Management – Organizational Change and Development

a) First, based upon the System 4 Profile or Organizational Characteristics in Figure 14.1 (p. 380), identify the System profile (System 1, 2, 3 or 4) that describes the current environment at Facebook. In which direction is the company evolving?

Hint: Support your assessment with specific reference to the parameters of the System 4 model as well as examples from the article.

b) Next, compare Zuckerberg’s core values with the attributes of learning organizations (p. 375 to 378).   Do you consider Facebook to fit the description of a learning organization? Why or why not?

Hint: Support your assessment with specific reference to the values and characteristics of a learning organization as well as examples from the article.

Mark Zuckerberg’s first core value is to “focus on impact.” He goes on to explain that his company needs to stay focused on the most important problems in order to work on them. The learning’s organization characteristic of continuous planning best matches with Zuckerberg’s core value. This is where the entire organization is constantly reexamined and plans are rewritten. This characteristic gives way for constant integrated thinking and action at all levels of the company. The learning organization takes continuous planning as a change to avoid a fixed plan for the company. The organization creates flexible plans that can be changed and rewritten when necessary. Much like Zuckerberg who wants to shift focus on whatever is the most important problem at the moment.

The second core value is to “move fast.” Zuckerberg feels like taking multiple chances and opportunities is more worth it than making mistakes. He says that he would rather have his company make mistakes, than lose out on opportunities. This is most similar to the learning organization characteristic of constant readiness. This is where the learning organization is always ready for any coming changes by staying in tune with the environment. By keeping up with the environment, they will be able to question the company’s way of doing business and take advantage of available opportunities. This is also coincides with the learning organization core value and behavior of remaining nonjudgmental of others and their ideas. Zuckerberg is okay with mistakes made by his company, so long as they were trying to move fast on an opportunity. He does not want his company to play it safe.

The third core value is to “be bold.” There is where he introduces the company saying, “The riskiest thing is to take no risks.” Zuckerberg believes that his company should continually take risks, even if it means that in the end they were wrong. He says that companies do not take big enough risks sometimes in fear of all the things that could go wrong. This is most similar to the characteristic to improvising implementation. This is the where the learning organization improvises and encourages experimentation, instead of rigidly implementing plans. This is because the conditions of the business changes rapidly without warning, which in turn requires people to actively think and contribute. This also matches with the learning organization core value and behavior of developing creative thinking. As previously mentioned, creative thinking and contribution is required, in a rapidly changing environment, in order to keep implementation.

The fourth core value is to “be open.” Zuckerberg believes that if everyone in a company shares the same amount of information, they will be able to make better decisions and a bigger impact on the company. This matches with one of the core values and behaviors of the learning organization where they reduce the distinction between everyone in the company. For example, there is less of a distinction between management and nonmanagement because everyone shares the same information. Zuckerberg wants to keep everyone as knowledgeable as possible within the company, because only then can they create something large. Which also coincides with the learning organization characteristic of collaboration across the organization. This is the belief that knowledge knows no boundaries and that the collaboration of everyone is required to create a learning organization.

Zuckerberg’s final core value is to “build social value.” This is where he believes in Facebook’s ability to make the world more open and connected. Therefore, his company is there to provide these possibilities to the world which in turn adds value to it. The learning organization characteristic that best matches with this is action learning. This is where the organization collects any data to have a better understanding of what has gone wrong or right, and what could have gone better. Zuckerberg takes what his company has accomplished for the people and how they could keep improving their social value. Zuckerberg says that he expects everyone in his company to be focused on creating more social value.

Overall, Facebook does fit the description of a learning organization. He is willing to take risks and every opportunity that comes his way. There is also an emphasis on reducing the layers of organization to make way for the involvement of everyone there. He wants his company to take every opportunity they can and does not want to miss out on a good opportunity because of fear. A consistent learning organization approach, is to bring in members of the organization to collectively discover the main problems and to develop them. There is consistent testing of experiences which will then turn into knowledge. They will learn what the mistake was and what they could have done better. The learning organization is all about creating “knowledge for action,” where every experience is a lesson learned. Zuckerberg seems to be focused on gaining this knowledge, which he shares with everyone in the organization, in order to achieve their goals.

c) Finally, consider the role of Facebook’s leadership in creating and sustaining a high performing organization (p. 381). What specific changes in leadership or leadership style is needed for Facebook to become a high-performing organization?

Hint: Review the discussion of future leadership (p. 381) that states “…. Leaders will no longer be seen as grand visionaries, all-wise decision-makers, and iron-fisted disciplinarians. Instead they will need to become social architects, constitution writers, and entrepreneurs of meaning. In this new model, the leader’s job is to create an environment where every employee has the chance to collaborate, innovate, and excel.” Support your response with specific examples of Zuckerberg’s current leadership style.