Lead Time Cases: Full Access Site - Facebook (Meta) Changes CTOs and Leadership Styles

Facebook (Meta) Changes CTOs and Leadership Styles

Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, which is now encompassed under the Meta conglomerate of all the company's apps and technology) has 2.91 billion 'active' users as of and approximately 68,000 employees across the globe as of September 2021 (1). Andrew Bosworth has been named the next CTO of the company and will assume the position fully in 2022 (2). CEO Mark Zuckerberg has known Bosworth ("Boz") since his days at Harvard, where he was a teaching assistant. Some say that Bosworth was in the right place at the right time, benefiting from his proximity to Zuckerberg at Harvard. Both Bosworth and the former CTO, Mike Schroepfer, have weathered many public relations problems related to safety, hate speech, and misinformation postings, but the two seem to have some key differences as leaders.

Bosworth joined Facebook in 2006 and has a reputation as a 'fix-it' person (2). He is known as godfather of 'News Feed' since he was a key software engineer who developed the now-central Facebook feature, and has great respect in the company for his technical skills. He is expected to lead Meta into artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and hardware initiatives, while maintaining huge profits from advertising and combating the free speech issues. Many employees say he is an inspirational, but demanding, leader.

Despite his brilliant technical skills, Bosworth has an infamous history with Facebook's stance on free speech. He is well-known for writing a memo in 2016 stressing "growth at any cost" (3). Bosworth wrote in 2016, in part, "Maybe it costs someone a life by exposing someone to bullies...Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools”. He argued that the free exchange of information has that cost. Bosworth compared Facebook to sugar, saying that it can be harmful if misused. (Some critics have interpreted the analogy as indicating that the platform has insidious qualities).

Bosworth has a controversial role in the company's privacy and misinformation criticisms, including in a trove of memos recently released by a former employee, Frances Haugen, in Fall 2021 (4). Haugen leaked documents that show as recently as 2020, employees reported that their complaints were dismissed with regard to the growing use of hate speech and misinformation, including exemption of politicians and celebrities from some standards held to the general public (3, 4). Haugen reported that she had 'no faith' that the chain of command was listening.

The 2020 Presidential election and the January 6 Capitol insurrection were two major instigators of Facebook employees' speaking out more publicly than in the past. In a 2021 company meeting, hundreds of employees protested Zuckerberg's support of its minimal intervention policies that Facebook should not intervene in political speech and, in particular, despite possible misinformation (5). The controversial 'hands-off' approach under Bosworth has taken its toll on many employees' attitudes. As one employee expressed, "Hate speech should never be compared to free speech." More than 1,000 employees agreed with this sentiment in a virtual poll during the meeting. In addition, employees have shared this opinion recently by circulating internal petitions, threatening to resign, or writing publicly. Amid these occurrences, Zuckerberg calls Bosworth "provocative" and clearly trusts his leadership and technical skills (6).

Bosworth's style appears to be in 'sharp contrast' with the former CTO Mike Schroepfer, who is transitioning out of the position in 2022 to become a Senior Fellow and to 'spend more time with his family' (7). Schroepfer has been at Facebook since 2006, praised by Zuckerberg who calls him a friend. Schroepfer is well-known for having championed Facebook efforts against hate speech and unsafe content. Employees have expressed disappointment to lose Schroepfer, saying he is considered to be approachable, likable, and 'reasonable' (8). He allowed employees to express their opinions, even if against the company's actions. One past employee said that Schroepfer was the best ally for employees and are concerned about the future. In contrast to Bosworth, Schroepfer has spoken frequently about the difficulty in monitoring and removing dangerous material, and his reaction is quite emotional, even 'overwhelmed' by tragedies that have or could occur. He also has openly agreed that Facebook should be criticized in some instances and that he feels it is his responsibility to avoid repeating some problems.

There is one thing both future and past CTO share--long histories with the social media giant, close relationships with Zuckerberg, and highly-regarded technical skills.

Topics

Leadership Style, Ethics, Mission, Strategy

Student Discussion

Leadership Style. Clearly, Schroepfer and Bosworth are presented as having different leadership styles. Both could be considered inspirational, but Schroepfer appears to connect more on a one-on-one level. Allow students to discuss their preferences for leaders and what styles they see in the case. An extremely interesting thing to do is go to Schroepfer's LinkedIn page (www.linkedin.com/in/schrep), where employees praise his kindness, visionary nature, and listening. Bosworth has no LinkedIn page but students can search for reviews. The most recent company meetings and Bosworth's comments may suffice.
Ethics. Ethical issues are rampant here. One strategy was Schroepfer's confronting and openly discussing ethical problems, while Bosworth appears to push them away or deny that they are a problem (the sugar analogy).
Mission/Vision/Strategy. The strategy of Facebook (now Meta) has changed. The company has broadened beyond social media into hardware, VR and AI. And now, the CTO has changed. This is not uncommon and speaks to the downward flow of Mission-Vision-Implementation (through executives).

Other Activities

Ask students to read one of the letters written by Bosworth that indicates the controversial stance he takes on Facebook's role in postings (4).
Ask students to read Facebook's official "Code of Conduct" and comment: https://about.facebook.com/code-of-conduct/
Student can look up the mission and vision of Facebook (now Meta).

Sources