As seen from the recent Google-China controversy, operating a multi-national business presents many challenges. Google understands more and more what these challenges mean and is learning about the decisions a company must make to operate on a global scale. Here we’ll take a look at the current crisis in China and discuss some takeaways from Google’s response.
Google.cn
In 2006, Google made an agreement with the Chinese government to offer a censored version of their site, feeling this would help Google better compete with leading Chinese search engine Baidu. A Google spokesperson argued at the time that, “while removing search results is inconsistent with Google’s mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission.” After a December 2009 security breach targeting the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google re-evaluated its position and in January 2010, Google began running a full, uncensored version of the search engine.
This business decision has started a wave of controversy delving into culture clashes, politics, human rights and appropriate business practices – China has denied allegations about involvement with the cyber attack, Hilary Clinton has spoken out about foreign policy concerning internet rights and Bill Gates has voiced opinions against Google’s decision. The world has many opinions they’re willing to share, as seen by the buzz surrounding Google China in the last month.
Lessons from Google
This breach of security created an interesting situation between two world powers. We are now witnessing a standoff between economics and ethics, between political ideologies, between government and enterprise. Here are a few things businesses can learn from Google’s reaction to this crisis.
1. Respond Quickly – By responding to this breach within a matter of weeks, Google addressed the severity of this situation and added a level of transparency necessary in managing public opinion.
2. Own Your Mistakes – Google showed integrity by admitting their inconsistent practices and rescinding the previous arrangement to revert to their standard operating procedure. It’s not often you hear a company voluntarily say “uncle.”
3. Take A Stand – Google acted boldly by taking an offensive position to this issue. Rather than pulling service, renegotiating or maintaining service, Google did what it thought was right. Although this could result in losing the business, it’s admirable the company is advocating for human rights on a global level.
The current situation has China on the defense and in a holding position. For the past two weeks, Google has operated their unrestricted search engine in the nation. It will be fascinating to watch how this plays out – whether we see a governmental shift or a company kicked out, it’s obvious Google has made waves. Stay tuned.
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