S Curve: A New Forecasting Tool, London: Macmillan, 1986. Print.
Gomez, Lee. GoogleS Self-Driving Cars Still Face Many Obstacles | MIT Technology Review, 2014. Web.
The monopoly of Google in the Digital environment is undeniable. Still, the new project, Google Books Search and Digital Library has created opposition from society and scholarship. The case of Google Digital library shows that the corporate entitys first responsibility is to its stockholders. If the company makes good decisions and shows a healthy existence, its shareholders benefit. Simultaneously, Googles contribution to society and the economy also becomes optimal because the assumptions of perfect competition automatically make this condition a reality. However, if Google is completely micro oriented it is not automatic that its overall economic contribution is optimized also. Conditions that are conducive to less than perfect competition would lead to less than optimal macroeconomic results. In terms of the economy as a whole, this situation implies the existence of the performance result. The firm, in generating less than optimal conditions, maybe laying off people (downsizing), cutting down its research and development activity, and not putting enough effort into renovating productive facilities or furthering the development of its human resources.
The monopoly of Google in Digital Library is inevitable and uncontrollable. The economic impact of the Google Corporation is far-reaching. Not only the administrators, workers, and stockholders but also the corporations immediate customers, unattached consumers, and the society as a whole are part of this far-reaching economic power. Ideally, it is the same corporate entity that provides growth, innovation, and stability, in short, overall opportunity for the individuals and, therefore, for the society as a whole. Among its key features is the establishment of a Book Rights Registry, run by authors and publishers to keep track of who owns rights to which books and to collect money from Googles online sale of those books, either through individual use or through institutional subscriptions (Googles library monopoly 2009)..Google Corporation puts resources into continuity and has emphasized financial manipulations as well as buying out and selling each other (Googles library monopoly 2009). The launch of Digital Library shows that when the conditions for monopoly are prevalent, that is, no barriers to entry and exit, perfect information for business decision-makers and consumers, perfect rationality on the part of business decision-makers and consumers, and special influence on the market and in existing competition by any particular firm, then the most micro oriented firm will have to perform in the most rational manner. The field of economics can illustrate that the firms that deviate from this behavior pattern cannot survive. The main problem is that in a digital environment the market is as far as it has been from the conditions of perfect competition (Shankland, 2009).
The Internet and WWW are changing rapidly and Google tries to meet new trends and opportunities. The monopoly of Google in Digital Books is explained by its innovative approaches and vision of the future. New innovations, futuristic products, and breakthroughs take time to get established; however, if the products are developed and accepted, then payoffs are rather spectacular. However, because of the widespread long-term entanglement among virtual companies, only a handful with vision are working on developing products that are likely to be successful in the future. A number of reasons have been cited for virtual firms not being prolific in developing new products (Shankland, 2009). Some of the reasons revolve around top managements failure to accelerate the development of new products based on new technologies. Others maintain that engineering design has been neglected, which is causing the drought in new product innovation. It is clear from our discussion that purely consumer-evaluated new product concepts may be handicapped in the sense that the further away they are from the consumers realm of reality, the less chance they have for approval. Thus, because of traditional evaluation processes, the more futuristic and far out the proposed product, the less chance it has to become a reality.
For Google, internal feasibility assessment, the second step, can use various techniques. This is the major phase where many of the ideas are eliminated because of a lack of feasibility. Most of the time, those ideas that call for a smaller basic investment or are more suitable for the existing facilities and characteristics of the firm are likely to be judged more feasible than others. Because product development teams today are so present-oriented, most future-oriented ideas are put on the back burner at this stage. Developing products that may not be satisfying existing needs but win satisfy the needs of the future can make a significant contribution toward improving the quality of life in the future. Futuristic portfolios create major and minor breakthroughs for future company growth in revenues and profit The key in the overall process is being long-term oriented. However, all futuristic products may not have the same degree of capability to fight off economic turbulence. Thus, instead of one or two, a healthy number of products may be included in the futuristic product portfolio of the firm (Googles library monopoly 2009).
Googles monopoly in the Digital Library is explained by the desire to invest in new products during an economic downturn. New product development presents an opportunity to get ahead of rivals who are not making similar investments. However, the same position could be taken for an unexpected economic boom or excessive inflation based on extended prosperity. Consumers need to have products appropriate for these unexpected turbulent times. The opportunities created by the Google Book and market relationships are explored. It is maintained here that the firm must accelerate technology-pushed product development because it is very effective in terms of maintaining a competitive edge as well as being very profitable. In developing such products, future focus groups are considered very useful. In developing futuristic product ideas, three different techniques are discussed: future-focused groups or panels, market analysis, and scenario building (Shankland, 2009).
For Google Books, one of the most important changes is related to the movement from being a manufacturing and production economy to generating and disseminating information and emphasizing services more readily. Moving from manufacturing to information and services creates a major change in income distribution. Information industries are relatively less labor-intensive than manufacturing, with larger disparities between the top and bottom pay scales. What he calls information jobs includes programmers, teachers, clerks, secretaries, accountants, stockbrokers, managers, insurance people, bureaucrats, lawyers, bankers, and technicians. Additionally, even in manufacturing firms, many hold information jobs. All of these changes have significant impacts on the economy and marketing. Not only the traditional ways of performing the marketing process may need to be revised but also some of the older ways of marketing may even go against the changes and be quite counterproductive. Furthermore, joblessness in some circles and newly found wealth in others puts substantial pressure on the marketing system to change and to adjust quickly. Marketing of information is likely to be quite different than the marketing of manufactured products. Similarly, changing income distribution prompted by the movement from production to information changes consumption patterns and lifestyles and targets audiences that are all very critical for marketing (Googles library monopoly 2009).
The case of Google Digital Literary shows that economic power is becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of a few. This trend, in conjunction with the tendency of having more oligopolies in the industry, is causing a dramatic change in the power structure of virtual digital markets. The change in the power structure is creating an ever-widening gap between the two democracies. The widening gap between economic and political democracies is taking away the opportunity from certain consumers to enjoy equal footing with the rest of the society in all areas of consumption. Certain consumer groups that are more vulnerable in terms of their economic power, education, or decision-making capabilities become continually worse off. Additionally, the need and demand for certain goods and services in the society become more lopsided in favor of more and more concentrated economic power, thus, leaving the vulnerable consumer groups with fewer and fewer products and services to choose from and to purchase. However, financial manipulations are not likely to provide the economy with a healthy growth rate (Shankland, 2009).
In sum, the basic premise of monopoly is that, over the years, virtual digital companies created too many organizational layers that created too much bureaucracy and, therefore, inflexibility. In the meantime, the Japanese success in the world markets has made it noticeable that virtual organizations have fatter and shallower organizational structures. To some extent, the monopoly of Google with Digital Library is a result of innovative approaches and a unique vision of customers needs.
References
Googles library monopoly and the Future of the Book. (2009). The Canberra Times. Web.
Shankland, S. (2009). Googles digital-book future hangs in the balance. New Media. Web.
This paper is aimed at examining such a product as Google Glass. In particular, it is described as an architectural innovation in which different components, which have already existed before, are organized in a new way. Google Glass creates many opportunities for multi-tasking, and it can be of great interest to many users. Nevertheless, this device has significant limitations such as the lack of software. These are the main questions that should be examined more closely.
Type of innovation
Overall, Google Glass can be described as the architectural innovation which means that a manufacturer does not change the major technological elements. However, the producer changes the way in which these components are organized (Frenken, 2006, p.40).
It should be noted that this device does not include any new components. For instance, one can mention camera, touchpad, Bluetooth, display, storage device, and so forth. In this case, more attention should be paid to the way in which these components function together. One should also keep in mind that the concept of a wearable computer is not entirely new. Wearable computers could be produced more than a decade ago (Chittaro, 2003, p. 63). The main change is that Google Glass enables a user to operate in an online environment. Moreover, a person can manipulate various types of media. These are the main details that can be distinguished. On the whole, this example indicates that architectural innovation can be a useful approach for creating products that can appeal to many users.
The strengths and weaknesses of Google Glass
The main strength of Google Glass is that it enables a person to receive visual or textual messages without having to use a hand-held device. In turn, this quality of Google Glass creates more opportunities for multi-tasking. Furthermore, this device enables a person to share visual images as quickly as possible. This benefit can be of great importance to people working in healthcare organizations (Vashney, 2009, p. 45). This opportunity may also be of great benefit to various businesses. Moreover, this product helps a person to integrate virtual environment and real-life world. In particular, an individual can perceive both immediate environment and digital images. These are some of the main advantages that this device can offer.
Nevertheless, there are several limitations of this device. In particular, the functionality of this product is inferior to the capabilities of hand-held devices such as smart phones or tablet computers. For instance, this argument is relevant if one speaks about the search of information on the Web. Additionally, there are not many software applications that can improve the functioning of Google Glass. These are the main reasons why Google Glass has not turned into a successful commercial product. Additionally, one should not forget about the impact of completion. At present, other companies also attempt to design and sell wearable computers.
In order to address these problems, Google should adopt several strategies. In particular, they should focus on the development of software that can maximize the benefits of this wearable computer. Additionally, they need to demonstrate various uses of this technology. In this way, they can attract the attention of many potential customers. Additionally, they should work closely with companies that can benefit with from applying Google Glass (Chittaro, 2003). These are the main recommendations that can be considered.
Reference List
Chittaro, L. (2003). Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media. Web.
Frenken, K. (2006). Innovation, Evolution and Complexity Theory. New York, NY: Edward Elgar Publishing. Web.
Vashney, U. (2009). Pervasive Healthcare Computing: EMR/EHR, Wireless and Health Monitoring. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media. Web.
The year 2011 marks the eleventh year in which the number of web pages passed the two billion mark (Glossbrenner & Glossbrenner ix). There are still many millions of web pages that are being created on a daily basis. The availability of many web pages creates a complex situation whereby one may find themselves wondering round and round from page to page without getting what they really desire to find.
However, and fortunately, this confusion has been reduced by the presence of search engines that act as excellent tools that help people to find what they exactly want. The best of them have been ranking consistently among the most popular sites on the internet.
Among these tools include Google and wolfram Alpha. Google is an online search engine that provides services such as internet search and cloud computing. It runs a numerous number of servers, processing a multiple number of requests. Other services offered by Google include translation into other languages and search within search services. Google also offers search engine calculators and Google maps. Google maps present satellite imagery of places a researcher wishes to know about.
On the other hand, Wolfram Alpha is an answer engine. It answers factual questions primarily by calculating the answer from structured data. Its different from search engines in that it does not provide a list of documents and web pages that may have the answer for the researcher.
Using Wolfram Alpha is quite easy in that a user submits the query and computation request in a textual format. Wolfram Alpha then computes and provides answers and the necessary visualizations. Wolfram Alpha therefore offers more specific answers by narrowing down the field of search into a more specific search results. This work reviews some of the differences and strengths and weaknesses, of Google as a search engine and Wolfram Alpha as an answer engine.
Description of the Community
For the purpose of comparison between Google and Wolfram Alpha, the medical community has been chosen to demystify some of the facts. Doctors help sick people get better and, they try to stop people from getting sick. People also go to doctors for check ups to be examined whether they are sick or not. Doctors also perform surgery whereby the body of a patient is cut open to fix an internal problem.
There are different kinds of doctors classified according to their areas of specialization. Paediatricians are those doctors that take care of sick children (Ready 9). Psychiatrists are doctors who deal with mental problems. Neonatologists are those who deal with infants, Nephrologists deal with kidney problems, dentists deal with the teeth, urologists deal with the bladder and, gastrologists deal with digestive problems. The above are just but a few examples of the different kinds of doctors.
Doctors are a part of the expansive industry of health workers who work in healthcare facilities. Hospitals need doctors together with other health workers in order for them to operate. Currently, doctors are still in short supply worldwide because of many challenges the industry faces.
The challenges include financial problems. This is because it is pretty costly to train doctors and nurses. Other factors that contribute to the shortage of doctors are the low enrolment of primary care students in medical schools especially in the United States. Health insurance policy is also a contributing factor that has seen many people avoid the hospitals because they cannot afford to pay the bills. There are also few doctors worldwide because of the enormous workload that causes burn out of workers.
Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha is an answer engine that does not offer several other documents that may contain the research in question. It gives direct and more specific answers. It can also be used to calculate mathematical equations.
Wolfram Alpha therefore gives the mathematical perspective, the visual perspective, the analytical perspective, and the graphical perspective of a particular research where necessary. It is worth noting here that Wolfram Alpha deals only with factual questions such as, who is the current Indian Prime Minister and not, what are the implications of the shortage of doctors in the Canadian society? (Levene 192).
Adults and children will find this answer engine not only useful but a lot of fun. A word, date, formula or phrase is entered in Wolfram Alpha, which computes the results for the researcher.
The engine can also compute the age of a person in years, months and days and notable events from the date of birth. The nutrition of a food type can also be displayed when one enters the name of the food type. The information of the source can also be obtained at the bottom of the screen. The chemical formula of a specific drug can also be displayed in Wolfram Alpha.
It must be noted here that Wolfram Alpha uses the strategic mode of request processing, data preparation, and searching and results presentation. These are the four inner blocks that Wolfram Alpha adopts in its search criteria. It differs from other search engines in results presentation.
For instance, Wolfram Alpha describes the meaning of a noun together with its pronunciation, synonyms and a set of narrower and broader terms. This method is much different from the other search engines like Powersets and Wikipedia although these two will not be discussed in this work.
Strengths and limitations of Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha has many qualities that can easily be compared with search engines like Wikipedia and Powerset along the same magnitudes of strengths. As it has been discussed already, Wolfram is precise in its presentation of answers and therefore, it gives more direct answers to the question asked.
The other advantage of Wolfram is that it can compute mathematical formula to give answers both graphically and textually where necessary. The strengths also include the ability to compute mathematical formulae, it answers questions directly rather than just giving links to information and, it tries to understand what the researcher wants thereby giving direct information (Differences between 4).
The limitations of Wolfram Alpha is that it is not relevant to shoppers, people who are looking for product reviews and, those who want to view comments on a particular topic. It is only for those people who want quick access to relevant factual information about a particular topical issue.
Thus, there are no advertisements of products for consumers to see (Usefultools 3). The medical community can therefore find it irrelevant to shop for drugs. A particular community can also not use this engine if they are looking for particular facilities, in terms of quality, from hospitals.
Searching with Google and Wolfram Alpha
This section discusses the way Google search engine, and Wolfram answer engine displays the results of the medical community. In this particular search Google displays many links to pages that have data related to the medical community. The pages include the Wikipedia, which interprets the phrase in several other descriptions.
The search also includes links to pages connected to exclusive medical practitioners and records of many phenomena in this field. Relevant pages are also displayed by Google, and they include online magazines that provide news bulletins within the medical community. Other terms described in the Google search engine related to this entry are community health, community based health, medical e-books, medicine, doctors, and the medical community credit union.
If one of the links is accessed, it shows the different kinds of problems that doctors experience in their field of practice. Another link to the search gives the kinds of doctors in the medical community. On this page, there is a comprehensive description of the kinds of doctors and their specialization. Specific examples include neurologists, gastrologists and, Neonatologists.
On the other hand, Wolfram Alpha gives a direct textual description of the medical community as the body of individuals who are qualified to practice medicine within their field of study. Wolfram Alpha also displays the synonym of the phrase medical community as medical profession.
It goes further and gives the broader terms of this phrase, one of them being the health profession. Further downwards, Wolfram Alpha provides the internet domains in which the phrase can be found. They are medicalcommunity.info, and medicalcommunity.org. There are no anagrams provided for this phrase because as the answer engine says, there are none among common words.
Wolfram Alpha also provides the options for synonym network and the mathematical form of the input phrase. Thus, as a way of comparison, Google is broader in its search method than Wolfram Alpha. It is worth noting that simultaneous search of Google and Wolfram has been enabled by another search engine that combines both the two engines to give simultaneous results. The new engine is called Goofram.
Goofram
Goofram is a search engine that combines both Google and wolfram results thereby giving a more comprehensive and direct answer. The results of the search in Goofram fit pretty well thus it looks like a natural application. Therefore, Google searches can be brought to Goofram depending on what one desires for their search results.
Goofram is also free to use and it does not demand one to sign up. It takes the results of Google and Wolfram searches, placing them side by side. This gives the researcher an opportunity to view a more direct answer and at the same time the chance to explore further into the search results.
A good example is when one desires to know the total population of Chile. As a matter of fact, this one is a more specific entry search. In the event of searching with Google, the results will be several links to pages that have data related to Chile.
Wolfram will give the exact population of Chile as per a particular year of census directly. However, Goofram gives the page results for both Google and Wolfram side by side with each other on the screen. Thus, in the two websites, one can find what they are after, and in both cases, a lot of irrelevant data that might be very interesting.
Goofram has been able to combine the two into a double-column search thereby giving two page results for a single entry. Google and Wolfram can also be defined as intelligence and knowledge respectively. This is because while the intelligent Google takes into considerations the many factors of algorithmic searches, the knowledgeable Wolfram, on the other hand, evaluates the keywords and crystallizes the data both mathematically and textually (Upstream connections 3).
Differences between Google and Wolfram Alpha
Google is a search engine that searches the web pages for the words that have been entered by a user. After one has entered the word they wish to search using Google, the results come in form of a set of links to pages that may have the information about the entry word or phrase.
The links are based on the relevance to the word or phrase. Wolfram Alpha, on the other hand endeavours to make sense of the entry word, phrase or mathematical formula thereafter providing the answer at its best according to its ability. Wolfram Alpha therefore, gives no direct link to other web pages but rather provides a small bar at the bottom of the page which may be the best link related to the search entry.
In results presentation, Google gives brief overviews of the different ways in which the subject of research is defined or explained in different sources. However, Wolfram Alpha gives the direct solution because it figures out the exact answer one is looking for.
For instance in the search for something like the area of Canada, Google gives the links where it found the words area and Canada thereby necessitating a further search for what one really wants. Wolfram Alpha, on the other hand comprehensively knows that one is looking for the total surface area of Canada, thereby giving the answer as 3.855 million mi 2 (Differences between 2). This is actually the exact total surface area of Canada in square miles.
Thus in the quest for specific knowledge about something specific pertaining to the medical community, the practitioners concerned can use Wolfram Alpha to obtain the knowledge of the entry. A good example is when a doctor wants to research on the prevalence of a particular disease in a certain area of interest, for example cancer. While Google gives many options in the results page, Wolfram Alpha gives the specific data collected within a specific time period.
Wolfram Alpha can also solve algebraic equations, calculus and other equations of which it can offer even graphical answers. Mathematical questions are therefore solved when the questions are presented either in words or in equations. The ability of Wolfram to present plots and graphs of geometric formulae together with related information is beyond Googles scope. This is therefore very helpful to students and other researchers.
Conclusion and Recommendations
This discussion has demystified the differences between Google and Wolfram Alpha. Wolfram Alpha is an answer engine that does not offer several other documents that may contain the research in question. It gives direct and more specific answers. Wolfram is precise in its presentation of answers and therefore gives more direct answers to the question asked.
The other advantage of Wolfram is that it can compute mathematical formula to give answers both graphically and textually where necessary. Goofram is an engine that combines both Google and Wolfram and presents both of the engines side by side to each other in one screen. It is therefore recommended that medical practitioners should use Wolfram for more specific searches especially if they are studying something concerned with a specific health disorder.
Google Inc. is an international technology company that deals in internet search and advertising. The core of Googles revenues lies within advertizing, from programs such as Google AdWords and Google AdSense. In 2003, 97 percent of Googles revenue was attributed towards advertizing, in which AdWords and AdSense made up 56 percent and 44 percent respectively (IMD, 2003). The AdWords feature allows advertisers to pay every time their link is clicked, while AdSense allows websites on the Google network to host links to AdWords advertisers and share the revenues with the (exhibit 3).
Although the search engine feature is notably web giants most successful program, Google has developed new products and services, acquired small technology companies or partnered with them in an effort to expand its revenue base.
Strategic threats to Google
The search engine industry does not have any long run entry barriers, which means new or established internet companies can enter the domain, thereby creating competition for Google. Internet portals such as yahoo and MSN offer more products and services than Googles search engine. Like Google, MSN and Yahoo both provide links to other sites, but go a step further by displaying more information and solutions. This feature could attract more internet users, which might lead to a decrease in market share for Google. Googles strategic alliance with portals, such as AOL, T-Online and LA Times (exhibit 3), may cause a significant lose in revenue if the contracts were to come to be terminated.
Costs and benefits of going public
Advantages
The main advantage of going public, especially for start-ups and small companies, is the provision of the large amount capital, which could be used to facilitate expansion and growth, or even pay off debts. The capital comes at a low cost, since no interest is required to repay the investors, and the amount raised need not be refunded back to investors, unless there is a case of liquidation or bankruptcy. Another monetary advantage is the capital gains made by the founders of the company, in case they decide to sell a proportion of their holdings. The company will also be able to source for more equity at lower costs in the future, through the use of rights issues (Draho 2004).
A company going public will be in a better position to assess its value since share prices reflect the financial soundness of the company. Consequently, it will be easier for a public company to use stock-for-stock options in acquisition practices, than a private company. Non-monetary benefits can also be derived, such as the publicity the company gets in the market due to the IPO, which could help the company increase its market share. The company will also be in a better position to attract and retain qualified staff and management, due to its increased size.
Disadvantages
Several disadvantages can be experienced by companies that go public, such as disclosure requirements. Its compulsory for public companies to publish their financial statements for the public, quarterly and annual results, as well as details of the companys directors. Companies are also required by law to allow for auditing, which comes at a cost, a feature that is not binding for private companies.
There is added pressure from the market for the company to report profits in its financial statements, which may influence management to act in ways that ensure short term profitability, rather than long term goals. The decision making process becomes slower, since important decisions require approval from the board of directors. The floatation process is quite costly, since investment bankers charge high fees, usually expressed as a proportion of the proceeds.
IPO under-pricing cost to Google
Googles shares closed higher in the stock exchange market as compared with the IPO price of $85, thereby causing Google to leave money on the table .
Role of banks in IPOs
Investment banks assist companies in stock floatation, a process termed as underwriting. Underwriters evaluate a companys financial records, and present market conditions, so as to help determine the final price and number of shares to be issued. Investment banks buy the shares of the issuing company before it goes public, and distribute them on the IPO date in the stock exchange (Brigham & Ehrhardt 2008). The issuing corporation receives the proceeds after the sale of the stock. Underwriters also assist the issuing company in preparing a preliminary prospectus for the company. Of late, these banks have diverged from their traditional roles by seeking to stabilize the share prices in the secondary market, and providing analyst coverage.
How banks make their money
Investment banks receive an underwriting fee from the assistance they provide in the issuance of new securities. The fee is usually expressed as a percentage or gross spread, that is, the difference in price the syndicate has bought the new securities at, and the price the price offered to investors in the market. Underwriters can also be remunerated with a combination of shares and options to buy shares, in addition to a smaller spread (Sharpe, Alexander & Bailey 2008).
Risks to Google and the investment bank for an under-pricing
In the event of an under-pricing, both Google and members of the syndicate risk losing out on money they could have attained had they set a higher price. Google loses potential capital, while the investment bank loses potential revenues, had the shares been sold closer to their value.
Risks due to an overpricing
The major risk surrounding overpricing of new shares is the prospective liability towards shareholders. Overpriced shares result into a decline in prices in the aftermarket. Investment banks who offer a firm commitment bear all the risk, and may end up with unsold securities if the public is not willing to purchase them at such a cost.
Comparison
Both overpriced and under-priced IPOs have disadvantages, but overpriced IPOs are more risky since the underwriters may experience loss if the prices of the unsold stock sell lower than the IPO price. Consequently, the issuing companys marketability in the stock market and value could be lost. Investors will be attracted to shares they feel are under-priced, so the only loss made to the underwriters and issuing company is an opportunity cost.
Threat to investment banks by Google IPO process
Google, having chosen to conduct its IPO through a Dutch auction, rather than the conventional book building exercise, gave the lead investment banks; Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Bottom (CSFB), less control in the pricing decision. A decreased role for the underwriters meant that Google could pay fewer fees for the exercise. The lead underwriters in Googles IPO received 2.75 percent fees, compared with the US average underwriter fees of 7 percent (exhibit 14) in that particular period.
Can companies time the capital market?
Companies can analyze the mood in the market before they decide to issue new securities. This can be done by considering past IPOs, in a move to assess the behavior of investors in the market. The countrys economy should also be evaluated; the company will attain more success if it issues an IPO in a period of boom rather than in a recession.
Can investors time the market?
Investors can time the primary market if they feel that the stock price of a particular company is undervalued. In the secondary market, investors can use fundamental and technical analysis to assess the current or future share price and act accordingly, while considering all potential risks.
Expectations on Google IPO in the long term
A duo share structure, such as the one used by Google, protects the company from the need to achieve short-term financial targets, which can be damaging to the long-term objectives. From a long-term perspective therefore, Googles shares are expected to perform positively, if the example set by Berkshire Hathaway is anything way to go by.
Pricing processes-fixed price, auction and Dutch auction
In a fixed price process, the issuing company and its underwriters settle on a specific price for the new stock. Investors willing to purchase the stock will do so at the determined price, hence there is a degree of certainty for both the investors, and the issuing party.
For an auction pricing system, the internet is used to open up the number of potential buyers willing to purchase the stock. A reserve price is set, though investors bid for the price and number of shares they are willing to purchase. A Dutch auction sets a higher price target than an auction format. Investors bid with their respective prices, and the number of shares they want to purchase. The price settled at is the highest possible price at which the total number of shares offered can be issued. The price investors pay is the last successful bid.
Dutch auction in terms of governance
The Dutch auction process reduces the role investment banks play in the IPO. Traditionally, banks contributed by setting a price, and were also involved in the share allotment to favored investors or clients. The Dutch system, on the other hand, opens up the opportunity to even small retail investors. The Dutch auction system therefore gave Google the final decision regarding the IPO price, size of issue, and the allocation of shares. (IMD International Institute for Management Development 2004).
References:
Brigham, E. F. & Ehrhardt, M. C. (2008). Financial management: theory and practice. 12th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Draho, J. (2004). The IPO decision: why and how companies go public. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
IMD International Institute for Management Development. (2004). Google Case Study Preparing for the Google IPO: A revolution in the making? Lausanne, Switzerland.
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A self-driving car or an autonomous vehicle refers to an automobile with unique capabilities such as sensing its surroundings and navigating in a safe manner with minimal or no human input. Its design comprises devices such as GPS, radar, sonar, and inertial measurement units that help in sensing the environment (Fallon, 2018). It is also installed with advanced control systems that capture and interpret information, which allows for navigation through paths, evading obstacles, and signage among others. Google started this project in 2009, with the aim of realizing the dream of autonomous driving. In 2016, Waymo, an American autonomous driving technology company, became a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google. This eventually led to Googles self-driving project becoming Waymo.
Since this development, the company has engaged a lot in public participation, where the public is often invited to join in public trials of autonomous vehicles operated by Waymo drivers (Fallon, 2018). In 2020, Waymo became the first company to introduce a fist autonomous vehicle on public roads. One of the most notable elements about this concept is the sensational promotion that has happened over the years. This is evident in the number of technology companies that have offered their support. Tesla is one of the companies that have shown great support and faith in this concept to the extent of offering private vehicle owners subscription-based full self-driving experience in 2021.
This feasible technology is definitely bound to have a constructive impact with regard to the way people move from one point to another. Among the revolutionary changes that are likely to be witnessed due to the impact of this technology, include increased safety on the roads, low transportation costs, and reduced use of fossil fuels among others. The number of accidents resulting from human errors and irresponsible behaviors such as drunk driving will be greatly reduced (Bailey, 2014).
It would be a safe option to replace human-driven cars with self-drive cars as a way of improving safety on the roads and reducing the cost of providing health services to accident victims. Another positive impact that this technology will have is increased productivity across all sectors of the economy. This benefit will be necessitated by the fact that people will be able to utilize their time while commuting to do different things. However, the adoption of this revolutionary technology is bound to have some negative impacts across the spectrum. First, various car-related enterprises and automakers are likely to lose a lot of revenue.
This will greatly affect businesses that will not adjust fast enough to the dynamics of this technology. Software developers will most likely make the most out of this development, with numerous opportunities, as even the existing automakers will find the need to start a new production line to meet the emerging needs (Fallon, 2018). Dealers, insurers, and suppliers will experience reduced sales, as more people will be shifting towards more economical and safer options. Additionally, the government will also lose revenue they usually get from taxes and licensing fees.
The self-driving car technology has been received well by the public. However, it has attracted a number of social and ethical issues arising from its design and conflict of interest. One of the notable ethical issues is the challenging car design that needs to balance the safety concerns of both the passengers and pedestrians or cyclists (Bailey, 2014). For example, most self-driving cars are confounded by harsh weather conditions such as rainfall, which interferes with its sensors. Snowy weather also affects self-drive cars because it makes it hard to read any markings on the road. Additionally, users have raised safety concerns that are likely to develop due to the vulnerability of software to hacking, which can easily compromise its functionality.
Google Fiber
Google fiber refers to a fiber optic-based broadband internet service that was introduced in 2010. From a technological aspect, it is designed to offer users three major elements, namely high-speed internet connectivity, internet protocol television, and smart television (Johnson, 2020). To date, Google fiber services are accessible in eighteen locations across the United States. The most notable and exciting feature of this technology is speed. Google fiber offers internet speeds of 1000 Mbps that is faster compared to other internet providers. Its users have a better experience when it comes to downloads and uploads.
The challenge of the internet slowing down when many people are connected at the same time is common among broadband internet services of which Google fiber is not an exception. However, the good thing about Google fiber is the fact that its bandwidth is built to support internet speeds as high as 1000 Mbps (Levin & Downes, 2018). This means that the bandwidth of one use is less likely to be affected by the activity of other uses within the same location. Another attractive feature of this technology is the value for money with regard to the prices paid for both the internet and cable television (Johnson, 2020). The pricing is billed monthly and it is all-inclusive.
Since its introduction, Google fiber has had a significant impact on society in terms of empowering telecommunication companies to improve their infrastructure for better service delivery. Higher internet speeds have made it easy for people to do video conferencing in High Definition (HD). For people who love streaming videos on social networking sites, Google fiber has addressed the challenge of buffering because the internet speeds are reasonably high.
The same applies for cloud gaming enthusiasts who can now enjoy a highly fulfilling experience without any worries of the games hanging. The entrance of Google fiber into the cable television market means that consumers will benefit from the competition because other internet service providers will have to either improve their speed or lower their prices (Levin & Downes, 2018). Another benefit of this technology is the high storage capacity of the DVR box of its Google fiber television. It allows one to record multiple shows at the same time, while the 2TB hard drive allows one to store several videos in HD.
One of the major negative impacts of Google fiber is the increased compromise on privacy of the users (Levin & Downes, 2018). Already, Google has a lot of personal user information stored on its database. With the introduction of a broadband internet service, many users might be concerned over the privacy of their data captured and stored in Googles cloud.
One of the ethical or social dilemmas related to Google fiber involves the correlation between fairness and neutrality. In the contemporary world, the safety of the internet environment is a major concern for all users. This phenomenon is necessitated by fears over fairness with regard to service providers taking credit for other peoples work and lack of involvement when dealing with disputes relating to their products. Google has access to a lot of information stored in their database, thus it is reasonable when people such as content creators have fears over the safety of their information (Johnson, 2020). It is important for Google to make efforts towards improving its privacy policy.
Smart Contact Lenses
Over the years, contact lenses have been worn to purposely boost vision. However, with the high rate of technological development, newer and smarter lenses offering an array of solutions have been introduced into the market. Life in the contemporary world is characterized by technological designs that are friendlier and solution-based. A good example is smart contact lenses. This technology is designed and developed by Google to help in addressing the challenges faced by diabetic people (Lavars, 2019). Though they are yet to enter clinical trials in human, this technology is bound to have a significant impact across the world.
Medical researchers argue that smart contact lenses will definitely change the way people perceive blood sugar monitoring. It has a simple design consisting of a soft contact lens with a sensor that has the ability to measure glucose levels in tears (Philips & Speedwell, 2018).
The lenses also have a small pinhole, through which tears percolate over a glucose observer that interprets any information captured. Additionally, they are fixed with a minute knob, a capacitor, as well as a switch that allow for the information captured to shift from the eye to the device that stores and analyses it. Google describes the smart contact lenses as comfortable, inexpensive, and empowering (Lavars, 2019). The companys motivation to develop this technology was necessitated by the declaration by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) that the world was slowly losing the battle against the disease and it would welcome any form of input that would help address the challenge.
Smart contact lens is one of the technologies that one can predict that will have a significant impact in the field of medicine in the coming years. Over the years, medical researchers have struggled with designing and developing methodologies for measuring the glucose levels in people using tears. This observable fact was necessitated by a lack of technology that would safely capture and correctly analyze tears. However, smart contact lenses will solve this problem and make the treatment experience of diabetic people more fulfilling. Another benefit of smart contact lenses is that it will eliminate the traditional blood testing required when monitoring sugar levels within the body.
The fact that this technology has the potential to make blood sugar testing as effortless as possible, the excitement around it is quite understandable. As part of its development, Google has plans of equipping the lens with LED lights that will be changing color depending on how high or low the glucose levels are at a particular time (Lavars, 2019). Additionally, Google intends to make this technology for universal application as a way of helping all people improve their lifestyle regardless of ones health condition. Though Google had hoped to commercialize the lenses in five years from the time it launched the technology in 2014, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before it can be ready for use by everyone.
One of the social issues relating to this technology is the increasing need to make the device comfortable for everyone. If the technology intends to help in easing the financial burden of health care providers by helping prevent the development of diabetes, it is important to make the lenses as comfortable to wear as possible (Philips & Speedwell, 2018). Additionally, many people will definitely have concerns over its design.
The developer should be able to fit the sensor, power supply and other essential components into the lenss thin film to achieve an attractive design. Critics of this technology have also raised concerns regarding the authenticity of the data analyzed considering it is captured and transmitted to a wireless device (Philips & Speedwell, 2018). The fact that the sensors on the wireless device have to be on all the time in order to receive the data raises concerns over the accuracy of data. Technological failures are inevitable and if such issues are not taken into consideration, there is a possibility of gaps developing in the results.
Google Glass
Google glass refers to a brand of smart glasses that wearers use to communicate with over the internet using natural language voice commands. The small, light, and wearable computer with a transparent display allows one to work hands-free. The glasses often display information in a hands-free format, just as is the case with smart phones (Redmond, 2013). Google glass helps the use to achieve three major things, namely maintain focus, improve accuracy, and real-time collaboration.
Glass helps one to stay focused because it eliminates any distractions that might limit ones degree of engagement with high value work. When using glass, one tends to achieve better results because easy access to content online makes work easier, quicker, and of high standard. The live video stream available in glass makes it for real-time collaboration when working because it is easier to engage experts in whatever one is doing without having to go offline (Redmond, 2013). This technology was made available to the public in 2014 but a year earlier Google had already sold prototypes to glass explorers.
One of the major criticisms that many of the initial users expressed with regard to the technology was its violation of privacy laws. Less than a year after it was introduced to the public, Google stopped its production with a tentative time of resumption set at 2017. In July 2017, Google introduced the Google glass enterprise edition that was later followed by its second edition in 2019. Some of the main features of Google glass include a touchpad located on the side, 5 MP & 8MP camera for the two editions, as well as a liquid crystal on silicon display.
Since its introduction, Google glass has had a significant impact in various fields. In medicine, this technology has helped practitioners in improving patient experiences by reducing the amount of time taken during visits. Medical researchers argue that this technology has the potential to address some of the perennial challenges health care workers deal with when handling electronic health records (Tang, 2014). To date, Google glass has been successfully used in surgical procedures in the United States, thus demonstrating the impact it has already created amidst the growing potential. In Australia, Google glass has been successfully applied in lactation consultation.
Although many critics still focus a lot on its privacy concerns, Google glass has demonstrated its potential as a wearable device with regard to the delivery of health and family support services across long distances. Studies have also shown that Google glass technology helps children with autism to understand their emotions (Redmond, 2013). In turn, this improves their ability to engage more directly with others.
As much as Google glass has created a lot of excitement across the world, it has a number of ethical issues with regard to its use. Users of Google glass can easily record people they engage in without their knowledge or consent (Tang, 2014).
Although the device uses a red light to indicate when one is recording, many first time users fall prey to people with insincere intentions. It is unethical for people using Google glass to film others without seeking their consent, as this takes the moral autonomy of making that decision from the victim. There is an urgent need for this feature to be regulated by the developer because it is in strict contravention of the reciprocity principle (Tang, 2014). The fact that the use of Google glass in casinos and cinemas across some parts of the United States is already prohibited should signal Google to act swiftly.
Google Nest
Google Nest refers to a brand by Google that primarily operates in marketing smart home devices such as smoke detectors, security systems, routers, as well as smart locks, displays, and streaming devices among others. Nest is a brand that was owned by Nest Labs, with the Nest learning thermostat being its first product. One of the most impressive features of the thermostat is its competitive price and energy saving mechanisms (Brown, 2017).
Through its sensors, it can tell when one is no longer home and turn itself down to conserve energy. The thermostat has sensors, is programmable, and Wi-Fi just like all other Nest products. Google acquired Nest Labs in 2014, where it operated as an independent brand up to 2018. In 2019, it was merged into the companys home-devices unit and all Googles home appliances started working under the Google nest brand (Counte, 2019).
The companys second product to be released into the market was the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector. The unique feature of this product is a multicolored light ring, which uses different colors to indicate the ongoing operation. In 2015, the company released another product called nest cam indoor. Some of the notable features of the product include night vision, sound and motion alerts, as well as a rotating magnetic stand (Brown, 2017). Nest secure, a home security system, is also another product that the company announced in 2017. The security system consists of an alarm, keypad, and motion sensors. Nest Hello, a smart video doorbell enabled with facial recognition features was launched in 2018.
Since its entry into the market, Google nest has had a notable impact in the way people buy home appliances and security systems. The impact of their products was so significant to a point a parody by a German group was created and later detected. It operated with the name Google nest and offered fake products. This highlighted the increasing concern over the privacy of information captured by Google.
Creators of the parody website used the information from Googles database showing the behavior patterns of their users to know the kind of products with the highest demand. Although the company managed to deal with the issue, it remains for the public to have full confidence in the company. Additionally, there is an urgent need for increased government surveillance (Brown, 2017). It is important to appreciate the fact that Google nest has shown the commitment of Google towards improving privacy in our homes. The ability to link nest products with a mobile phone allows a user to monitor everything from anywhere.
The major ethical issue related to Google Nest is the distressing subject of privacy. It is important and necessary for Google and Nest labs to prioritize the privacy of their customers. They can try to avoid collecting their personal information for marketing purposes, as it can also attract legal issues in case they file for breach of privacy (Counte, 2019). For some people, the fact that most of the home appliances and security systems in the market are part of the Google brand feels like an invasion into their privacy. When it comes to home security and doing things across online databases, the ability of users to maintain their anonymity is usually a matter of priority.
Although Google has maintained a strong policy on the privacy issue, it is not possible to ignore the fact that people will need further convincing before buying and using their products without raising an eyebrow. Nest technology has changed the manner in which people manage their home security (Counte, 2019). Therefore, the numerous misconceptions that people have due to its relation with Google cannot be overlooked for business reasons.
There are over 100 search engines that can be used to search for information while one is using the internet. However, not all the web search engines are equally popular. Some of the worlds popular search engines include Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com. The essay compares and contrasts Google and Yahoo! search engines. Although Yahoo! is also a useful tool for searching information on the web, Google remains the worlds leading search engine.
At the dawn of the twenty first century (2000), Google search engine became popular among internet users. It was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin starting 1996 and is owned by Google Inc. In December 2008, the popularity of Google in the world was at 82.7% and 78.4% a year later.
Its market share in the U.S in July 2009 stood at 63.2%. The company came up with great innovations to better its ability to meet clients demand and ease of accessing information. PageRank which was designed to operate algorithmically provided better results when searching for information.
The web pages are numbered and linked with other related pages using the PageRank. This linkage ensures that one can get alternative results and hence providing additional information. Google became popular owing to the fact that it reduced the interface to the search engine hence making its usage easier and uninterrupted.
Google, just like most search engines, works by retrieving and storing massive information of several web pages. The retrieval is accomplished using an automated browser known as a web crawler or spider. All links on any given site are tracked and retrieved. Once retrieved, the contents of the site are checked in order to get a proper way of indexing in the search engine.
The indexed data are stored in a database which is then searchable using a query. The process of indexing enables quick access of information, even by typing a single word. Search results are highly biased towards resources which are informational. It is highly ineffective for cheesy off topic links. Google search engine, for instance, stores all or a section of the web page and provides additional details about the source page.
Yahoo!s search service provision has been in existence for a significantly long time. David F. and Jerry Yang are the founders of Yahoo! (1994). It used to provide search services for web pages using its own web directories as well as outsourcing to other providers.
It did not display the full-text of a given web page. In 2000, Yahoo! used Inktomis search engine to provide search services which it later acquired two years later. In 2004, Yahoo! shifted to Google and used it to provide search services. Yahoo!, after borrowing technologies from the various acquisitions and partnering installed its own search engine.
In July 2009, a deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft was reached where the Microsofts search engine technology (Bing) would power Yahoo!s. The performance of Yahoo! search engine over the last decade has been on the decline both in terms of popularity and market share. In July 2009, it had a market share of 7.16%.
Currently, Yahoo! search engine has numerous internal materials and is highly commercialized. Other companies pay in order to be included in the Yahoo! search. In this case, a person who wishes to use it would first have to pass an interface of commercial advertisements.
This has impacted negatively on the popularity of Yahoo! due to some element of bias during the search process. The greatest challenge in Yahoo! search is the determination of the nature of a given link, whether it is a natural or artificial citation. For Yahoo! search engine, it is quite effective when it comes to cheesy off topic reciprocal links.
The two search engines described above have significant similarities and differences. They are similar in that they provide similar services, work using relatively similar technologies and retrieval patterns. However, Google and Yahoo! search engines have peculiar origins, popularity, market share, and preferences.
Search engines offer great opportunities for people using the internet since they are able to get rich information easily.
The users rate these service providers on the quality and ease of retrieving information. Owing to the inherent biases by the various search engines, Yahoo! has lost its popularity since it is highly commercialized and is unable to accurately determine the authenticity of the content.
The concept of postmodernism has critical impacts on advertisement. Before the era of advanced technologies and social media, advertisements were simple and direct, consisting of simple and direct words on newspapers, magazines, and billboards. However, by relying on new technologies and social media, advertisements have become ubiquitous in relation to consumers daily life by removing any existing barriers. It represents a form of postmodern marketing.
Thus, advertisements target consumers who are also the main subject of the advertisement. That is, the consumer is now a key component of advertising. This is the case of Google Glass. On February 13, 2014, Google posted a short one and a half minute video clip is known as Marry me [through Google Glass] (the video is available on YouTube). The video was created through Google Glass, and it contains various scenes of marriage proposals.
This video has attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers because of the reaction it created on social media. Through this video, Google reinforces the attractiveness of Google Glass as an object that consumers can use to capture significant events in their lives. From the video, Google shows that the Glass is not about technology but rather about individuals who use it in everyday situations. This was one video from Google Project Explorer to capture special moments when using Google Glass. Google Glass is now omnipresent because of the new media in a postmodern advertisement.
The Google Glass video, Marry me [through Google Glass] reflects demystified culture, a new product, and marketing strategy supported with a small group of consumers, who rely on hypermedia to transcend physical barriers and limits of traditional media to experience the expandable and interconnected world of social media through the new media. It is a perfect example of a postmodern advertisement in the era of the new media.
The theoretical model chosen for this analysis is postmodernism, as depicted by various authors. Different authors, for instance, have shown the role of the new media in postmodernism advertisement. Their works have continued to evolve as they focus on emerging practices in advertisements brought about by changes in technologies and popular culture (OShaughnessy and Stadler 35).
OShaughnessy and Stadler (451) see postmodernism in relation to the new media and observable changes in society. Appignanesi and Garratt (174) provide an overview of postmodernism cyberspace experiences. For any technology to transcend its limits, there must be possibilities for commercial success. This explains why many large organizations have turned to new media and technologies for advertisement.
With new media, there are observable changes in meanings of terms and usage, which extend to commercial activities and advertisements. The postmodernism is marked with potential in business opportunities for companies that wish to exploit new media advertisement features. The dropping costs and abilities to reach the global consumer are breaking the physical barriers once witnessed in traditional media. In addition, consumers have embraced new media as everyday experiences and platforms for communication.
As a result, consumers are now exposed to various forms of commercial advertisements through new media than ever before, and they can virtually have these experiences anywhere. The postmodern era shows that information and communication can now occur without much effort.
The results are hypermedia systems that go beyond physical boundaries and overcome restrictions of the traditional media. It is an expandable and interconnected communication system that focuses on consumers and electronic systems to deliver the digital, interactive advertisement. In addition, the advertisement is user motivated, widely distributed, individualized, and runs across several new media platforms.
It is widely supported by file-sharing capabilities and clicks on social media platforms. Users, however, must navigate through information overload and ensure effective management of fragmented scenes, and Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright (307) help readers to understand the visual culture in new media.
The new media offer just-in-time knowledge and reality on how users can experience new products (Palmer 78), particularly technology-driven ones. It creates a new culture for niche products and targets a given class of consumers with specific identities.
In this case study, the focus is on the use of new media during the postmodernism era for advertisement. One fundamental issue for Google is to get millions of consumers to spend their dollars for a new device that they hardly understand, know how to use or wear on their faces to create a near-awkward look. This was a major issue for Google as it prepared to launch its Project Glass. Google Glass is a high-tech Glass with the ability to take photographs, decode phrases, and provide directions to use.
It can accomplish all these tasks through a narrow glass built on the frame next to the users right eye. The Glass looks like a pair of spectacles but actually is a wearable computer device with an optical piece inserted for display. It is a product of Googles Project Glass project. Before the release, the company had to make the early version of the Glass available for consumers, but only to a restricted group of consumers. Google introduced a twist by ensuring that this group of consumers had to answer the question, If I had Glass before selection.
A major characteristic of a postmodern era is the strong presence of new media (Durham and Kellner 445). Companies have often focused on how they can exploit their platforms to reach users. Google, for instance, embarked on an extraordinary project of developing the Glass and creating a new way of utilizing the capabilities of the new media, including social media.
The company has overcome all the technical issues involved in the development of wearable Glass. It now faced the difficult assignment of convincing consumers to purchase and wear the Glass. The company must make this unique wearable device look normal for ordinary consumers.
In an attempt to ensure that the Glass assumes a status symbol rather than a scientific experiment object, the company has increased the number of early adopters to include everyday consumers.
These consumers are not within the technology sphere, and they would assist in familiarizing other consumers with the Glass. This approach is a strategic marketing strategy that can only be explained through postmodernism theory. It shows how and why consumers should purchase and use the Glass, and it gives assurance that they would still look fine with it.
It remains unclear what message Google intended to communicate by creating a wearable device. Nevertheless, it is imperative to note that early adopters would be a part of the team that will create the intended image. This explains the importance of early adopters in marketing.
Right now, for instance, consumers would commend Google as a proficient firm from a technical perspective, but the message from the Glass is not clear. The Glass is worn notably on the forehead, and it provides a remarkable style of the screen, and therefore, it is noticeable. However, its ability to impact the mainstream market can only originate if Google manages to make the Glass look normal. Thus, Glass should change social, custom, and style practices. Google has managed to achieve this shift.
The company has ensured that the Glass is omnipresent in everyday life, including social events. For instance, today, there are many videos on YouTube and other social media platforms of men proposing marriage through Glass.
In addition, the Glass has found its way into wedding events. Marsha Collier, for example, was the first bride to wear Google Glass for a wedding. In addition, several other guests also had the Glass. Marsha Collier was a part of the Explorer team.
For members of the audience, the Glass is meant to invoke a sense of everyday use and normalcy. It should give a similar experience to the wearer in real-time. In this manner, the Glass creates a strong popular culture and new media image that has significantly dominated contemporary reality, and the way modern consumers define themselves and their world, including social circles and events (Strinati 229).
By considering a postmodern point of view, media messages present even a diverse social reality in which users are constantly using, adopting, and experiencing new media. While viewers may remain passive recipients and feel like a part of the bride and groom, they nevertheless have opportunities to participate by sharing files and posting comments.
Thus far, critics have termed the Google Glass as nerdy, awkward, and ridiculous. In order to define the image of the Glass beyond tech-savvy early adopters, Google has embarked on a promotion that targets the public and makes the Glass a normal everyday use device.
Thus, the Glass Explorer Program focused on recruiting bold, creative people. This description targeted an exclusive social group. While the Program targeted a creative social group, it had to maintain hipster-types in advertisements noted in Silicon Valley and driven by new media in postmodern practices. In the video, youthful couples, men, and women of different lifestyles have the Glass.
Through the video, Google is also directly targeting everyday consumers, including patents, business class, and consumers who prefer outdoor activities. Thus, Google is eager to deliver the wearable device to various classes of users beyond tech-savvy consumers who understand the technical aspects of the Glass.
In this manner, Google can use the new media to create opportunities for demos, including picture snapping and video chatting, among other memorable roles. New media are important in establishing diversity for the product. Google understands that various age groups attend weddings, and by promoting the Glass at public places through the video, the company is creating a diverse base of consumers who will embrace the Glass and take it out for experiences beyond normal office or conference rooms.
Google has been able to seize chances for establishing the market for the Glass from the rich, successful, and famous consumers. While the Glass may be popular among these consumers, the video seems to suggest that Google has other consumers in mind. In fact, the high-end market could be limiting the potential of the Glass.
The video shows that Google wants possible consumers of the Glass to see it in public places, social events, and hear about it from neighbors, families, and friends. Through postmodernism and new media, the video has been able to achieve this intended marketing approach.
Early adopters have shown that the Glass is wearable and practical and thus offers inspiration for the public. The new media have demonstrated that normal people can also wear the device and still manage to look cool even in wedding ceremonies. The postmodern advertisement of Google Glass aims to show that ordinary people can control the device and look and feel cool in it.
Thus, couples in the video depict that Google Glass would become a normal device for different types of functions and situations. In addition, consumers want to highlight that the Glass is less obtrusive relative to cameras and mobile phones, specifically when snapping photos and recording videos. New media in a postmodern era have allowed users to manage fragmented aspects of consumer interaction with products.
In conclusion, video advertisement creates an experience with new media in a postmodernism era because it finally inspires normal consumers to embrace Google Glass. The video manages to drive the popular culture noted in postmodern advertisement, and thus, it becomes difficult to distinguish between popular culture and consumerism. Consequently, the popular culture created by the Glass advertisement is most likely to influence purchasing habits.
The video was created by the same product it advertised, and this depicts the role of the new media in enhancing interaction with potential customers and advertisement of the product simultaneously. Ordinary people who watch the video will develop a positive view of the Glass, purchase it, and ensure that it remains present in everyday events and situations.
Works Cited
Appignanesi, Richard and Chris Garratt. Introducing Postmodernism. London: Icon Books, 2007. Print.
Durham, Meenakshi Gigi and Douglas M. Kellner. Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks. London: Blackwell, 2001. Print.
OShaughnessy, Michael and Jane Stadler. Media and Society. 5th ed. 2012. Oxford: Oxford UP. Print.
Palmer, Dan. Structuralism and Poststructuralism for Beginners. London: For Beginners, 2007. Print.
Strinati, Domimic. Culture and Society: An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Sturken, Marita and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.
Google Company has emerged as one of the most popular companies in the 21st century. It is a global technology company that focuses on improving the generation and sharing of information in the world. Advertising is the largest contributor to the money generated by the organisation. By 2011, the companys core business was primarily based on such areas as advertising, internet searching, internet operating systems, and online enterprise.
The company has adopted various strategies and programs in efforts to promote its products in a competitive global market. Ad word program is one of the programs used by businesses in the contemporary global market to promote their products and services through advertising. There is also Ad sense program, which is mainly used to deliver relevant advertisements that help to generate more revenue for the company.
Google Company has launched various websites in its efforts to reach out to the global consumer. Such websites include Google+, Zagat, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Push Life, Virus Total, and Nik Software. The company has revolutionalised the worlds online business in many ways. It has made it possible for retailers to list their products through the Google shopping search engine.
The current paper addresses some of the issues surrounding this company. In the paper, the author will address the various reasons why the Google Company is considered as one of the best companies in the world. The author will also address some of the secrets revolving around this international company.
The Factors behind the Success of Google Company
The adoption of an innovative business model has helped the company overcome competition in the market. The company has achieved tremendous success in such areas as the marketing of computer hardware and software, publishing, advertising, entertainment, telecoms, and creation of market capitalisation strategies for the clients.
The management has established a working relationship with the employees, which has enhanced the credibility and reliability of its products. Google controls a large market share compared to its competitors. For example, 57% of internet searches in the world are conducted using the companys search engine (Google 2012). The companys competitors include such companies as Yahoo and Microsoft.
The large market share enables Google to improve search results, attracting more customers from the online community. One of the companys competitors, Yahoo, controls 23% of the market share. Microsoft comes a distant third with11% of the total market share (Bhatia & Deep 2012). Figure 1 vividly illustrates the market share of the various companies operating in this industry.
Google Company has adopted three major diversification strategies, which has helped it remain relevant in the market. The three include the establishment of start-ups, acquisition of existing companies, and alliances with other players in the industry. In the case of start-ups, the companys employees are given the opportunity to work on other projects besides those falling under their normal job description.
The petty projects create room for innovation and diversification in areas with untapped business opportunities. At the same time, the projects enhance the competencies of the employees. Both Gmail and Google News are known to have started as petty projects.
Acquisitions have also helped the company diversify in the market. It is through such strategies that the company has effectively exploited You Tube, Docs, and Google Earth. The three products have expanded the reach of Google brand in the market. Consumers who had deserted the company have trooped back as a result of some of these products. Double Click is another product that has contributed to the expansion of Googles advertising business, leading to increased revenues.
Initially, Google and Yahoo had formed an advertising alliance. The alliance was aimed at expanding the advertising industry. The deal, however, was short-lived as federal judges highlighted the antitrust between the two companies, making Google to back out of the alliance (Attributor Corporation 2012).
Both Google and Yahoo have a close relationship. As of the year 2000, Google used to provide all the results for internet searches conducted using Yahoo search engine. An example of Googles existing alliance is Open Social program. The program allows developers to create applications that are used on all member websites. Another alliance created by Google involves the Open Handset program. The platform is aimed at promoting the usage of the companys open source Android operating system.
The alliance establishes a balance between the capabilities of both independent developers and phone manufacturing firms. The balance helps the company to compete with other players in the industry, such as RIMs Blackberry, Microsofts Windows Mobile platform, and Apples iPhone. Google Company has a strong base in market exploration, which is aimed at reducing both production and advertising costs.
Google values its international operations. As a result, the company enhances its profitability by reducing the risks associated with its activities. In 2008, the companys international revenue was estimated at $2.7 billion. The success was attributed to the alliances the company had created in the market (Bhatia & Deep 2012).
Google Company: Current Business Level Strategy
Google has embraced a broad diversification and differentiation strategy for its complementary products. Complementary products are aimed at increasing brand awareness and market demand. Several strategies are used to promote complementary products in the market. The complementary products include Spreadsheets Productivity Suite, Google Maps, Google Earth, and Picasa. The latter is the companys image organising and editing program.
The strategies alluded to above are vital in promoting the companys advertising business. They help in expanding the reach of the various brands associated with the company. Most of the products have the companys name printed on one side to reinforce the identity of the brand in the market (Bhatia & Deep 2012).
Business Strategies Adopted by Googles Main Competitors
Yahoo and Microsoft are some of Googles main competitors. The competition posed by the two companies has affected Googles working strategy. The three companies compete mainly for advertising and marketing their products. The three companies offer a variety of services on their websites to keep their customers engaged for long durations. By doing so, they are able to outdo each other and maximise on their market outreach (Bhatia & Deep 2012).
Google Company: Current Marketing Strategy
Viral marketing is the core strategy used by Google Company. The company uses social media networks to access a large number of customers through emails and blog spots. According to Bhatia & Deep (2012), the company continues to enjoy its dominance in the marketing industry as a result of this strategy.
Google: Production and Purchasing Strategies
Google is currently conducting trials on a new advertising program that will compensate site owners primarily on a Cost-Per-Click model. The program was revealed in an e-mail invitation to various website owners from Googles Ad Sense team. The company is investing in state-of-the-art technologies in efforts to meet the ever-changing prospects and needs of its users.
Googles high IT potential enhances the establishment and launch of high-performance models, which are cost effective and capable of scaling-up high workloads. Such a strategic advantage has captured the attention of many analysts in this industry. For example, Stephen Arnold, an IT consultant, argues that Google has a cost-related advantage over its competitors, such as Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft, and eBay (Graaf & Washida 2006).
Leadership and Cultural Structure Adopted by Google
Google administration is characterised by various managerial positions headed by chain heads. The various managerial positions are further divided into several units to cater for the companys divergent operations. The first aspect that makes Google Company one of the best in the world is its corporate culture.
The companys leadership grants equal opportunities to all employees, making them feel appreciated. The core mission of the leadership is to have a company that leads from all perspectives, with other companies following its lead (Scott 2008). Creativity and innovative corporate culture helps Google employees to thrive in the market. Employees work hard to come up with the best technological innovations that suit the demand in the market (Graaf & Washida 2006).
Perks for Google Employees
The companys employees enjoy such benefits as medical cover, transport allowance, free breakfast, lunch, and free washing facilities. Other benefits enjoyed by the employees include the ability to further their education, grow professionally, and travel the world. The companys policy emphasises treating people with respect at the expense of making money.
The company has an Education Leave Program targeted at those employees willing to further their education on a part-time or full-time basis. The education leave program can run for a period of 5 years. The total reimbursement for the program can go up to $160,000 (Scott 2008).
Economic Growth
Google plays a key role in economic growth. Many people use Google to earn a living through search and advertising programs. Businesses can attract customers, while publishers can get paid for their content. Customers are funnelled to businesses through Google search results and links to other websites. By using Ad word program, businesses are able to create short text advertisements and place bids on online auctions.
Googles Ad sense is a source of income for many publishers. The reason for this is that by using the content searched for, the consumer can access additional related information (Grosse 2000). For instance, by acquiring Android developer software, the company was able to expand its business in the market. The acquisition inspired the firm to play a significant role in the mobile phone market. Motorola Mobility Holdings was acquired in 2005, giving Google more than 18000 patent rights, which were legally protected.
The Motorola deal was a significant boost in mobile computing. It helped the company fight stiff competition in the mobile phone market from Apple. Google has shaped the mobile phone industry by pressurising mobile phone carriers to open up their sources of network. The Motorola deal is acknowledged as an innovative path for smart phones and tablets (Google 2012).
Other Technologies
Google has enhanced its search results by embracing technology commonly associated with semantic web. Semantic web is a concept used in making web pages for under-stable computers. The semantic web was primarily designed to deliver information with little prodding from the human user. The web has significantly improved search results. Googles impact in the technological world has encouraged companies that are quality-conscious to adapt the programs (Kangas 2003).
Google and Improved Livelihoods
Google has carried out research on various fields to improve the livelihoods of its employees. One such example is the current plans of installing high-tech sky lights in the companys premises. The technology involves the use of sky cells and optics to manage the flow of light.
The technology is implemented with the collaboration of Enfocus Engineering, a start-up company. Google Company is acting as a test-site for this technology. Using the project, Google aims at improving the quality of lighting for its engineers. NASA Research Centre is another project initiated by Google to improve the space technology (Google 2012).
Product Diversification
Googles various products have made a huge impact on the way people communicate, access information, and locate things on the internet. The products offered by the company include Google Earth, Chrome, Sketch-up, Gmail, Google Mobilize, and Google Talk. Diversity makes the company one of the most visited search engines in the world. Google has adopted such technologies as You Tube, Double Click, and Grand Central to sustain its business concept in the market (Google 2012).
Google Company: The Secrets
Google Company maintains a high level of secrecy because of its positive impact in the world of technology. Secrets are maintained for continued credibility and reliability among its users. One of the companys secrets involves the failure to disclose the environmental impact of its internet usage.
Scientists have documented the environmental impact of a simple Google search. They are of the view that the activity emits a large volume of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Google users log into the companys website without taking into consideration such implications.
Google Company has also remained silent about its energy consumption and the location of its data centre. With an estimated 20 million internet searches on a daily basis, energy consumption and emission of green house gases from computers is raising concerns among environmentalists (Graaf & Washida 2006).
The company operates a top secret idea lab known as Google X. The location of Google X remains unknown to many people, including most of employees in the company. Top-notch research is done in this lab. The current research being carried out in this lab involves the development of a refrigerator that can connect directly to the internet. Others include a dinner plate that can post what someone is eating.
Further, the company is researching on a new social network and a robot capable of performing diverse duties (Bhatia & Deep 2012). Google maintains secrets to get patent rights for any successful research that comes out of the idea lab. By doing so, it becomes hard for the competitors to imitate the companys technology (Google 2012).
Conclusion
Google Company has remained relevant in the business and technological world in spite of stiff competition from Apples, IPad, and Microsoft. It is due to effective strategies and trade secrets that the company has enhanced its credibility in the market. Other companies must adapt Google strategies to encourage innovation, motivate their workers, and maintain high levels of secrecy to advance technologically.
References
Attributor Corporation 2012, Get your fair share of the ad network pie. Web.
Bhatia, A & Deep, G 2012, Strategic analysis of search engine giant: a case study of Google Inc., International Journal of Computing & Business Research, vol. 26, no. 4, pp.67-69, via Researchmanuscripts database.
Google 2012, Company overview, International Journal of Computing & Business Research, vol. 3 no. 5, pp. 54-55.
Graaf, S & Washida, N 2006, Information communication technologies and emerging business strategies, Idea Group Inc., Hershey.
Grosse, R 2000, Thunderbird on global business strategy, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken.
Kangas, K 2003, Business strategies for information technology management, Idea Group Inc.: Hershey.
Scott, V 2008, Google Corporations that changed the world, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport.
Stiff completion is the major problem being faced by Google in the search engine industry. The already established and emerging companies have new features that attract users to them (Pichette, 2011). A careful analysis of the competition in the search engine industry brings out some interesting findings.
To begin with, the main objective of competing is to retain users and attract new ones. The emergence of new technologies has introduced a lot of competition in all facets of online business. Vertical search engines give the users an opportunity access e-commerce websites without the use of Google (Pichette, 2011).
Bing and Yahoo are the major competitors of Google because they of can be used for general purposes. Social networks have become popular in recent times with many users preferring their use in referring products and services.
Google has some alternative courses of action to solve this problem. The company can use he relevant modern technologies to come up with new products and services that will attract new customers. Investment in innovation is another long term strategy of dealing with competition (Levene, 2010).
Investment in innovation is the most recommended course of action because it is the basis of generating new products and services and improving the existing ones. This strategy is implemented by hiring of the best talents in the industry and retaining the existing ones. Google has enough resources to invest in innovation and research for growth and sustainability.
Problem Statement
The search engine industry is intensely competitive and Google being of the major players faces this risk. The emergence of new companies that offer a variety of services like social networking sites, vertical search engines and general purpose search engines has increased completion in the industry.
This is a major problem for Google because the stiff competition can make it lose its revenues especially from advertisements (Pichette, 2011). Both emerging and established companies are a threat to Googles market dominance.
The company also faces stiff completion from offline forms of advertisement like billboards, magazines, television and radio (Pichette, 2011). There are a lot of companies offering online services and products with unique features that attract a lot of users. The Google Company faces a great challenge in maintaining their dominance in online business.
Analysis
The main objective of competing is to retain users and attract new ones. The emergence of new technologies has introduced a lot of competition in all facets of online business. Vertical search engines give the users an opportunity access e-commerce websites without the use of Google (Pichette, 2011).
Bing and Yahoo are the major competitors of Google because they of can be used for general purposes. Social networks have become popular in recent times with many users preferring their use in referring products and services.
Alternative Courses of Action
The stiff completion has forced Google to come up with alternative courses of action to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors (Pichette, 2011). To begin with, the company can apply modern technology in creating new products and services that are user- friendly and easy to access.
Google can also decide to invest heavily in innovation by hiring and training the best talents in the industry. Innovation is a very essential tool in the generation of user traffic.
Recommendation
For the Google Company to continue having a competitive advantage over its competitors, it should invest heavily in innovation. Innovation helps a great deal in coming up with new services and products that will in turn give the company a competitive advantage over its competitors (Saieh, 2008).
A company with innovative minds will enhance a corporate culture that focuses on continuous improvement of products and services.
Implementation
Investment in innovation as a strategy for gaining competitive advantage requires a lot of financial resources for its implementation. Google is a financially stable company and this is not a cause for worry at all.
Implementation of this strategy involves retaining, recruitment and training of the best talents in the industry (Levene, 2010). The promotion of teamwork and creativity in order to attract advertisers and other users is essential.
Innovation entails the creation of new products and services and improvement of the existing ones. Innovation is also supported by an effective research and development department.
References
Levene, M. (2010). An introduction to search engines and web navigation. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Pichette, P. (2011). 2010-google annual report. Web.
Saieh, A. (2008). The secrete of getting listed at the top of search engines. New York, NY: Alexandra Saieh.
