ANSWERS TO OPENING CASE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the creative side of Google being run as a
‘flexible and flat “technocracy”’?
Google’s “technocracy” would have many of the advantages associated with an organic
structure: employees have more freedom to experiment and improvise; the lack of a rigid
hierarchy would lead to more sense of ownership over innovation projects which could enable
2. How does Google’s culture influence the kind of employees it can attract and retain?
Independent and creative people will be attracted to the flexibility and autonomy enabled by
Google’s culture. For these people, the shared offices with couches, etc. will provide a form of
3. What do you believe the challenges are in having very different structure and controls
for Google’s creative side versus the other parts of the company?
Having two different sets of structure and controls can lead to a number of frictions. First, it can
be difficult to set company-wide policies that are congruent with the different divisions. For
example, it can be very difficult to have more than one set of policies about work hours, hiring
4. Some analysts have argued that Google’s free-form structure and the 20% time to work
on personal projects is only possible because Google’s prior success has created financial
slack in the company. Do you agree with this? Would Google be able to continue this
management style if it had closer competitors?
Encourage students to debate this point. Some will argue that for a company like Google that has
made its fortune by defining new industry spaces, having 20% time for employees to develop
fundamentally new solutions to problems that may not even be identified yet is the only way for
ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Are there particular types of innovation activities for which large firms are likely to
outperform small firms? Are there types for which small firms are likely to outperform
large firms?
Students should come up with a range of answers to this question. For example size of the
innovation should be important: Innovation projects that are especially large or risky are best
2. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having formalized procedures for
improving the effectiveness or efficiency of innovation?
Formalized procedures and standardize activities provide employees with clear expectations of
behavior and criteria for decision-making. The clear procedures and guidelines can substitute for
3. What factors should a firm take into account when deciding how centralized its R&D
activities should be? Should firms employ both centralized and decentralized R&D
activities?
In determining the ideal level of centralization, a firm needs to take into account the value of
taking advantage of economies of scale, the opportunity to divide labor across a broader pool of
4. Why is the tension between centralization and decentralization of R&D activities likely
to be even greater for multinational firms than firms that compete in one national market?
The tension between centralization and decentralization is exacerbated in multinationals because
the magnitude of the differences between divisions is greater. Foreign markets are likely to have
5. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the transnational approach
advocated by Bartlett and Ghoshal?
In Bartlett and Ghoshal’s transnational approach resources and capabilities from anywhere in the
firm can be leveraged and deployed wherever needed to exploit an opportunity. The advantage
of this approach is the way it utilizes the best of both centralized and decentralized structures to
support innovation activities. Properly managed, this strategy enables the firm to tap the
knowledge and resources of local markets, and leverage the innovations developed throughout