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GOOGLE, A MANAGEMENT MODEL? CARLO D’ASARO BIONDO’S TESTIMONY

By 30 March 2010April 10th, 2024Managerial innovation
Carlo d’Asaro Biondo
Vice-President Southern and Eastern Europe Middle Africa Google
&
Bernard Girard
Author of: “A Management Revolution – The Google Model”
 

Carlo d’Assaro Biondo made us feel from the inside how we lived the Google experience; Bernard Girard presented us with what makes Google a company like no other.

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Carlo d’Assaro told us: the word model is not a word that Google would like. Because Google’s organization is characterized in three words: intensity (doing what we do intensely), great consistency (a matrix organization that works, with a strong link between everyone and the Headquarters in Mountain View , and functional lines with the Regions), and great friendliness between employees and with customers.

Google also has a great ability to look at the very, very long term: Larry Page’s credo is to say that we must first be concerned with the interests of users, and satisfy them; we will find well after the economic model. This is how Google has digitized works in many countries, to make them accessible, free of charge, and without earning any income.

The organization of the company responds to the same values ​​as those of the search engine:

  • Speed: it is the matrix operation that allows this speed, there are no hierarchical levels to cross;
  • Exhaustiveness: nothing is done that cannot be developed in quantity;
  • The obsession of the end user is what must be satisfied;
  • Ergonomics: everything must be easy to use; the teams are small, there are no unnecessary procedures.

Can other companies gain something for themselves from these practices?

We can surely retain the obsession of the user, the recruitment methods, which aim to recruit only exceptional people; small teams; fun and conviviality, but respecting the authority which is very strong. It is also a company where listening is extremely valued and where feedback is widely expressed.