Human Resource Management Issues at Google: A Detailed Analysis

This report examines the Human Resource Management (HRM) issues faced by Google, focusing on the critical problems of sexual harassment and the controversial Project Dragonfly. The report details the actions taken by Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, in response to sexual misconduct allegations, including the termination of employees and the handling of executive exit packages. It also explores employee concerns regarding the treatment of women and ethnic minorities, as well as the ethical implications of Project Dragonfly, a censored search engine for China. The analysis delves into the implications of feminist theory on sexual harassment and provides recommendations for Google to foster a culture of respect, address risk factors, conduct climate surveys, and promote disciplinary action, succession planning, and leadership development. The report emphasizes the importance of clear policies and employee awareness to maintain discipline and improve productivity within the organization.

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Executive Summary
Sexual harassment is considered to be a vital issue in Human Resources Management
(HRM) which is faced by the employees of an organization. It is unwelcome sexual behavior that
makes a person feel frightened, humiliated and offended. Based on this concept, it has been
observed that Google deals with the issue of sexual harassment that puts a negative impact on
their reputation. It can be seen that the CEO of Google, Mr. Pichai has sent an email to its
employees stating the fact that 48 employees along with 13 senior managers have been fired
from the company due to inappropriate behavior. Moreover, the will reveal that the CEO also
stated that the employees had been terminated without providing any exit package. Exit package
has been provided to Andy Rubin the senior employee of Google that made other employees
disappointed. The paper also discussed the issue of cancellation of project dragonfly by the
employees as it affects their ethical values to a great extent. Based on these issues the paper
provides recommendations for Google to resolve such HRM issues.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Human Resources Management (HRM) issues in Google...........................................................................3
Issue of Sexual harassment..........................................................................................................................3
Treatment of women and ethnic minorities.............................................................................................4
Cancellation of Project Dragonfly...............................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................8
Appendices................................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The paper will discuss the Human Resources Management (HRM) issues faced by
Google presented within the news report. The news report presents the fact that Google along
with their employees was facing HRM issues such as “sexual harassment” and “cancellation of
project dragonfly”. The CEO of Google Sundar Pichai revealed the fact that the organization has
terminated 48 employees along with 13 senior managers as they were involved in sexual
misconduct. The vice president and CEO ensured people that they are taking strict actions
against the one who are involved in such inappropriate behavior within the organization. Another
issue of cancellation of project dragonfly aroused within the organization as the employees
believed that their ethical values were highly affected due to this project. Therefore, the paper
will discuss the issues in more details along with the steps taken by Google to resolve such
issues. It will also provide recommendations that will help Google to deal with such type of
issues.
Human Resources Management (HRM) issues in Google
Issue of Sexual harassment
Sundar Pichai the chief executive officer (CEO) of Google has disclosed the fact that due
to sexual harassment the tech giant has fired 48 staffs from the organization over the past two
years. Mr. Pichai sent an open letter to the employee of Google by stating the fact that the
organization was “dead serious” about serving inclusive and safe workplace environment. In the
New York Times, the CEO of Google Mr. Pichai has stated that Andy Rubin the creator of
Android and a senior employee of Google has got an exit package of $90 million though he
faced allegations of sexual misconduct (Solotoff & Kramer, 2018). Due to this, over the past
week, the anger among the other employees got increased significantly, as reported in the New
York Times. The employees were highly disappointed as the high profile executive has been
provided with a considerable amount even though he faced serious allegations of sexual
misconduct. As per Agence France-Press (AFP) and other media, the CEO of Google sent an
email to the staffs revealing that the company has fired 48 employees along with 13 senior
managers (McDonald, Charlesworth & Graham, 2015). He also said that the organization had not
provided any compensation to those employees, who were fired due to sexual misconduct.

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According to the CEO, the organization has taken various steps that helped Google to
make some changes. The changes within the organization involved an increase in hard line
regarding irrelevant conduct by the employees in positions of the authority. His memo came into
effect after he demonstrated the matter which was reported in New York Times that is "Difficult
to read" exposed on the tech giant. The email sent by the CEO was also signed by Eileen
Naughton, the vice president of Google stating that the employees could utilize the internal tools
to report the cases related to inappropriate conduct anonymously (Ely & Kimmel, 2018). Mr.
Pichai also announced that the company had updated the policy to make all senior vice
presidents and presidents to reveal any relationship with the colleagues irrespective of the
presence of conflict or reporting line. The organization ensures that it provides a workplace
where the employees could feel safe to execute their work, and there are serious consequences
for the one who behaves wrongly (Google fired 48 for sexual harassment in past two years,
2018).
Treatment of women and ethnic minorities
The employees of Google Company were seen protesting against the company's
treatment towards women and ethical minorities, which resulted in an unparalleled series of
walkouts all over the world. According to the report, the protest started at 11 AM on 1st
November 2018 in offices of Asia and within same overnight walkouts took place in offices all
over the US and Europe. An allegation was made on the previous week against one high profile
officer Andy Rubin for his sexual misconduct, but in spite of that, he received US $90million
payout while leaving the firm. A spokesperson of Rubin, Sam Singer denied the allegations made
on him in a statement of AFP (Aman, Asif, Qazi & Aziz, 2016). He said that Rubin left Google
on his own due to technology incubator playground and launch of the venture capital firm. Based
on the concept of sexual harassment feminist theory, sexual harassment must be treated as a
sexist act whose aim is to distemper and subjugate women within the organization. As per the
theory, the act aims to punish the efforts of the women to compete with men over their status and
job (McLaughlin, Uggen & Blackstone, 2017).
This particular theory challenges the concept that sexual harassment is determined to be a
sexual act and asks researchers to view this concept from a gender-based angle that highlights
women subordination and male dominance that is consistently overlooked by the society (Google

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employees stage mass walkouts — World News with Madeleine Genner, 2019). The theory
provides a deeper understanding of the issue that arises due to sexual harassment in Google due
to which the women associated with the organization face difficulties at work. It demonstrates
the fact that sociocultural factors contribute to the concept of sexual harassment in the workplace
(Di Marco, Hoel, Arenas & Munduate, 2018). Based on this concept, the theory states the fact
that the society must be educated regarding sexual harassment and initiatives must be taken
appropriately. Due to this issue based on gender segregation, huge gaps have been generated
among opposite genders and to their mystification within the organization.
Cancellation of Project Dragonfly
Project Dragonfly is a censored search engine that Google is building for the government
of China. Any websites that cause a threat to the communist state would be excluded from the
algorithm. Anything which pertains to human rights, protests, religion, democracy and more
would be barred. The websites of BBC and Wikipedia have already been banned. Internal
conflicts within the organization have aroused because of the projects. Some employees have
quit the organization in protest, though they had no idea in details whereas around 1400
employees have signed an internal letter where they demanded to gather more real information
regarding the project (Ardiansyah, Mardhia & Handayaningsih, 2018). The signed internal letter
was completely ignored. An open letter has been posted by the employees in public forum. The
employees mentioned that Google is involved in morally wrong unlawful activity and
exploitations to human rights. The writing says that a hazardous instance would be established
because of the project dragonfly and it would be tougher for Google to deny similar concessions
of other countries. Though the letter claims that more than thousands of employees of Google are
against the project dragonfly but only 250 staffs have signed the letter. The employees stated that
they are not opposing against Chins but are protesting against the technologies that help the one
who is powerful in harassing the vulnerable. The government of China is not alone who are
ready to suppress the freedom of expression and use the investigation to curb opposition. A
dangerous instance of an unstable political instant would be established in China. US vice
president Mike Pence was fired over Google regarding the project. US VP said the actions of
Google would strengthen the censorship of the communist party and the Chinese customers'
privacy would be compromised. From the reports, it is evident that the search engine of China
would be capable enough to capture personal information like phone numbers. It can be

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presumed by anyone that the data can be used by the communist regime to identify and give
punishment to the dissidents on the basis of the search history. For a social scoring system, the
search engine could be integrated into plans. Google did not say much regarding this letter.
Google is making a series of investment that is strategic into the business of China so as
to gain access to the largest market in the world. This project dragonfly will be heavily censored.
Presently the initiative has been put on hold as internal tensions continue to exist. The privacy
team of Google raised various complains and questions (Yousef, Alshaer & Alhammad, 2017).
The privacy team was unaware of the fact that Google was using a data analysis system to
develop dragonfly. Privacy concern brought dragonfly to a standstill. People who are
safeguarding the reputation of Google were also completely unaware about the project which is
regarded as a serious rupture of decorum.
Conclusion
The paper provides an understanding of HRM issues faced by Google and their
employees that highly puts a negative impact on their reputation. It has been observed that the
employees of Google deal with the problem of sexual harassment. Considering the issue, the
CEO Mr. Pichai and vice president of the company have taken serious steps to overcome this
problem. The paper states the fact that the company ensures that they are working hard to
provide a safe environment to their employees. The company also faced the problem of
cancellation of project dragonfly as the employees feel that affects their ethical values. Thus, the
paper provides recommendations to resolve the HRM issues arises within the workplace.
Recommendations
 It is strongly recommended to Google to follow the below mentioned steps to
reduce issues related to human resource management. Organizational culture
should be fostered by the employees where harassment will not be tolerated and
cavity and respect are maintained.
 Every employee should follow the goal Risk factors associated with harassment
which can be assessed and ideas can be explored to minimize the risks.
 Climate surveys should be conducted by the employees to access the limit of
harassment. Undue favor must not be given to any particular employee. Where

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harassment occurs disciplinary action must be immediately taken. Google must
constant promote existing employees and hire new employees.
 It is also recommended to focus on succession planning and developing
leadership. The HR of the organization should provide essential structure, tools,
and processes to develop the best leaders for the organization.
 An initiative must be taken for successfully conducting a scientific approach by
modified valuation. The initiative should ensure that business goals are
successfully achieved and discipline is maintained within the organization.
 Lack of discipline can cause various problems which can ultimately reduce
productivity. It is recommended that the firm should make the employees aware
regarding the discipline and each of the employees should follow it strictly.
Policies must be made very clear and every employee must be clearly informed
about the disciplinary procedures and letting them know where they can appeal. It
is important to ensure that the employees are well trained in securing data and
preventing privacy and thus the business information are safe and secure. Any
change in technology causes anxiety among employees. It is important to ensure
and provide warmth to the employees that they are valued to the organization.
These recommendations if followed can be beneficial for the organization in
dealing with HRM issue.

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References
Aman, T., Asif, S., Qazi, A., & Aziz, S. (2016). Perception of sexual harassment at
workplace, knowledge of working women towards workplace harassment act
2010. Khyber Journal of Medical Sciences (KJMS), 9(2), 230-236.
Ardiansyah, A., Mardhia, M. M., & Handayaningsih, S. (2018). Analogy-based model for
software project effort estimation. International Journal of Advances in Intelligent
Informatics, 4(3), 251-260.
Di Marco, D., Hoel, H., Arenas, A., & Munduate, L. (2018). Workplace incivility as modern
sexual prejudice. Journal of interpersonal violence, 33(12), 1978-2004.
Ely, R. J., & Kimmel, M. (2018). Thoughts on the Workplace as a Masculinity
Contest. Journal of Social Issues, 74(3), 628-634.
Google employees stage mass walkouts — World News with Madeleine Genner.
(2019). Radio National. Retrieved 7 February 2019, from
Google fired 48 for sexual harassment in past two years. (2018). News24. Retrieved 7
February 2019, from
Jeffrey, C. (2018). Open letter from Google employees calls for the cancelation of Project
Dragonfly. TechSpot. Retrieved 7 February 2019, from
McDonald, P., Charlesworth, S., & Graham, T. (2015). Developing a framework of effective
prevention and response strategies in workplace sexual harassment. Asia Pacific
Journal of Human Resources, 53(1), 41-58.
McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., & Blackstone, A. (2017). The economic and career effects of
sexual harassment on working women. Gender & Society, 31(3), 333-358.
Ram, Y., Tribe, J., & Biran, A. (2016). Sexual harassment: overlooked and under-
researched. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(10),
2110-2131.
Solotoff, L., & Kramer, H. S. (2018). Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in the
Work Place. Law Journal Press.

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Yousef, Q. M., Alshaer, Y. A., & Alhammad, N. K. (2017). Dragonfly Estimator: A Hybrid
Software Projects’ Efforts Estimation Model using Artificial Neural Network and
Dragonfly Algorithm. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
AND NETWORK SECURITY, 17(9), 108-120.

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Appendices
Appendix 1: Protest against Sexual Harassment in Google
Figure: Protest against Sexual Harassment in Google
(Source: Ram, Tribe & Biran, 2016)
Appendix 2: Goggle’s Dragonfly wades into murky water
Figure: Goggle’s Dragonfly wades into murky water
(Source: Jeffrey, 2018)