Google Problems in China - Case Study Example

GOOGLE IN CHINA Thesis ment: International organizations belonging to western countries have to make rigorous efforts to penetrate into the nationalist and prejudiced countries like China, Germany and Russia, where the local communities and corporate firms do not let the foreigner brands make their clientele at a large scale in their state. The political policies, devised by the legal authorities of these countries, also discourage alien companies in such countries, which launch and manufacture their own products and services at international and multinational levels. The US-based world class search engine Google Inc also experiences the same situation while introducing its services in Peoples Republic of China. Significance of the Topic: Ours is the age of technological advancement, where the revolution in the field of information technology has made life very quick, swift and speedy. It is not only the case with one specific field; rather, every walk of life looks for the best available resources for the immediate transformation of information flow. Hence, research, communication and navigation devices, tools, techniques and resources have gained primary importance in our life. Being a vital platform for the transformation of knowledge, wisdom, information and learning through the speediest resource i.e. the internet, Google search engine enjoys magnificent status, and its services are used by millions of people daily in every part of the world in order to search out the latest information related to countless disciplines, subjects, topics and fields of interest. Consequently, study and analysis of the operational services of Google Inc maintains imperative significance in it. In addition, China is the largest country of the world with the population consists of over 1.3 billion people. According to the ticking clock on the "China Population" web site, the estimated population of China was 1,324,312,271 in March 2008. (Retrieved from foreigners-in-china.com) Not only this that China is the largest country of the world, but also it is a veto power, an atomic power, an economic giant and one of the biggest exporters of multidimensional commodities, goods, technologies, equipments and services all over the world. Hence, arrival of such a great company like Google Inc in China is a matter of great interest for the readers, researchers, business community and common people alike. Chinas total volume of foreign trade is expected to exceed 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars, up 20 percent over last year, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Commerce during the ongoing 102nd China Import and Export Commodities Fair. The export volume will reach 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars and the import volume will be 950 billion U.S. dollars, with a trade surplus of 250 billion. (Quoted in news.xinhuanet.com) It is therefore every company of international reputation intends to exercise its business activities in Peoples Republic of China. Like all the giant economies of the world, China also experiences splendid growth in the fields of information technology and communications. An overwhelming majority of the adult Chinese population is constant user of computer technology as well as the regular consumer of mobile phones. In simple words, China is undoubtedly the largest market of computer and internet accessories, and the people enjoy countless products of multiple companies and brands of the world. China has made remarkable progress in the telecommunication sector since the end of the Mao Zedong era in 1976. Chinese telecommunication development has achieved double-digit growth in the last two decades. Today, the market is continuing to rapidly grow. According to OECD report (2003), China had become the largest telecommunication service market in the world by the September 2002. (Otani, 2003) Introduction to Google: Google Inc. is an American based public corporation that serves as one of the most prominent, outstanding, effective and valuable internet search engines. The search engine supports the internet users in respect of finding out deep oceans of information and exploring the vast deserts of knowledge and understanding on trillions of topics, issues, personalities, books, countries, periodicals, articles and much more with relevant and supportive material and area, within few seconds and in a comprehensive way, as well as in all the existing languages of national and international levels. It also draws out the historical background of every topic and shows its relevance with other disciplines and personalities too. Google has brought tremendous facilities and comforts in the field of information technology at such an era of technological advancements, where communication transformation witnesses marvelous speed, touching the height of glory, magnificence and wonder. Google is always a safe bet for most search queries, and most of the time your search will be successful on the very first page of search results. (websearch.about.com/od) Google Services in China: Since Google Inc is an international search company; it offers its services to the users belonging to each and every part of the globe through its vast network. The company has launched its offices and service centers in important countries of the world, including the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Russia, the Middle East and others in their native as well as international languages. In 2005, the company introduced its services, in collaboration with the Microsoft Corporation, in Peoples Republic of China in the indigenous Chinese language, which has revolutionized the search efforts of the Chinese speaking communities all over the globe. Launching its services in such an alien country containing absolutely divergent language, alphabet and learning ideology was really a hard nut to crack even for such a giant brand like Google Inc, but it remained as firm as rock in the face of the chain of obstacles and hardships on its way. Google Problems in China: Google undergoes many social, cultural, economic, political and legal problems while working in China. Since learning is a complicated process, which requires rigorous efforts, unflinching attention and deep insight, the instructors and trainers have to apply best abilities and painstaking endeavor in order to convey and communicate the knowledge, wisdom, vigilance and skill to the learners. Learning could be thought of as a process by which behavior changes as a result of experience (Maples and Webster 1980 quoted in Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 124). The same is applied on Google Inc during the launching of its services in China. Since Google Corporation is quite a new IT brand in the country, it has to surmount the series of obstacles in respect of teaching the users the validity and soundness of the vast information on the one hand, and techniques and methodology of using this outstanding service on the other. Moreover, the immense magnitude, volume and number of information and knowledge of existing literature is present in English, French and Arabic languages in most parts of the world, translation of which in the Chinese language appears to be a challenge for both the search engine and the users as well. Translation of trillions of files from international languages into Chinese is really a challenge for the company, for which it requires the team of hundreds of competent scholars, professionals, technicians and highly qualified and well-educated individuals having command over divergent languages, disciplines and topics. Furthermore, the team members of Google China must have vast study of their disciplines and relevant fields, so that they could avoid mistakes and errors in order to prove the worth of their giant brand in an alien land. Hence, Google has to build up a team that consists of the most competent, intelligent and hardworking personnel. Consequently, the company will have to recruit both local and foreigner professional for offering its services in China. Thousands of the celebrities and millions of their fans complain that they do not find their favorite personalities and data in Google China, because of the unavailability of the individuals having dexterity over either Chinese or English languages, as the renowned model Brittany Spears view that her data is not available in Google China. This is only one precedent and example, as there could appear thousands of such cases which may put the sound reputation of Google in serious jeopardy. Hence, providing the data on the patterns of western Google services is like surmounting the hills of challenges for Google China. Though China is the most populated country of the world, yet globalization has not hit or hurt the social norms and cultural values of the country. An overwhelming Chinese population is thorough nationalist, and people always prefer to buy the products made of their own country, which can be seen while studying the cultural, political and social history of the country at large. Revelations of Chinese history prove that the Chinese as a people are independent in spirit and in conduct. Coerced into touch with other people, they could at times live in peace with them by maintaining friendly relations and at others assimilate them as the result of propinquity. During the periods when their political and military prowess declined, they could not escape for the time from the fate of a conquered nation, but they could eventually vigorously reassert themselves. (Yat-sen, 1923) In addition, there are many Chinese companies already providing the people with latest, comprehensive and quick information on the patterns similar to Google Inc. These include Baidu.com Inc., Sina, Sohu, NTES, TOMO, 51jobs and others. Google has devised comprehensive business plan in order to combat with the rival menace in China. The Head of Google in China said that Google is open to using M&A in China as a way to grow its talent base, technology and portfolio. Our reading of GOOGs M&A history to date and its strategy is that the most likely M&A candidates in China would be small technology/R&D shops or unique localized applications. That said, there are several potential candidates that might offer distinct advantages in terms of increased user bases or expanded Web traffic. (Retrieved from seekingalpha.com/article/) Not only this that Google had to undergo technical difficulties, but also the political policies and local laws imposed by the Chinese government are hurdles for the company on its way to make sure headway in China. The attitude of Chinese authorities is quite discouraging towards the foreigner companies, and they have inflicted restricted policies for the foreign brands. This entire development has been made in order to project and promote the local industry, without taking into consideration the consequences of these policies. In addition, the local competitors including Baidu and others are also main obstacles for the Google to penetrate into the majority of Chinese speaking people. In China, the Internet content was heavily censored by the government and users searching on Googles site experienced inordinate delays. By 2005, Chinese Search Engine Company Baidu emerged as the leading internet search company in China. To compete with Baidu, Google decided to launch a Chinese website - www.google.cn and agreed to censor its content. (Retrieved from icmrindia.org) Though all these problems are sufficient to discourage the Google administration work in this Far Eastern Republic, yet it has made no compromise with the circumstances at all; rather, it is successfully running its business far from its native land i.e. the USA. By dint of the broad vision, constant efforts, strong determination and concrete will-power of the management along with the team of highly dedicated and committed professionals, Google Inc is successfully exercising its services in China. It is therefore Google is becoming more and more popular in the country, and people belonging to different professions, age-groups and communities are extracting maximum benefit out of the product launched by this matchless internet website i.e. Google Inc in offices, institutions, organizations and residences in order to quench their thirst for discovering and exploring new horizons of vigilance, wisdom, learning, knowledge and truth from its platform. REFERENCES: Foreigners in China: Current population of China, one-child policy, and human rights problems in population control (Quoted in http://www.foreigners-in-china.com/population-of-china.html#) China View: Business. (Retrieved from http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/28/content_6966139.htm) Is Google Always the best Search Engine? (Retrieved from http://websearch.about.com/od/searchingtheweb/u/search-tools.htm) China, Google, and Press Spin 2002 (http://www.google-watch.org/china.html) McLaughlin, Andrew Google in China 2006 (Retrieved from http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/google-in-china.html) http://seekingalpha.com/article/9153-analysts-speculate-on-google-s-china-m-a-strategy-goog-bidu-sohu-sina-jobs-tomo-ntes http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-learn.htm Googles Problems in China 2006 (Quoted in http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Environment/BENV001.htm#) Yat-sen, Sun Fundamentals of National Reconstruction (1923 CE) http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/sunyat.html http://www.mediaschool.ohiou.edu/its/pdf/Shuho.pdf Read More