The challenge of differentiation and integration Assignment

The challenge of differentiation and integration - Assignment Example It is a formidable challenge in most organizations. This paper looks at the challenge of differentiation with specific reference to Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, Google has grown to become a big company with over 12,000 employees. Google operates an intricate network of activities in various locations globally. It has established offices in various locations including in states such as California, Illinois, New York, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Washington, DC, Oregon, Michigan and South Carolina. Google has also established various international offices in locations such as the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia. As such, differentiation and integration becomes an imperative challenge to Google. Differentiation refers to the process by which an organization separates itself into various key components (Lawrence, and Lorsch 3). It is a common phenomenon among large organizations. Consequently, as an organization grows larger and expands its activities further, the more differentiated it becomes. Be that as it may, as an organization becomes more differentiated, the various components become more independent as they are conferred with a great deal of autonomy. Therefore, the business culture of such an organization may significantly differ as you move from one component to another. Differentiation is usually done based on varied premises. For example, an organization may decide to differentiate basing on the tasks or on the product offering. In this regards, an organization may opt to divide into departments that produce a given product and establish finance and marketing department for each of the differentiated product. Google has been differentiated into different departments including Information Technology, Engineering, Support, People Operations, Knowledge, Advertising, Technical Infrastructure, Mobile and Digital