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Harvard Business Review
Bala Iyer and Thomas H. Davenport
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The Roots..
Vision
Technology and Strategy are inseparable and mutually permeable
Technology should do more than just support the business Technology should engender strategic opportunity
Mission
Category-killing Search Engine
Massive, scalable IT infrastructure
Technology explicitly architected for innovation
Well-considered organizational and cultural strategy
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Practice Strategic Patience
Exploit an Infrastructure Built to Build
Rule Your own Ecosystem Exercise Architectural Control
Build Innovation into Organizational Design
Support Inspiration with Data
Create a Culture Built to Build
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Short-time profitability doesnt seem to matter
Ubiquity first, Revenues later..
Strategic Patience itself is NOT ubiquitous. Why?
Google monetized consumers intentions search and others
Not so for everybody else..
What makes it work?
Strong monetization of consumers intention cash cows
Clarity of purpose
Attention to detail
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Foundations
Strong market equity from principal productsearch engine
Persistently developing proprietary technologyoperating systems,
database systems
Highly scalable infrastructureservers, networks, services
What do these yield? Accelerated product development lifecycle for in-house innovations
Support for third party developments, mashups and other innovations
Where has this led to?
An ecosystem of:
Developerswho use the ecosystem infrastructure to launch their products
Content providerswho need an eco system to reach out to markets
Content consumerswho use search as the starting point for a variety of
their own needs
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Googlethe Keystone Component
The component that holds all others in place
So, all else is dependent on you!
How does Google control the ecosystem?
Every transaction is performed through its platformsHence:
Claim a large share of the value created
Have access to all the data and processes and events
Result:
Very effective market analyses
Accurate forecasts and predictions
Crowd-sourcing in a controlled manner
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Ability to track the performance of mashups
Negotiate relationships from strong competitive positions
Hedge the risks faced by third-party developers
Customers get: faster access to innovations
Google gets: more ways to increase traffic to its platforms
Developer gets: ability to tryout without contractual entanglements
As a result: Avoid the appearance of competition.
Vulnerabilities Keep the traffic going amidst competition
Keep the ecosystem players trust
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Budget innovation into job descriptions
Eliminate friction at every turn
Allow the market to choose which innovation will work
Cultivate a taste for chaos
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Technocratic culture Individuals prosper by intellect
consequence: Prediction markets! Budgeted time for innovation
Regular stimulus tech-talks
Focus on:
People as the most important assets
Learning and continuous improvement
Results: Knowledge-work environment
Design and occupancy of offices
Approach to interviewing and hiring
In exchange for the privileged treatment: Expects hard, almostobsessive work!
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