Phl 320 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Ethics & Social Responsibility

Dedrick T. Albert Sr

PHL/320

May 1, 2017

Laura Lewis

Ethics & Social Responsibility

Ethics and social responsibility should be a practice established by all business’ and corporations.  In the course of this paper I will select a business decision within the Google organization and identify the potential ethical implications associated with this decision.  I will also determine the effect this may have on the decision making process and how the organization applies corporate social responsibility to its business.  I will evaluate the influence that corporate social responsibility has on the organization and discuss the application of critical thinking to corporate social responsibility and its importance.

Google has made its name known as a corporation that gives grants to deserving charities and organizations for a variety of causes, ranging from education to racial justice.  In 2016, they endorsed several organizations that fall under these categories, The San Francisco Unified School District and The Equal Justice Initiative were each awarded $1 Million grant while two other educational organization were awarded grants of $750K and $250K (Dickey, 2017) .  

        One may view these actions as a somewhat obstinate charitable donation on the behalf of Google, thinking that it is only focusing on racial justice and educational opportunities for minorities on a Caucasian influenced tech market in the Silicon Valley.  You could ponder the thought of rural Caucasian area schooling systems and how they suffer to provide a good education.  This also can lead to the question why would Google make several donations to one specific market while overlooking other problem areas that need attention?  Google grants are designed to help further the organizations causes in regards to education and programs designed for low income neighborhoods and the residents that occupy the areas (Dickey, 2017).  This can be a broad spectrum of all races but is constructed to allow students who are at a detriment and give them the assistance that they need to be successful in the future as well as be competitive, despite their race or social standing.  This could be considered a substantial risk for Google as they run the possibility of worrying their investors and shareholders with these monumental investments.  This could be viewed as a pattern of investment opportunities that will further Google’s future generations in the local market of this area.

        Google gives great consideration before deciding on distributions of grant or in-kind donations to charities.  Most of their work has been concentrated in international or third world markets and fixates on promoting progress with technology.  It is positive that all potential implications were considered both socially and ethically before agreeing to these investments as the guidelines of gift giving dictate specific milestones to be met in order to be considered. They more than likely believed this opportunity would further their reach within an area of society which was thoroughly underserved.  Through their forward thinking investment considerations, they open themselves to new markets, new investors and a further expansion of their mission and vision.