Week 2 Questions

1) Listen to the podcast on Navigation which can be found on the Digital Enterprise Page (Google - the digital enterprise).

a) What are the four (4) main points Michael Rappa makes about search?

According to Michael Rappa a search engine has four major characteristics or it does four main things which are:

“It’s a database. It’s a collection mechanism for adding data into that database. It’s a search protocol that enables users to query the database. And it’s a ranking algorithm that determines how the results are presented to the user.” Michael Rappa, http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/navigation_tr.html


b) Watch or read the Marissa Mayer interview. Write a paragraph or two, on four points made by Marissa Mayer, that you think were the most interesting or significant for business. There are no right or wrong answers here, I just want your opinion.

I think one of the most interesting points in the interview is where Marissa talks about ideas and how everything starts with ideas. Ideas are essential to business growth and it is extremely important to keep things fresh and interesting so no matter where the ideas come from such as users or engineers, it is always good to have different opinions on things.

Product Management is another interesting concept for business. According to Marissa it’s “trying to pull together a vision of how do you fill the users’ needs and do that based on the best technology available and do that in a way that’s really scalable, sustainable and ultimately build a good business.” http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/06/marissa-mayer-on-charlie-rose-the-future-of-google/

Sales driven or marketing driven? That is the question. As companies grow, it is said they usually take a path into being sale or marketing driven. This is where organisations can lose focus. By staying technologically driven, firms can stay ahead of the pack and be up to speed with user and consumer wants and needs.

People are the key to great business. Having the right people with the right attitude and smarts can be a very successful component in any business is one of the more interesting thoughts of Marissa. I think that having the right people with the right vision is definitely the biggest aspect of any business and it can make a business go boom or bust.