HR Management, Environmental Issues, and Political Interferences - Case Study Example

Google Google is one of the biggest companies in the world at present. Even though, the preliminary business portfolio of Google is search engine, ithas diversified in to many other areas like online book shop, social networking, operating system etc. Google plus is the social network started by Google recently in order to challenge Facebook whereas it has started the world’s largest online book store to challenge Amazon.com. Android is the operating system developed by Google for top end mobile phones in order to counter the threats from Apple’s iPhone. Currently even Microsoft is struggling to face the challenges of Google. In short, Google has raised stiff challenges to many of the prominent IT companies in the world. However, Google is facing several problems also because of the stiff competition from others. Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo and Apple are some of the major IT companies which are raising several problems to Google. Moreover, Google’s HR management is also criticized heavily by business pundits. Many people believe that Google is not fulfilling its corporate social responsibility and it is following unethical business practices. This paper analyses the ethical problems facing by Google and the possible solutions or recommendations to solve those problems. One of the major criticisms labelled against Google is with respect to its unethical management of human resources. Verma (2006) has pointed out that “Google’s high growth rate is creating new HR challenges for the company. Google has built a culture where a well-chosen elite accommodates flexibility, shifting roles and, above all else, urgency” (Verma). Google’s recruitment process is causing huge problems to the job aspirants. It includes; coding contests, mysterious billboards and aptitude tests apart from lengthy interviews which lasts for months. Google may reject majority of the candidates who undergone lengthy recruitment processes, citing simple reasons. Those who successfully cross the recruitment process may fail in background check ups. In short, job seekers are approaching Google’s recruitment process with lot of concerns and worries. The second unethical behaviour practiced by Google is its effort to interfere in politics. Catone (2007) has mentioned that “Being the most heavily used search engine, Google in a very real sense control the distribution of information to much of the world. Google has recently started a blog to tagline Googles views on government, policy and politics in America” (Catone). Millions of people all over the word are using Google search engine for getting information. Because of the huge control over information exchange throughout the word Google can exaggerate or fabricate information in favour or against politicians. Politicians know this fact very well and they are ready to do anything in favour of Google in order to avoid spreading of information against their interests. In other words, Google is controlling American economic policies up to certain extent. It should be noted that Google is an American company and therefore any American economic policies and rules regarding trade activities in America can affect Google also. Google makes use of its influence upon political leadership and Congressmen for making policies suitable to its business interests. These policies may often affect small or medium companies drastically. Another ethical question raised against Google by critics is with respect to Google’s decision to enter Chinese soil and also to functions in accordance with the strict rules of Chinese legal system. “Critics blamed Google for supporting a country with a totalitarian regime and known for its numerous human rights violation” (Martin, p.1). It should be noted that China never allows the free flow of information. It will filter all information that are passing through its soil. Critics believe that Google is too much interested in its business interests rather than the interests of the people and that is why it is silently obeying all the censoring laws in China. There are certain reports which show that Google allegedly keeping some kind of discrimination towards people over the age of 40 years. In other words, Google is interested only in fresh talents and they are showing no mercy towards the old people. It should be noted that an employee who has started his career in Google may lose his employment after 40 years of age, if he fails to live up to the expectation levels of Google. In other words, Google treats youths and old people differently which is not a good practice in corporate culture. Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. With more than 200m internet searches estimated globally daily, the electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions caused by computers and the internet is provoking concern (Wissner, p.2). Another ethical question raised by Google is with respect to its commitment to sustainable business practices. It should be noted that millions of the people all over the world are using Google search engine, virtually in every seconds. These people are using computers for getting results through Google search engines. Computers on the hand need electric power which is created through different mechanisms which are harmful to the environment. For example, hydroelectric power generation may sink thousands of hectares of land area and therefore land animals and insects may struggle to find enough habitats. In other words, Google is indirectly causing environmental problems and pollutions. Pornography and violence related materials are plenty in number in Google’s databases. Millions of people, especially the children all over the world get sex related materials through Google’s search engines. It should be noted that these materials can spoil the upcoming generation up to certain extent. Such materials may encourage children to engage in sex related antisocial activities. Google has no mechanisms to identify the age group of its users who demand pornographic materials. Meta tags and multimedia contents are some other disputed contents offered by Google. Anybody can copy multimedia contents from Google’s servers for their personal and official use. Thus copy right laws or intellectual property rights were often been violated by many people using Google’s search engines. Google should make sure that its recruitment process may not raise any displeasure among the job aspirants. It should simplify its complicated recruitment mechanisms so that IT professionals may face little problems while seeking jobs in Google. It should be noted that many of the IT professionals consider Google Company as a dream destination and therefore Google should not disappoint them. Google should reduce its interference in policy making activities of the American government. It should respect the interests of small and medium business groups and should stay away from forcing the authorities to make policies against the interests of small business groups. Google should realise that a civilised generation like ours cannot accept the policies of Chinese government. So, they should reduce its activities in China even though it is not good for their business interests. Google should give more emphasize to human rights than its business interests. Google’s reputation as a neutral medium for spreading information could be spoiled if it continues its Chinese operations in restricted mode. Google should improve its management policies of young and old people. Google should realise that it is unethical to fire a person who had spent majority of his younger periods for the betterment of the company. Moreover, Google should spend more amounts for the environment rebuilding process. It cannot stay away from fulfilling its commitment to the environment. Sex and violence related materials should be reduced as much as possible in Google’s database and it should develop a mechanism to prevent children from accessing such materials. To conclude, Google is currently facing problems related to HR management, environmental issues, political interferences, human right violations, controversial contents in database etc. They should eliminate all these problems to regain its lost image as a reputed company in the world. Works Cited Catone, Josh. “Google the Vote: How Google is Changing the American Political Landscape”. 2007. Web 14 December 2011. Martin, Kirsten E. “Google Inc., China”. Business roundtable corporate ethics. Case BRI-1004. Verma, Mridu. “Google’s HR Dilemma”. 2006. Web 14 December 2011. Wissner, Alex. “Revealed: The Environmental Impact of Google Searches”. Times online. January 11, 2009. Web 14 December 2011. Read More