Innovation at Google The significance of innovation in creating and maintaining a competitive advantage in today's increasingly aggressive business environment cannot be overemphasized. Businesses that survive in such an environment are those that constantly deliver innovative offerings and/or reengineer their structures and processes amidst ever more changing market and industry conditions (Andriopoulos & Dawson, 2009). Google is one such organization that embodies innovation. With an innovation-oriented culture, the organization has, in a little more than a decade grown to be one of the most innovative organizations in the internet realm. From its adword online advertising service and search engine, to its cloud computing service, browser, productivity software, social networking service, desktop applications, operating system, mobile applications, as well as a host of other internet products, the organization provides a perfect example of how innovation can be an engine for rapid growth.

Based on responses obtained from an interview with one of the managers at the company's product development department, this report describes the company's experience with innovation. In particular, this report seeks to understand how a culture of innovation is created and maintained, the role of top management in supporting innovation, and how internal and external talent is leveraged in the organization. Attention is also paid to barriers to innovation as well as the influence of performance measures and rewards on innovation. Recommendations for improvement are also provided.

A Culture of Innovation

Innovation thrives in an enabling environment. It thrives in an atmosphere of inclusion, autonomy, teamwork and collaboration, participatory decision-making, as well as open and effective communication (Szymanska, 2015; Valencia, Jimenez-Jimenez & Sanz-Valle, 2016). An organization-wide understanding of innovation and its implications for organizational performance, as well as knowledge of individual responsibility in contributing creative ideas are also important for maintaining a culture of innovation (Andriopoulos & Dawson, 2009). Essentially, shared vision, mindset, beliefs, values, and expectations are crucial for driving innovation in an organization.

Google's culture can be described as innovation-oriented....

According to the interviewee, there has historically been a conscious effort to orient all people and processes in the organization towards innovation. One way through which the company promotes innovation is by providing for and encouraging open and transparent communication. A major hallmark of open communication in the organization is short communication proviso between managers and employees. For instance, employees can directly email any manager in the organization on any matter pertaining to work. This has been important for enhancing the manager-employee relationship, which ultimately boosts managers' communication of the organization's vision to employees.
In addition, the company provides several channels through which teams can interact, and employees can express their views and learn about its developments. These formal and informal channels range from feedback surveys and employee forums to Google cafes, tech talks, company-wide meetings, as well as outdoor activities. Such platforms not only avail employees an opportunity to air their ideas, but also gain a clearer understanding of the company's innovation agenda. Innovation at Google is also promoted by allowing employees to devote part of their daily work time to ideas that interest them. Products such as Gmail, Google News, and Adsense have actually emanated from such initiatives.

Role of Top Management in Fostering Innovation

The top management plays an important role in reinforcing a culture of innovation in an organization. As put by Mayle (2006), the innovation mindset must flow from the top and diffuse to every level of the organization. The top management can demonstrate its dedication to supporting innovation by constantly reiterating the organization's commitment to innovation, describing the value of innovation to the organization, mobilizing and providing the necessary resources, identifying and addressing obstacles, and creating incentives for employees (Mayle, 2006).

From the conversation held with the interviewee, Google commendably understands the role of top management in supporting innovation. One way through which this is evident is the organization's research and development (R&D) expenditure. Google is one of the largest spenders on R&D, globally, with its annual R&D budget exceeding 10% of its annual revenues. This clearly demonstrates the management's commitment to providing resources geared towards innovation. The management's commitment to innovation is further epitomized by open and transparent interactions between managers and employees, the CEO's regular meetings with employees, as well as creative employee engagement strategies.

Leveraging Internal and External Talent

Innovative ideas may originate from within or outside the organization. It is, therefore, imperative for an organization to leverage its internal talent effectively and its access to external talent in driving innovation (Andriopoulos & Dawson, 2009; West & Bogers, 2013). Leveraging internal talent is particularly important for accelerating productivity, enhancing employee retention, and, more importantly, minimizing the usually high costs associated with sourcing for talent outside the organization (Mayle, 2006).

As intimated by the interviewee, Google is generally more focused on leveraging its internal talent. This is mainly achieved via providing opportunities for not only learning and development (L&D), but also applying the knowledge acquired during L&D. Google invests in efforts to identify the L&D needs of its employees frequently through a scientific process.. In the follow-up, employees are given individual and…