The following paper will establish and analyze why ethics are important to managers and Google Corporation. A closer look will be taken at the decisions that are made in regards to the organization and ethics that exist in society.
The purpose is to show that a company like Google must behave ethically and all the decisions made by managers and other superiors should be guided by the highest morale and respect to the surrounding environment and people.
Google is a worldwide internet organization that specializes in searches, software, information storage, advertising and other online services. It has been started in 1994, by two students from Stanford University—Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Brezina, 2012). They wanted to use allinformation on the internet in the most useful way by organizing it and making it readily available for large amounts of people.
The fact that Google’s slogan is “Don’t be Evil” shows a very positive and strong base for the company, which exists for the benefit of people, not a disadvantage (Brezina, 2012). It now has greatly developed, with much software in social networking, user products and even hardware.
Google’s ethics are one of the primary concerns to managers, employees and the functioning of the corporation itself. Responsibility, honesty and fair play are only a few of the moral codes that Google goes by and it does so through proper decision making and policy organization (Brezina, 2012).
A manager of a company such as Google must be effective and practical in their management but more importantly, ethics play the key role in how business and company matters are conducted. This is because a lot rests on the way the society and potential clients view the company. It is much better to establish a positive reputation and make sure that people understand and respect the way the company operates.
The more valuable and heightened ethics are, the better response Google will get from the public. The knowledge of the society, its needs and what people consider and expect to be fair are instrumental in running Google Corporation. Management must have a friendly and fair relationship with the fellow workers, customers and the overall population.
Managers are the ones who enforce political correctness, morality and order of the system (Jennings, 2010). As they are in charge and can take a more global look at the business structure, they have to shape the culture and the inner organization, as well as outer relations with other workers and the public.
An ethical organization is one that closely follows laws that are based on ethical behaviors, which are needed to regulate the actions of a business to prevent illegal issues and chaos of anarchy.
If a company is not limited in the way it earns its profits, the selfishness of the financial greed will cause to focus on making the highest amount of money in a quickest way without considering a sensitive balance between nature and ways that humans exploit it for personal gain (Epstein, 2008).
Google is considered to be one of the leaders in this field, as it strives to establish proper positive balance with the environment and society. It looks for ways to clean the ecology of the planet, find new resources to be used, focuses on technology that is environment friendly and regulates any harm done to users and people who might be influenced by Google’s actions.
Google is often cited as the leader in the industry; it has been constantly named one of the best companies to work at and has kept up the pace without becoming “evil” (Hamen, 2011).
The following three ethical benefits are all sustainable for the corporation, have been set up without the governmental requirement, and thus are considered most ethical and respectful of the company. The first one is Google’s mission to create awareness of the environment changes and the effects it has globally.
It is constantly in the development of new technologies, such as efficient electric cars, donations to companies that are largely involved in the same field and also, donations to non-profit organizations. One of the examples is the donation Google has made to the Math Olympiad, as well as the 2008 project that would award those with best ideas to better the world (Hamen, 2011).
This sort of thing is in no way mandatory, so the ethics behind it are much respected by the surrounding people and organizations. It might not add financial gain directly, but people will appreciate the gesture and value the company. The corporation is known to have been developing software together with Ford that allows for better energy consumption, more efficient use of fuel and lesser impact on the environment (Girard, 2009).
Google has also supported the rights of people with different sexual orientation, which proves, once again that Google is not guided by governmental requirements but is doing what is necessary and must be done to create awareness and a better world.
There has been speculation that alongside all the good deeds, Google is involved in tax evasion but since there are no legal actions or conclusive evidence, it would be safe to say that these are rumors created by the competing sides (Girard, 2009). The benefits to Google are mostly reputation related, but at the same time, partly financial.
As people get to know the company, they start to appreciate the good morals that Google has, which leads to acceptance and respect from the customers. This in turn, leads to a better response and the public is more inclined to get involved with the company. Positive reputation results in an increase in business, which is measured in financial gain.
The Benefits of such outcome are greater than cost because not only does the company save by being more environmentally friendly, it also gains valuable reputation. There are some disadvantages in comparison to other companies, as ethics are an honest way to conduct business while other companies might get rich faster. An example of a rival company is Yahoo.
In the recent times it has been known to be “serving more than 345 million users every month” (Blozis, 2009). But not only is Yahoo becoming a popular search engine and news website, it also offers a similar service of employing people online.
A major difference between two companies is that Google is widely known as a search engine and the results cover a great amount of topics while Yahoo is considered to be more of an entertainment engine (Blozis, 2009).
There are several disadvantages to companies being ethical, as some corporations will bend the rules and violate laws in order to gain more finances. In comparison to unethical companies, those who stay moral will lose profits, but the positive tradeoffs are the absence of risk in being charged or reputation marred.
The companies that behave immorally will need less time to gain profits and possibly, put their rivals out of business. In the end, there are some financial benefits and the end result might seem prosperous, but it is better to stay honest, as it is a much more reliable basis for business.
Another benefit is Google’s policy to stay neutral throughout networks and internet use services provided. As it takes up such a significant part and role in the internet world, it respects its place in the system and wants others to understand that people must share and use the available resources fairly.
People can get access to whatever it is they are looking for without being told what they want or need, as each individual is equal to decide that part for themselves (Hopkins, 2012). One of the most important criteria that Google goes by is that success and gain can be accomplished without resorting to evil ways and destruction. The policies that are in place give everyone fair access to the information without limitations (DesJardins, 2011).
All the managers and employees involved are well aware of the power of reputation, and everyone involved is keen on keeping up the good name, as it would provide most benefit for the people, which in turn, will be advantageous for the company. A win-win situation is accomplished by ethical treatment of all people inside and outside the corporation (Bradburn, 2001).
One of the greatest ethical and morally correct policies that Google has is providing users with best and quickest access to the information they need. One the first things it provides is a free account that makes the person a part of the greater corporation. It allows for efficient and easy to use access to many perks and gives the consumer a possibility to be a part of the shareware system (James, 2012).
There are also numerous ways that explain how a person can make money and become a “distanced” employee of Google. People are given a technique to interact with the market, learn the strategy of how they can get involved in products and services available through Google.
In the process, a person learns that for Google, business ethic refers to how people’s morals and fairness are used in agreements and decisions between companies and organizations worldwide.
The main idea of Google is that it closely correlates with the laws of a society and the kindness of people who make it up, and in order for the company and people to flourish, ethics should be a guideline never dismissed from its standards (Brashars, 2006).
The factors that shape management’s ethical decisions are primarily based on morality, but as Google is an international organization, budget, stock prices, amounts of shares sold, earnings and customer return rate are all measures of control as well. For management, budget provides possibilities for the company and the policy is centered on integrity, as the reputation is the most important thing to Google.
The trust and proper communications are what makes Google ethically correct and respected. Amount of shares sold determines the possible resources and future developmental changes but more importantly, the customer return rate demonstrates what is needed and how the quality and service of the business are viewed by the public.
This leads to policies centered on privacy, security, people’s rights to know and the freedom to have opportunity through their and company’s actions (Goodpaster, 2010).
Another factor of the managerial work at Google is responsiveness and how Google takes action to give back to the community. Quantitative management concepts and tools are used in making a decision related to the business and the changes that are made using the numbers that are available, as a representation of the company or data (Brown, 2009).
Quantitative management guarantees that the decision made is based on hard evidence and will lead to best results. The culture defines the workings of an organization and is the much needed element in the mutual and beneficial relationship, so Google is well aware what the market requires and how it must be provided (Scott, 2008).
Another factor is allowing for an equal chance for people to get involved with Google, as well a providing positive and safe work environment. With Google becoming so largely involved in the lives of all people, it has become instrumental for the policies to reflect proper ethical treatment of employees and people who are a part of the “Google Family”.
As investors are also a part of the corporation, close cooperation with shareholders is also a division of the company’s policy, as it realizes the importance of people contributing to the company. There are strict laws that govern the competition and sharing of information, which are based on agreement with the competing companies without any negativity or detriment to the company’s interests (Hillis, 2013).
Google and its ethical behavior are inseparable, as it has been shown through the years in business and the way the company treats people. It is one of the major qualities that Google has and this is exactly what has made it so successful in the industry.
Google Corporation is a clear example of a company that does not have to overtake others, charge people enormous amounts of money and take advantage of citizens; on the contrary, it respects the input the society has provided.
Reference List
Blozis, D 2009, Yahoo Income, Publishing Company, Ocala, Fl.
Bradburn, R 2001, Understanding Business Ethics, Thomson Learning London, UK.
Brashars, J 2006, Google Talking, Syngress, Rockland, MA.
Brezina, C 2012, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and Google, The Rosen Publishing Group, New York, NY.
Brown, B 2009, Google Income, Atlantic Publishing Company, Ocala, FL.
DesJardins, J 2011, An introduction to business ethics. 4th Ed. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Epstein, M 2008, Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts, Berrett-Koehler Publishers San Francisco, CA.
Girard, B 2009, The Google Way: How One Company is Revolutionizing Management as We Know it, No Starch Press, San Francisco, Ca.
Goodpaster, K 2010, “Business ethics: Two moral provisos”, Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 20. no. 4, pp. 740-742.
Halbert, T 2010, Law & Ethics in the Business Environment, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH.
Hamen, S 2011, Google: The Company and Its Founders, ABDO, North Mankato, MN.
Hillis, K 2013, Google and the Culture of Search, Routledge, New York, NY.
Hopkins, M 2012, Corporate social responsibility and international development, Routledge, Sterling, UK.
James, M 2012, Business Law, Google eBook, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, QLD.
Jennings, M, 2010, Environment Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment, South-Western Cengage Learning. Mason, OH.
Scott, V 2008, Google, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT.