Google and the Government of China:
A case study in Cross-Cultural Negotiations
Develop a negotiations planning document using the Kellogg format in Exhibit 11
Issue Google Chinese government
Purpose of negotiation Priority: 1 Position: focuses on profit and brand management Priority: 2 Position: technological, economic gaining
Interests: A population of 1.3 billion along with a growing economy makes Chinese market extremely important for Google to enter Interests: It wants Google to provide its citizens and companies with the access to the very best technology, eventually, an achievement of technological parity with the US. Also, China knows the nation’s economy will be improved by internet access and use.
Level of censorship Priority: 2 Position: doesn’t want to comply with the level of censorship required by China Priority: 1 Position: Requires Google to comply with China’s level of censorship
Interests: The image of Google in the media and among investors will be seriously damaged if it act antithetically to its philosophy of “Don’t’ be evil” It might affect negatively to the future prosperity of the company. Interests: China’s leaders desire to improve their nation’s economy while preserving political stability. They want to censor political discussions to prevent “westernization” of China,
Timing of Google acquiring Chinese domain Priority: 3 Position: Google wants to acquire “.cn” as soon as possible before firms from other countries step in. Priority: 4 Position: China also wants to work with Google, sooner but it is not as much urgent for China
Interests: The sooner it could distance itself from its American roots by adopting “.cn” domain, the sooner it becomes a member of “in-group” in Chinese cul...
... middle of paper ...
... that Yahoo had faced when the information it turned over to the Chinese government was used to sentence people to prison terms.
By complying with the the Chinese government but also having such protection features, Google can enter Chinese market and maximize its profit while minimizing harmful effect by differentiating itself from other companies such as Yahoo and MSN. China, also, will be able achieve economic and technological advantages by working with Google while still controlling public opinion. By restricting Google by censorship, with minimal compromises on some services, China will be able to affirm its status as an independent actor in the global marketplace as well.
Work Cited:
James S. O’Rourke IV, Brynn Harris, Allison Ogilvy: Google in China: government censorship and corporate reputation Journal of Business Strategy Vol. 28 NO. 2 2007
Google is multinational public corporation of United States of America that invested in cloud computing, Internet search and several advertising technologies. Its main business is to develop and host Internet based products and services. The company makes profit through “AdWords” which is internet based advertising program. The CEO of the company is Eric Schmidt. The company was founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page who are known as the “Google Guys”. In the beginning the company was registered as a private entity. In 2004 the company’s status changed from private to public concern. After the status of company changed Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin and Larry Page signed an agreement to work together at Google for twenty five year. The agreement will expire in 2029. The aim of the company was to make information universally available in an organized manner. Since then they have been doing this job excellently. The company’s headquarter is located at Mountain View, California.
Geographically the company is global and can be found in almost every major country in the world except China. Google and China cut ties due to censorship issues 2010 and as a result Google gave up access to a huge market. China requested that Google restrict and filter its search results and the company failed to comply and within months Google’s service was inaccessible in China. Despite the failed relationship between Google and China, Google is still working to gain a foothold in the second largest economy by investing in Chinese startups. Namely, in 2015 Google invested in Mobvoi Inc, A Beijing Based artificial intelligence startup that provides mobile voice search in China. Google is suspected to have invested $45 million in the company (Yuan,
Deva, Surya. “Corporate Complicity in Internet Censorship in China: Who Cares for the Global Compact or the Global Online Freedom Act?” The George Washington International Law Review. Washington, DC: The George Washington Intl Law Review. 2007. Web. 31 Jan., 2011.
“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. With this mission set the company created Google Zeitgeist which at every end year sums up what millions of people search for, still continued every year. Google is able to a hold a competitive advantage over its competitors such as ask.com and msn because it provides to its users with services such as cloud computing, software and online commerce and much more.
In 2006, Google created google.cn, this new browser offered competition to its competitors in that, there was a possibility of information privacy, hence information could not leak outside China. The users were informed of the screening process, and the Chinese-language was incorporated in google.com (Martin n.d). The censoring was due to the various results obtained as a result of various searches. The search results obtained received negative reactions from various scholars, non-governmental organizations and the citizens in general.
Google makes our life easier. The company has grown from when it was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, to provide around fifty different products beyond the basic Google search. With the multitude of technologies, that vary from maps to docs, Google’s job consists of making it quicker and easier to find the information needed to get what you need to your task done. Google builds the background programs and helpful tools that millions of businesses use to succeed, as well as create products for the web that help the environment, and people get what they want on the Web faster. The culture at Google is based all around the people. The people are very intelligent and determined to achieve the companies shared goals. Everyone at Google has an o...
According to an article by Rebecca MacKinnon, “While the Chinese government has supported the development of the Internet as a tool for business, entertainment, education, and information exchange, it has succeeded in preventing people from using the Internet to organize any kind of viable political opposition. Balancing openness with control has been the central challenge for the Chinese Communist Party since Deng Xiaoping began his policy of “reform and opening up” in 1979.” Clearly, the normal Chinese citizen would be afraid to just browse the Internet because of the filters and possible risks involved. “One student blogger in China, pen-named “Undersound” estimated that only about five percent of the people he knows actually use proxy servers to access blocked websites. Most of his classmates...
Evidently, there is no positive relationship between economic development and censorship. Violating citizen 's right to freedom of information under the disguise of economic growth is just another excuse of dictatorship. It is true that economic growth can be attained with censorship or non-democratically, as it has been the case in China. However, democracy also produces a healthy economic development, as it has been the case in the western countries, like the U.S. Clearly, this shows that there can be economic development regardless of creating a censored society or not. However, economic progress will only be sustainable with an open society who has the freedom to access information. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, during his visit to China,
Such an enormous investment is, out of necessity, coupled with legislation and bureaucracy. In 2010 the People's Republic of China released a white-paper via their Information Office detailing its policies for implementing and regulating the Internet (Xu). Delegating control to over a dozen government organizations and detailing 18 specific laws or decisions regarding China's Internet, the document is nothing if not thorough (Dance to The Revolution). Despite this, it is largely seen as a propaganda piece, prompting one American writer, Rebecca MacKinnon, to compare the reading of the white-paper to perusing an article in The Onion. The comparison of a legislative document to a publication known for witty and scathing parody arises from the stark contrast between the spirit of the Chinese laws regarding Internet Censorship and their practical, day to day implementation (MacKinnon). For example, the 2010 white-paper states:
The government in china is very concerned with limiting the freedom of expression for it's citizens in all possible ways. Let's examine first the reason why censorship is such an important aspect for the Chinese government. According to the book “A Short History of China” by Gordon Kerr when the renaissance took place in Europe from the 14th through the 17th century it changed people's view in many different ways because it was “a period of exploration, discovery and advancement in almost every field”(Gordon Kerr 87); it was a rebirth of the ancient traditions. Mean...
China is one of the strictest countries when it comes to dealing with foreign multinational corporations. Any international company willing to set up shop in China must comply with the strict laws of doing business in the country. More often than not, international companies doing business in China face a lot of obstacles due to differences in values they stand for. For instance, Google. Inc. China is a classic example of a multinational corporation that has struggled to conduct successful business in China.
Thornton, P., (ed.) (2010), ‘Censorship and Surveillance in Chinese Cyberspace: Beyond the Great Firewall’ In Gries, P. H., and Rosen, S., (eds) Chinese Politics (London and New York: Routledge).
This paper focuses on examining Google’s dilemma in light of the challenge it faced when its compliance with the law contributed to several ethical concerns. This analysis examines whether Google made the right choice to launch the Chinese search engine and censor search results and whether its rhetoric on ethics, human rights, and business changed with time. The other issues exam...
Smith, Craig, "Tough New Rules Don't Faze Chinese Internet Start-Ups," The New York Times, 4 October 2000. Retrieved 26 April 2004.
Remote (Remote concerns for Google are new laws and regulations, increasing intellectual property claims, and access to more information.) (Weak position in China- strict gov’t regulations and cultural differences)