Question 1:
The issue of giving data to the Chinese government is a tricky one because the Chinese business culture does not have the same respects for intellectual properties and securities as we are accustomed to in Western countries, (Overseas Business Risk – China, 2016). This is a major issue when debating this subject matter because the Chinese do not have the same protections to intellectual property, which means that there is a major issue if a user’s private data is exposed and it contains patented material or material that is soon to be protected, (Overseas Business Risk – China, 2016).
What is important to understand when trying to ascertain whether giving data rights is a wise decision is whether the consumer has the right to know about such practices. Recently in the news both Apple and Google have debated quite publically as to whether they should give consumer’s data information to the Chinese government and whether the consumer has the right to know about this transaction in the first place, (Google Considers Warning Internet Users About Data Risks, 2014). This is important because many consumers are very sensitive to the notion of their private and personal data being shared with someone else, let alone with the Chinese government. This business deal brings up many ethical and legal issues that were likely not drafted into the initial user agreement between Google or Apple and the consumer, let’s say.
Being all of the aforementioned information in mind, a company such as Yahoo! needs to seriously take a look at the ethical and legal issues faced by their competitors when deciding whether they should give consumer’s data away to the Chinese government. Even though they may be in the financial position to have to do so, they need to carefully weigh both sides of the equation in order to ascertain whether the benefits outweigh the costs to their loyal consumer.
Question 2:
The issue pertaining to unsafe working conditions is a difficult concept to balance because on the one hand, production stalls until the employees come back to work, (Right to Refuse Unsafe Work, 2016). That being said, if the employees do come back and there is still major safety risks, they are risking their health for a workplace, (Right to Refuse Unsafe Work, 2016). Where many lawsuits have come about is when the employee challenges the employer regarding the safety of the work conditions. A recent example of this can be seen when McDonald’s employees challenged the fast foot giant regarding unsafe working conditions, (Lobosco, K., 2015).
The McDonald’s case brings up many ethical issues as to whether a company should care about their employee’s safety or cost cutting and ensuring that production keeps occurring, (Lobosco, K., 2015). Granted there are times where lower level managers are not following corporate’s orders and the employee sues as a result. In these cases, there is a clear resolution; however, in the cases that are more complicated, the employee has a major uphill battle to win against the corporation because the corporation has the advantage of being able to afford lawyers fees. Thus, then the ethical question becomes whether the employer has the right to deny their employees of a safe work environment and then not pay damages in a lawsuit as a result of their misconduct? This question is surely not an easy one, but it is the important question to ask regarding ethics because many corporations sacrifice their ethics for the sake of maintaining a profit. If the corporation would provide the safe environment in the first place, they would have a higher employee retention rate and they would also avoid frivolous lawsuits between their staff and their corporation.
References
Google Considers Warning Internet Users About Data Risks. (2014). BBC News. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30505970.
Lobosco, K. (2015). McDonald’s Workers Allege Unsafe Working Conditions. CNN Money. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/16/news/companies/mcdonalds-working-conditions/
Overseas Business Risk – China. (2016). Foreign and Commonwealth Office: UK Government. Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-business-risk-china/overseas-business-risk-china
Right to Refuse Unsafe Work. (2016). CWA. Retrieved from: http://www.cwa-union.org/national-issues/health-and-safety/health-and-safety-fact-sheets/right-refuse-unsafe-work
