California Management Review
California Management Review is a premier academic management journal published at UC Berkeley
by Ernesto Dal Bó and Guo Xu
In 2018, a Google employee leaked that the world’s largest search engine was attempting to provide its service to China censored by the Communist Party. Google employees demanded explanations, protested, and even resigned over the secret Project Dragonfly. One whistleblower was motivated by moral concerns and lack of public scrutiny: “I’m against large companies and governments collaborating in the oppression of their people.” This left employees, human rights advocates, and Western companies and governments analyzing the ethics of corporate involvement with authoritarian regimes. Could a technology giant’s presence in China improve the lives of citizens or simply legitimize autocracy? Also, what factors should employees weigh in deciding to remain loyal to company strategy versus voicing moral concerns?
Pub Date: November 1, 2020
Discipline: Ethics
Subjects: Ethics, Leadership, Crisis management, Non-market strategy
Product #: B5966-PDF-ENG
Industry: Technology, Internet services
Geography: Silicon Valley, China
Length: 10 page(s)
