Analysis of Google's Cross-Functional Organizational Structure Report

This report examines the organizational structure of Google, a global leader in the internet industry. It begins with an executive summary and an introduction outlining the report's objectives. The main body of the report delves into the concept of organizational structure, its different types (flat, functional, divisional, and matrix), and the specific cross-functional structure adopted by Google. It provides a detailed background of Google's history, its organizational structure, and the reasons behind its adoption of a cross-functional approach, emphasizing its role in fostering innovation and employee engagement. The report also includes recommendations for effective organizational structure and concludes by summarizing the key findings. The report utilizes both academic and non-academic sources to provide a comprehensive analysis of Google's organizational design and its impact on the company's achievements.

Business Report

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Organisation................................................................................................................................3
Organisational structure..............................................................................................................3
Different types of organisational structures................................................................................4
Google LLC background and history..........................................................................................5
Organisational structure of Google.............................................................................................5
Reasons of cross-functional organisational structure in Google.................................................6
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Organisational structures are the systems that are adopted by companies which helps in
directing the way in which information flows in the company and also determines the relations of
employs with the management and leaders. This report discusses about the organisational
structure that is followed in Google which helps it in achieving the position of global leader in
the internet industry (Alagaraja and Shuck, 2015). It is the most used search engines through
which internet users can gain information about various things. Organisational structure
followed by the company helps it in bringing innovation in its services and monitoring the flow
of information so that functions of all departments can be linked so as to achieve company goals.
INTRODUCTION
Business organisation is a commercial entity which carries out commercial activities by
providing goods and services to the customers so that their needs and wants can be satisfied
which will help the organisation in earning profits. Various organisational structures,
management concepts and theories are applied by the businesses so that the desired results are
achieved. This report is based on Google LLC is an international technology company which
gives services related to the internet including online advertising facilities, search engine so that
any information can be quickly searched in easy language, cloud computing, software, and
hardware. The management theories and concepts adopted by Google along with its
organisational structure which helps the company to achieve its goals and objectives will be
discussed in detail in this report (Doz, 2016).
MAIN BODY
Organisation
An organisation in a commercial entity which is constituted by a group of people who
work together in order to achieve some goals and objectives which will help it in earning profits.
It determines the relationship between the people associated with the organisation and a
management structure is followed so that their activities can be done according to the strategies
and policies of the company.
Organisational structure
It is a system that is adopted by the organisation which outlines the way in which various
activities will be carried out so that goals of the company can be effectively achieved. It also

determines the way in which the information flows in the organisation so as to reach to all the
members associated with it so that the activities can be carried out in an efficient manner (Haase,
Franco and Félix, 2015).
Different types of organisational structures
There are different types of organisational structures which can be adopted to achieve the
goals of the company of which some of the structures are : Flat : It is a traditional structure which has multiple tiers of supervisors, managers and
directors between employees and leaders. This structure reduces the levels of
management which helps in making the employees more productive as the hierarchy
related pressures are less. This structure is followed in Valve which is a gaming company
(Hammer, 2015).
 Functional : It is a type of hierarchical structure where workers are grouped based on
their skills, talents and knowledge so that the groups can efficiently achieve company
goals. These people are managed by the functional manager who is also specialised in the
same field in which the workers are placed (Functional organisational structure .2019).
The organisational chart of this structure consists of president, vice president, finance
department, sales department, customer service, administration etc.
Illustration 1: Functional organisational structure .2019
Source : Functional organisational structure .2019 Divisional : In this the the organisation divides all the activities of a business depending
on the geography, market, products and services offered by the company. This helps the
company in dealing with issues related to a particular division so that quick decisions can
be taken. This structure is helpful when the company deals in many regions, markets and

products. Companies like Samsung and LG which deals in consumer electronic products
usually follow this kind of organisational structure (Johnson, 2015).
 Matrix : In this structure the reporting relations are set up as a grid or matrix instead of
traditional hierarchical structures that are usually followed in organisations. This means
that the employees have dual relations with both functional and product manager. It is
complex type of an organisational structure but helps the company in achieving higher
productivity. This is usually followed by the companies which has various product lines
and services. Starbucks follows this type of organisational structure.
Google LLC background and history
Google Inc. is an American multinational search engine company which was established
in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page who were the students of Stanford University, California.
The company is a subsidiary to Alphabet Inc. which is its holding company. Google handles over
70% of the world's search requests which makes it the most useful engine for internet users. The
other services provided by Google are online advertising, search engine technologies, cloud
computing and other software and hardware related services. Google has its origins in 'BackRub'
which was a research project started in 1996 (Sakowski, Vadi and Meriküll, 2015).
Organisational structure of Google
Google follows a cross-functional organisational structure which helps the company in
being successful in the market by maximizing innovations. This structure is a combination of flat
and matrix structures which helps in managing the employees efficiently. The flat structure helps
employees in communicating directly to the higher management and sharing of information. This
helps the company in bringing innovative and creative ideas in the market which gives it a
competitive advantage in the internet services industry. The combination of matrix and flat
structures means that multiple reporting relations exist among the employees and the
management and also the number of levels between the employees and management are less.
This helps the employees to report to different functional managers and also the management can
directly monitor all the employees. This helps in reducing the ambiguity because of the matrix
structure and increasing the efficiency at which company decisions are made.

Reasons of cross-functional organisational structure in Google
Google follows a cross-functional or team-based organisational structure which helps in
including all the employees in decision-making. This helps the company in bringing equality
among all its employees and importance to their ideas and opinions can be efficiently given. This
structure is followed in the company as it helps in bringing innovations in ideas which helps in
improving services given by it. Healthy relations can be build with the employees which helps in
motivating and engaging them with the company. This makes the employees enthusiastic about
their work and stimulates them to work harder and in a goal-oriented manner. Also this structures
helps in quickly addressing problems and making decisions so that typical problems can be
solved efficiently. Also conflicts among workers can be solved in a constructive manner. All
these features of cross-functional structure helps in development of employees, increasing the
momentum for work and also strengthening the organisation as a whole (Analysis of Google's
organisational design .2016).
Thus this structure helps Google in bringing quick innovations in its services which gives
it a competitive advantage in the market. The flatness in its structure helps in aligning its
employees work and establishing better collaboration among them so that the company goals and
objectives can be achieved.
Illustration 2: Analysis of Google's organisational design .2016
Source : Analysis of Google's organisational design .2016

From the above graph it can be seen that Google has been able to maintain its core
fundamentals during its enormous growth and this growth has been possible through the
organisational structure that is followed by the company. The number of innovations and the
speedy decisions that are made in the company are the result of its organisational structure which
helps in collaborating its employees so that company goals can be achieved on time and within
budget.
Recommendations
It can be analysed from this report that organisation's success I in a way linked to the type
of organisational structure which is followed in the company. Following recommendations can
be made so that effective organisation structure can be established :
1) Company must follow the type of organisational depending on its goals and objectives.
2) The company can increase its profits by bringing innovations in the company products
and services.
3) Cross-functional organisational structure can help in making strong relations with the
employees and also encouraging them to work harder.
CONCLUSION
From this report it can be concluded that organisational structure plays an important role
in achieving company goals and objectives by directing the employees in such a way that they
work together and collaborate their activities that help it in achieving company targets. Also the
type of organisational structure determines the way in which company progress towards
achieving its goals. Google follows cross-functional organisational structure which helps it in
bringing innovation in its services and also enhancing the performance of employees by
establishing coordination among them so that company goals can be efficiently achieved.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alagaraja, M. and Shuck, B., 2015. Exploring organizational alignment-employee engagement
linkages and impact on individual performance: A conceptual model. Human Resource
Development Review .14(1). pp.17-37.
Doz, Y., 2016. Managing multinational operations: from organisational structures to mental
structures and from operations to innovations. European Journal of International
Management .10(1). pp.10-24.
Haase, H., Franco, M. and Félix, M., 2015. Organisational learning and intrapreneurship:
evidence of interrelated concepts. Leadership & Organization Development
Journal .36(8). pp.906-926.
Hammer, M., 2015. What is business process management?. In Handbook on business process
management 1(pp. 3-16). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Johnson, T., 2015. The professions in the class structure. In Industrial Society (Routledge
Revivals) (pp. 93-110). Routledge.
Sakowski, K., Vadi, M. and Meriküll, J., 2015. Formalisation of organisational structure as a
subject of path dependency: an example from Central and Eastern Europe. Post-
Communist Economies .27(1). pp.76-90.
Online
Functional organisational structure .2019. [Online]. Available
Through:<https://www.heflo.com/blog/business-management/small-business-
organizational-structure-examples/>
Analysis of Google's organisational design .2016. [Online]. Available
Through:<http://www.practical-management.com/Leadership/Analysis-of-Google-s-
Organizational-Design.html>