Case Questions

1. Why do you think so many American citizens and lawmakers reacted negatively to Googles decision in 2006?
2. Does the fact that Google is an Internet company change societal expectations of it regarding information openness?
3. Was Google facing an ethical dilemma (values in conflict) in 2006?
4. Analyze the dilemma from consequentialist, deontological, and virtue ethics perspectives (see Chapter 2). Based on your analysis, what do you think is the right thing to do? Do you agree with Googles CEO that the company made a principled decision? Why or why not?
5. Googles founding motto was Dont Be Evil. What does that mean? And how does it apply in this situation? Is the company living up to its motto? When Google became a holding company, the motto changed to Do the Right Thing, a more positive statement. Are these mottos essentially equivalent or do they provide different guidance with regard to the Google in China case? If so, how, and which do you think is better? Why?
6. Consider Googles other values related to democracy, not doing evil, focusing on the user, providing information, and so on. Can Google do business in China and maintain these ideals? If so, how? If not, why not?
7. Google and other companies routinely comply with government rules to censor other types of materialespecially pornography, but also hate speech and other moral matters such as sexual images in Islamic countries. Are some forms of censorship acceptable? If so, where and how would you draw the line?
8. Tom Donaldson rejects ethical relativism (when in Rome) and ethical absolutism (insisting on exactly the same standards everywhere for every situation). Instead, he recommends that companies operating overseas adopt an ethical threshold based on core values such as the Golden Rule and respect for human rights. Those must then be translated into specific guidelines. Do you think Googles 2006 operating standards were consistent or inconsistent with Donaldsons recommendations? If you were going to recommend a set of standards for Google, what would they say and why?
9. Every transcultural set of ethics standards for global business practice includes the principle of human rights. For example, the UN Global Compact says that companies should protect internationally proclaimed human rights and not be complicit in human rights abuses. The Caux Roundtable Principles state that businesses should contribute to human rights in the countries where they operate. Is Googles behavior consistent with these expectations? Do you agree that the company negotiated away users human rights in 2006?
10. What about the companys decision to pull out of China in 2010? Do you agree with it? How might it affect other companies doing business in China? Does it change how you think about the companys original decision?
11. What do you think about Googles apparent decision to stick its toe back into China waters?"