MBA501: Dynamic Strategy - Facebook Stakeholder Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive stakeholder analysis of Facebook, examining the company's background, vision, and mission, as well as recent developments, challenges, and industry trends. The analysis employs stakeholder theory, models, and mapping techniques to identify and evaluate key stakeholders, including users, advertisers, employees, and the government. The report delves into the behavior, motives, and potential coalitions of each stakeholder group, highlighting their competitive threats and cooperation potential. The analysis includes a stakeholder mapping grid and detailed examinations of four selected stakeholder groups, offering insights into their influence on Facebook's operations and strategic direction. The report concludes that understanding and managing these diverse stakeholder relationships are crucial for Facebook's continued growth and success.

Running head: STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Subject Code: MBA501
Subject Name: Dynamic Strategy and Disruptive Innovation
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Executive Summary
The paper focused on discussion of stakeholder management of Facebook. The initial status
descripts the company background and formation. The consequential parts identifies and
analyses the potential stakeholders of Facebook. With the help of stakeholder management
theory, model and mapping, the four most important stakeholders of the Facebook are
identified.

2STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Facebook: Organisation overview..........................................................................................3
Stakeholder theory, model and mapping....................................................................................4
Stakeholders of Facebook......................................................................................................5
Stakeholder analysis of Facebook..............................................................................................7
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
Reference..................................................................................................................................11

3STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Introduction
Stakeholders are considered to be the key people who are associated in the working
environment of the business or the organisation. Stakeholder analysis refers to the significant
technique that analyses and identifies the key people associated with the company. The utility
of stakeholder analysis of an organisation helps the firm in identifying people or groups
keeping interest in the well-being and operational activities of the company. With reference
to the popularity of Facebook and its formation, the report focuses on analysing and
identifying the key stakeholders of the company. The use of social media networks are huge
in the world context now and hence, analysing the key people interested in fulfilling the
company objectives are essential to track unethical relations and genuine connections towards
the company.
Facebook: Organisation overview
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, invented this social media networking
site in 2004 and launched it on 4th of February. The entire unit of Facebook is headquartered
at Menlo Park of California. Mark along with his fellow friends from Harvard Andrew
McCollum, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin founded the company.
The mission statement of the company refers to providing the people with power for
building community and the world closer. The vision statement of the company focuses on
actively supporting and enhancing networks to connect people all around the world by
developing products and solving problems in empowering community and harmony
(Facebook.com 2019). With the development in the technological aspects and exposure in the
social media, the demands of consumers have made Facebook aware of many issues leading
to creation of rules and policies.

4STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
The potential challenges that Facebook confronts is social opinion related to issues of
elections, privacy of users, safety priority, advertisement and legal regulations. Amongst the
hugely transformed features of Facebook from 2004 to 2019 is evidently video priority. The
company have facilitated their users recording and sharing live videos and watch parties. The
growth of AR/VR concepts have been increasing on Facebook due to availability of
differently performing camera effects (Keap.com 2019). The existence of different social
issues have raised the power of mass speaking fearlessly and even under disguise. The most
important trend that hit the site is a platform for marketers where local to international
business entrepreneurs are operating and promoting their operations.
Stakeholder theory, model and mappingStakeholder theory had been developed by Edward Freeman considers anyone
affecting the company to be their stakeholder. As opposed by Milton Friedman, he
emphasized on the importance of shareholder theory and concept. The concept focused much
on capitalism approach (Eskerod and Jepsen 2016). However, with reference to the current
scenario of company environment analysis of 21st century, the stakeholder theory holds more
importance addressing the significance of each stakeholders.
The
stakeholder model have three defined characteristics that articulates the
approach of significantly considering stakeholders in a business environment (Harrison et al
2015).
 Descriptive: It provides a theme or language of describing concepts of corporation.
 Instrumental: It makes the stakeholders oriented to company achievement like
growth, increasing profitability and sustainability.
 Normative: It values the stakeholder explaining and supporting that stakeholders
have legitimate rights in the activities of the corporate responsibility.

5STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Stakeholder mapping is a process that collaborates information and data from
researches and debates for determining the list of stakeholders at different positions in the
complete spectrum of stakeholders (Jiang et al 2014). The procedure is segmented into four
consequential parts as identify, analyse, map and prioritize. The procedure is a five-step
approach that enacts engagement strategy at the end of the four steps done and the cycle goes
on. The following is the model structure or grid.
Figure 1: The stakeholder mapping grid
(Source: Johnson-Cramer et al 2017)
Stakeholders of Facebook
The key stakeholders of Facebook are users, government, advertisers and employees.
Users: Facebook have almost 1.6 billion users actively using the online site every
month leading them as the biggest site of social media online. Considering users to be the
most important stakeholders is justified with the motive of creating the site and popularity

6STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
earned. There are different age-group users on the portal connecting people across the world
with lessening technical interruptions (Tao and Wilson 2015).
Advertisers: The platform of Facebook have given the chance to marketers for
catering their advertisements and reach a greater section of audience. The marketers or
advertisers put on advertisements creating SEO systems where per search are way of earning
money and generating huge financial flow (Agostino and Arnaboldi 2016). Facebook
provides number of options to their advertisers by setting the number and ratio of target
audience.
Employees: The internal stakeholders operating all the sourcing and operations of
connectivity are employees. The responsible person for creating, managing and improving
the contents and user interface of Facebook are these employees.
Government: The government of different operating countries are associated with
setting the laws and regulations as per the country culture that has to be implemented in the
Facebook framework for that particular region. Moreover, any programs initiated by
government are promoted through the site that makes them getting partnership and support
(Manetti and Bellucci 2016).

7STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Stakeholder analysis of Facebook
HIGH LOW
HIGH SWING
(Rule changer: Collaborate)
Government
OFFENSIVE
(Exploit: Involve)
Jim Breyer
Relative
cooperation
potential
DEFENSIVE
(Defend)
Advertisers- Samsung, PayPal,
Calm
HOLD
(Holding current position:
Monitor)
Messenger, Instagram,
WhatsApp, OculusLOW
Relative competitive threatFigure 2: The Stakeholders mapping of Facebook
(Source: Created by the author)
Stakeholder 1: Jim Breyer
Jim is a capital investor of America and a partner to venture philanthropist Accel
Partners. The company invested $12.7 million in Facebook during 2005 depicting lucrative
relationship with the network that returned the company with billions of dollars back to the
investor again by 2012. After that, Breyer called off from Accel Partners and opened Breyer
Capital.
Behaviour:
 Competitive threat: Low

8STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
 Cooperation potential: High
Motives:
 Objectives: To invest in social media platform for greater return on investments.
 Stakeholders: Facebook, ICO, Softbank, IDG
 Beliefs: The most important stakeholder of Facebook that can invest in mass market
venturing
 Possible coalitions: Coalitions with other investment companies and entrepreneurs like
Dustin Moskovitz, Peter Thiel and Sheryl Sandberg.
Comments: The investors are interested in utilising the media to generate money and
profit returns with ease and encryption of their credentials emphasising on data security (Kim
et al 2014).
Stakeholder 2: Co-venture- Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus
Behaviour:
 Competitive threat: Low
 Cooperation potential: Low
Motives:
 Objectives: Providing a wide network of connectivity
 Stakeholders: Users, investors, advertisers
 Beliefs: Betterment in communication channel developing
 Possible coalitions: Other social media networks like SnapChat, Twitter, Adobe, and
relevant ventures to promote the functions of Facebook and its partner applications.
Comments: Partner applications are the key sources of increasing popularity that
emphasize on satisfying the need of company objectives (Ji et al 2017). The partner

9STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
applications contribute a lot for their social business and hence, considering the evolution that
they can offer for the company holds being one of the key stakeholders.
Stakeholder 3: Advertisers- Samsung, PayPal, Calm and many
Behaviour:
 Competitive threat: Low
 Cooperation potential: High
Motives:
 Objectives: Marketing the utility of the businesses directly or indirectly related to the e-
commerce platform
 Stakeholders: Users, investors, promoters
 Beliefs: Bringing e-commercialisation at easier extent and with more achievable audience
 Possible coalitions: Facebook, investors, broadcasting partners and other media channels
or social media celebrities
Comments: The advertiser and marketer are the people seeking opportunity to
develop with the help of Facebook. It is a symbiotic relation of both the ends and therefore,
Facebook had opened up huge opportunities for this particular sector of stakeholders.
Marketers or advertisers work directly and indirectly for a main clause creates a gateway of
income for every existing and involved user in the chain. Thus, it enhances the overall
financial growth of the industry.
Stakeholder 4: Government
Behaviour:
 Competitive threat: High
 Cooperation potential: High

10STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Motives:
 Objectives: Maintain and regulate policies and norms and utilise Facebook as a tool to
promote such policies addressing the audience and ask for data of users at any need
 Stakeholders: Community, legislative body, administration
 Beliefs: To uplift the cultural dignity of a state and maintain identity safety
 Possible coalitions: Facebook, other social media channels
Comments: The government has always been considered important in terms of
developing and imposing laws and regulations (Bonsón et al 2015). Therefore, the
significance of being in relation with the government strengthens the position and capability
of Facebook. The terms are mostly relevant when Facebook is operating in different countries
with different culture. Without the help of government and administrative policies, the
company cannot impose terms of equality and cultural uplift.
Conclusion
From the discussion and analysis done above, it is hence concluded that Facebook act
as a platform of lot many dimensions in the society to speak up. The important stakeholders
of the company have the potential to build relative profit for the company in terms of growth,
popularity and utility favouring the intentional causes of promotion. The stakeholders being
involved directly and indirectly with the Facebook impacts the company functioning. The
stakeholder analysis conducted reflects prospective aspects in future. The most significant
aspect of stakeholder analysis with reference to social media site is that the genuine potential
sources are analysed along with different data sets. Being clear with the motive and position
of the stakeholders can save a lot time to identify their potential threats and opportunities.

11STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS OF FACEBOOK
Reference
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Eskerod, P. and Jepsen, A.L., 2016. Project stakeholder management. Routledge.
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approach to effective management: Applying the theory to multiple contexts. Revista
brasileira de gestão de negócios, 17(55), pp.858-869.
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Jiang, S., Chen, H., Nunamaker, J.F. and Zimbra, D., 2014. Analyzing firm-specific social
media and market: A stakeholder-based event analysis framework. Decision Support
Systems, 67, pp.30-39.
Johnson-Cramer, M.E., Berman, S.L. and Post, J.E., 2017. Re-examining the concept of
‘stakeholder management’. In Unfolding Stakeholder Thinking 2 (pp. 145-161). Routledge.