Final Strategic Plan

Strategic plan

John Mbiti

STR/581

02/19/2017

Carlos Pinda

University of Phoenix

Introduction

Google is an organization that deals with Internet-related services and products such as advertising technologies, search engines and cloud computing among others. Google has been having a record of a good financial report which reflects its growth. There are some of the reasons that have led to the immense growth of Google. First, there has been growth in technology and this means that people have been using search engines. In addition to that, companies have spent much in advertising on the internet. Google is now the greatest search engine where the users can look for different things or information that they need through the internet. It also offers other important services such as Google maps, Google documents and Google drive among others (Hamen, 2011). Therefore, due to the diversification of products and services, users have been enabled to perform different tasks. Google is the leader in the market and is ahead of the rest of its competitors.

Google has some core values that act as its beliefs and values that help it in undertaking its activities. As it has been undergoing changes, its core values have been constant and have not changed. Some of its core values include; working together with people, ensuring that there is technology innovation, and being actively involved with others.

Implementation plan

The key strategy for Google is product differentiation, obtaining competitive edge and other level strategies which include; stability strategy, growth strategies, retrenchment strategies and combination strategies. There are internal and external environment analyses which recognized that there is need to have a plan that will stimulate the growth of Google and reverse the trend of losing market share (Asthana, 2012). The implementation plan will be inclusive of the objectives, functional tactics, action items, milestones and deadlines, tasks and task ownership and lastly resource allocation.

Objectives

The goal of Google is to provide the best results possible for customer’s query, maximize user experience and to be the leading in the industry. Google also targets increasing its Return on Capital Employed. Google’s long-term objectives include; delivering new advertising technology, developing tracking mechanisms and enabling users to search a larger base of information (Hamen, 2011). 

Functional tactics

Functional tactics are important and are the main core elements in any company’s daily function. It also helps in establishing the competitive advantage of a company. Functional tactics are the routine activities that must be undertaken in the financial area of a company such as marketing, finance, production/operation and human resource management. The functional tactics will be inclusive of; strategy-cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.

Strategy-cost leadership

Competitive advantage is attained through producing products and services at a low cost. Therefore, Google has to lower its operating costs so as to achieve this strategy. The main goal of this strategy is to have a cost advantage. Google can use various tactics so as to reduce the cost of operation. One of the tactics is to adapt and innovate new technologies that will help in providing fast, accurate and services that are easy to use and accessible to anyone who seeks information. Automation and new service technology may help Google reducing time spent by users while searching for queries and cost that is required for completing any projects. Another tactic is that cost leadership will help in marketing. Google will be able to acquire more users and advertisement clients.

Strategy-differentiation

By implementing this strategy, Google will be able to satisfy the needs of its users. In addition to that, it will be able to have competitive pricing of differentiated product and services and higher margins of Google.

Strategy focus

Google targets in increasing its Return on Capital Employed and to increase the cost per click in order to increase its revenue. Therefore, implementation of this strategy will help Google in targeting all segments and pointing out segments that are an expense while they do not give sufficient returns.

Action items

There are certain actions that Google need to implement so that its objectives can be realized. They must be identified in strategic planning. One of the actions that Google can take is by increasing its profit margins. Google can increase its profit margin from advertising revenues such as AdWords and AdSense, non-advertising revenues through products such as Google play, and graphical segmentation among others. Google should also focus on improving its user’s experience by improving search experience among other frameworks. It can also come up with a platform that users will be able to state their experience and what should be done so Google can maintain positive relations with the users. Focus strategy will help Google in reducing cost and services that are less profitable and riskier.

Milestones and deadline

For successful implementation, Google will have to develop milestones and deadlines to create a timeline of its goals and objectives.

Activity	Deadline
Market research	5 months
Acquisition of new technology-internet devices	3 years
Developing tracking mechanisms	2 years

Task and task ownership

The success of any project highly depends on the support that it receives from different departments and stakeholders in the organization. In order to make this implementation successful, it is important that Google should have different action items which may be assigned to different teams. These teams should be diversified such that it should be made up if diversified members from different departments.

Resource allocation

Resources will be allocated to the functional units of the organization according to the needs. Google will also focus on reducing the costs so that it can increase its Return on Equity and to increase profitability without increasing its costs. In addition to that, it will ensure that there are efficient allocation and utilization of its resources. Resources will also be allocated in the most current phase of the program. Market research will help in ascertaining what the users need to be added and what should be improved. Thereafter, Google will be able to allocate resources based on what was found in the market research.

Other organizational change management strategies

Other strategies that may actually work and which I recommend include; asking feedback from the users, implementing formal recognition programs, assigning leadership roles, and communication among others.

Key success factors

There are some various factors that may affect these strategies. First, it should be ensured that the senior management team supports the program. Lack of support may lead to failure of the program. Users concerns and objectives should be considered so as to create an effective plan. The strategies should be monitored so as to ensure that it is effective.

Budget and forecasted financials

Item	Cost
Market research	$20,000
Acquisition of new technology-internet devices	$700,000
Training	$100,000
Tracking mechanisms	$400,000

Forecasted financials

Google Stock Forecast By Month

Year	Mo	Min	Max	Close	Mo,%	Total%
2018	Feb	957	1168	1018	-12.8%	-12.8%
2018	Mar	909	1025	967	-5.0%	-17.2%
2018	Apr	954	1076	1015	5.0%	-13.1%
2018	May	988	1114	1051	3.5%	-10.0%
2018	Jun	973	1097	1035	-1.5%	-11.4%
2018	Jul	1022	1152	1087	5.0%	-6.9%
2018	Aug	1045	1179	1112	2.3%	-4.8%
2018	Sep	1053	1187	1120	0.7%	-4.1%
2018	Oct	1078	1216	1147	2.4%	-1.8%
2018	Nov	1025	1155	1090	-5.0%	-6.7%
2018	Dec	1076	1214	1145	5.0%	-1.9%
2019	Jan	1130	1274	1202	5.0%	2.9%
2019	Feb	1122	1266	1194	-0.7%	2.3%
2019	Mar	1178	1328	1253	4.9%	7.3%
2019	Apr	1214	1370	1292	3.1%	10.6%
2019	May	1157	1305	1231	-4.7%	5.4%
2019	Jun	1166	1314	1240	0.7%	6.2%
2019	Jul	1186	1338	1262	1.8%	8.1%
2019	Aug	1184	1336	1260	-0.2%	7.9%
2019	Sep	1244	1402	1323	5.0%	13.3%
2019	Oct	1182	1332	1257	-5.0%	7.6%
2019	Nov	1241	1399	1320	5.0%	13.0%
2019	Dec	1179	1329	1254	-5.0%	7.4%
2020	Jan	1238	1396	1317	5.0%	12.8%
2020	Feb	1176	1326	1251	-5.0%	7.1%

Break-even

Google Inc. expects to break within three years by increasing its revenues and reducing its operating cost.

Risk management plan

There are some risks that may interfere with the implementation and completion of the project. The risks may include; budget cutbacks, late delivery of products and unexpected changes in the external environment among others. The identified risks are budgetary constraints and falling behind schedule

Contingency plans

This is an important step in risk management. There are some factors that may lead to budgetary constraints such as an increase in prices of inputs. Google will plan to secure an alternative source of funding. For the risk of falling behind schedule, the organization will develop a control mechanism that will assess the progress of the project (Doherty, 2000). 

References

Asthana, V. (2012). Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control. Abhigyan, 30(3), 70-72.

Doherty, N. (2000). Integrated risk management: Techniques and strategies for managing corporate risk. McGraw Hill Professional.

Google Stock Forecast by Month; retrieved from, https://longforecast.com/alphabet-google-stock-price-forecast-2017-2018-2019

Hamen, S. (2011). Google : the company and its founders. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co.

McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., & Embrechts, P. (2015). Quantitative risk management: Concepts, techniques and tools. Princeton university press.

Pearce, J. A., Robinson, R. B., & Subramanian, R. (2000). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control. Columbus, OH: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.