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Google has a cross-functional organizational structure, which is technically a matrix corporate structure with a considerable degree of flatness. This flatness is a defining structural feature that supports the company’s growth and competitiveness. The main characteristics of Google’s corporate structure are as follows:

1)Function-based definition
2)Product-based definition
3)Flatness

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Product-based definition – the company also has groups responsible for artificial intelligence and cloud operations, among others. These product groups enable innovative product development and competitive advantage. They also fulfill Google’s mission statement and corporate vision.

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The traditional organizational pyramid has operative employees at the bottom of the triangle, supervisors above them, middle managers above supervisors, and top management above all. This structure is a vertical approach to management where the decision making is done at the top and orders are sent down to the operational employees at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy. Operative employees do not have much say in the organization’s operations.

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Flatness – Google takes more of a team-based approach to management. Employees take an active role in decision-making, which fosters a belief that their input has a direct impact on company success. Google places more of an emphasis on intelligence and less on seniority, allowing employees to communicate directly with upper management. This promotes the innovative exchange of information between employees with different skills or expertise.

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According to Google.com they purposively maintain a small-company feel, believing every employee is a hands-on contributor and everyone is an equally important part of Google’s success. Google’s benefits package also plays a major part in attracting employees.

Google uses a cross-functional organizational structure combined with a unique philosophy. Their cross-functional organizational structure is more of a team approach to management and is structured horizontally.

Google states that, from employee retirement funds to their free lunch and dinner program, they strive to offer customizable programs that suit the needs of each of their employees.

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Function-based definition – Google has functional groups pertaining to sales, marketing, engineering, legal, products, and finance. Each group is led by an executive responsible for organization-wide strategy direction and decision-making.

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Офис Google в Калифорнии: к чему приводит конкуренция за мозги

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Google's organizational structure and work environment are one of the most idolized and studied aspects of the organization.

It is one of those organizations where the employees literally get to practice the freedom of speech and their work rights that are the majority of the time only present in the employee manuals.
Jump to Starbucks Organizational Structure.
The Google Structure

Google's organizational structure is not limited to a single type. It takes inspiration from different types of organizational structures. The Google structure, is in fact, an amalgamation of majorly matrix organization and flat structure.

An analysis of the structure in detail reveals that these characteristics are a part of the Google's organizational structure:

Functional Structure

A functional structure has people performing in specialized roles. Furthermore, Google's organizational structure draws on the strengths of the functional structure. Functional organization is said to boost the productivity of the employees.

Since the employees are working under assigned managers with goal setting and specific targets, they hardly face issues. The bureaucratic structure also makes it easier for them to focus on their tasks alone. From the employee perspective, working in fields that are relevant to their own areas of expertise.

This allows them to grow.

Divisional Structure

In a divisional organization, each division has their own organizational function. These divisions are usually in correspondence to geography or product.

This way if a company has a division that deals with food and the other that deals with household items. Each division will have their own Finance, IT and marketing department. It allows operational flexibility for the organization and helps in increasing productivity and overall efficiency and effectiveness of the strategies.

Flat structure

Flat structure in an organization allows greater flexibility and allows employees to explore newer dimensions. The middle management is nearly eliminated and therefore the employees and the managers have a direct contact with each other.

This allows for better flexibility and comfort for the employees and allows them to adapt to change.

Understanding Google's Organizational Structure

Google has now reformed its organizational structure, by adopting the formation of Alphabet. All the subsidiaries and the products and services come under Alphabet. This has reduced the dependency of the different divisions on each other.

Thus, the lack of revenue production of one division is not going to affect the organization as the whole. As a result of which, there has been an increase in the transparency for the investors, who can now see if their investments are paying off as they were expecting it to.

The holdings of Alphabet has Google core products and other subsidiaries.

The Pros and Cons of Google's Organizational structure

PROS: Productivity

Since Google places employees according to their areas of interests, people are productive. The high levels of efficiency enhance productivity as a result of which the goals are met. Google has employees who are highly productive, the facility to function in their capacities allow the employees to give their best.

The combination of the flat organization also allows the employees flexibility and ease of communication which helps them perform better.

PROS: Open communication

Incorporating the ease of communication that comes with a flat organization, Google encourages employees to communicate with each other. This inculcates a semi-formal environment and allows better decision making. Google's resilience is also due to the fact that they have open communication within their organization.

PROS: Specialisation

Hiring people specific to their job roles is a part and parcel of functional organization. This allows hiring people who are experts. If only the concept of a flat organization is taken into consideration there would be generalists.

But since Google's structure employees a mix of different organizational structures, only advantageous aspects have been adopted.

CONS: Lack of growth opportunities

Google is now a victim of organizational bloating. The problem is that a mix of various structures has in a few cases outplayed the pros that the structure has to offer. The growth opportunities are less and slow as well.

Since people are usually reporting to multiple heads, the chance to get a promotion soon is quite less. Also, there is a lot of leg pulling within the organization that restricts the growth. You can get a transfer from Google Main to Google subsidiaries, but trying to reach higher managerial levels can be difficult.

CONS: Complex line of command

The organization faces a lot of confusion and difficulty in defining clear managerial roles. An employee at one time is responding to a functional head as well as a divisional head. The loyalties get divided and so does the work productivity and the efficiency.

People fail to divide their time in the most appropriate way and this causes them their work to suffer. The lack of coordination can in turn consequently become costly for the company. Google allows their employees freedom and the chance to pursue their field of study.

But the undefined managerial lines can cause conflict. And since the line of command is blur resolutions are slow to come.

CONS: Work relations

The work relations between the employee and the manager can also get under strain due to working on various projects at once. The cut-throat competition that exists within the organization can also diminish the fostering of a healthy relationship between employees. When the line of command is not clear, people are unsure about their own possible growth opportunities and this impacts their relationship with fellow workers.

Verdict: Organizational Structures Need to Evolve

Google, organizational structure has been a positive feature for a long time due to the fact that it gave employees the opportunity to grow and be creative on their own terms.

The need to adopt change and reform with time is a necessity and no one can escape the deterioration that occurs due to a lack of adaptability with time. The recent re-structuring is an ode to the fact that even technological giants like Google need to adapt to grow and remain profitable.

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Google's Organizational Structure: Pros and Cons

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Google's organizational structure and work environment are one of the most idolized and studied aspects of the organization. It is one of those organizations where the employees literally get to practice the freedom of speech and their work rights that are the majority of the time only present in the employee manuals.

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Google’s organizational culture is not typical, partly because of the effects of the company’s organizational structure. In essence, the structure and the culture interact to influence the capabilities and cultural characteristics of the organization. Google’s corporate culture has the following primary characteristics:

1. Open

2. Innovative

3. Smart with emphasis on excellence

4. Hands-on

5. Supports small-company-family rapport

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Google LLC's organizational structure is among the fundamental factors that contribute to the success of the information technology business. A company's organizational structure or corporate structure refers to the anatomy and arrangement of the various components of the business, especially in terms of its resources and processes. In this business case of Google, the corporate structure is designed to support the need for innovation and creativity. Innovation is a major characteristic of Google's corporate culture. In relation, the company's organizational structure promotes product development to facilitate high performance and competitiveness in the Internet services industry. Product development is among the major approaches to grow the business, as identified in Google's generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies. In this way, the organizational structure contributes to business optimization to address competitors, such as Apple, Amazon.com, Facebook, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Snap Inc. (Snapchat), and Twitter. These firms are aggressive competitors, but Google's corporate structure strengthens business competencies to counteract competitive forces.

In 2015, the conglomerate Alphabet Inc. was established, with Larry Page as CEO and Sergey Brin as President, and became the parent company of Google, after restructuring the business. In 2017, upon further restructuring, the company became Google LLC. Despite such restructuring, the company retains its organizational structure, considering that its core business processes remain largely the same, including online advertising, cloud computing, digital content distribution, and consumer electronics. With a multinational reach, the business develops its corporate structure to correspond to the complexity of its operations spanning different regional markets. In light of the rapid technological development involved in the industry and the aggressiveness of competitors, Google's corporate structure is expected to continue changing as a way of maintaining the company's global market position.

Google's Organizational Structure Type and Characteristics

Google has a cross-functional organizational structure. In essence, this structure is of the matrix type. However, in this specific business case, the company maintains flatness as a major factor that influences functions throughout the corporate structure. The following are the main characteristics of Google's corporate structure:

1. Function-based definition

2. Product-based definition

3. Flatness

Function-Based Definition. This structural characteristic refers to grouping of resources and processes based on business function. For example, Google's organizational structure involves a group for Global Marketing, and another group for Finance. An executive heads each of these groups. This function-based grouping is responsible for organization-wide strategic decisions and direction. For instance, Google's operations management approaches are developed and defined through these function-based groups at the corporate headquarters. This characteristic of the company's corporate structure influences business processes, such as top-down and bottom-up communications, as well as strategic management to solve problems encountered at various levels and areas of Google's organization.

Product-Based Definition. Google's products are developed through the support of product-based groups in the company's corporate structure. This structural feature addresses the need to develop innovative and competitive products, such as the ones enumerated in Google's marketing mix or 4Ps. For example, the company has a group for Cloud operations, and another group for Artificial Intelligence operations. An executive heads each of these groups. Through this characteristic of the organizational structure, the business satisfies current and future market demand and consumer preferences regarding information technology and consumer electronics products, such as Search, mobile apps, and mobile devices. This ability helps fulfill Google's corporate vision and mission statements. The company's product lines are aimed at enhancing people's access to organized information, especially information through the online environment.

Flatness. This structural characteristic involves the minimization of vertical hierarchical lines of communication and authority, despite Google's function-based groups. For example, through its flatness, the company's organizational structure enables employees, teams, and groups to bypass middle management and communicate directly with upper management. Also, in this way, Google's corporate structure facilitates meetings and sharing of information among employees and teams belonging to different areas of the organization. This structural feature is a major contributor to innovation for novel products that help in business diversification, which is among the business strengths outlined in the SWOT analysis of Google LLC. This characteristic of the organizational structure supports Google's corporate social responsibility strategy and stakeholder management, especially in terms of increasing employee morale, motivation, and satisfaction in their work as part of the company's business and long-term success.

Google's Corporate Structure - Recommendation

The flatness of Google's organizational structure has the advantage of promoting innovation and creativity, based on the sharing of knowledge throughout the business organization. In relation, the company's corporate structure has the benefit of facilitating innovation specific to product development. Google's product-based groups are designed for this purpose. These advantages are in addition to the company's function-based groups that ensure coherence throughout the business. In spite of these advantages, Google's corporate structure has room for improvement, especially with regard to flexibility.

A recommendation to improve Google's corporate structure is to address possible flexibility issues. The corporation's current structural characteristics are effective in supporting flexibility in human resources. For example, the organizational structure's flatness optimizes flexibility in how Google's employees share knowledge and develop products. However, the business applies corporate standards that limit overall flexibility in customizing products to suit customer preferences based on regional and local market conditions. A way of addressing this strategic issue is to increase the level of flexibility of product-based groups through policies and adjustments in the company's corporate structure. For instance, additional positions within teams or groups can add to such flexibility. This recommendation is intended to address concerns regarding how Google's organizational structure supports the ability to satisfy various customer preferences and regional market characteristics.

References

Alphabet Inc. - Form 10-K.

Ashkenas, R., Ulrich, D., Jick, T., & Kerr, S. (2015). The boundaryless organization: Breaking the chains of organizational structure. John Wiley & Sons.

Dischner, S. (2015). Organizational structure, organizational form, and counterproductive work behavior: A competitive test of the bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic views. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 31(4), 501-514.

Gaba, V., & Joseph, J. (2013). Corporate structure and performance feedback: Aspirations and adaptation in M-form firms. Organization Science, 24(4), 1102-1119.

Google LLC. - Our Products.

Menguc, B., & Auh, S. (2010). Development and return on execution of product innovation capabilities: The role of organizational structure. Industrial marketing management, 39(5), 820-831.

Polat, R., & Nisar, T. M. (2013). Financial crisis and changes in firm governance, corporate structure, and boundaries. Managerial and Decision Economics, 34(6), 363-378.

Sakhartov, A. V. (2016, January). Selecting Corporate Structure for Diversified Firms. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2016, No. 1, p. 11521). Academy of Management.

U.S. Department of Commerce - International Trade Administration - The Software and Information Technology Services Industry in the United States.

U.S. Department of Commerce - International Trade Administration - The Media and Entertainment Industry in the United States.

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Google's Organizational Structure & Its Characteristics (An Analysis) - Panmore Institute

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Google LLC's organizational structure is among the fundamental factors that contribute to the success of the information technology business. A company's organizational structure or corporate structure refers to the anatomy and arrangement of the various components of the business, especially in terms of its resources and processes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Google (Alphabet) has a cross-functional (team-based) organizational structure known as a matrix structure with some degree of flatness. Over the years, as the company scaled and it became a tech giant, its organizational structure is morphing more into a centralized organization.

The traditional hierarchical corporate structure has employees at the bottom, supervisors and middle managers above them, and upper management above all.

In this top-down approach to management, directives are sent from senior decision-makers down to employees.

Google's organizational structure has characteristics of a matrix structure, borrowing elements from both functional and product/project-based organizational structures.

Google also has aspects of a flat structure with a decreased prevalence of middle management.
Following are three characteristics of the Google structure:
Function-based definition

Google has functional groups pertaining to sales, marketing, engineering, legal, products, and finance.

Each group is led by an executive responsible for organization-wide strategy direction and decision-making.

Product-based definition

The company also has groups responsible for artificial intelligence and cloud operations, among others.

These product groups enable innovative product development and competitive advantage. They also fulfill Google's mission statement and corporate vision.

Google takes more of a team-based approach to management.

Employees take an active role in decision-making, which fosters a belief that their input has a direct impact on company success.

Google places more of an emphasis on intelligence and less on seniority, allowing employees to communicate directly with upper management.

This promotes the innovative exchange of information between employees with different skills or expertise.

Google's matrix structure is well studied, but there is nothing particularly special about the approach the company takes to management.

Having said that, it does utilize some leadership positions with unique titles. These include positions such as Chief Culture Officer and Chief Internet Evangelist.

Flatness and employee autonomy

The company is also renowned for its degree of flatness. Indeed, the company has created a culture where employees are given substantial freedom to develop new ideas.

To provide some semblance of structure to a workday, Google stipulates that employees must follow the 70/20/10 rule. In other words, 70% of the workday should be devoted to projects assigned by management.

A further 20% can be spent on new projects or ideas related to management-assigned projects. The last 10% can be utilized to explore any idea regardless of topic or relatedness.

In 2015, Google somewhat abruptly renamed itself Alphabet and made Google, as most know it, a subsidiary.

This allowed the company to become a true technology conglomerate, expanding into domains beyond its traditional staples of internet search and advertising.

Google has a cross-functional - or team-based - organizational structure. This is also known as a matrix structure.

The three primary characteristics of Google's organizational structure include function-based definition, product or project-based definition, and flatness.

Google's organizational structure has been well studied and even celebrated, but there is nothing particularly unique about it. Having said that, the company has created an excellent culture by funding culture-based positions and incorporating a high degree of flatness in employee management.

Matrix Structure: Google (Alphabet) follows a cross-functional organizational structure known as a matrix structure, combining elements of functional and product/project-based structures.

Flatness: Google's structure exhibits flatness with a decreased presence of middle management. Employees are empowered to contribute to decision-making and directly communicate with upper management.

Function-Based Definition: Functional groups like sales, marketing, engineering, legal, products, and finance are led by executives responsible for strategic direction and decision-making.

Product-Based Definition: Google also has product groups, such as those focused on artificial intelligence and cloud operations, driving innovation and fulfilling the company's mission and vision.

Employee Autonomy: Google encourages employee autonomy and innovation. The company follows the 70/20/10 rule, allocating 70% of work time to assigned projects, 20% to new projects related to management assignments, and 10% for exploring any idea.

Restructuring as Alphabet: In 2015, Google restructured and became Alphabet, making Google a subsidiary. This transformation allowed the company to expand its focus beyond internet search and advertising.

Special Leadership Positions: Google employs unique leadership titles like Chief Culture Officer and Chief Internet Evangelist.

Conglomerate Expansion: The restructuring enabled Google to evolve into a technology conglomerate, venturing into various domains beyond its traditional offerings.

Innovative Culture: Google's organizational structure fosters a culture of innovation, autonomy, and collaboration, contributing to its success and reputation.

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Google Organizational Structure In A Nutshell - FourWeekMBA

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Google (Alphabet) has a cross-functional (team-based) organizational structure known as a matrix structure with some degree of flatness. Over the years, as the company scaled and it became a tech giant, its organizational structure is morphing more into a centralized organization. Department Type of Structure Structure Details Advantages Drawbacks Corporate Leadership Hierarchy Google's corporate leadership ...