Module 3 – Case
LEADING
Assignment Overview
Few CEOs have been subject to as much criticism and attacks
as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Most famously, he was portrayed as the
villain in the move The Social Network. Shareholders have complained about his
leadership and failure to increase the stock price of Facebook, and others have
claimed he is socially inept and too young and immature to be a CEO of a multi-billion
dollar corporation.
However, in spite of this criticism Zuckerberg is unarguably
one of the most successful CEOs and entrepreneurs in corporate history. His
small project that he created while he was a college student has become world
dominant in the social media business and is still growing and expanding. So in
spite of all of the criticism he clearly has been a successful leader.
For this assignment, do some research in the online library
and find out what you can about Zuckerberg’s leadership style. Take a look at
both the criticisms as well as what you think he is doing right or what lead
him to his strong success.
Here are a few articles to get you started:
Facebook’s leadership: Time for an update? (Jun. 13, 2010).
The Washington Post. [Available on ProQuest]
Bailey, B., & May, P. (2014, Feb 03). Facebook at 10:
Zuckerberg pushing for change. Oakland Tribune. [ProQuest]
Lesley, C. T. (2012, Jan 27). Job at Facebook not for
sensitive types. Toronto Star. [ProQuest]
Case Assignment
Once you have finished your research, write a 4- to 5-page
paper addressing the following questions:
How would you describe Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership traits?
Explain your reason and refer to specific leadership traits from Theories and
leadership approach (2014) and Avery (2004). [Your answer to this question
should be one to one and half pages in length]
How would you describe Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership style?
Was it transformational, transactional, autocratic, democratic? All of the
above, or none? Refer to concepts from Armstrong (2013, Kirimi and Barine
(2012) as part of your answer. The Pearson tutorials should help as well. [Your
answer to this question should be about two pages in length]
Consider both the positive and negative aspects of
Zuckerberg’s leadership style and traits. What is good, and what is detrimental
to Facebook? Did the good outweigh the bad? [Your answer to this question
should be one to one and half pages in length]
Assignment Expectations
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Don’t go
off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials.
Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your
references. Articles published in established newspapers or business
journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make
sure it is from a credible source.
Reference your sources of information with both a
bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a
High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations.
Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources”
in the TLC portal.
