Google's China Problem - Cross-Cultural Sensitivity or Cross-Cultural Awareness in the Global Workplace

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Google

China

Interest

- To provide greater search capabilities to end users and to increase market shares globally

(Refer to appendix C)

- Making use of stringent censorship to increase its market share against foreign competitors

Position

- Compromising of search result by abiding to China legislation

- They understand the needs of the end users requirement and able to position themselves better than Google which is more strategically

4. Self-disciple Award

4.1 Intimidation/ self-regulation

Google (.CN) & China

Psychological Noise

- All netizens to be conscious of safe and healthy use of internet

- Self regulates their online behaviour and maintain harmonious internet order

- To offer internet service, companies must sign a license agreed not to circulate content on certain subject on that “damages the honour or interest of the state” or “Disturb the public order or destroy public stability or even infringes upon national customs and habits

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5. Compromise and disclaimers

5.1 Operating outside/ inside of china

In order for Google to operate in China, its adopt the face negotiation theory in intercultural conflict and resolution

5.1.1 Positive and Negative face

Negotiation theory

Remarks

Positive face (Google)

- Develop a more user friendly search engine using Asian language (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

- Set up computer inside China to detect and blacklist illicit website

- google.com uncensored, but leads to dead end for controversial links

- google.cn

search results will be censored by Google, with disclaimer explaining censorship in accordance to Chinese laws

Negative face (China)

- Companies within China either adopts self-censorship or face broad array of penalties.

- Companies outside China with inappropriate contents will be block by the “Great firewall of China”.

- Hardware companies that maintain the fibre-optics pipeline in China, e.g. Cisco Systems, are required to implement “router” switches to prevent access to banned websites.

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5.2 Google’s conflict management Style

Conflict management

Google

Compromise approach

- Setting up a dedicated site (google.cn) for China.

- “Filtering our search results clearly compromises our mission1. Failing to offer Google search at all to a fifth of the world's population, however, does so far more severely.” Andrew McLaughlin, senior policy counsel, Google.2

- Setting a computer within China to monitor for prohibited websites, thus creating a blacklist and blocking the websites from end-users.

1 – refer to appendix A

2- Google in China (Retrieved 20/12/2014)

6. ZhaoJing’s ranking

6.1 Companies ranking‘s in order of ethnics

Google

Physical Noise

Displaying of search results in a positive manner which totally differ from what the end user’s expected search results

Psychological Noise

Google creating of two different search engine which creates different perspective of search results will leads to internet users displaying of biases toward the government ruling search engine.

Ethnocentrism

With reference from the Tiananmen Incident, the Chinese government have strong dominant in the protection of the information being circulated publicly. They banned view point from foreign media from intervening in China Governance

Prejudice

The openness of Google search result is view as a negative influence by the Chinese government which has a strong impact on the traditional Chinese thinking.

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Appendices

Refer to appendix document

References

http://www.regentuniversityonline.com/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol3iss2/IJLS_V3Is2_Deng_Gibson.pdf

http://www.googleblog.blogspot.sg/2006/01/google-in-china.html

http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Chinese-Business-Style.html

https://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/