...Google’s Values Conflict with Demands from the Chinese Government • The Conflict The conflict between Google and the Chinese Government was generated from a new China-based version of Google’s search engine. Chinese Government appealed that this China-based version was not respecting Chinese laws and that any Chinese Google’s user could have access to sites deemed taboo by China’s government. The problem was that Google did not made an specific Google’s searcher version for China. They were just redirecting Chinese Google’s users to their Hong Kong’s webpage, which has a different legislation. Google had only two options: Censor this Chinese version to adapt it to Chinese legislation, or not to adapt this version and lose the Chinese market. • For discussion - Which internal and external stakeholders are positively and negatively affected by Google’s decision to oppose censorship of its search engine? - Which of the six general environmental forces influenced Google’s decision about censorship in China? - Use the four approaches to deciding ethical dilemmas to evaluate whether Google made an ethical decision regarding its position about censorship. - To what extent did Google respond to the Chinese government in a socially responsible manner? - Do you think Google is making a good decision to fight censorship? Why not just to accommodate the Chinese government and continue to make inroads into the lucrative Asian...
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...Question 1 Response – Prior to the launch of Google.cn, what factors should Google have considered in reaching their decision to comply with Chinese government censorship laws? One factor Google should have considered is the financial perspective. From a financial perspective, China represented for Google a dynamic and fast-growing, though increasingly competitive, market (Wilson, Ramos and Harvey, 2007). According to Google’s 2006 projections, the Chinese internet market was expected to grow from 105 million users to 250 million users by 2010 (Schrage, 2006). Another factor Google should have considered is ethics. Google’s decision to self-censor Google.cn attracted significant ethical criticism at the time. The company’s motto is “Don’t Be Evil,” and prior to entering China, Google had successfully set itself apart from other technology giants, becoming a company trusted by millions of users to protect and store their personal information. The choice to accept self-censorship, and the discussion and debate generated by this choice, forced Google to re-examine itself as a company and forced the international community to reconsider the implications of censorship (Wilson, Ramos and Harvey, 2007). Another factor to consider was if the decision was in total agreement with Google’s mission and policies. Google senior policy counsel Andrew McLaughlin knew removing search results was inconsistent with Google’s mission, but also believed that providing no information at all was more...
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...Google In China 1. What philosophical principle did Google’s managers adopt when deciding that the benefits of operations in China outweigh the costs? I think that Google’s managers adopted a Utilitarian philosophy when deciding that the benefits of operations in China outweighed the costs. I think this way because of the fact that they took the time to weigh out the pros and the cons of the situation and ultimately chose the option which was more advantageous. 2. Do you think that Google should have entered China and engaged in self-censorship, given the company’s long-standing mantra “Don’t be evil’? Is it better to engage in self-censorship than have the government censor you? I do not think that Google should have entered China and engaged in self-censorship because they had gone against the way that they had long operated. The normally focused on the concept of “Don’t be evil,” and the entering of China has shown that Google did not stand behind their mantra. I am a bit torn in regards to the second question regarding whether or not it is better to engage in self-censorship than have the government censor things. I think that self-censorship can lead to problems in that it may emphasize certain bias and may share information that should not really be shared; however, I think that censoring done by the government is also problematic because they can withhold information that we all deserve to know. 3. If all foreign search engine companies declined to invest...
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...Google in China: The Big Disconnect 4. * The stakeholders in this case are: * Chinese government * Chinese citizen’s habit * Google company in China * The concerns and rights of each set of stakeholders: For Chinese government: * The concern of Chinese government is how to let Google do business in china without harmful for this country. Chinese government has many methods to control Google’s activities. * But the control method of Chinese Government is so strict for Google to continue doing business in China. For Chinese citizen’s habit: * Based on the research in this case, we can see that the habit of Chinese citizen bring the bad things for Google. In spite of paying fee for downloading on the Internet, some web pages in China allow people to download without paying fee. So the Chinese citizen in stead of using webpage from Google, they use their own Web such as: Baidu’s chat rooms, Sina.com, Sohu.com… For Google company in China: * Google try to expand their company into China. The concerns of Google is try to expand their business as large as possible in China because China is one of the largest third party in the world. According to Kai-Fu Lee, Google wants people in the countryside of China have chances to use internet. China is the best solution for expand their company. * But the fact that, Chinese government has too many method to reduce the affect of Google in China. The Great Firewall is the...
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...Google’s managers adopt when deciding that the benefits of operating in China outweighed the costs? When it comes to the benefits outweighing the cost in China from a layman perspective, one could easily say that there is no philosophical principle was adopted, but rather, common sense led them to China. Even though China may have censorship everywhere, the Chinese don't have as many regulations as they do in America or other developed nations. Workers in China earn way less and work longer hours. Google is able to buy property for less in China, too. If anything, Google actually gained money by establishing a branch in China. On the contrary, one could also say that Google’s managers adopt utilitarian approach, because according to utilitarian philosophy, “it focuses attention on the need to weigh carefully all of the social benefits and costs of a business action and to pursue only those actions where the benefits outweigh the costs” (Hill, 2009, p. 144). For Google, they have their own legitimate and logical reasons why they should keep Google’s with the censorship by Chinese government. Without a doubt, China is a huge promising and potential Internet market in the world, where Google can make a great number of profits. Also, Google top managers explain that it’s better to give Chinese users limited information than to give nothing. What’s more, Google managers argue that Google is the only searching engine in China telling users that their searching has been censored because of...
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...created a large number of expeditious questions. When Google’s stock fell, many protestors went the google headquarters in California and they assembled in front google office there. About 50,000 letter were sent to the CEO of the company. I those some of the, trying to rebuild the fallen stock of the company and regain the reputation. On the other hand, while maintain business with china they had cope with the government’s censorship relegation. 2. Prior to the launch of Google.cn, what factors should Google have considered in reaching their decision to comply with Chinese government censorship laws? Prior to the launch of Google.cn, google should have analyzed the ethical and legal effects of this. However, they only considered the business opportunities in china without analyzing the analyzing the ethical and legal effects. They should have considered their social responsibilities. They are in business to make profit but it should not be in the expense of others. They should have acted ethically and analyzed their mission more before going china. 3. Assess Dr. Schmidt’s statement “We actually did an evil scale and decided that not to serve at all was worse evil.” Was Google being evil? From my perspective, I believe google was being evil and Dr. Schmidt statement is true. The company’s mission is to make information universally accessible. However, by doing this Google actually betrayed their own mission and betrayed the goals of the company. They should not allow...
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...Google in China Read Case 14.4: Google in China. Answer the questions below and submit the completed assignment to your instructor. Question 1: Discuss the three key principles that Google followed in developing Googld.cn There were three key principles used in the development of Google.cn. The act of filtering was made transparent through notifying users when search results had been removed. Furthermore, by not collecting the private information of users the company would not be obligated to release it to the government. Google did not offer e-mail or blog sites in China, which led to difficulties for other American companies. Lastly, the Chinese version of Google.com continued to be available in addition to Google.cn, so that it would only expand the information available to Chinese users and not reduce it in any way. (Boatright 449) Question 2: In your judgment and from an ethical perspective do you feel that the measures taken by Google were adequate to protect the rights of their Chinese users? Personally, I do not think the measures taken by Google were acceptable enough to protect the rights of their Chinese users. In China, there seemed to be a division between ethics and business ethics. Consequently, Google carried out censorship in China, which it did not do in the U.S. Additionally, Google was focused on the belief of getting into China to create a premium search engine site. Overall, Google was determined and confident that it would be a success within the...
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...GOOGLE IN CHINA Google China was formed in 2005 headed by Kai-Fu Lee, who was a former Microsoft executive and the founder of Microsoft Research Asia. Microsoft sued Google and Kai-Fu Lee for the move, but reached a confidential settlement. Google's Beijing based office was located at NCI Tower. A Chinese-language based interface was designed for google.com and was launched in 2006 (google.cn) in which the results were censored by the Chinese Government. Q1. What considerations are relevant to a Government's decisions concerning the internet governance? Please use context of this case study. (5 marks) The People’s Republic of China has a socialist government rather than a democracy, thereby aiming on complete filtering of the flow of information amongst their masses. Internet, being the largest and such an open platform for the whole world to share and express their views can have a significant impact on the thinking of the people. Therefore China being aware of the consequences of free information to its public has censored the internet content mostly in their favor. Relevant considerations for the Government regarding internet Governance: Censorship on Chinese historical events where they have blocked certain key words so that the public don’t get access to certain search results that might start a rebellion movement. Some of the key words include ‘Tibet’, ‘Dalai Lama’, Chinese forces activities in Tibet etc. Every nation has a specific culture, but Internet is a...
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...Case A: 1.) Why did Google issue the statement of Jan’12? Google has issued the statement because they were unwilling to except the fact that they have to censor the content provided by them in China. The Chinese government actually wants them to control the information instead of monitoring politically objectionable information, which violates the mission and principal of the company – To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful and do no evil. 2.) Can Google take the comfort from the reactions of stakeholders so far? In my opinion, it depends on the types of stakeholders. For competitors, such as Baidu, there is no doubt that Google exiting from China is great news by getting rid of such a strong competitor. And also I don’t think the shareholders of the company were happy to see that, as the stock price of Google falling as low as $573.09 on January 13 comparing to $714.87 in December 2007 which is Google failed business in the Chinese market is an irreversible facet. But Google’s management must give investors an explanation. This is the basic ethics of corporate management in the West. More important, Google tried to give users around the world this information. 3.) Do you except Google to exit China? Yes, I strongly expect Google to exit China because first of all it is very risky to handle a Capitalistic Chinese’s government and it is also not healthy for them to strive that hard keeping in mind of the investors and...
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...Google 'may pull out of China after Gmail cyber attack' Peter Barron from Google: ''We should no longer agree to censor our results in China'' Internet giant Google has said it may end its operations in China following a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack originating from the country. It did not accuse Beijing directly, but said it was no longer willing to censor its Chinese search engine - google.cn. This could result in closing the site, and its Chinese offices, Google said. Chinese rival Baidu called the move "hypocritical" and financially driven. In US trade on Wednesday Baidu's shares were up 13%, and Google's down 0.57%. Google said the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists were the primary target of the attack, which occurred in December. The search engine has now said it will hold talks with the government in the coming weeks to look at operating an unfiltered search engine within the law in the country, though no changes to filtering had yet been made. Google launched google.cn in 2006, agreeing to some censorship of the search results, as required by the Chinese government. It currently holds around a third of the Chinese search market, far behind Baidu with more than 60%. Email targeted In a blog post announcing its decision, Google's chief legal officer David Drummond said: "A primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists." Some Google shareholders...
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...Google in China Google 'may pull out of China after Gmail cyber attack' Peter Barron from Google: ''We should no longer agree to censor our results in China'' Internet giant Google has said it may end its operations in China following a "sophisticated and targeted" cyber attack originating from the country. It did not accuse Beijing directly, but said it was no longer willing to censor its Chinese search engine - google.cn. This could result in closing the site, and its Chinese offices, Google said. Chinese rival Baidu called the move "hypocritical" and financially driven. In US trade on Wednesday Baidu's shares were up 13%, and Google's down 0.57%. Google said the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists were the primary target of the attack, which occurred in December. The search engine has now said it will hold talks with the government in the coming weeks to look at operating an unfiltered search engine within the law in the country, though no changes to filtering had yet been made. Google launched google.cn in 2006, agreeing to some censorship of the search results, as required by the Chinese government. It currently holds around a third of the Chinese search market, far behind Baidu with more than 60%. Email targeted In a blog post announcing its decision, Google's chief legal officer David Drummond said: "A primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists." Some Google...
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...BUSI - 3004 – 1 Application Week 5 4/03/2013 Head Hunting for Google Google did act in an ethical manner when the company went after the talent of other firms. Going after employees who are already trained and understand the business is key in gaining an advantage over competitors. “Poaching” top talent can backfire if the potential employee being sought after has a contract for a certain length of time or a non-compete clause. This clause makes it difficult for a potential candidate to work for a company that deals in a like form of business. Even though in many places such clauses may not hold up in court it is enough to persuade a person to not take the risk. Existing employees in a relative or like business can be very important in growing a new business. The sought after employee would bring in already “established relationships with customers, suppliers, and channel members” that would help a growing company gain over their competition (Hisrich, Peters, & Shepherd, 2013, pg.424). This is why Google went after top talent like Microsoft’s Dr. Kai-Fu Lee and highly regarded scientist who wanted to leave Microsoft to become president if Google China (Hartley, 2011, pg.107) Going into a competitors turf like Google did with Microsoft shows them that you will not back down from a challenge and that you are willing to take risks to grow the business. The down fall of going after the talent of other companies is that it might interfere with the morale of the...
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...Google in China Cohort Manara Google In China Corporate Social Responsibility Professor Kenny Tang HULT International Business School Module B Submitted By: Manara Team 10 Hafswa Salim Adriéne T. Smith Ornella Anoh Aravind Sathyanandham Yogesh Ranwa Samer Abou Fakher March 9th, 2014 1 Team 10...
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...MGT 448 Week 4 Individual Assignment Google in China: Case Study MGT 448 Google in China: Case Study China and Google have not seen eye to eye lately. the element of defending human rights or complying with the Chinese Government has placed Google with a decision to choose between the two . This paper will examine the case study, Google in China, and answer the following questions: What advantages and disadvantages does Google have in the Chinese market in comparison with Baidu? What is the business model of each company? And what factors should Google have considered in reaching its decision on the new approach in China? Advantages and Disadvantages for Google in the Chinese Market Advantages that Google has over Baidu in the Chinese market include the public having access to un-censored search terms, Google’s AdWords and AdSense technology, and its partnership with China Mobile. Google also offers attractive applications such as “Picasa Web Album, Google Docs, Google Talk, Google Calendar and Google Checkout” (Yin & Yulin, 2010, p. 2). Some of Google’s services include “Google Earth, Google Hot List, Q&A and a free legal music download service” (Yin & Yulin, 2010, p. 3). In comparison with Baidu, Google does have some disadvantages which include its suspended “ability to search through foreign websites and its associative-word search function”, its criticism from Chinese Regulators and bad publicity from Chinese writers accusing the company of copyright...
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...business Google has always wanted to be the people’s favourite by having a strong set of business morals and gaining the confidence of its users by having a motto, “Don’t be Evil”. Even as it has created goodwill, Google wrestles with difficult choices that will enable it to continue expanding while sustaining the guiding vision of its founders’ mantra. They've taken a stand against pop-ups and pop-under and refused ads from sites they consider to be overly negative. All the while, they've stubbornly kept the Google homepage concise and pristine. On just a faint whisper of a marketing campaign, the company pulled in an estimated $70 million last year (a third from licensing fees and the rest from ads) (McHugh, Josh, Google vs Evil, Wired, 2002). Should Google play ball with repressive foreign governments? Refuse to link users to "hate" sites? Punish marketers who artificially inflate site rankings? Fight the Church of Scientology's attempts to silence critics? And what to do about the cache, Google's archive of previously indexed pages? Are the questions often asked. Most major companies refer to a detailed code of corporate conduct when considering such policy decisions. General Electric devotes 15 pages on its Web site to an integrity policy. Nortel's site has 34 pages of guidelines. Google's code of conduct can be boiled down to a mere three words: Don't be evil. (McHugh, Josh, Google vs Evil, Wired, 2002) Now, for the first time in its history, Google is facing...
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