Ethical Issues in Google - Essay Example

Ethical Issues in Google Table of Contents Introduction 1 Ethical theories and implications 2 Utilitarian Ethical Theory 2 Virtue based ethical theory 3 Rights based ethical theory 4 Rawl’s justice based ethics 5 Conclusion 5 Reference list 6 Bibliography 8 Introduction Google is one of the leading multinational corporations based in the United States that provided various paid and free internet based and technological services to business organizations and general consumers. Google’s products include search engine, email and blogging services, social networking, operating system for personal computers and mobiles, media services and business applications. Recently, Google have invested in development of android based hardware devices as well. For an organisation as large as Google, ethic and governance plays an important role in its business activities and organisational practices (Google, 2014a). Ethic primarily comprises moral principles that help an individual to justify and distinguish good behaviour from bad ones. Organisation ethics is defined as a set of principles and guidelines that govern organisational decision and practices (Pojman, 1989). The paper aims at analysing ethical issues relevant to Google while briefly highlighting ethical theories and examples thereof. Ethical theories and implications Organisational behaviour is significantly affected by organisational ethics. Ethic is gaining importance at large corporations such as Google because with growing organisational complexities, ethical dilemma at companies is also increasing rapidly. From the perspective of organisational behaviour, four ethical theories were ascertained to be appropriate for discussing relevance of ethics at Google. These theories are utilitarian ethical theory, virtue ethics, rights based ethics and justice based ethics (Peterson, 2002). Utilitarian Ethical Theory Utilitarian theory of ethics was originally posited by Jeremy Bentham, which however was later advanced by authors such as John Stuart Mill. The theory implies that self-interest should be overlooked and impartial judgment should be made when interest of a number of individuals is associated with a particular action. Consequently, it is also known as the rule based theory. In other words, utilitarian ethics is focused on impact of an action’s outcome on various stakeholders. These stakeholders can be either internal or external to an organization. Utilitarian ethics emphasizes on maximization of stakeholders’ wealth while minimizing potential damage. From organizational perspective, utilitarian ethical approach delivers long term benefits to a firm by means of goodwill (Freeman, 1994). One example of violation of utilitarian ethics by Google can be the strategy it adopted while entering China. China being one of most populous countries presents enormous opportunity of growth for Google but the Chinese government insists that all digital activities of its citizens require national monitoring for political control. When Yahoo entered China, it had to accept the policy and help the Chinese government. The outcome was, arrest of a local journalist for expressing opinion regarding government order through email (The Wall Street Journal, 2010). The entire concept defies Google’s value and creates conflict of interest. It is very evident that such practices violates and intervenes in a consumer’s privacy. Considering the ethical dilemma lying thereof, Google quit Chinese market. However, Google re-entered in China with certain restrictions so that interest of its global stakeholders and its principles is not violated. The above decision was made at Google after taking in consideration the greater good associated with privacy of millions of users of Google services (Reuters, 2014; Google, 2014b). Virtue based ethical theory Virtue based ethics has been primarily proposed by ancient philosophers, namely, Aristotle and Plato. Under normative ethical approach, one of the prominent theories is that of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics put emphasis on virtuousness and morality of character and is often noted as a contrasting theory with respect to consequential theories of ethics. Virtue ethics has been adopted by number business organisations for developing foundation of organisational ethics. By definition, this theory stresses considerably on mentality, thought process and character of individuals instead of their act (Statman, 1997). From organisation’s as well as individual’s perspective, virtue based theory establishes influence of ethics and morals on decision making process. This theory has nothing to do with nature of an act or its quality. Also, it pays little or no importance to outcomes associated with the act. Wisdom, loyalty, commitment and courage are considered as important aspect of this theory. However, significant difference has been observed by authors between theory of virtue ethics and other ethical theories in terms of the fact that virtue ethics does not provide any specific set of criteria regarding decision making. Virtue ethics can be associated with ethical organisational practices such as ethical accounting practice and corporate citizenship (Statman, 1997). Several examples of deviation from ethical practices within organisation can be witnessed in the present business environment. Unethical practices resulted in numerous business crises such as financial crisis of 2007, financial scandal of 2001 by Enron and WorldCom due to reporting issues, bursting of dotcom bubble and so on. The list is considerably long and has resulted in tremendous financial loss of stakeholders. It is ascertained that adoption of virtue ethics by these organisations would have prevented the crises and relevant massive loss. Moving on, Google has so far ensured that they do not deviate from ethical practices. Google is significantly involved in various philanthropic practices so as to establish its corporate citizenship. Such steps enhance market reputation of the company as well as establish credibility to its shareholders (Vitell and Festervand, 1987; Google, 2014a). Rights based ethical theory The history of rights based ethics dates back to ancient time and was originally discussed by authors named John Locke and Thomas Hobbes (Pojman, 1989). However, the theory was refined over the time and modern theory in this regard was presented by Immanuel Kant. Rights based ethics assumes that every individual has certain basic entitlements such as right to education, right to knowledge, right to privacy, freedom of speech and others. Rights based ethical theory is practices by government of all countries, even if it is with certain modifications. This theory is often considered as a contrasting approach to utilitarian theory. The theory emphasises that these rightly does not necessarily have to be legal by nature; the can be humanistic and moral in nature (Pojman, 1989). Besides financial crises and tragedies, rights based ethics has also been violated by number of multinational companies. Some of the prominent examples have been set by well-known corporations such as Coca-Cola, Ford Motor and Nestle US. Numerous times Coca-Cola has been accused for water pollution and privatisation, abuse of human rights and workplace discrimination as noted by the International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF). ILRF further revealed Ford Motors have been consistently violating environmental rights while Nestle US has been significantly involved in hiring child labours in Ivory Coast, from where it imports maximum amount of Cocoa (International Labour Rights Forum, 2005). With respect to Google, the case of Chinese Government’s repressive policies towards internet usage can be considered as violation of rights to privacy. The company’s strategy to limit its services to China protected the company from massive future loss in terms of loss to credibility of the firm to its users. Privacy is essential for every user of internet and is considered as equivalent to right to information. However, no government and private organisation is authorised to violate this code for personal benefit (Vitell and Festervand, 1987). On this note, integrity of Google and other internet based companies has been questioned several times (Santa Clara University, 2014). However, Google has ensured it to all of its stakeholders that information privacy and security is of utmost importance to the firm and consequently, a multi-layered security strategy has been implemented by the company (Google, 2014b; 2014c). Rawl’s justice based ethics Ethical theory of justice was developed in the era of eminent Greek philosophers, named, Plato and Aristotle. One of the prominent contributors in this regard was John Rawl and frequently, this theory is noted as Rawl’s theory of justice. The author proposed certain principles for providing fair solution to issues such as interest conflicts among individuals and organisations. Fairness has been emphasised as an essential component of the theory (Rawls, 2009; Scanlon Jr, 1973). The author appended that actions of an individual or an organisation should not result in greater disadvantage for the least advantaged individuals in a society (Rawls, 2009). Fair practices in terms of wage equality and gender equality in an organisation can be considered under the purview of this theory. From Google’s perspective, employees are an essential asset for the organisation and it is reflected in its practices such as workplace freedom and employee empowerment. Google’s innovation is often credited to its employees. Other justifiable practices at Google include information security, corporate citizenship, healthy work culture and transparency in accounting practices (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2013; Forbes, 2013). Conclusion Organisational ethics have gained significant importance in recent times as a result of several business scandals. The paper, however, primarily focuses on ethical issues associated with Google. In this report, important ethical theories have been discussed with respect to practical organisational examples followed by strategies adopted by Google. It was further gathered that most ethical theories evolved from ancient root which have been further modified to incorporate within organisational framework. The study highlighted that Google has a relatively unconventional method of practicing ethics but the company have not so far breached any of them. Reference list Bloomberg Businessweek, 2013. Why Your Office Isn't Like Google's. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Forbes, 2013. Google's Secrets Of Innovation: Empowering Its Employees. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Freeman, S., 1994. Utilitarianism, deontology, and the priority of right. Philosophy & public affairs, 23(4), pp. 313-349. Google, 2014a. About us. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Google, 2014b. Privacy policy. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Google, 2014c. Google analytics. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. International Labour Rights Forum, 2005. The 14 Worst Corporate Evildoers. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Peterson, D. K., 2002. Deviant workplace behavior and the organization's ethical climate. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17(1), pp. 47-61 Pojman, L. P. (Ed.)., 1989. Ethical theory: classical and contemporary readings. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Rawls, J., 2009. A theory of justice. Harvard: Harvard university press. Reuters, 2014. Access to Google services within China returns. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Santa Clara University, 2014. Unavoidable Ethical Questions about Search Engines. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Scanlon Jr, T. M., 1973. Rawls' theory of justice. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, pp. 1020-1069. Statman, D. (Ed.)., 1997. Virtue ethics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. The Wall Street Journal, 2010. Ethical Conflicts for Firms in China. [online] Available at: [accessed 02 December 2014]. Vitell, S. J. and Festervand, T. A., 1987. Business ethics: conflicts, practices and beliefs of industrial executives. Journal of Business Ethics, 6(2), pp. 111-122. Bibliography Brandt, R. B., 1959. Ethical theory: The problems of normative and critical ethics. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Broad, C. D., 2014. Five types of ethical theory. London: Routledge. Derry, R. and Green, R. M., 1989. Ethical theory in business ethics: A critical assessment. Journal of Business Ethics, 8(7), pp. 521-533. Frohlich, N. and Oppenheimer, J. A., 1992. Choosing justice: An experimental approach to ethical theory (Vol. 22). California: University of California Press. Sherman, N., 1989. The fabric of character: Aristotle's theory of virtue. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More