Facebook Fail: When the Social Media Posting of an Employee Harms the Organization’s Image

Author
Tyler Burch, Idaho State University
Region
North America
Topic
Human Resources & Organizational Behavior
Ethics & Social Justice
Length
3 pages
Keywords
company reputation
social media
Trompenaars’ cultural values
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development
Conflict Management
crisis management
customer communication
customer relations
employee relations
privacy
retail
Technology
Copyright Holder
Society for Case Research
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Undergraduate Students

This CI describes the position supervisor Kevin Müller was placed in when Philipp Neumann posted “Hey Charlie Hebdo [Magazine] ...everyone pays for their crimes! Some earlier, some later" on his personal Facebook account shortly after the French magazine’s headquarters was attacked by terrorists. The leadership at German car manufacturer Daimler, where Kevin and Philipp worked, did not like how the post reflected on the company and called on Kevin, Philipp’s supervisor, to influence Philipp to remove the post. Philipp was initially defiant, leaving Kevin unsure of how to proceed. Kevin had various issues to consider: the post sympathized with a recent terror attack in France, Daimler’s corporate image was threatened, the post was on the employee’s personal Facebook account, and Philipp was a member of the works council, making him difficult to fire. What should Kevin do to get Philipp to remove his post?

Learning Outcomes
  1. Identify and categorize key decision-related organizational behavior (OB) issues according to OB levels (micro, meso, macro)
  2. Describe cultural values common to a German workplace scenario
  3. Evaluate the situational fit of different conflict management approaches
  4. Evaluate the moral implications surrounding the restriction of an employee’s personal expression by an organization
  5. Comprehend the moral development concept and analyze how it influences decision-making