...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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...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 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 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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...able to look into something you desire to know? Google is the world’s largest and most renowned online search engine. It is a household name and “to Google” has even become an accepted term in English language. Google should stay in China and deal with their censorships. (1)Google does not want to allow its global search competitors to gain a stronger foothold in the Chinese market; Consider this piece from The Huffington Post, which doesn't expressly say Google should stay, but shows that Microsoft and other Google competitors would gain a huge advantage if the search giant picks up and goes home. This is important because by Google leaving, they can lose on a lot of revenue. (2) China boasts more Internet users than the entire U.S. population, and Google has recently gained significantly in that market, so there is substantial revenue to be gained. Why leave when you can still make a great income? Even if you can’t be fully used as a program, engine, whatever; you can still make money through all you other searches. (3) China boasts more Internet users than the entire U.S. population, and Google has recently gained significantly in that market, so there is substantial revenue to be gained. Leaving China could even harm the United State’s relationship with them. Someone could disagree and say that congress may pass legislation that would fine companies that don't uphold basic human rights. If Google opts to stay in China, it could face serious fines and other penalties...
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...GOOGLE IN CHINA – A Case Analysis Situation The case talks about the severe backlash and international criticism that Google faced when it launched its search engine in China. At its launch, the company had decided to censor search results to gain the Chinese government’s approval and acceptance. This was however not in alignment with the company’s motto of “Don’t be evil”. Google so far, being very successful from its foundation in 1998, had always followed the mission of providing all relevant information and data to the users as per the user’s search criteria. It was the right of the people to have access to all the information that Google could deliver. But to tap the thriving Chinese economy and to garner a bigger share in the Chinese market, when the company launched its new website and search engine, Google came to an agreement with the government to filter the search and purge the results as per the government regulation. The management thought if they don’t agree, the Chinese government would filter from their end, making the process slow and unyielding. At least this way, people would have some fast access to the world information and also the company will churn out money. Stakeholder Analysis The stakeholders for this case would be the company itself; it’s employees, businesses that provide advertisement in Google and finally the end users. The filtration of the search results would affect directly the end users, as they would...
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...Google stops China censorship, Beijing condemns move (Update 3) 22 March 2010 cyberattacks it said originated from China. China reacted quickly to Google's move saying it was "totally wrong" for it to stop censorship and to blame Beijing for the cyberattacks that Google said targeted email accounts of Chinese human rights activists. "Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service," said the official in charge of the Internet bureau of the State Council Information Office. "We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conduct," the Chinese official said. The White House said it was "disappointed" Google could not reach a deal with Beijing and reiterated that US President Barack Obama is "committed to Internet freedom and... opposed to censorship." "The US-China relationship is mature enough to sustain differences," added National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer. Drummond, Google's top lawyer, said "figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard. "We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services." Google co-founder Sergey Brin told The New York Times that shifting the Chinese service to Hong Kong was not given a clear-cut stamp of...
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...regulatory environment in China and its implications for the chinese media. In light of the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government of internet access, how do you think the media industry is affected? On google agreeing to ensure its search content, Reporters without borders commented, “Google’s statement about respecting online privacy are the height of hypocrisy in view of its strategy in China.” However, Google’s Director of Research was of the view, “What’s important to users is access to information, we are giving them that, and we think that’s the most important.” Do you think Google was right in taking this step? Justify your answer. PPPPPPPPPPP Internet censorship Increasingly, Chinese and Tibetan citizens both inside and outside areas of Chinese Government control are seeking information through the internet and other forms of online media. The speed and bredth of information access which these mediums allow is a huge threat to the Chinese Government as they attempt to maintain propagandist views of 'sensitive issues' such as human rights, the Tinananmen Square massacre and Tibet. As such, the Chinese Government goes to great lengths to control the internet and to limit the amount of information its citizens are able to uncover. On 13 January 2010, Google announced that it would consider pulling out of China after it emerged that hackers had been attempting to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists. Google instead decided to drop...
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...Case Analysis 2: Google in China Strategic Issues and Problems: Four years of struggle with Chinese government about censorship led Google to redirect its operations to Hong Kong in 2010. The reason behind this move was to get over the harsh regulations of Chinese government. Google has considered itself as a better company that builds a better future. This idea has been diverted during the course of time and the company became the “Overlord of Silicon Valley”. While standing in between making the world a better place and keeping the profits of a huge Chinese market, Sergey Brin stated, “Google’s stand was opposing totalitarianism”. Contrary to this idea, Chinese government used censorship to protect its political stability and power. Evaluation and Analysis: Google thinks itself more than a company trying to make more money. Asserting “Don’t be evil” motto, it thinks that the company can make differences for humanity. According to Google, the main reason for them to leave China was originated from following its company ethics. The Chinese government on the other hand, was coming on Google, to protect its own power and information. The reason behind all of these was for the protection of Chinese intelligence. In order to provide better service, Google collects all sorts of public and private information. Chinese government predicted this as a threat and forced Google to obey their laws. After becoming a multibillion-dollar company, Google inwardly changed from the...
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...Analysis of the problem. * Case is based on the negotiation that took place between Google and the Chinese government to allow their citizens access to Chinese version of Google. Google looking at vast business opportunities in China as a long-term strategy. Due to its population size and market potential, China has become an attractive market for many USA and multinational companies. But Chinese government had censorship demand to Google that created some problems with opening Google search engine in China. * In 2002 Google was blocked in China. It all happened because of Chinese culture and maybe of political views. Co-founder of Google Sergey Brin began to read a dozen books to know this country. And then Google was restored for unknown reasons but Chinese users faced another problem – censorship. Chinese government very aggressively began to censor Google’s search results. Google censored some historical moments, political topics such as democratic reform, Taiwanese independence, the banned Falun Gong movement and references to the notorious Tiananmen Square massacre of democratic protestors that occurred in 1989. After that the human rights activists protested against Google. Their argument was that Google abandoned it principals in order to make higher profits. * Explanation of implication of issues and problem for affected parties is simple. Google wanted to operate in China due to its economy and market potential and don’t wanted to lag behind of its opponents...
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...Google in China Case Study Introduction On January 12, 2010 Google’s Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, posted an online memo that targeted the Chinese government. The company stated that it had detected highly sophisticated cyber-attacks originating from China and that the evidence suggested the primary goal of the hackers was to access Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. The memo further disclosed that Google was no longer willing to censor its search results on Google.cn and it would exit China if its conditions on non-censorship were not met. The problem faced by Google is that, the Chinese government has been determined to control the flow of information on the Internet and insists on removing certain information that it considered politically objectionable from search results. Google’s mission as a company is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. However, China’s policies on censorship seemed to conflict with several of Google’s core principles. There is also the question; did Google do its homework to thoroughly analyze the Chinese operating environment as it relates to censorship? By 2005, Chinese search engine company, Baidu, emerged as the leading internet search engine in China. A very important piece of information to consider is that, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are not considered inherent rights in the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, to compete with...
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...at Duke Universit y Business Ethics GOOGLE IN CHINA “The Great Firewall” Prepared by Kristina Wilson, Yaneli Ramos, and Daniel Harvey under the supervision of Professor Wayne Norman (edited by Professor Chris MacDonald) In early 2006, search-engine giant Google struck a deal with the People’s Republic of China and launched Google.cn, a version of its search engine run by the company from within China. Launching Google.cn required Google to operate as an official Internet Service Provider (ISP) in China, a country whose Communist government requires all ISPs to selfcensor, removing content that is considered illegal from search results. From a financial perspective, China represented for Google a dynamic and fast-growing, though increasingly competitive, market. 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. This case was prepared as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either the effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation...
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