Google and KPMG Human Resource Strategies, Essay Example

Google and KPMG are arguably at the pinnacle of their respective industries in terms of market share and extent of operations. These two companies have one specific advantage over their competitors, i.e. the economies of scale. This allows both companies to provide some of the most ideal work environments for their employees, thus featuring in “the 100 Best Companies to Work for”. This paper will; (1) compare both industries within which both companies conduct business operations, (2) compare specific internal elements of both companies, and (3) analyze HR strategies in both companies and make valid recommendations.

Industries

Media Industry

The Technology Sector is undoubtedly one of the most oligopolistic, yet monopolistic markets in the modern day. The advent of Social Media Industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world and attracts numerous investors.

The industry’s average return on average assets (AROAA) is 0.925. This is largely owing to Twitter’s and Demand Media’s negative ROAA. This means that 6 companies, namely; Microsoft Corporation, Google Inc., Facebook Inc., Yahoo! Inc., SINA Corp and LinkedIn Corp all have a competitive advantage in the market. However, Microsoft Corporation and Google Inc. have a huge competitive advantage. This is largely due to economies of scale and aggressive R&D.

This industry focuses on providing products and services that are related to technology and communication. Services include social media platforms, data solutions and search engine solutions. Customers within this industry encompass a diverse and extremely segmented market. Users of the services provided within this industry range from SMEs and corporations to governments and individuals. The regulatory environment within the industry is considerably regulated. Most of the regulatory statutes relate to intellectual property rights as the industry does not deal with tangible goods.

Professional Services Industry

KPMG belongs to the professional services. Owing to the fact that industry is considerably broad, it is essential that analysis comprises of companies related to KPMG. This is also the reason why detailed information on this industry is difficult to obtain.

(Google Finance, 2015)

The professional services industry is highly regulated. This is owing to the sensitive nature of the business operations within this industry. The industry entails a host of professional services that mainly revolves around bookkeepers and auditors. Bookkeepers and examiners (auditors) support the Nations companies to ensure they are run more proficiently, its public archives reserved more precisely, and its taxes remunerated appropriately and on time. They accomplish these vital roles by offering a progressively wider range of commercial and bookkeeping services to clienteles. These services comprise community, organization, and government bookkeeping, plus internal appraising. In every one of these main arenas, however, bookkeepers and assessors carry on to the essential responsibilities of the profession organize, verify, and analyze financial documents so as to deliver information to clienteles.

While both industries are considerably large, the media industry is considerably larger than the professional services industry. This is owing to the fact that the media industry is virtually integrated into almost all other industries in the 21^st century. This is evident in the larger industry revenue.

Internal Environment

While both companies are considerably large, they have considerable differences in different aspects of their internal environments. These include their mission and vision, values and core business practices.

Mission and Vision

While both companies have mission and vision statements tailored to their products and services, KPMG focuses on three knowledge areas and insights that form the core of its operations; audit, tax and advisory services. On the other hand, Google’s mission entails the organization of the world’s information and make it accessible and useful on a global scale. Both companies have managed to realize this, depicted by their positions within their respective industries.

KPMG has a vision of building a solid reputation within their professional services, becoming the market leader, based on their in-depth knowledge of the issues and developments in the industries and markets within which their clientele operates (KPMG, 2015). However, this vision has met a considerable number of setbacks including the Enron Saga and the auditing of the Hewlett-Packard (HP) purchase of Autonomy. On the other hand, Google has managed to keep in line with its vision statement, “to develop a perfect search engine”. This is seen in its dominance in the media market, having the second largest market share as well as the most used search engine.

HR Strategies

Both Google and KPMG offer the best compensation levels to its employees within their respective industries. However, there are a number of human resource (HR) strategies that both companies can employ to their advantage.

Data-Based People Management

This largely entails the use of data to conduct people analytics so as to gauge employee performance and output. This strategy is crucial for the realization of both Google’s and KPMG’s mission and vision.

Recruitment and Selection

This entails the rigorous process of identifying only the best individuals to take on open positions with =in the company. This is crucial for Google as it needs to be innovative to survive within its industry. KPMG can use tis to ensure the most dedicated, qualified and innovative auditors and analysts within its employ.

Transfer of Knowledge

In order for both companies to stay ahead, they have to ensure a constant presence and availability of leadership. This requires that a good system where there is considerable transfer of knowledge within departments and from outgoing leaders to potential new leaders.

References

Boudreau, J. W., Jesuthasan, R., & Watson, T. (2011). HR strategies for employee engagement. Upper Saddle River: FT Press.

Google Finance. (2015, January 30). KPMG International Cooperative. Retrieved from Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance/related?cid=13048090&ei=x27LVMjiAY2X9AaQ3YGgCA

KPMG. (2015, January 3). Profile of KPMG. Retrieved from KPMG: http://www.kpmg.com/nl/en/over-kpmg/pages/default.aspx

Schmidt, E., Rosenberg, J., & Eagle, A. (2014). Google : how Google works. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Vogelsang, J. (2013). How can HR drive growth? Cheltenham: Edward Edgar.