Google in China free essay sample

In 2006, China attempted to move away from socialism and declared itself committed to economic reform and to opening itself to the outside world. Expanded personal freedoms for its citizens, however, China still maintained a harsh enforcement of political and religious regulations ? Membership in the WTO put China back on the map as a possible market for Western companies ? Yahoo! first American Internet company to enter China in 1999. Uncensored Internet information was not welcomed by Chinese authorities and government officials immediately implemented rules restricting access to content deemed improper or harmful, and monitored Internet usage of its citizens ? Included many private citizens in their surveillance efforts, and implemented public propaganda campaigns to create atmosphere of fear from reprisal and self-censorship ? Tom MacLean director of International Business for Google Inc. or last nine months; starting to worry about his job security after a storm of criticism resulting from decision to agree to subject Google’s search results to Chinese authority scrutiny ? Felt that he and his team had been mindful of political pitfalls they could face in implementing their strategic plan in China; level and intensity of subsequent backlash and disapproval was unexpected ? Elliot Schrage, Google’s vice president of Global Communications and Public Affairs, efended Google’s censorship agree ment as necessary, while at the same time admitting decision conflicted deeply with Google’s core principles, and that it was something they were not proud of ? Congressional hearing planted seeds of doubt in MacLean about Google in China decision. We will write a custom essay sample on Google in China or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Starting to question if Google was endorsing censorship by conforming to the Chinese authorities’ rules, if Google was acting as a tool for the government, if Chinese citizens were actually better off after Google’s decision to enter China, and whether censorship decision did go against their stated corporate philosophy ? Top leadership claim Google’s decision was made based on information currently available at the time; were not afraid to revisit that decision if necessary ? MacLean has only one day before attending a meeting where he would be questioned on the development and implementation of Google’s China strategy and asked for his suggestions for future courses of action ? MacLean under a lot of pressure to act, but his instinct is to stick by his strategy and let it play out a bit longer; hoping that Senate hearing would be the last bit of publicity for a while Problem Identification: (Write in complete sentences from now on) Key Identify major problem(s) and any minor contributing problem(s) ? Google’s launching of Google China and agreeing with Chinese government’s censorship demands has tarnished their reputation and public image (major) ? Lots of bad publicity generated globally; makes them look like hypocrites ? Caught between alienation of a potentially extremely lucrative international market and an ethical dilemma of global proportion ? Company ridiculed for its professed â€Å"don’t be evil† motto; critics blame Google for supporting a country with a regime known for its numerous, well-documented abuses of human rights and oppressive measures; violation of internationally recognized norms (minor) ? What should MacLean say at the meeting to justify his strategy? ? Has it become necessary for Google’s top leadership team to revisit decision in light of new information and circumstances? What should we do? Under a lot of pressure to act†¦. soon Inferences: Key Read between the lines and make some assumptions about the case that re suggested but not explicitly provided (read between the lines) ? Decision by Google to select China as its international target at this particular point in their political and social history is suspect, however, in accordance with their long-term global strategy, they could not pass up such a tremendous opportunity ? Censorship decision was necessary to maintain th eir position as global search-engine market leaders and to fend off advances from major competitors such as Yahoo! (who already have an established foothold in China) and Microsoft ? Capable of weathering out the storm of criticism without major negative financial implications ? In time, entire episode will simply â€Å"blow over† as media moves on to something else ? For long-term gain, worth putting up with short-term pain ? Actions can be justified if given the proper â€Å"spin† ? No irreparable damage has been done to the company’s reputation ? International business risk associated with decision can be managed General Case Ideas: Key Link applicable course material/theory to the case State applicable theory (the â€Å"what†) ? The global economy (Chapter 1, pages XX) Cultural influences on global business (Chapter 3, pages XX) ? Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Market Screening Process handouts ? Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in International Business handout ? Government and political influences on global business (Chapter 4, pages XX) ? Managing international business risk (Chapter 21, pages XX) Make relevan t connections between course theory and the case (the â€Å"so what†) ? There are four major categories of the international business environment that MNCs should consider when deciding on potential expansion markets: 1. Geographic Conditions (climate, terrain, seaways, natural resources) 2. Cultural Social Factors (accepted behaviours, values, and customs; language, education, religion, social relationships) 3. Political and Legal Factors (type of government, political stability, government policies toward business) 4. Economic Conditions (type of economic system, general education level of the population, types of industries, level of technology) ? The two of these that are most applicable to this case are: Cultural Social Factors The more similar one’s own culture is to another in history, language, religion etc. , the less difficult it is to conduct business in that society. But when societies differ on most of these characteristics, the potential for difficulty grows exponentially. For most American businesses in China, this potential is very high. There will be innumerable, unforeseen challenges, even when there is an honest effort to learn about and understand China and its people. When doing business in China, many cultural and social considerations must be addressed. Political and Legal Factors China has been under the communist party rule for many decades. The communist party exercises absolute power over legislations and economic and cultural institutions. Unlike western economies where the government promotes transparency for doing business, in China rules and regulations are not so transparent. Strict laws and patents in economies of the west protect domestic and foreign businesses, whereas in China, the legal system is loosely defined, giving rise to various loopholes in the law. When doing business in China, many political and legal considerations must be considered. Conclusion and Recommendations: Key Suggest specific and implementable solutions to solve identified problems ? Maintain status quo regarding decision †¦but go into damage control mode ? Hire an internationally-experienced and renowned public relations firm to present the situation in a more positive light (â€Å"spin doctors†) ? Counter bad publicity by using the media to your advantage. Issue a series of press releases arguing that it would be more damaging to pull out of China altogether; address criticisms directly and clearly explain the rationale of your decision ? Argue that censorship is necessary to keep the Chinese government from blocking Google altogether, and that Google can play a role more useful to the cause of free speech by participating in Chinas information technology industry than by refusing to comply and being denied admission to the mainland Chinese market ? Highlight the fact that Chinese authorities have restricted citizens to opular search engines such as Altavista and Yahoo! in the past, and that while removing search results is inconsistent with Googles mission, providing no information at all would be even more inconsistent with their mission ? More public visibility of Yahoo founders Page and Brin as well as CEO Eric Schmidt. Delivery of consistent message through carefully orchestrated television and print ad campaigns and appearances a t national and international industry forums ? Alter public perception through increased promotion of Google’s philanthropic work ? It is not Google’s job to fix governments but to provide the best service to users and the best return possible to its stakeholders. By choosing to do business in China, it is their job to serve the Chinese people in their best, albeit restricted, manner given current political climate ? If we didnt do it, someone else would have ? Emphasize that censorship issues are not restricted to China and that Google also had to do similar things in Germany as well as in their own home country to meet legal requirements ? Stand together as an industry. Enlist rival’s assistance with similar issues and common interests. Get Bill Gates, billionaire founder of Microsoft, to stand up for arch-rival Google and argue that state censorship was no reason for technology companies not to do business in China. Get Gates to issue public statement that the Internet is contributing to Chinese political engagement, as access to the outside world is preventing more censorship ? Close its China offices and abandon market

A basic study of pricing to market The WritePass Journal

A basic study of pricing to market Introduction A basic study of pricing to market IntroductionDefinition and theories about PTMEmpirical evidence of PTMConclusion:ReferenceRelated Introduction Exchange rate is always changing, which can cause different relative price of traded goods among countries. However, when firms adopt PTM (pricing to market), price of trading goods does not change with the exchange rate, That may result in deviation from purchasing power parity theory. Many aspect of economy such as consumption, welfare distribution will change according to this behavior. This paper tries to illustrate the meaning and the effect of PTM with some theory and empirical evidence. Definition and theories about PTM Pricing to market(PTM) is a new definition emerged in mid-1980s.During that period ,US dollar has experienced a strong appreciation. However, it has been noticed that the price of import commodities in the US did not decrease according to the exchange rate changes. PTM represent the phenomenon of foreign firms maintaining or even increasing their export price when the currency of the importer country rises. (Krugman,1987) .PTM can also be understand as export firms set price of trading goods in local currency instead of adjust the price according to the exchange rate. The international evidence shows that the pricing to market behavior and exchange-rate pass through is often interpreted as consistent with local currency price stability. This kind of price discrimination behavior does not only affect the price of traded goods, but also influences various kinds of price rigidities. (Alexius and Vredin,1999) Pick and Cater(1994) explain that the reasons for PTM behaviors. Firms prefer to keep stable prices in foreign markets that have fluctuating exchange rates may exercise this preference by exerting market power. It may result from the demand elasticity: As the importing countrys currency appreciates, the import price falls and demand increases. However, when the exporter does not have the ability to adjust the raised demand for its goods, the extend of currency appreciation will not completely reflect in the price of trading commodities. In addition, there is also implication that shocks to national market conditions, such as exogenous changes in the exchange rate, can generate deviations between the prices that firms charge in each market. ( Bergin,2003) At last, PTM may simply because that exporting firm want to keep competitive: many firms in these countries are said to have followed pricing policies designed to keep export prices competitive despite changes in exchange rates.(Mars ton,1990) Literatures about PTM are generally based on models. In pricing to market modelsfrom the work of Betts and Devereux(1996), they adapt a model that firms produce different products to export to different countries, besides, firms can set different exporting prices for different destinations. They learn from the result of the model that the increase in the fluctuation of exchange rate arising from PTM may be very large by doing a simple quantitative exercise based on the estimated degree of PTM in international trade. That’s to say, when firms engage in PTM, when a country face with money shocks, the effects of this shocks are quite different compare with the traditional exchange rate models in which prices are set in the currency of the exporter. What’s more, PTM plays a central role in exchange rate determination and in international macroeconomic fluctuations. It acts to limit the pass-through from exchange rate changes to prices, and reduces the traditional ‘â⠂¬Ëœexpenditure switching’’ role o exchange rate changes. (Betts and Deuereux,2000) Implications of PTM for PPP A direct implication of the PTM hypothesis is the low pass-through from the exchange rate to prices, and the resultant failure of the relative PPP to hold in the short and intermediate-runs.(Aizenman,2004) PPP(purchasing power parity) is a conception widely used in international economy. The basic idea about PPP is when consumers purchase identical products in any market worldwide, the quantity of money should be the same when measured in one currency (Hallwood and MacDonald, 2000). Applied to aggregate price data, purchasing power parity is the hypothesis that the import prices that of one country to purchase another countrys goods should move one-for-one with the producer prices for goods in those countries that are the sources of those imports when all of these prices are expressed in a common currency. (Atkeson and Burstein,2008) When firms and producers applied PTM, many aspect of the country’s economy will different from the PPP holders. From the analysis of model in Betts and Deuereux(2000),the implications of PTM to PPP can be conclude as follows: The most obvious implication of PTM is the price volatility. Actually, if there is no price rigidity, the law-of one- price would be available for all kinds of products, and PPP would hold generally, even though there is still exist some extend of international market segmentation. However, if sticky local-currency prices hold, changes in the exchange rate will result in deviations from the law-of-one-price. While when complete PTM applied, the exchange rate will play a different role in the LOOP environment, relative prices of importer and exporters will not be affected by the fluctuation of exchange rate. but it has an impact on relative incomes. If export prices are set in foreign currency, when a depreciation happened in this currency. The home currency earnings of home firms will increase, at the same time, foreign firms’ foreign currency earnings will decrease at given production levels. Thus a depreciation generates a world redistribution of income towards the home coun try, which raises home consumption relative to foreign consumption. This occurs without the influence of relative price changes. (Betts and Deuereux,2000) PTM have a positive effect on promoting the real exchange rate movements: the larger of the PTM sector is, the lower effect of a money shock will the country get. Say a country faced with a money shock which will result in a depreciation of the currency, if PTM holds in a large sector, the impact on reallocation of spending away from domestic goods consumption towards foreign goods will be reduce to a large extend. The reason for this maybe the exchange rate is response to depreciation, however, this kind of currency price change would not affect the domestic market. PTM acts to limit the pass-through from exchange rate changes to prices, and reduces the traditional ‘‘expenditure switching’’ role of exchange rate changes. Nominal price stickiness associated with PTM magnifies the response of the exchange rate to shocks to fundamentals. (Betts and Deuereux,1996) The effect of monetary policies varies from cooperative firms and non-cooperative firms: at first, this need to be confirm that there is always a gain from coopperation, and secondly, that the gain reaches a maximum at the polar cases of no and full pricing to market since in these cases the movement in the terms of trade and thus the welfare spill-over is at a maximum in the non-cooperative setting. (Michaelis,2006) Empirical evidence of PTM As a common strategy of international firms, PTM behavior are widely used all over the world. By investigating data from those firms, we can get the empirical effect of pricing to market. Gil-Pareja(2002) investigated PTM behavior in European car markets during 1993 and 1998. He found that local currency price stability is a strong and pervasive phenomenon across products independent of the invoicing currency. In fact, there are large gaps among the automobile retail prices across EU Member States since the early 1980s, which is deviated from the law-of-one-price. (Gil-Paraja,2002) After analyze and compare the data of different EU countries, it can be easily conclude that the strategy tries to avoid the effect of changes in exchange rate changes is just in order to make the profits across segmented markets be maxime. Exporting firm will get the highest expected profits under exchange rate uncertainty by setting price of the importer’s currency. Since early 1980s, Japanese yen has experienced a depreciation. Marston(1990) has investigated pricing to market by Japanese firms from 1980 to 1987. He explores how Japanese firms responded to shifts in the real exchange rate by varying the prices of their exports relative to prices of products destined for the domestic market. The estimation distinguishes between inadvertent but temporary changes in these margins due to exchange rate surprises and planned changes associated with PTM behavior; He found there is overwhelming evidence that export-domestic price margins are systematically varied to help Japanese firms protect their competitive position. (Marston,1990) According to the exporter in UK, how is export pricing affected by other firm specific or contextual environmental variables such as export experience of the firm, degree of export development, type and intensity of market competition among others. The extend of PTM is based on variable of elements such as the industry le vel, the information and the like.( Tzokas et al.,2000) Conclusion: Pricing to market make the price of international trading goods free from the fluctuation of exchange rate, as a result, PPP no longer hold in those countries which applied PTM. Theories, as well as empirical evidence suggest that PTM has a strong implication of consumption and welfare distribution. It is a effective way for international co operations to avoid the negative influence of exchange rate fluctuation. But the extend of PTM is varias among different counties and industries. Reference Aizenman.J.  (2004) .â€Å"Endogenous  pricing  to  market  and 1inancing costs  Ã‚  Original Research Article†.Journal of Monetary Economics,  Volume 51, Issue 4,  PP 691-712 Alexius.A,  Vredin.A.(1999).â€Å"Pricing-to-Market in Swedish Exports†.The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Vol. 101, No. 2 pp. 223-239 Atkeson.A,  Burstein.A.(2008).â€Å"Pricing-to-Market, Trade Costs, and International Relative Prices†.The American Economic Review, Vol. 98, No. 5, pp. 1998-2031 Bergin. P. R, 1eenstra.R.C. (2001). â€Å"Pricing-to-market, staggered contracts, and real exchange rate persistence  Ã‚  Original Research Article†. Journal of International Economics,  Volume 54, Issue 2,  Ã‚  PP 333-359 Bergin. P. R.(2003).â€Å"A model of relative national price levels under  pricing  to  market  Ã‚  Original Research Article†. European Economic Review,  Volume 47, Issue 3, PP569-586 Betts.C, Devereux. M.B. (2000) .â€Å"Exchange rate dynamics in a model of  pricing-to-market  Ã‚  Original Research Article†.Journal of International Economics,  Volume 50, Issue 1,  Ã‚  PP 215-244 Betts.C, Devereux.M.B.  (1996) .â€Å"The exchange rate in a model of  pricing-to-market  Ã‚  Original Research Article†. European Economic Review,  Volume 40, Issues 3-5,  PP 1007-1021 Gil-Pareja.S. (2003).â€Å"Pricing  to  market  behaviour in European car  markets  Ã‚  Original Research Article†.European Economic Review,  Volume 47, Issue 6,  Ã‚  PP 945-962 Hallwood. P ,MacDonald. R. (2000) â€Å"International Money and Finance†, 3rd ed.Blackwell. Krugman, P. (1986), â€Å"Pricing to Markets when exchange rate changes†, In: Arndt, S.W., Richardson,J.D. (Eds.), Real-financial Linkages among Open Economies. MIT Press, Cambridge. Mark, N. (2001) â€Å"International Macroeconomics and Finance†, Blackwell. Marston. R. C. (1989) â€Å" Pricing to Market in Japanese Manufacturing†. Journal of International Economics, 29(3), PP 217-236. Michaelis. J.(2006). â€Å"Optimal monetary policy in the presence o1  pricing-to-market  Ã‚  Original Research Article†.Journal of Macroeconomics,  Volume 28, Issue 3,  Ã‚  PP 564-584 Patureau.L.(2007).â€Å"Pricing-to-market, limited participation and exchange rate dynamics  Ã‚  Original Research Article†.Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control,  Volume 31, Issue 10,  Ã‚  PP 3281-3320 Pick. D H,   Carter. C A. (1994). â€Å"Pricing to Market with Transactions Denominated in a Common Currency†.American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 76, No. 1, pp. 55-60 Sarno, L. Taylor, M.P. (2002), new open-economy of macroeconomics. In The economics of exchange rate, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Tzokas.N, Hart.S, Argouslidis.P ,Saren.M.  (2000), â€Å"Strategic  pricing  in export  markets: empirical evidence from the UK  Ã‚  Original Research Article†. International Business Review,  Volume 9, Issue f,  PP 95-117

Condom Disrtibution In High Schools Research Proposal

Condom Disrtibution In High Schools - Research Proposal Example It was however, a woman by the name of Ella Flagg Young, who pioneered the notion of sexual education on a public school level by converging the appeal of Science with the taboo subject of sex in general. Young capably introduced her ideals in the â€Å"Chicago Experiment† of 1913, â€Å"During the Progressive Era, Dr. Ella Flagg Young instituted the first sexual education program in U.S. public schools. She garnered support for her "Chicago Experiment" by integrating scientific appeals about sexual education into popular discourses on modern research methods†(Jensen, 2007, p. 2). Nearly a century later, sexual education in public schools is still somewhat of a debate issue between those who wish to preserve sexual education as the right of the parent or legal guardian of a child and those who feel that circumventing sexual education such that every child is guaranteed a certain and realistic education on the matter; remains a common topic at PTA meetings around the country. The issue of condom availability is certainly not immune to controversy but never the less, has become relatively common and appropriate. Sexual education in general, has matured from a topic shrouded in shame and social taboo to one of centrifugal interest, â€Å"The extreme anxiety about sex expressed itself partly through the proliferation of advice manuals. Works such as John Todd’s 1837 Student’s Manual were well within the tradition of Ben Franklin’s Improving Literature† (Moran, 2000, p. 4). The dichotomy surrounding condom availability in public schools is whether or not it condones promiscuity, even though it is an essential means of preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of HIV. What many of those who embrace the idea that passing out condoms promotes promiscuity do not realize, is that teens do not need permission from society or from authority figures to engage in sexual activity. (Moran,