Meta: A New Direction To Leadership

On October 28, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg, founder, chief executive officer, and chair of Facebook Inc. (Facebook), announced Facebook’s name change to Meta Platforms Inc., reflecting his vision for the company’s transition to metaverse technology. At the same time, Facebook was plagued by multiple scandals related to a data privacy breach, the spread of misinformation on the social media platform, employee whistle-blowing, and surveillance-style marketing and advertising. Trust in Zuckerberg’s leadership was diminishing. Zuckerberg controlled 58 per cent of Facebook’s voting shares, and stakeholders, critics, and regulators were calling for distributed leadership. How could Zuckerberg restore trust in his company and his leadership? What did he need to change to become a more effective leader?</p>

<p align="justify">The case is intended for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in leadership, human resources management, and organizational behaviour. The case deals with the founder-CEO dilemma and explores the criticism of Zuckerberg’s power obsession as well as Facebook stakeholders’ lack of trust in his leadership. The case presents students with an opportunity to understand the factors that power the desire of founder CEOs. The case further encourages students to explore the leadership traits that founder CEOs should possess in order to be perceived positively and trusted by stakeholders. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:</p><br><ul><li>Evaluate how introverts excel in the social media industry.</li><li>Examine the sources of power that founder CEOs have and the strategies they use to retain power.</li><li>Explore why founder CEOs want to hold on to their power.</li><li>Critically analyze sources of effective leadership.</li><li>Understand the need to balance the commercial and ethical aspects of doing business.</li></ul><br><p align="justify">Although SDG #16 is primarily linked to government institutions, this case presents an opportunity for instructors to explore and generate discussion related to how Meta could shape the company and its platforms to meet targets such as 16.6, 16.7, and 16.A, among others (see <a href="https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/16-peace-justice-and-strong-institutions/">SDG #16</a>).</p>

• sources of power
• ethics
• leadership
• founder-CEO
• introvert
• power
• social media
• leadership traits
• governance