Strategic Leadership and Stakeholder Management

This report analyzes the leadership style of Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, and examines his struggles and criticisms as a global leader. It provides recommendations for improvement and discusses the importance of strategic leadership and stakeholder management.

Student Name
|
Strategic Leadership
and Stakeholder
Management
MARK ELLIOT ZUCKERBERG

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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................1
Early life and rise of Facebook...............................................................................................2
Personal traits...........................................................................................................................3
Leadership style........................................................................................................................4
Mark’s struggle and Stakeholder criticisms..........................................................................6
Recommendations....................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................8
References.................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
A framework which connects citizenship, global leadership along with stakeholder
management encompasses new leadership roles and skills, on the other hand, enhances
structural forms that emerges while managing diversified stakeholders. Global business
leaders are considered as an individual who integrates different perspectives regarding
organisational issues to transform them into opportunities for bringing organisational
developments (Davila, Lluesma, & Elvira, 2013). This report will analyse leadership style of
Mark Zuckerberg who is most popularly recognised as a creator of famous social networking
site, Facebook. He is also known as one of the youngest billionaires worldwide and was able
to make his dream come true at a very young age of twenty-four. With strong visionary
power and innovative skills, Mark became an inspiring entrepreneur for the world and poses
a self-made net income of around US $ 6.9 billions (Biography.com, 2019). Mark had to face
many struggles and pitfalls that came in between him and his success, but with strong
entrepreneurial skills and leadership traits he was able to surpass them successfully (Walter,
2014). Mark had to face many criticisms for issues seen in his company that will be discussed
further in this report along with analysing his leadership style to make recommendations that
can assist him in upcoming years.
Early life and rise of Facebook
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg belongs to a well-educated family and was born on 14th May
1984 in New York’s small village named Dobbs Ferry. Mark showed keen interest in
computer programming from very tender age and used technology named Atari Basic for
making computer-based program named ‘Zucknet’ that was able to send and receive
messages. This program helped his father in his clinic while his receptionist could inform him

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about new patients’ arrival without crossing the room each time. Slowly, other family
members also started using ‘Zucknet’ for communication purposes (Astrum People website,
2018).
The concept behind Facebook came into Mark’s knowledge in 2004 February while
he studied in Harvard University. His idea was to publish annual student’s directory present
in Harvard directory room, where he uploaded profile headshot pictures that could be
accessed by all faculty as well as staff members. He named this networking concept as
‘Facebook’ that was initially supposed to assist students as they had issues in communicating
with each other at that time (Astrum People website, 2018). However, as the time passed and
story about his innovative idea spread, other roommates and university students showed
interest in it thereby making his technology and initial idea an instant hit among youngsters.
His passion for connecting people with the help of technology and advanced tools assisted
him to surpass initial struggles and pitfalls. Slowly, Facebook was transformed into a giant
company and wider social networking site was created through capital investments and other
business-related components (Biography.com, 2019).
Personal traits
Contemporary psychology theories acknowledge that few leaders are motivated by
values and goals, but others are motivated out of greed or egos (Dirzyte, Patapas, & Smalsys,
2013). Nevertheless, Caligiuri & Tarique (2009) states that effectiveness in global leaders can
be facilitated only if they pose transnational competencies or global mindset to confront
organisational challenges along with stakeholders’ criticisms that might inhibit their ability to
work efficiently. Personal traits, on the other hand is more practical concept of personal
character concerning those which influences individual behaviour through perpetual expertise
and attitude. Mark’s personal traits reveals that he is a strong, adjustable and humble leader

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who show openness to foresee every dimension that can come in between his success path
(Clark, 2017).
Mark did not accept or showed commitment towards Tyler and Cameron
Winklevoss’s ideas where they tried to appoint Mark to build a social dating site named
‘Harvard Connection’ (Biography.com, 2019). This personality trait reveals that he cannot
take orders from others or get dominated and thus was able to create a company under his
ownership known as Facebook. The agreeable dimension of global leaders determines those
traits where they are more agreeable to societal factors whereas adjustment dimensions in
personality trait theory can be related to emotional stability within leaders. Mark showed
more agreeable dimension according to personality trait theory as he loves spending time
with friends and family (Tan, 2013). Few unethical traits can be reflected from Mark’s
behaviour when one summer morning he created a site named Facemash that randomly
selected two profile pictures of female students, putting them together to compare which one
was “hotter”. In fact, Mark was punished and expelled for community hacking, but the matter
got resolved later (Astrum People website, 2018).
Mark’s business creation and development shows that he adopted innovative entrepreneur
personality and therefore was able to establish an organisation after adopting all-inclusive
model that is related to entrepreneurial practices thereby influencing personal, sociological
and environmental factors (Kamugisha, 2017). Mark is also considered as a great strategist as
he keeps acquiring companies that continue operating as an individual entity under
Facebook’s name. For example, he acquired photo sharing app, Instagram in 2012 for $ 1
billion (Astrum People website, 2018).

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Leadership style
Through various settings, experience and time, many leadership theories evolved that
represented human side about bringing relationships, constructing behaviour and emotion that
fits situational perspectives. Out of all, transformational leadership is mostly discussed in
literature following other significant theories like autocratic, situational, servant, authentic
leadership along with path-goal and leader-member theories (Kovach, 2018). From Mark’s
biography, it can be seen that he always performed in a manner that established trust between
him and his followers. He showed acceptable nature while taking advice from others showing
social acceptance for the sake of his company as well as himself like an effective leader (Tan,
2013). For instance, once he had asked Sean Parker, the creator of Napster about how he was
able to succeed in his venture. Though Parker poeses few depraved qualities like druggist and
alcoholic nature and gains bad reputation in business world, Mark did not show resistance
and took his help for enabling his techniques in Facebook (Biography.com, 2019).
Mark’s leadership style can be associated with transformational leadership style as
Hossain (2015) says that transformational leaders looks beyond normal day-to-day life and
focusses on creating extraordinary teams comprising motivated workforce through team
building. Transformational leaders not only encourage their followers to form an individual
goal-setting, but also motivates them constantly by providing opportunities required for
personal and professional growth which can be seen in Mark’s leadership style also (Clark,
2017). Though his ideas are full of disruptions, his confidence for fulfilling them with
courageous defiance and vigour reveals a perfect transformational leadership style of Mark.
Theoretically, Mark shows some stances of democratic leadership style also as he
focuses on group relationships and sensitivity towards people. In his organisation, every
individual is allowed to present their ideas and suggestions that suits well with Facebook.
Another reason why he is democratic leader is due to his management style where he

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promotes enhanced job satisfaction along with higher productivity that are more based upon
creativity and innovation rather than experience based. Besides, Mark uses all the 5Ps
element required in a successful leader: passion, purpose, people, product and partnerships
(Chris, 2015). Nevertheless, one strong weakness can be evaluated from Mark’s leadership
style that he never consults or uses company’s board of directors’ advices while tackling
intense situation also. He takes all the major decisions by himself and never allow others give
him orders. Thus, Mark have fallen various times under stakeholders’ criticisms and unethical
stances majorly due to lack of sorting and clarity in information along with deficiency seen in
supportive guidance.
Mark’s struggle and Stakeholder criticisms
Though Mark’s life history and leadership style shows that he has got great talent and
effective leadership style, but few comments observed in media and society regarding his
management style have led this leader fallen under various criticisms. In fact, he was
criticised as a person for whom money matter the most after Facebook scandal was exposed
which shows struggles Mark had to face while managing his company (Heskett, 2018).
Initial struggles: During initial stages when Mark wanted to establish a global networking
site, he had to face issues concerning funding and investments. Since his concept was new
that time, investors showed least interest in his idea and thus he had to run advertisements for
raising funds in his own website initially. However, in 2004 money poured into Facebook’s
accounts since then, his company started flourishing worldwide (Aggarwal, 2016).
Stakeholders comments: Since Mark started his career at very young age and was able to
face success when others start thinking about new business launch, he is often criticised as
‘Toddler CEO’. He is also been blamed for stealing the idea of Facebook and building a
similar competitive product from Harvard Connection.com. The senior group twins claim that

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Mark had sabotaged their combined project and betrayed them. Mark’s interviews reveal that
he faces constant challenges from books published against his character like one of Ben
Mezrich book named ‘The Accidental Billionaires’. The book portrayed Mark’s behaviour
and management style in more garnished and speculative manner (Aggarwal, 2016).
Ineffective decisions: Mark always makes decisions of his own and as Facebook grew, taking
decisions proved critical for him and thus he faced various struggles while taking decisions
that could avoid him from facing issues. After Facebook was developed initially, he had to
face many problems while selecting investors whom he wanted to invest in his company.
However, rumours spread rapidly that Mark wanted to sell off his Facebook that was later
stated as a Fake news by him (Heskett, 2018).
Law suits and scandals: Mark’s company, Facebook have been in news many times due to
scandals and law suits filed against it. The most recent one is Cambridge Analytica scandal in
which Facebook was accused for misleading voting grounds unethically. The incident
affected Mark’s ethical stance and he had to face many criticisms from people around the
globe as their personal data risked due to inefficient risk management and data protection acts
seen within Mark’s company (Wells & McKinnon, 2018). This was not the first time that
Mark got stakeholders criticisms concerning ineffective control and management in his
company. Previously, Facebook was sued for allowing download of deleted videos without
letting the concerned account holder know about it. One of the statement given by Facebook
chief investment officer states, “If privacy is a human right then we contend that Facebook's
poor stewardship of user data is tantamount to a human rights violation," (Sherr, 2018).
Recommendations
Though Mark shows all the necessary features that requires to be present in a global
leader, few actionable recommendations can be made that can assist him while addressing

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flaws in his leadership style. The above report finds that Mark uses transformational
leadership along with showing stances of democratic leadership style, this report recommends
him to use authoritarian leadership, especially during the times of issues and criticism faced.
Leaders who remains authoritative in nature seeks best performances from their subordinates
along with enabling effective decisions during intense times without letting anyone intrigue
in decision making process. Moreover, Wang & Guan (2018) have cited that authoritarian
leader’s behaviour asserts strong control and authority over subordinates by demanding
unquestionable obedience.
Secondly, as one of the incidents mentioned above show that Mark took advice from
Parker, it can be recommended here that he must show more cautious nature while operating
in a global environment. Contemporary business leaders must show organisational awareness,
and be able to influence and inspire others positively along with showing interest in
developing good and nurtured teams (Gudmundsson & Southey, 2011). Last recommendation
can be made regarding consideration of business ethics and corporate law after analysing
unethical stances seen in Facebook and Mark’s management style. Even, Mihelic, Lipicnik &
Tekavcic (2010) underpins that stakeholder management have become a common expression
among contemporary businesses and therefore must be managed after noting business ethics,
corporate law, management theory and practice.
Conclusion
The above report analysed Mark Zuckerberg’s developments, capabilities and
achievements along with evaluating his leadership style and practice. One incident that made
this strong leader infamous globally is Cambridge Analytica Scandal which investigated that
Mark’s company harvested personal data of around 87 million Facebook users for political
campaigning (Winder, 2019). However, Mark accepted his mistake and reassures his

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followers by saying, "the future of communication will increasingly shift to private,
encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure
and their messages." One major flaw can be seen in his unethical leadership style as in one of
the news media, an employee from his company claims that Facebook management
comprises very unhealthy and demotivating environment and says, “It’s the bunker
mentality. These people have been under siege for 600 days now. They’re getting tired,
getting cranky — the only survival strategy is to quit or fully buy in.” (Warzel & Mac, 2018).
Since few drawbacks have been identified Mark Zuckerberg leadership style, this report
recommended few ways that can assist Mark Zuckerberg in his upcoming years along with
fostering his positive leadership approaches that made him famous for his achievements.

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References
Aggarwal, J. (2016). 6 Biggest Problems Mark Zuckerberg faced in Early Days of Facebook.
Retrieved from https://www.businessalligators.com/7-biggest-problems-mark-
zuckerberg-faced-early-days/
Astrum People website. (2018). Mark Zuckerberg Biography: Success Story of Facebook
Founder and CEO. Retrieved from https://astrumpeople.com/mark-zuckerberg-
biography-success-story-of-facebook-founder-and-ceo/
Biography.com. (2019). Mark Zuckerberg Biography. Retrieved from
https://www.biography.com/people/mark-zuckerberg-507402
Caligiuri , P., & Tarique , I. (2009). Predicting effectiveness in global leadership activities.
Journal of World Business, 44, 336-346.
Chris, J. (2015). 5 Mark Zuckerberg Leadership Style Commandments . Retrieved from
http://www.josephchris.com/5-mark-zuckerberg-leadership-style-commandments
Clark, E. (2017). Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Leadership. Retrieved from
http://elijahclark.com/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-leadership/
Davila, A., Lluesma, C. R., & Elvira, M. M. (2013). Global Leadership, Citizenship and
Stakeholder Management. Organisational Dynamics, 42, 183-190.
Dirzyte, A., Patapas, A., & Smalsys, V. (2013). What Personality Traits Make and Effective
Leader? International Journal of Arts and Commerce, 02(10), 125-131.

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Gudmundsson , A., & Southey, G. (2011). Leadership and the rise of the corporate
psychopath: What can business schools do about the ‘snakes inside’? e-Journal of
Social & Behavioural Research in Business, 02(02), 18-27.
Heskett, J. (2018). What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do? Retrieved from
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/what-should-mark-zuckerberg-do?cid=wk-rss
Hossain, K. A. (2015). Leadership qualities for 21st century leaders. Pearl Journal of
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Management and Economics (1st ed.). The eBook Company.
Kovach, M. (2018). An Examination of Leadership Theories in Business and Sport
Achievement Contexts. The Journal of ValuesBased Leadership, 11(02), 1-17.
Mihelič, K. K., Lipičnik, B., & Tekavčič, M. (2010). Ethical Leadership. International
Journal of Management & Information Systems, 14(05), 31-42.
Sherr, I. (2018). Mark Zuckerberg hammered by shareholders over scandals. Retrieved from
https://www.cnet.com/news/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-hammered-by-shareholders-
over-scandals/
Tan, T. (2013). Mark Zuckerberg Leadership Style. Retrieved from
http://markzuckerberg1.blogspot.com/
Walter, E. (2014). How to Lead Like Zuck. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/ekaterina-
walter/as-zuckerberg-turns-30-leadership-lessons.html
Wang, H., & Guan, B. (2018). The Positive Effect of Authoritarian Leadership on Employee
Performance: The Moderating Role of Power Distance. Frontiers in Psychology,
09(357), 1-10.

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Warzel, C., & Mac, R. (2018, 12 05). Mark Zuckerberg's Biggest Problem: Internal Tensions
At Facebook Are Boiling Over. Retrieved from
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/facebooks-tensions-zuckerberg-
sandberg
Wells, G., & McKinnon, J. D. (2018). Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg admits ‘huge mistake’
— up to 87 million users hit by data leak. Retrieved from
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mistake-in-not-protecting-users-data-2018-04-04
Winder, D. (2019, 03 17). Facebook Privacy Update: Mark Zuckerberg's Response To
Cambridge Analytica Scandal One Year On. Retrieved from
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#22494b422198

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