In the Plex - How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Levy - Book Report/Review Example

Book Report Review the Steven Levy. In this book, the has highlighted Google’s innovation, work practices and contribution to the people throughout the world. The inside story of the company has been highlighted in this book. The author stated that current CEO Mr. Larry Page and Mr. Sergrey Brin contributed a lot in the establishment of the company. Policies and practices for sustainable growth through continuous innovation and development of the company were established by them. Google has transformed internet as inseparable part of individual’s life. In this book the author has explained how the company has done this. Steven Levy accessed information regarding the company in an unprecedented way. In this book, author provides a detail description of Google to make the readers aware of the inside story of Google’s headquarters and Googleplex. By this process, the author shows that how the company works and achieves its goals and objectives. Sergey Brin and Larry Page were the students of Stanford University. From that time they developed the idea of establishing Google Company (Levy, 2011). Both of these founders started doing research from a very early age. They did brilliant innovation in the field of information technology and founded Google. They developed a new way which no one else has thought of. The author states that Larry Page and Sergey Brin made millions of dollars from their business of internet service and advertisement. With innovative ideas the business of the company was growing rapidly. For this reason the company was able to expand its business in various countries of the world. The dramatic business expansion of Google helped the company in popularizing its brand name. Gradually the firm took many transformative projects and proved its efficiency at a maximum level. Google was able to develop cloud computing, free internet video site, data centers, digital books, cell phones and many other things. Steven Levy reveals that Google’s values, engineering techniques, openness etc. These are the key factors which support the company in achieving success. The firm performs various experiments in its each and every organizational and business process. Google has a high capacity of taking risk. For this reason the company always tries to develop new ideas and processes in its business. Initially the hiring process of Google was not good but gradually they have improved recruitment process and started rewarding and motivating their engineers to improve talent hiring and retaining. The firm provides huge number of benefits and facilities to its employees. Free foods, masseuses, medical checkup in office, dry cleaning etc are provided by Google. The organization is very much concerned about the success and achievement of its employees. For this reason it provides every necessary things and resources to the organizational members’ for satisfying their needs and wants. The author stated that Mr. Larry Page personally signs on the final recruitment paper of any employee in Google (Levy, 2011). Within seven years of establishment, the company was able to generate massive profit from digital advertisement and delivery services. The author also highlights that in 2004, the company launched its IPO and established itself as an organization having highly efficient engineers. Google plays a vital role in deciding the future of internet. The company develops highly effective software for implementing new technologies in the business processes. The most innovative and strategic achievement of Google are Android and You Tube respectively. For these two revolutionary creations, the company gained more popularity. With the development of technology the company is improving its Google Docs, Google Maps, Google voice etc. AdWords is the most lucrative ad program of Google. The author, Levy mentions that each and every thing of Google is protected and have patent right. The firm miscalculated some philosophical issues by superimposing its algorithms on Web. In 2004 Google launched a social networking site and named it as Orkut. This was the first social networking site. The dream of the company regarding the social networking site was to connect all the internet users and relate them with each other. In this book Levy mentions that the engineers of Google who have developed Orkut believed that the social networking site can create a huge difference in people’s lives. In Orkut, the users built their profile and shared many things with others. Within a short span of time the social networking site of Google became very popular. Brin and Page developed Google based on the concept that algorithm can provide better solution and answer to any problem. By establishing Orkut, the founders proved their ideas. The social networking site of Google became a massive hit in India and Brazil. The author states that the firm lost its interest in modifying and fine tuning Orkut. So the users lost their interest and moved on to other social networking site like Facebook. By the time Google could improve the code base and design of Orkut the company lost its huge number of users. Levy explained that Google did a big mistake on not focusing on Orkut. The firm emphasized less on human interest. For this reason in 2008 when Google launched its Android phone then it did not paid attention on its customer support system. The company believed that if the product is good then it will be used by the people in any ways. Levy highlights that that the employees of Google think that support cannot be a differentiating factor for a better quality of product. The author also focus that the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook create an environment where human can control the flow of information and this has become a differentiating factor for social networking site. For this reason, Google was forced to change its policies and practices for competing with these companies. Presently Google is trying to socialize its Web by making provision of sharing photos, updates of the users (Levy, 2011). In the end of the book, the author mentions that the employees of Google are not working in an impactful way. Most of the employees of Google are afraid of failures. Page is trying to bring back the effectiveness of the company by doing more audacious projects. Reflection This is a very interesting book on the company Google. Steven Levy discussed many things regarding the company in a detailed way. The writing style of this book is very easy which facilitates the readers in understanding the concepts and views of the reader. Key concepts of Google’s business are understood proper by reading this book. This book is very important for the business students because by reading this book the students come to know about the culture and process of the Google which contribute a lot in its success. The students become aware of the facts that which policies and practices of the company can increase the productivity of its employees. This book effectively communicates the entrepreneurial skills of the Larry Page and Sergery Brin in establishing a company and making its one of the famous companies of the world. This encourages the students in implementing their entrepreneurial skills and creative ideas and processes. This book can guide the business students in developing and shaping their entrepreneurial ideas (Levy, 2011). They come to know how recourses and knowledge can be used effectively for establishing a business effectively. By reading this book the students get a detailed understanding about the incredible growth Google has experienced within a short span of time. In the present scenario, Google has become an important part of everyone’s life. This book explains the journey of Google and enables the readers to know how the company shapes up our lives. With the help of this book the students can get a wide range of information regarding the things which happen in headquarter of Google. The author was allowed to take part in the every meeting of Google and for this reason he was able to mention various important issues and problems happened within the company. This book will help the students in understanding the importance of algorithm in improving the products and services of Google. Google considers its employees as of its vital resources. For this reason, the company provides many benefits and facilities to its employees. This book emphasizes on various things which Google provides to its employees for motivating them in their work. Therefore, students can understand the importance of motivation for delivering best performance. They will come to know how the culture of a firm can influence the productivity and behavior of the employees. The business student can analyze the requirement and necessity of friendly business environment within the workplace. They will get a wide knowledge regarding various products of Google and the reasons for developing those products. As per the author Google has done some mistakes in maintaining its products or services and for that reason its competitors have captured the market. By reading the view of the author regarding the mistakes of Google the students will know that a company needs to consider its customers views and changing business environment for maintaining its position in the market. Otherwise the competitor companies can acquire its customer base. I have gathered many information and knowledge regarding Google and its business practices. I come to know about the story behind the formation of Google. The contribution of Larry Page and Sergrey Brin has been highlighted in this book. I got the knowledge how these two people have contributed in making the business successful. I became aware of the organizational culture and work environment of the company. This book highlights that both of these thing play a vital role in Google for achieving its growth and objectives. The company has a huge contribution in popularizing the use of internet among common people. Technical innovation is one of the important things which Google mainly focuses. The engineers of this company are continuously developing creative products. They believe that if the product of Google is better than others then it does not require anything for differentiating itself from other products. People will definitely buy its products. But I think this over confidence of Google is presently hampering its business. The competitors of Google are taking advantage of this and they are developing products and services which consider customers support. It helps them to attract maximum number of customers and increasing their usage and sale of the products. By reading this book I have analyzed the practices and policies which are influencing the growth and development of Google negatively. After the establishment of Google, the founders and employees of this company have given huge effort in developing the business and in increasing the productivity of the company. As a result the company has gained huge success in with a few years of its business. But gradually, for several reasons the enthusiasm of Google’s employee has slowed down. The percent performance of the company is not as the performance it has given in the early days. This book provides a clear picture of Google from the time of its establishment till the present scenario. Form this book I am able to understand the reasons for which the organization is taking care of its employees. Google wants to get the best performance from its employees. As a result of this the firm is concentrating more on employee satisfaction and their comfort level within the organization. The author Steven Levy has very clearly explained the values and principles of Google. Based on its different values and principles the company develops its different policies. In this book, the author supports Mr. Page and Mr. Brin, the two key people of Google, to a large extent. As per the view of Levy both of these founders only work for the betterment of the company. But sometimes their efforts or works are not beneficial for the company. Overview the tech industry has been well discussed in this book. In depth analyses of Google is provided in the book which benefits me in knowing the perception of the employees regarding the company. Firsthand information is provided in the book which helps the reader in knowing the business model of Google and these are all I have derived from this book. Reference Levy, S. (2011). In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives. New York: Simon and Schuster. Read More