DocuSign:  in preparation for your site visit to DocuSign, DocuSign is a start-up from Silicon Valley in California that has evolved into one of the world’s leading e-based document signing technology companies.  As the linked article shows, DocuSign has serious expansion plans for the Dublin office and hopes to hire 1,000 additional workers.  Based on your quick review of the article on DocuSign’s expansion to Dublin, identify one commercial opportunity and one commercial challenge they are addressing in this expansion.

The biggest commercial challenge they face is in their own market.  As stated in the article, DocuSign has captured only 5% of the possible market in signatures and 1-2% in the cloud document market.  In that market they compete with Google and Microsoft among others.  DocuSign needs to have a larger percentage of their market to be able to compete with those companies.  Their biggest commercial opportunity is their expansion to Europe.  In Europe, they can continue to gain customers and try to capture more of the market.  The challenge and opportunity play into each other.  With this expansion to Dublin, DocuSign will be able to confront their biggest threat.

Google EMEA Headquarters in Dublin: In preparation for your site visit to Google’s Headquarters in Dublin for its Europe, Middle East and Africa division, this is an excellent example of how a firm is responding to opportunities and challenges in generating digital advertising revenue in its broader social environment by recognizing and addressing opportunities and challenges related to digital advertising revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  Based on your quick review of the article on Google’s 15 years in Ireland, identify one commercial opportunity and one commercial challenge they are addressing in the EMEA headquarters.

An opportunity Google should continue to pursue is expanding the brand throughout Europe, Middle East, and Asia.  This way, they can introduce their other products into the environment, such as their smartphone line.  Google should pursue the market as soon as possible due to the fact that the EMEA market is always expanding.  I think specifically, the cloud services are a huge opportunity considering the amount of startups in EMEA.  By capturing their business early, Google can be a dominant force in the market.  For challenges, the socio-cultural aspect is going to be important.  With the amount of different cultures and government regulations, Google will have to be very careful about a myriad of things, from the information they show in searches, to their advertising.

Questions For The Site Visits:  Finally, acting as members of consulting teams that might choose to write a group paper about the commercial opportunities and challenges connected to DocuSign or Google EMEA Headquarters in Dublin, what specific questions do you have about the business model for DocuSign that relate to our course material (Triple Bottom Line and sustainability, market segmentation, maximization versus shared value, etc.)?  What specific questions do you have about the business model for Google EMEA Headquarters in Dublin that relate to our course material (Triple Bottom Line and sustainability, market segmentation, maximization versus shared value, etc.)?    Give us specific questions for each of tomorrow’s visits.

For DocuSign, I would be curious about their market segmentation and business model.  From an outside perspective, it seems like online signatures are not a very large market, but DocuSign is also pursuing cloud documentation.  I would like to know what market segments they try to appeal to.

At Google, I would also ask about their market segments.  Are they aiming for businesses, startups, individuals, and what age group of individuals.  Because of Google’s massive reach into multiple markets, they may be focusing on all of them.