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Facebook's Predicaments: Incidental, Inadvertent, or Intentional?

Bikramjit Rishi, Rajkumari Mittal, Parul Sinha

Product #:W27654
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:General Management, Marketing
Setting:India, United States, 2021
Details:Case (PDF) • 10 pages • 2022-06-08

Subjects:

Crisis managementSocial mediaBusiness ethicsBusiness managementWeb-based technologiesBusiness law and ethicsBusiness modelsCorporate strategySales and marketingMarketingManagement

Industries:

Information technology and telecom sector

Geography:

AsiaNorth AmericaIndiaUnited States
Your Price:$9.71

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By October 2021, the US social media giant Facebook Inc. had been dominating the social media market globally with the highest number of active users. It owned four of the biggest social media platforms—Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. However, the company’s history was marked by controversies ranging from ethical matters to social issues. The various crises it had faced to date included thousands of internal documents leaked by whistle-blower Frances Haugen, public criticism by former director Tim Kandell, and data breaches by Cambridge Analytica. These crises were symbolic of the anguish that various stakeholders were feeling. In the aftermath of these events, Facebook Inc. had to contemplate various key questions. Were the controversies destructive to the company, or were they adding value to its growth? Had the company taken the right actions to address its issues, or could it do more to make amends? How could the company prevent the recurrence of such situations in the future?

Learning Objectives

This case is suitable for any course related to social media marketing or ethics and crisis management at the postgraduate or executive level. The case provides an opportunity to discuss how a social media company manages situations of turmoil and crises. At the postgraduate level it can also be used to demonstrate the impact of a company on society and on business, and of a successful brand transition.

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to
  • understand and apply the 5S (shouldering responsibility, sincerity, speed, systems, and standards) framework to manage crisis in an organization;
  • discuss the importance of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework;
  • analyze the impact of organization actions on society and business with the help of the ESG framework; and
  • understand when a brand image needs revision due to the impact of the company’s actions on society.
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Case Study: Facebook's Predicaments: Incidental, Inadvertent, or Intentional? (English version) | Ivey Publishing