Google Case Notes

-by Jack M. Wilson

Theme: How do you build a team of leaders and still stay true to the motto "Don't be Evil"

Explain how the team at Google was formed and how it evolved.  What were some of the challenges?  What role did each of the key team members play?  What challenges did they face in regard to their motto: 'Don't be Evil?"  How did they resolve those challenges and how did the team members each approach that?

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful:   http://www.google.com/about/company/

• History: http://www.google.com/about/company/history/
• Founding: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1074
• Google's Management Team: http://www.google.com/about/company/facts/management/
• Founding Team Dynamics:  http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1084
• Code of Conduct: http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html
• Ten Things We Know to be True: http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/
• Tips for the Entrepreneur:  http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1076
• Google vs Evil:  Wired Issue 11.01 | January 2003 (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/google.html )
• Google's Legal Issues: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1089
• Google Case Study( V. Argenton et al): http://www.slideshare.net/castel51/corporate-strategy-case-study-google
• Google Case Study -Ashwin Sharma: http://www.slideshare.net/ashwin_sharma/google-case-study

Questions for the class:  

How did each team member bring his own culture and talents to Google?

Do you feel that Google maintained it's focus on "don't be evil" in addressing the potential censorship by scientology, restrictions from the Chinese Government, creation of a digital library of books, and interactions with the NSA?

Why do you think they picked Eric Schmidt as the CEO?

What do you see as the next big challenges for Google?