1. Case 2 Summer Doak Phong Tong LaKeysha Henderson
Google in China
Case 2
Summer Doak
Phong Tong
LaKeysha Henderson

2. History on Google
Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in California.
The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997, and the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998.
In May 2011, the number of monthly unique visitors to Google surpassed 1 billion for the first time.

3. Background
In 2005 Google was struggling with the question of weather or not it should directly enter the Chinese market for search engines.  Google had been doing business with China for the past 5 years but, due to China's firewall, Google felt that its service was lacking for users in China.  At this time China was viewed as a major player in the world's economy and populated by 1.3 billion people.  The controversy arose between Google's core values and China's strict censorship.

4. Question 1
For Google in 2005, from a business perspective, what are the arguments for and against entering China?

5. LeKeysha Henderson’s Answer
Entering China is a great opportunity for Google to produce more revenue and to increase market shares. China is the most economic country in the world and it is the most populous. The downside of Google entering China is that they will have to abide by China’s Internet Censorship, Rules, and Regulations. Google has not lived up to their expectations and in previous years as being a great internet service. Google users in China have complained that Google is down 10% of the time, the web site is slow, and that Google images are accessible only half the time. The list goes on and this type of service has many users very skeptical of using Google.

6. Phong Tong’s Answer
For: China is the world’s most populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. In a business perspective, I would most definitely say it’s a great idea for Google to bring their business into China. With that many people living in China, it will make Google’s revenue increase exponentially. Against: Google is one of the most successful companies that provides internet related products and services. Since entering China, Google has not been able to provide the service that they are currently doing in the United States. People in China are complaining that the site is not working properly and that it is slow. With the reputation that Google has in the United States, entering China and not producing the way they should is hurting their name.

7. Summer Doak’s Answer
Business arguments for entering China:  The number of internet users had been growing exponentially. China is a large influence and economically dynamic. Google had already been working with them for 5 years and pulling out could tarnish it's reputation. China could offer substantial growth and revenue for Google.
Against:  Google.com's downtime, lack of speed, stalling, unavailable news service, and images only being accessible half the time doesn't meet Google's standard. This will be difficult if not impossible to improve on because of China's firewall protection.  Not censoring would defy laws of globalization and Google could face criticism either way.

8. Question 2
From an ethical perspective, what are the arguments for and against entering China?

9. LeKeysha Henderson’s Answer
Ethical Behaviors refers to the rules or standards set by society for right conduct or practices in business. China’s strict Internet Censorship limited Chinese users access to information and freedom of expression. US companies will have to legally comply with the requirements of Chinese law enforcement. China is not going to compromise on this subject. The subject to comply with the rules and regulations may not be as hard for China based companies to comply with since they are accustomed to Chinese Laws regarding the use of Internet.

10. Phong Tong’s Answer
From an ethical perspective, I believe Google should not stay in China. The reason is being China is very strict. The Chinese government says foreign internet firms such as Google are welcome to do business in China but they must abide by the law. According to Idea Beta, when google.cn first launched in China in 2006, it complied with Chinese censorship regulations, but not wholeheartedly. I believe if Google is not going to comply fully with Chinese law, they should not attempt to stay in China.

11. Summer Doak’s Answer
Ethically for:  This is a huge stand on human rights, a strong statement for freedom of expression and information.  It would fulfill Google's mission to provide everyone with all information.
Against:  It is a huge risk management decision to not censor and could compromise Google's integrity.  Accepting self-censorship also goes against Google's motto "Don't be Evil“

12. Question 3
If Google decides to enter China, How can it do so while mitigating adverse ethical impacts? Please formulate possible options and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses?

13. LeKeysha Henderson’s Answer
I think a good business approach is to have trained IT and Sales people visit popular places and cater to the younger crowd and show them that Google is able to produce fast reliable service that includes messaging, entertainment, news, and . Google will have to do a lot publicity and be on the scene instead of behind the scenes.

14. Phong Tong’s Answer
In order to mitigate adverse ethical impacts, Google would first need to learn the customs and beliefs of the Chinese in order to conform to society’s ideals. The strength for Google is that they’re worldwide and Google is a brand name so many countries would like to do business with them. A weakness is that Google might not have penetrated the Asian Market yet but China has other search engines that would be stiff competition; however Google is not the front runner. Many people are accustomed to their own search engine and people might not like changes. What Google can do is get their name out there to the Chinese and explain what they can do better than the existing search engines in China.

15. Summer Doak’s Answer
I think regardless of what Google does it will undergo scrutiny from somewhere.  It could enter China and abide by their censorships, however some might say this goes against their policy to provide access to everyone.  Google could choose to enter China and not abide by censorships thereby leaving China to sensor and thusly significantly reducing the quality of service provided by Google.  This could also be perceived as going against their own policy and would be frowned upon by China.  Google could decide not to enter China at all and then be seen as cowardly for stepping down after a 5 year struggle.  This would probably be frowned upon by both the US and China.

16. Question 4
What do you think Google should do, and why?

17. LeKeysha Henderson’s Answer
In my opinion I think Google should focus on improving their services with United States and Europe. China has a strict policy on Internet Censorship and they are not bending their policies or standards for anyone. Also , Google is an American based company that has not been able to supply Chinese users with the entertainment, messaging, news,and applications; not to mention more than half of the Chinese Internet users who knew about Google could not spell the name correctly. Overall I feel that Chinese users prefer to use Baidu a Chinese firm that has proven themselves consistently and work well with China government.

18. Phong Tong’s Answer
In my opinion, I believe Google should stay in China. The reason is because China has a population of over 1.3 billion. I believe Google doing business in China is a cash cow. I believe if you’re going to do business in a different country, you should abide by the law so they can make insane profit at all cost. I believe China can be without Google because they can find another search engine but if Google is not launched in China, they will be losing money that they can easily make if they just follow the rules.

19. Summer Doak’s Answer
I think that Google should stick with China because not only could it provide substantial growth and revenue for stockholders, but also taking this stand could build loyalty rather than allowing some of its Chinese competitors to possible cross over to the US and take customers.  Google’s mission is to satisfy the interests of users and allow access of information to anyone, by pulling out of China Google is going to look weak and lose legitimacy.