Google In China Case Study

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When operating abroad, companies are required to comply with the laws of the nation in which they do business, however, there is often a conflict between country law and company ethics. Google established its operations in China in 2006 and brought its Western business culture to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). As a condition of doing business in China, Google agreed to comply with the Chinese government’s censorship policies and block search results on subjects that were considered politically sensitive. The company was criticised for this decision, as self-censorship goes against Google’s traditional corporate values. From the beginning, Google’s relationship with the Chinese government was delicate.

Many of Google’s Chinese employees found it hard to adjust to the Western work ethic: most notably, the company policy which states that employees must devote a fifth of their working hours to independent projects. In addition, unlike engineers in other locations, Chinese engineers were denied access to Google’s software source code, which limited what they could do. This demonstrates the company’s lack of understanding of Chinese business culture. To …show more content…

Decisions in China are taken collectively and hierarchy is of the utmost importance. China places a lot of value on conformity and unicity – one of the aspects of the collectivist mind-set developed in China since 1949 when Mao Zedong and the Communist Party established the People’s Republic of China. On the other hand, the United States is an individualistic culture in which business decisions are normally made by individuals. This cultural divergence can clearly be seen in Google’s decision to leave mainland China in 2010. This decision was taken solely by the top management, which shocked Google’s Chinese employees as in a group-oriented society, decisions are taken by the group and are structured around the needs of the

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