CASE STUDY Worldwide, many companies provide services to international market companies. The price of doing business in a global market is being subjected to the laws and regulations of the country in which the company operates. Google is one such company that makes available an internet search engine worldwide. While the service has been mainly operated from the United States, Google has provided its service since 2000, in a version that is available in the Chinese language to the people of China. The Chinese government blocked Google’s Chinese version of its service, which made the greatest part of their services inaccessible to the people of China. In an effort to provide the service to all people worldwide, Google made the decision to locate an office in China that would introduce their Google.cn to the Chinese people. While Americans take for granted their freedom of speech, the Chinese people have always been restricted to censored information provided by the state run media. The government is particularly adverse to any medium that undermines the state’s power or goes against the national unity. They also restrict or ban any content that is sexual in nature. The restrictions on the content that could be accessed on the internet with Google was something that was imperative to consider before the decision to directly initiate service from China. Even with the restrictions imposed by the government, Google decided to open a Chinese based operation. They believed that they could eventually wear down the resistance of the government with the wishes of the people wanting restriction free access. What they did not consider is the indoctrination of the Chinese people as a whole with the status quo. Google saw the opportunity to share in the market of global internet access by offering it to millions of internet users. They believed that once the Chinese people had the opportunity to access so much information, they would be able to sway the government to allow that access. Google’s inability to understand the culture of the Chinese people was an indication of the failure that Google faced in providing unrestricted internet access to them. From the start, the Chinese government had made clear that they would not allow any internet access that went against the state. Their refusal to back down from any of the restrictions, coupled with the successful internet provider Baidu, a company that is home grown, spelled disaster for Google before they even began. Google has charged that a hacking attack in 2009 was initiated by the Chinese government to access the g-mail accounts of persons they considered to be subversives of the state. This incident, along with the declining share of market Google has, precipitated the partial withdrawal from the Chinese market. Recent developments in the liberation of internet access in China show that there is hope. China now has the largest internet network in the world with 338 million web surfers, 700 million mobile users, and 180 million blogs (Teng, Marc). This increase of internet users has affected the way that the Chinese people interact with officials. Google did not consider that the Chinese people needed to embrace reform in the economic and social arenas at their own pace. While the change is not quick enough for the citizens of the United States, the people of China have made remarkable strides in becoming integrated into the world community. The United States as a nation does restrict the use of the internet to criminals and should not criticize others who do the same. China has done a remarkable job of instituting economic reform. Google needs to acknowledge the great strides the country has made and tailor their own inclusion into the Chinese market to the nuances and pace of development of the Chinese people. References
Levy, S. (2011). Inside Google's China misfortune. Retrieved from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/15/googles-ordeal-in-china/
Teng, F. S. (March 25, 2010). The Grey Areas Between Google and China. Retrieved from http://huffingtonpost.com/fred-teng/the-grey-areas-between-go_b_512869.html