In today’s fast-paced world, ICT has become an integral part of all businesses. Businesses across different sectors leverage ICTs to perform a wide range of processes such as talent management, sales and marketing, customer relationship management, and supply chain management, among others. Firms are increasingly integrating new forms of communication technology to maximize efficiency in their business processes, increase their growth, and attain a greater competitive advantage. This assignment discusses how Google Inc. has utilized ICT to improve their business, presenting figures and diagrams as evidence. The paper focuses on various operations in the company and concludes with a summary of the key points.
Overview of Google
Google Inc. is a U.S. based search engine firm that was co-founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Since its establishment in 1998, the Google has experienced unprecedented growth to offer a wide range of internet products and services, as well as free online services in over 120 languages (Steiber and Alänge, 2013, p.244). Google handles more than 70% of online search requests across the globe. The IT giant is firmly committed to developing products that have a significant improvement in the life of many people, if not all. Google has evolved into a relatively strong and fiercely competitive brand in the IT sector, which has led the corporation to receive various awards such as the Fortune Magazine’s The Best Company to Work for in the United States in 2009. Rapid innovation and adoption of advanced communication technology partly explain the company’s exemplary performance (Steiber and Alänge, 2013, p.244).
How Google has Used ICT to Improve its Business
Many organizations adopt ICT to primarily improve their effectiveness in interacting and communicating within and among various stakeholders, including employees, customers, and suppliers, among others. Effective engagement with all these groups is critical to a firm. As a virtual company, Google has integrated ICT in the following areas to improve their business.
Online Selling
One of the core business areas Google has used ICT to improve its business is the creation of new sales channels. The search engine company no longer utilize the traditional sales channels such as physical retail stores and over the phone. Instead, the firm has fully embraced the power of the Internet by selling most of its products and services online. Online retail stores enhance brand awareness of a company’s offering as people across the world can access and buy them (Li, 2010, p.7). Also, online selling allows potential buyers to save time they would have spent on physically visiting stores since the products are delivered to their homes (Li, 2010, p.8). The model also allows customers to compare product features and prices from different firms.
Figure 1
(Statista, 2018)
Furthermore, Google allows customers to purchase their products and services directly from their smartphone. The company has explored this new sales channel by leveraging apps supported by is operating systems. The diagram above illustrates how Google’s annual revenue from its Google Play platform is projected to increase from 2014 to 2019. The firm is projected to a 14.5 percent ($13.8 billion – $11.8 billion) growth between 2018 and 2019. This phenomenon growth implies that Google is making a lot of sales from its online channel.
Customer Relationship Management
Google has extensively used ICT to improve customer relationship management (CRM). The corporation has utilized both digital and social media as some of the most effective CRM tools. Google leverages the speed and ease of e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other interactive platforms to actively engage with its customers. It is easier to send an email to thousands of recipients than sending a letter through the regular mail (Brounstein et al., 2010, p.144). Google customers receive rapid notification about the new product release, sales promotions like discounts, and other important information related to their products and services.
Another way Google has used ICT to improve their business is generating and analyzing insights from their customers such as the level of satisfaction, tastes, and preferences. Particularly, the firm utilizes Google Analytics to generate customer feedback that is utilized to make an improvement in their products and services. Customer surveys are a good example of the means through which the firm learn about customers’ experience with the Google brand and thus, determining how much they are satisfied, and singling out areas that need improvement.
Figure 2
(Statista, 2018).
Figure 2 above shows the level of customer satisfaction with Google from 2001 to 2017 within the U.S. Despite the significant drop in the customer rating in 2015 (76), the IT powerhouse has enjoyed higher customer rating throughout the two decades. The most recent rating (82) confirms that the majority of Google customers are highly satisfied with the firm’s offering.
Viral Marketing
Rapid advances in communication technology have had a considerable impact on the strategies Google utilize to promote and market its products and services. Particularly, the search engine company has embraced viral marketing to increase the vicinity of its offerings via different social media platforms like Facebook. Viral marketing refers to a tactic intended to leverage the present social networking tools to generate significant increments in brand awareness by deploying rapid processes (Hollensen, 2009, p.388). Facebook is one of the most widely utilized social networking sites by Google primarily because of its millions of active users. Additionally, Google has special sites specifically dedicated to the marketing of its deliverables. The firm capitalizes on a high presence on these interactive tools to generate exponential leads from both prospective and current clients. Customers like, comment, suggest, and even make referrals on Google’s products. These activities often harbor marketing messages that relate to Google products on sales and even special offers that are targeted towards a large audience.
Figure 3
The diagram above shows the amount of revenue Google has made through its websites from 2001 to 2017. The chart indicates that the company has witnessed a steady growth in advertising revenues through its websites, which means that the use of communication technology in online advertising has significantly increased its revenues.
Communication and Talent Management
Another fundamental area that Google has used ICT to boost its bottom is effective communication and talent management technology. The company has adopted more up to date communication technologies, including e-mail, Skype, instant messaging, and other related means, to increase productivity, ease decision-making, and enhance efficiency. The proliferation of these media have incredibly revolution communication in the contemporary workplace. They allow rapid, efficient and seamless dissemination of routine and important business information. One of the most notable ways Google has utilized these technologies to improve their business is allowing employees to work from home and other geographically separated locations. The Internet and interactive media highlighted above enable the corporation to cut down costs for both company and workers, boost performance, and allow employees to better balance work and family life (Bloom, Liang, Roberts, and Ying, 2014, p.179).
Conclusion
Many companies are increasingly adopting advanced communication technology to enhance efficiency and boost productivity. Like most firms, Google has utilized various ICTs to improve sales, customer engagement, advertising, and talent management. As a consequent, the company has made ICT to be an important component of their business. The corporation has capitalized on ICT to cut costs, streamline communication, enhance brand awareness, and develop more innovative and attractive products.
References
Books
Brounstein, M., Bell, A.H., Smith, D.M., Isbell, C and Orr, A., 2010. Business Communication. John Wiley & Sons.
Hollensen, S., 2008. Essentials of global marketing. Pearson Education.
Print Journal Articles
Steiber, A. and Alänge, S., 2013. A corporate system for continuous innovation: the case of Google Inc. European Journal of Innovation Management, 16(2), pp.243-264.
Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J. and Ying, Z.J., 2014. Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), pp.165-218.
Li, C., 2010. Groundswell. Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Strategic Direction, 26(8).
Websites
Statista, 2018. Projected Google Play revenue from 2014 to 2019 (in billion U.S. dollars). [Online]. Available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/444476/google-play-annual-revenue/
Statista, 2018. U.S. customer satisfaction with Google from 2002 to 2017 (index score).
[Online]. Available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/185966/us-customer-satisfaction-with-google/
Statista, 2018. Advertising revenue of Google websites from 2001 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars) [Online]. Available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/266242/advertising-revenue-of-google-sites/
