Reflections

Reflecting on Google’s changes between 2014 and 2023, the finding is that despite significant changes, Google has continued to follow the six management principles that characterize a highly innovative company fit for a fast-changing world. In 2023, just as in 2014, Google displayed dynamic capabilities, was a constantly changing organization, remained people centric and ambidextrous, networked openly with its surroundings, and took a systems approach. The “Google Model”—as first described in 2014, with updates as viewed through a 2023 lens—remains valid or may be even more valid for incumbents, as the basis for a generic management model oriented toward continuous and discontinuous innovation.