An Analysis of the Business Model of Google and Microsoft

Today, Google, Inc. is worth more than General Motors, McDonald's and Disney combined, and the company continues to model the way in the global technology industry in which it competes. In fact, the company's name has become a verb and it is common practice for consumers to "Google" what they want to find online. To determine how Google, Inc. reached this dazzling level of performance in a relatively short period of time, this paper provides an analysis of the three external environments in which Google competes, the general environment, the industry environment and the competitor environment. Next, a discussion of two specific strategic issues as well as opportunities and threats that are facing Google, Inc. is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Google Inc. is one of the leading corporations in the Global IT industry. It has various strengths and core competencies which make it the number one company in

Google and Yahoo are two companies that compete in the Internet Information Provider Industry. They are perhaps two of the best known companies in that area. Because they both belong to the same industry, they are very similar in some aspects, but they also differ in some others. More specifically, they differ somewhat in their financial aspects. In order to provide a better understanding of their financial characteristics, different types of financial statement analyses are used. A horizontal analysis is used to evaluate a company's progress from period to period, a vertical analysis is used to judge against competitors, and financial ratios are used to assess a company's financial status and judge them against their main competitors as well as the average for their industry. Without doubt, these are very helpful tools that can be used by managers, auditors, investors and creditors who have an interest in evaluating the financial aspects of a company (Nobles, Mattison, and Matsumura 1010).

Due to the increased competition from Yahoo and Microsoft, it has posed a great threat to Google Company. Entry of such like companies in the market has been relatively easy and even offering similar services to the consumers is no longer a problem as unlike a while back, technology has greatly improved. With an improvement in technology, creating sites that help people access information from the internet has been quite cheap and all it calls for is the creativity of a company. Google, however, has been able to remain at the top of the chart. They have been able to come up with a user-friendly search engine for their clients, one that is easy to understand as well as easy to use. Also, Google has been able to cut on cost as they are able to create web pages using UNIX web servers which are relatively cheap. This makes it possible for them to minimize the cost of input and hence maximizing their profit margins. This makes it possible for them to hire qualified personnel, offer quality services, advertise their products, and even offer promotions, helping them overcome the competition in the market structure.

Google’s business model is geared towards mobile computing and the Internet. The company wants versatile smartphones that allow access to the Web and the use of applications that can be used on different devices. Google also has strength in advertising, in that they appeal to many potential customers on the Web.

Microsoft is a highly diversified company. Its technologically-related products span from software to music players to game consoles to web browsers to search engines to phones. However, its flagship product, the product which has been the primary driver of its profits has been Microsoft Windows, the ubiquitous operating system that runs on virtually every computer in the world. Windows has been deemed so critical that even Microsoft's competitor Apple was effectively forced by market pressures to allow its Macs to run Windows, in an effort to boost sales. "As astounding as Apple's success has been, it hasn't put a dent in the Microsoft Office monopoly. [Current CEO] Ballmer and company still profit on every Macbook running Word, Excel and PowerPoint" (Greg 2012).But while Microsoft continues to make its highly profitable Windows products (despite industry criticism about its user features); it has struggled to diversify in its many critical areas, most notable in its music, phones, and Internet service.

Google’s total assets have steadily increased dating back from 2008 to 2012. Some key figures to point out in their assets are the slow growth between the second half of 2008

Microsoft operates in many geographic locations around the world and are behind the world’s most popular desktop operating system in the world. Microsoft is primarily a software company but have flexed their arms into internet services and are behind certain products in consumer market which is directly against Google. Microsoft’s market includes end-customers, enterprises and institutions just like Google. Some of the key Microsoft products are Bing which is a search engine just like Google.com and Microsoft ad center which is a direct

The financial analysis expressed in this paper shows a comparison of two large firms in the communication and technology industry. Microsoft and Apple Inc. both deal in telecommunication gadgets and accessories within the United States and around the world. The paper focuses on the financial comparison of the two companies for two fiscal years of the year 2014 and 2015. A close analysis of the financial ratios is employed in bringing up the comparison. These rates are derived from the balance sheet and statement of income of both firms.

This report is issued in order to inform the public about Microsoft Corporation. We analyzed the profitability and liquidity of this company. In addition, we were able to provide recommendations for investments or credits in Microsoft for the best interest of the public.

Influencing a group of individuals to achieve a common goal is leadership in its simplest form and the three people responsible for this are Dr. Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer; Larry Page, Co-Founder & President, Products; and Sergey Brin, Co-Founder & President, Technology. Overseeing the company's technical and business strategy since 2001, Dr. Schmidt’s leadership has helped the company grow from a startup to a global enterprise while maintaining a culture of strong innovation. Larry Page the founding CEO grew the company to over 200 employees and profitability before moving into his role as president of products. Sergey Brin directs the research efforts of Google with areas of focus

Garvin’s article How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management describes Google’s unique approach to management. Google prides itself with having the best, most highly satisfied employees in the industry. A majority of its employees are engineers that prefer spending time creating and building, which makes it difficult for management to exist. Many of Google’s employees are also highly independent and do not like being micromanaged. Garvin (2013) described a 2002 experiment where Google made their organization flat, eliminating engineering managers, the company realized that managers do more than just manage projects. Managers contributed to the company, “by communicating strategy, helping employees prioritize projects, facilitating

For this research paper, I would like to select Google Inc. as a public company. This research paper would be helpful to prepare horizontal analysis of income statement and balance sheet of Google Inc. and to perform ration analysis to know the financial performance of the company.

Furthermore, because Google’s employees d are also equity holders, morale is high and Google encourages its employees to feel a part of Google’s success.

Microsoft became the global leader of software services and internet technologies for the computing industry in the early 90’s. It provides wide range of products & services and is involved in developing manufacturing, licensing and supporting software support. Microsoft’s software product includes operating system, business solution aps, computer and server applications as well as software development tools. Microsoft offers different range of services from its five