Google in China Case Study
Google in China Case Study
Chris Chapman
MGT/448
April 27, 2013
Professor Willie Thomas
University of Phoenix
Google in China
Google’s mantra “Don’t be evil,” represents the company’s fundamental principle of never compromising the integrity of its search results. In 2000, Google decided to expand its services to China, the world’s largest country. The expansion met greater opportunities for the growing company. However, new markets bring new challenges and assimilating to the culture, ethics, and laws of a market can give a company a whole new outlook. Google would take a risk on being looked at as “evil.”
Legal, Cultural, and Ethical Challenges Google prides itself on being a company that provides open information to the public. This democratic approach to business did not go over well with the Chinese communist government. As a result, the government blocked Google servers from working in the country. When the government did allowed Google servers to run they censored what the deemed subversive. The censorship would degrade Google’s service in China. Consequently, Google established operations in the country and created a Chinese homepage that would compete with other search engine servers there. This left the company at the will of Chinese regulators. Doing business in the country would mean following Chinese laws and regulations. This met giving up their view on information censorship. Google’s moral principles were being challenged. Instead of “access to all information” the company provided its Chinese users with “the greatest amount of information possible.” Although censorship conflicted with the company’s ethical standards, it was seen as a win for Chinese users, as some information is better than none.
The Chinese Government
The Chinese government played a huge role in Google’s change in business perspective. By blocking Google’s severs and directing users to rivals, the government was sending a message, business being
Chris Chapman
MGT/448
April 27, 2013
Professor Willie Thomas
University of Phoenix
Google in China
Google’s mantra “Don’t be evil,” represents the company’s fundamental principle of never compromising the integrity of its search results. In 2000, Google decided to expand its services to China, the world’s largest country. The expansion met greater opportunities for the growing company. However, new markets bring new challenges and assimilating to the culture, ethics, and laws of a market can give a company a whole new outlook. Google would take a risk on being looked at as “evil.”
Legal, Cultural, and Ethical Challenges Google prides itself on being a company that provides open information to the public. This democratic approach to business did not go over well with the Chinese communist government. As a result, the government blocked Google servers from working in the country. When the government did allowed Google servers to run they censored what the deemed subversive. The censorship would degrade Google’s service in China. Consequently, Google established operations in the country and created a Chinese homepage that would compete with other search engine servers there. This left the company at the will of Chinese regulators. Doing business in the country would mean following Chinese laws and regulations. This met giving up their view on information censorship. Google’s moral principles were being challenged. Instead of “access to all information” the company provided its Chinese users with “the greatest amount of information possible.” Although censorship conflicted with the company’s ethical standards, it was seen as a win for Chinese users, as some information is better than none.
The Chinese Government
The Chinese government played a huge role in Google’s change in business perspective. By blocking Google’s severs and directing users to rivals, the government was sending a message, business being
References: Hill, C. (2009). International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace, (7th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.