An Analysis of Contemporary Security Issues and Leadership at Facebook

This report provides an in-depth analysis of contemporary security issues faced by Facebook, including data breaches, privacy concerns, and racism within the workplace. It explores the role of leadership in addressing these challenges, focusing on leadership styles such as transformational, contingency, and path-goal theories. The report examines how these leadership approaches are utilized to motivate employees, improve organizational culture, and regain user trust. It also discusses the importance of power dynamics and Maslow's hierarchy of needs in understanding and meeting employee needs. The analysis highlights the impact of these issues on Facebook's image, sales, and overall productivity, emphasizing the need for effective leadership strategies to overcome these challenges and achieve company goals.

Contemporary Security Issues

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Contemporary security issues of FaceBook................................................................................3
Theories of leadership..................................................................................................................5
What is power and how it can affect organizational culture of Facebook...................................7
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to understand employees’ needs...................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Leadership can be defined as a process of guiding a group of people in a direction by
which they can accomplish their goals and make them able to improve overall productivity of the
company (Western, 2019). This present study is based on Facebook, which is an American social
media corporation. It was founded in 2004 by Mark Zukerberg. This present study is going to
show some contemporary security and other issues which this company is facing and it needs to
solve in a timely manner. Some issues which this study will discuss include: racism, breach of
data, privacy of informations of users. Further, it will also show importance of leadership styles
such as transformational, path goal and contemporary which are being used by the leader of
Facebook as per the current situation and problems. As per the current problems, selection of
leadership styles help them out in solving problems as well as help company in meeting their
goals. Lastly, it will discuss role of power and when it is lost by someone then it has some
critical impacts and for accomplishing goals it is important to have skilled and motivated
employees. For better motivation, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs also plays an important role
which this company use in an effective manner.
Contemporary security issues of FaceBook
In the context of Facebook, it can be said that it is one of the main social media platform which
is being used by almost people. People make great use of Facebook for sharing their photos,
information, interacting with other and for promoting goods and services. So, it can be said that
it is one of the effective platforms which are providing several effective effects or outcomes. But
on the other hand, breach of data on this site is one of the main security problems with Facebook.
It has created several other problems for this company.
It is stated that Facebook does not have appropriate security or privacy and that is why it allowed
hackers to control account. There are approximate 2.5 billion and around 50 million users have
been hacked by hackers. It shows that information, images and other things which are being
updated or uploaded by users are not safe at Facebook and it is worsening image of Facebook
which is one of the main problems. It has also decreased around 2.5% trading of Facebook down.
In this context CEO of Facebook said that he is taking this privacy related issue seriously and for
that they are making use of effective leadership style because they believe that leadership is one

of the main pillars and keys of the success. Leadership styles help leaders in selecting the best
way and guiding all people of the company in a way which can make them able to solve
problems, taking effective decision and improving overall productivity as well. Its engineering
and IT team is working towards it as they have found the main root cause as why hackers have
access to all information and features of this company (Facebook Security Breach allowed
Hackers to Control Account of Up to 50 Million Users, 2018). View as is its main features which
is being identified by its IT team and in this context, CEO also stated that this View as lets users
see as what their profile looks like to other users. So, as like other users, hackers get access and
make undue advantage of it. It is also stated that this company has now suspended this feature of
view as and still they are working on solving this privacy related issues for regaining trust of
users and make them encourage to use Facebook in an effective manner.
In addition, rather security relates issues, there are several other problems which Facebook is
facing and which can have direct effect on its image and sales as well. Racism in workplace is
one of the main types of discrimination in which employers or colleagues discriminated other
employees on the basis of race or ethnic group. Racism or discrimination on the basis of their
ethnic group lower morale of employees and users and it also increases staff turnover rate. It is
one of the other main problems associated with Facebook and in this regard also Mark
Zukerberg, CEO stated that they are concerned with this and they focus that no one is
discriminated at their workplace on the basis of gender, race or other means (Actions Against
Racism, 2019). It is also stated that employers or CEO of this company has launched a new place
on Facebook in order to amplify black voice as well as inspiring all employees and users to take
actions to advance racial justice. This discriminated has created several problems for Facebook
as it increased staff and users turnover rate which also affected its revenue and productivity as
well.
There is a relationship between Facebook use and acceptance of racism posts. One of the main
reasons of using Facebook is to connect with others and making themselves refreshed or fresh.
So, it is important for Facebook to consider this and focus on this area. It is important in this
context that White leaders and employees to learn ways of listening colleagues and users and
also respect their values, beliefs and recognize their own bias. They also need to understand that

being vocal about race, inclusion as well as diversity for solving this problems and removing all
barriers in the path of the success.
In addition, black staff of Facebook complained or stated that they were being discriminated and
they were treated that they do not belong to company where they work and it lowers their morale
as well as de-motivated them towards their functions. In this regard, former manager of
Facebook accused to company because of its black people of racism problem. All people who
felt or experienced discriminated at Facebook workplace, wrote a letter to the CEO in which they
stated how bad workplace it is as employees of black ethic group were not given equal
opportunities as like others (Black Facebook Staff Describe Workplace Racism in Anonymous
Letter, 2019). In addition, employees also alleged that they were brushed aside by human
resources staff when they asked that the aggressions needs to be addressed. Employees
said that this is an unethical behaviour which Facebook and its white employees do with
other black people but each employee should be given equal and fair chance.
So, from the above it can be said that Facebook is facing some serious critical problems
which need to be solved in an effective manner for not only taking competitive
advantages but also for regaining trust of users, employees and retain them with the
company for the long run.
Theories of leadership
In the context of leadership theories it can be said that it plays an important role as it helps
leaders in solving current problems which their company is facing. There are several leadership
styles which can allow leader of Facebook to guide group of people in a manner by which they
can help Facebook in accomplishing their goals and solving all above discussed problems. It is
stated that Facebook is facing several problems like lower motivation in employees, high staff
turnover rate, loss in shares of Facebook, breach of privacy and loss of users (Boamah and et.al.,
2018). But with the help of making an effective use of different styles of leadership, all these
problems canbe solved out but there is requirement for leader to select appropriate style as per
the current situations. Some styles of leadership which Facebook is using and should focus more
include:

Transformational: It is one of the best styles or ways of leading. One of the main reasons of
choosing this style by Facebook is it can help them out to motivate and inspire their employees
and make them able to retain with the company for the long run. Increased retention rate of users
and employees directly affect and help company in improving their image as well as bringing
innovation in the company. In this type of leadership style, leader motivates,inspire and
encourage their staff and make them able to change as well as innovate for making shape for the
future. It can also makes employees feel valued which can help Facebook in solving problems of
racism because leader in this style do not become bias as they motivate all employees in an equal
manner. For making it successful, leader set an example at executive level via strong sense of
corporate culture as well as independence in workplace. One of the main reasons of developing
this style of leadership is encourage employees and gaining trust among them by which they can
support company in meeting their goals (Ciulla, 2020).
There are several characteristics of transformational leadership style which Facebook Company
can have such as:
 It encourages motivation in employees and develops all followers in a positive manner.
 It exemplifies moral standard in an organization and encourages same to others.
 By encouraging employees it builds company culture.
 It fosters ethical work environment which is beneficial for Facebook in eliminatingracism
and regaining trust of employees.
Contingency: It is other main effective theory of leadership in which leader is contingent and
believes to be effective when they can match their leadership style as per the situation of the
company. It is stated in the context of Facebook that it is facing privacy related issues and due to
this Facebook lost its shares and also its users. So, in this regard it can be said that by making an
effective use of contingency leadership style, leader of Facebook can solve this problem and can
regain trust. There are different ways of leading and as per the situation, contingent leader needs
to adopt their styles and match their skills according to this. By using appropriate styles it can
also motivate employees and eliminate racism. For example: by making use of democratic
leadership style it can provide equal opportunities to all employees in decision making process
whether they are black, females, males. By doing so, it can eliminate discrimination within its
workplace which is one of the main problems which it is facing. It can make employees feel

valued and motivated (Fiedler, 2018). On the other hand, when employees are not skilled and
have knowledge then it can use autocratic and can take views of employees but final decision can
be taken by themselves. So, as per the situation it needs to select style.
As per the current situation and problem, it can be said that Facebook requires to engage its
customers, employees and it can be possible when it uses styles of encouraging and motivating
employees. There are different ways of leading such as: coaching, guiding, rewarding, punishing
etc. So, in this type of situation, it can provides rewards to employees and use coaching style and
can help employees in their functions for reducing errors and increasing confidence.
Path goal: It is as like contingency theory of leadership in which company tries to specify
leader’s style which can best fit to working environment and can help company in accomplishing
their goals. Some reasons of developing and using this theory are to motivate empowerment and
satisfy employees in order to make them productive. Making employees productive can help
Facebook in accomplishing goals, taking competitive advantages and increasing sales
(Famakinand Abisuga,2016).
It is based on Vroom’s expectancy theory in which leader or an individual act in such manner
basedon expectations that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness
of that outcome to the individual. One of the main features of this theory is in this type, leaders
select specific behaviours which can be the best suited to employees' needs as well as working
environment so that they can guide employees through their path.
So, from the above discussed leadership theories it can be said that Facebook can motivate its
employees, users and can engage them. They can also gain trust and retain them with the
company which can help it out in accomplishing goals and solving all problems.
What is power and how it can affect organizational culture of Facebook
Organisational power and power in organisational context refers to the ability of
individual and group to influence others and make things happen according to them. This means
that power in organisation enables one member of the organisation to influence another member
to do what they want them to do and function accordingly within organisation and sometimes
outside organisation as well. Power in organisations is get sourced by the members and these
sources are legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, referent power and expert power

(Tomlinson, 2018). Mark Zuckerberg exert his power which he gets from legitimate power and
this power is the power which is exercised by the individuals based on their position in the
organisation and Mark Zuckerberg is positioned on the top position in the company and this
enables him to exert their power on whole organisation and all members of the organisation.
Power is an important influence affecting culture of the organisation specifically in case of Mark
Zuckerberg, he is holding highest position in the company and holds power to shape and mould
the culture of the company. Safety measures that are taken at the company are also in the culture
as what emphasis is given on the safety of the data in organisation. Facebook is a company
which is all about data and security breach that happened at Facebook severely affected its
culture and this required to develop a culture where security is given utmost importance. Other
than this it can be considered that Mark Zuckerberg hold all types of power in organisation, this
means that along with legitimate power he also have reward power, expert power and referent
power this ensures that he has bigger influence at Facebook than any member of the organisation
and this is why his responsibility also increases (Kesa, Wu, and Ko, 2019). Culture of the
organisation also gets affected by him, this also includes that they can exert power in shaping the
culture. This is mainly dependent on his perception and point of view which affect organisational
culture.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to understand employees’ needs
Maslow Hierarchy of needs one of the widely used theory of motivation that answers
what motivates employees. This theory consists of a hierarchy including 5 different needs that
employees have. This hierarchy of needs starts from physiological needs. Later hierarchy
includes safety and security needs, social needs, self esteem needs and self actualisation needs.
Physiological Needs- This type of needs are most basic needs that individual have and these
needs of the individual are important for ensuring their survival (Bouzenita and Boulanouar,
2016). These needs can be fulfilled by paying minimum wage. In order to identify the needs of
the individual this type of needs are of employees employed at line level and lowest level in the
organisational hierarchy. Satisfying their needs is easy as this can be done by paying them
adequate so that they can maintain a proper living. Under qualified and less qualified employees
are also parts of this as they can also not get a job at high level in the organisation. Low
qualification also leads to less pay.

Safety needs- These needs includes needs that are concerned with physical safety of the
employees and also includes financial security. In the hierarchy this needs generates when
physiological needs of the employees gets fulfilled. Employees with such needs can be identified
in the jobs which includes hazardous activities and operations. Facebook can identify these type
of employees by ensuring their nature of the job of the employees. Other than this when
employees fulfil their physiological needs this generate their needs for safety and security.
Social needs- This is another need in the hierarchy this need can be defined as need for
relationships. This type of needs is fulfilled by ensuring that employees can develop informal
relationship with their peers and co-workers (Hale, and et.al., 2019). This can be fulfilled by
teamworking in which employees get opportunities to develop relationship with their peers and
fellow employees. Often employees who are more able to perform well in team and groups rather
than individually have this need and this is the way that these employees can be identified at
Facebook.
Self- Esteem- This need is also known as ego needs of the employees, in these needs employees
have a requirement that they are acknowledged and awarded. This basically refers to needs of
reward and recognition. Employees who gets motivated by rewards and recognition and praise
are these type of employees having the need of self esteem. These needs are also experienced by
employees employed at higher level in organisational hierarchy and those who are aid well have
this type of needs that they are recognised in the organisation and this also fulfil their ego needs.
Self-actualisation- This is the last need in the hierarchy of Maslow and this needs are needs for
employees where employees feel and generate a need that they should be doing something for
which they have potential. This means that employees desire to work on the tasks and functions
where they can utilize their full potential (Soni and Soni, 2016). These employees are generally
employees who are working at higher level in organisational hierarchy having very excellent pay
and along with that are also well recognised. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook can be considered
having this need.

CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion it can be concluded that leadership is very important
element that affect organisation and its performance and when leader is able to exert strong
power this also increases their responsibility. This happened with the Mark Zuckerberg, as being
able to exert strong power in organisation he was held responsible for the security issues of the
Facebook, which affected around 50 million Facebook users and threatened their information
security that was available on Facebook. This report also discussed about some of the theories of
leadership in which transformational leadership was discussed and along with that path goal
theory of leadership and contingency theory of leadership was also discussed. Later power in
context of organisation was also discussed as power is very important influence in organisation
and as well as in building and developing culture of the organisation. Later Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs was also discussed in the report.

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