Google Now under Another Company

October 1, 2015

Unlocking Word Meanings
 今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. restructuring / riˈstrʌk tʃərɪŋ / (n.) – the act of making changes in how something is organized
Example: One of the company’s departments will undergo restructuring.

2. subsidiary / səbˈsɪd iˌɛr i / (n.) – a company owned by a larger company
Example: Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook.

3. diverse / daɪ ˈvɜrs / (adj.) – consisting of people or things that are different from each other
Example: The employees in our company are very diverse.

4. drastic / ˈdræs tɪk / (adj.) – extreme or very serious
Example: The company is doing drastic measures to solve the problem.

5. enormous / ɪˈnɔr məs / (adj.) – great or huge in terms of amount
Example: The new commercial resulted in the company’s enormous popularity.


Article
 ニュース記事

Read the text below.
Google announced in August that the company has undergone restructuring, forming a new parent company and assigning a new CEO.

The famous tech giant will now be a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.—a holding company. Alphabet will be in charge of all of Google’s side businesses, especially those not related to Internet services. Google made this move to properly develop its projects, which have become more diverse in nature through time.

Google Inc. will still handle services such as maps, search engine, ads, apps, YouTube, and Android. But because the company has restructured, Alphabet will be responsible for Google’s sub-companies, namely Calico, Google Ventures, Google Capital, Google X, Nest, and Fiber.

After the major re-organization, Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page will become Alphabet’s CEO, while co-founder Sergey Brin will act as Alphabet’s president. On one hand, Sundar Pichai, former Google senior vice president of products, will take over as Google Inc. CEO. Despite the re-organization, there will be no drastic change when it comes to how the company operates.

Pichai has been working for Google for 11 years. He started with a team in charge of Google’s search toolbar, a major browser function that is no longer available today. Google’s own browser, Chrome, was Pichai’s idea. Although former Google CEO Eric Schmidt first rejected the idea, Google Chrome has experienced enormous success. It now holds 45% of the global market share.

Aside from establishing Chrome, Pichai also served as the senior vice president of Android and Google Apps.

Viewpoint Discussion
 ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

·         Do you agree with Google’s decision to restructure the company? Why or why not?
·         If you were the CEO of Google, what improvements would you make in the company?

Discussion B

·         Given the chance, what kind of business would you like to establish? Discuss your answer.
·         How would you make this business grow?

October 1, 2015