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SESSION A181

School of Business Management

BPMN3123 – Management Ethics


Group G

Movie titles: The Social Network

Prepared by:
Alfiandi Syauqi 243864
Erfan Said Hafiz Alidrus 243859
Khairunisa Arina 242353
Ramli Muhammad Luthfie 243852
Muhammad Zaid bin Mohd Zaini 250833

Prepared for:
Dr. Zahid Ariffin Bin Idrus

Date of Submission: 02-05-2018


Table of Contents

Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. ii


1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
2. Discussions ....................................................................................................................1
2.1. Ethical Awarness ....................................................................................................1
2.1.1. The Unethical Behavior Behind the Social Network ....................................2
2.1.2. Business Ethics in Social Network ................................................................3
2.1.3. Other Business Ethics Issue ..........................................................................4
2.2. Awarness of Stakeholder ........................................................................................4
2.2.1. Why the characters do unethical thing ? .......................................................5
2.2.2. What characters movie face or encounters ? .................................................6
2.3. Ethical Reasoning ...................................................................................................7
2.3.1. What is ethical reasoning? .............................................................................7
2.3.2. The Elements of Ethical Reasoning ..............................................................7
2.3.3. Critical response in the Social Network movie .............................................8
2.3.4. Briefly about the story of 2010 American biographical drama film directed by
David Fincher ..................................................................................................9
2.4. Ethical Suggestions ...............................................................................................10
2.5. Ethical Decision Making ......................................................................................13
3. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................15
4. References ...................................................................................................................17
5. Appendices ..................................................................................................................19

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1. Introduction

Movie that our group want to analyse the ethical issues and demonstrate the ability to apply
with ethical theories is The Social Network. The Social Network is a 2010 American
biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. Adapted from
Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of
Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, the film portrays the founding of social networking website
Facebook and the resulting lawsuits. It stars Jesse Eisenberg as founder Mark Zuckerberg,
along with Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, and Armie
Hammer as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Neither Zuckerberg nor any other Facebook staff
were involved with the project, although Saverin was a consultant for Mezrich's book. The film
was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures on October 1, 2010. The film was also
chosen by the National Board of Review as the best film of 2010. The short stories that describe
and the contents of this film are when on the autumn night of 2003, Harvard undergrad and
computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sat at a computer and heatedly began working
on a new idea. In the anger of blogging and programming, what started in his dorm room as a
small site among friends soon became a global social network and a revolution in
communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the
youngest billionaire in history, but for this entrepreneur, success causes both personal and legal
complications.

2. Discussions

2.1. Ethical Awarness

From the opening scene, it is clear that there are a significant amount of ethical issues present
throughout the film. Mark Zuckerberg and the co-creators/co-founders of Facebook face
multiple obstacles, including lawsuits. To start off, Zuckerberg does not make a good first
impression on audiences as he writes rude public comments about ex girlfriend Erika on his
blog called “Zukonit.”

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Next, Zuckerberg comes up with the idea to download the photos of every female on the
Harvard campus and rank them based on their appearances. By watching the film, it is no
question that these women feel insulted and disrespected, as the incident puts a dent in
Zuckerberg’s reputation.

Inside the world of writer Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay, the first ethical dilemma approached in
the film is that of computer hacking. After his break-up with Erika Albright, Mark illegally
hacked into Harvard’s social networking database and created a website comparing female
students “based on their hotness”. While his actions were against school policy and he was
charged with 6-month academic probation, Mark had abused students’ online privacy and
disintegrated the already slim trust between other students and himself.

The overarching ethical issue surrounding The Social Network is the idea of intellectual
property and the ownership of the original idea of Facebook. According to the “Winklevii”, the
idea for “The Facebook” was stolen by Mark Zuckerberg while he was working on the
Winklevoss’s own social networking site, Harvard Connection. ” The idea for Facebook, which
is what Mark is being sued for stealing, is just that, an idea. It is not copyrighted material or a
trademarked product. The philosophical term for the protection of idea is referred to as the “law
of ideas”, where individuals can protect ideas as personal property.

2.1.1. The Unethical Behavior Behind the Social Network


Zuckerberg did not deal well with the ethical issues that plagued him throughout the film. This
was partly due to the fact that he seemed to think he was right and everyone else was wrong.
He refused to accept that anyone else could possibly be smarter than him. To put it bluntly,
Zuckerberg exhibited egomaniacal tendencies and a social immaturity. This caused problems
for him when relating to his peers and having interpersonal relationships. One of the few
interpersonal relationships that he had attained was with his good friend at the time, Eduardo
Saverin. The way Saverin was portrayed in the film it seemed like he had a little more ethical
integrity than Zuckerberg. Often times it would seem like Saverin was the ethical side to
Zuckerberg’s impulsive side.

In closing, the film highlights a lot of Zuckerberg’s unethical behavior. Particularly towards
his friends, significant others, and even potential business partners. This does not necessarily

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mean that Zuckerberg was a bully or has no sense of right or wrong. This is merely an
evaluation of the reaction Zuckerberg gave pertaining to the film itself. He is a very intelligent
person who can only see his goals and has no interest in anyone or anything that may potentially
stand in the way of his ultimate vision. In some cases it seems that he does not see the line that
has been drawn where he should yield to more ethical behavior.

2.1.2. Business Ethics in Social Network


One of the key lawsuits involved the claim by three individuals ("Plaintiffs") that Facebook co-
founder Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea they had shared with him when they invited him to
"join them" and write the computer code for their new computer social network. From the
movie, those plaintiffs apparently did not have Mr. Zuckerberg sign a confidentiality and non-
disclosure agreement before they shared their idea with him. Whether you're an entrepreneur
protecting your next great invention or a real estate investor seeking a partner to help you buy
your next great investment property, it is a basic, fundamental given that you must have your
future partner sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement before you reveal your hard-
earned proprietary information.

One of the problems that confronted the Plaintiffs was that they apparently had no written
agreement with Mr. Zuckerberg that clearly outlined what conduct by him would be a breach.
This is Partner Real Estate Investing 101: you simply must have a written agreement that
addresses all important issues in the partnership relationship.
Another pivotal problem that got Mr. Zuckerberg into the lawsuit with his "best friend" was
his unilateral decision to allow a new partner into the business without his partner/friend's
approval. That new partner drove a wedge between Mr. Zuckerberg and his partner/friend and
tried to strip the partner/friend of virtually 100 percent of his interest in the multi-billion dollar
company. A properly drafted partnership agreement would have addressed and prevented such
unfair misconduct.

Another major mistake made by the ex-Mr. Zuckerberg partner/friend that apparently cost him
billions of dollars was his failure to have his own lawyer review agreements that Mr.
Zuckerberg's angel investor asked him to sign. By the time he realized the impact of that
mistake, it was too late. The documents he had signed gave Mr. Zuckerberg the right to dilute
his interest from more than 30 percent to less than 1 percent.

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These are just a few of the traps for the unwary that are illustrated by this real-world, high-
profile case study. There are many more.

Joint ventures can be an immensely powerful strategy to accomplish your business objectives
faster, safer and less expensively than you might otherwise be able to do on your own. But
whenever money is involved, even best friends can end up as legal enemies. You must be ever-
vigilant and on your guard when you embark on these business relationships.

2.1.3. Other Business Ethics Issue


There are other ethical problems in films that follow the negative light of previous issues. Many
scenes involve workers who drink alcohol while working. They are not dealing with clients
and are not in a public place, but there are still endless problems that can arise when you mix
alcohol and work. Some employees may make bad decisions and emotions may be more open.

Animal cruelty is another problem shown in the film. Saverin got into trouble by feeding
chicken to chicken in the Harvard cafeteria. This cannibalism exhibition made a newspaper
and left a mark on Saverin's note. This is something that lives with Saverin throughout the film.
This was even used in court by Zuckerberg as a reason for how Saverin hurt Facebook and did
not deserve a large amount of money.

The film also tells how Sean Parker ran his music business before joining the Facebook team.
Parker even admitted in the film that his company, Napster, was a business person that angers
a group of people. He tore the artist by allowing free downloads for consumers. Similar to
Zuckerberg, he goes behind people's backs to steal and hack things that aren't his.

2.2. Awarness of Stakeholder

There is so much unethical things in movie Social Network. Before Mark Zuckerberg starting
with facebook, he create campus website called Facemash by hacking into college databases
to steal photos of female students, then allowing site visitors to rate their attractiveness.
This is very unethical thing that Zuckerberg do for making a website, and it has the same
meaning that he open people privacy and create a website to make everyone saw a privacy

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photos that shouldn’t be scattered. After traffic to the site crashes parts of Harvard's computer
network, Zuckerberg is given six months of academic probation.
At one of the scene we can see that Saverin becomes enraged, he he approached Mark and
immediately destroyed Mark's laptop because he discovers that the new investment deal allows
his share of Facebook to be diluted from 34% to 0.03%, while maintaining the ownership
percentage of all other parties. He confronts Zuckerberg and Parker about it, and Saverin vows
to sue Zuckerberg for all the company's shares before being ejected from the building.
As a result, Saverin's name is removed from the masthead as co-founder. Later, a cocaine
possession incident involving Parker and his attempt to place the blame on Saverin finally
convinces Zuckerberg to cut ties with him.

2.2.1. Why the characters do unethical thing ?


Mark Zuckerberg has do unethical thing to create a website called Facemash by download and
hacking into college databases to steal photos of female students, then allowing site visitors to
rate their attractiveness. The reason why mark do that is cause he was dumped by a girl and he
was taking a revenge by hacking into the social network of all girl's hostels, accessing their
pics and putting them up on Facemash. But what Mark do is far more disrespect to share
people’s privacy and because of that Mark is given six months of academic probation and
Finally, Zuckerberg gets accused of stealing the idea of Facebook from the two twins that he
agrees to work with towards the beginning of the film.

Eduardo Saverin is one of five co-founders of Facebook, along with Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin
Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Andrew McCollum. A lawsuit filed by Facebook against
Saverin and a countersuit filed by Saverin against Facebook were settled out of court. Though
terms of the settlement were not disclosed, the company affirmed Saverin's title as co-founder
of Facebook. Saverin signed a non-disclosure contract after the settlement.

The 2010 film The Social Network depicts the relationship between Saverin and Zuckerberg
from their creation of Facebook to Saverin's legal action against Zuckerberg. Facebook co-
founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his US citizenship in order to avoid a boatload of taxes
after Facebook's $15 Billion IPO.

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This is the story of how Saverin got so angry at Zuckerberg—how, from Saverin's perspective,
Zuckerberg screwed him out of a huge chunk of Facebook stock. "As of 2012, he owns 5% of
Facebook's shares."

2.2.2. What characters movie face or encounters ?


It is no question that some of the ethical issues raised within The Social Network include
immaturity, greediness, stealing, lying/honesty, disrespect, and betrayal. Zuckerberg’s actions
involving the women on the Harvard campus are clearly unethical and frankly immature.
Again, because these incidents occur at the beginning of the film, the audience is already aware
that he is not completely trustworthy or ethical.
The importance of a written partnership agreement One of the problems that confronted the
Plaintiffs was that they apparently had no written agreement with Mr. Zuckerberg that clearly
outlined what conduct by him would be a breach. This is Partner Real Estate Investing 101: we
simply must have a written agreement that addresses all important issues in the partnership
relationship.
having the right to approve new partners: Another pivotal problem that got Mr. Zuckerberg
into the lawsuit with his "best friend" was his unilateral decision to allow a new partner into
the business without his partner/friend's approval.
New partner drove a wedge between Mr. Zuckerberg and his partner/friend and tried to strip
the partner/friend of virtually 100 percent of his interest in the multi-billion dollar company. A
properly drafted partnership agreement would have addressed and prevented such unfair
misconduct.

The importance of confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements: One of the key lawsuits
involved the claim by three individuals ("Plaintiffs") that Facebook co-founder Mark
Zuckerberg stole their idea they had shared with him when they invited him to "join them" and
write the computer code for their new computer social network. From the movie, those
plaintiffs apparently did not have Mr. Zuckerberg sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure
agreement before they shared their idea with him. Whether you're an entrepreneur protecting
your next great invention or a real estate investor seeking a partner to help you buy your next
great investment property, it is a basic, fundamental given that you must have your future
partner sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement before you reveal your hard-earned
proprietary information.

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2.3. Ethical Reasoning

2.3.1. What is ethical reasoning?


Ethical reasoning and decision refer to the ways in which individuals determine whether a
course of action or a stance about an ethical issue is morally right by evaluating various courses
of action and taking into account ethical principles (Pettifor et al., 2000; Rest, 1993). Ethical
reasoning is considered to be necessary for moral decision making and behaviour (Rest, 1984;
Pettifor et al., 2000), and it represents the process involved in the second stage of Rest's (1986)
ethical decision-making model, i.e., judging what is morally right (Trevino, 1992). Research
on moral or ethical reasoning has been concerned with discovering people's moral decision
strategies by presenting them with hypothetical moral dilemmas and asking them to judge what
is right or wrong, and to explain their decisions. Their explanations and justifications are then
used to define their reasoning about moral issues (Trevino, 1992).

2.3.2. The Elements of Ethical Reasoning


Ethical reasoning has the same basic structures that underlie all reasoning. If we are to reason
well ethically, we must learn to identify and assess our use in ethical reasoning of these basic
intellectual structures. Here is the basic idea: Whenever we think, we think for a purpose within
a point of view based on assumptions leading to implications and consequences. We use ideas
and theories to interpret data, facts, and experiences in order to answer questions, solve
problems, and resolve issues. In other words, all thinking:

• generates purposes - goal , objective , function


• raises questions - problem , issue
• uses information – data , facts , evidence , observations , experiences , reasons
• utilizes concepts – conclusions , solutions
• makes inferences – theories , definitions , laws , principles , models
• makes assumptions – presuppositions , axioms , taking for granted
• generates implications - that which follows logically , effects
• embodies a point of view - frame of reference , perspective , orientation , world view

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Through our understanding of these elements, we can better analyse ethical reasoning. We can
target our ethical purposes. We can formulate our ethical questions in various ways to identify
the question that best embodies the issue. We can determine whether we have the information
we need to solve the ethical problem. We can identify the inferences we are making and
consider alternative inferences or conclusions. We can figure out the ethical concepts and
principles we are using to reason through the issue. We can check our assumptions before
coming to conclusions. We can determine whether more than one ethical viewpoint needs to
be considered. And we can follow out the ethical implications of our decisions.

2.3.3. Critical response in the Social Network movie


On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 300
reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Impeccably
scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a
riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest. On Metacritic, the film holds
a score of 95 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "universal acclaim" and making it one
of the site's highest-rated movies of all time. Audiences polled by Cinema Score gave the film
an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, giving it four stars and naming it the best film of the
year, wrote: "David Fincher's film has the rare quality of being not only as smart as its brilliant
hero, but in the same way. It is cocksure, impatient, cold, exciting and instinctively perceptive.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film his first full four-star rating of the year and said:
"The Social Network is the movie of the year. But Fincher and Sorkin triumph by taking it
further. Lacing their scathing wit with an aching sadness, they define the dark irony of the past
decade. The Harvard Crimson review called it "flawless" and gave it five stars. Quentin
Tarantino listed The Social Network as one of his favourite 20 movies of the year, second to
Toy Story 3.
Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal praised the film as exhilarating but noted: "The
biographical part takes liberties with its subject. Aaron Sorkin based his screenplay on a
contentious book, Ben Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaires, so everything that's seen isn't
necessarily to be believed.
The film won Best Picture from the National Board of Review, National Society of Film
Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, making it
only the third film in history—after Schindler's List (1993) and L.A. Confidential (1997) to

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sweep the "Big Four" critics’ awards. The film also won the "Hollywood Ensemble Award"
from the Hollywood Film Awards. The Social Network appeared on 78 critics' top 10 lists for
2010; of those critics 22 had the film in their number one spot.
In August 2016, The Social Network was voted the 27th-best film of the 21st century by the
BBC, as voted on by 177 film critics from around the world.

2.3.4. Briefly about the story of 2010 American biographical drama film directed by
David Fincher
David Fincher's direction creates just the right intensity and claustrophobia for a story that takes
place largely in a stupefying male environment at Harvard University in 2003, shown in
flashback from various acrimonious legal proceedings. Here, computer-science student
Zuckerberg has the same sense of entitlement and self-congratulation as everyone else, but
combined with social resentment about being barred from snobby fraternities and clubs. When
his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara) breaks up with him, the director shows how the emotionally
wounded Zuckerberg embarks on a retaliatory campaign not far from the sinister world of
Fincher's serial-killer films Se7en and Zodiac. He blogs vengefully about Erica and, in an evil-
genius frenzy, creates Face mash, a spiteful and misogynistic site that invites the guys to rate
campus girls against each other. (Slightly leniently, the movie explains it away a little by
emphasising that Zuckerberg has had a couple of beers.) It is from this beginning that the
smellier, friendlier Facebook emerges. But we have been cleverly shown the site's nastier, more
paranoid origins: a clue to its unspoken world of friend-number envy, cyber-stalking and
anxiety about having no friends at all.
Zuckerberg gets investment from fellow geek Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield, of
whose marginally superior social success he is jealous and whom he later betrays by cutting
him out of the action in favour of web entrepreneur Sean Parker, smoothly played by Justin
Timberlake. Wealthy alpha-male twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both played
by Armie Hammer) plan to launch their own site, called The Harvard Connection, and try to
recruit Mark as their tame techie-nerd; initially dazzled by their cachet, Zuckerberg plays them
along, fatally delaying their launch while secretly getting his own up and running. Shrewdly,
Sorkin and Fincher show how the Winklevosses are afraid to sue, because that's not the action
of an effortlessly superior Harvard man.
Probably conceived when Facebook was at the top of the heap, the movie now arrives in
cinemas at a time when Twitter has overtaken it in zeitgeist importance: a lesson in how fast-

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moving internet trends can be. It would be great to see a movie about an ageing Australian-
American media mogul trying to stay with-it and hip by tragically investing in Myspace – what
tremendous scenes of rage-filled incomprehension there could be as the great man rants in front
of downward-trending graphs. Or perhaps a Made in Dagenham-type British comedy about
that once whiter-than-white-hot phenomenon Friends Reunited, run by a blameless couple in a
spare room of their Barnet home: a dark destroyer of marriages, a reopener of school-day
wounds, far more toxic than Facebook could ever be.
The success of The Social Network lies in capturing the fever of Facebook's start up, while
subversively implying that it created money and ephemeral buzz, but not a whole lot else; there
is very little about the interconnectivity and creativity that its evangelisers often claim. With
its fanatical rivalry, envy and preening clever half-wits butting heads, the film reminded me a
little of the BBC's excellent TV play Life Story from 1987, the story of Francis Crick and James
Watson and their ill-tempered race to discover the structure of DNA before anyone else. (Sam
Mendes and Pippa Harris are reportedly developing a remake.) Yet that was a story with
something substantial at its close. This has … well, what? At the end, all is loneliness. This is
an exhilaratingly hyperactive, hyperventilating portrait of an age when Web 2.0 became sexier
and more important than politics, art, books – everything. Sorkin and Fincher combine the
excitement with a dark, insistent kind of pessimism. Smart work.

2.4. Ethical Suggestions

In this film we can see there are many unethical ethics and attitudes that did by Zuckerberg.
When he was studying in Harvard, he was hacking the Harvard hostel systems to steal all of
girls photos. Then, he puts all the photos into website and ranked them by their beauty scale.
He did this just to get high traffic fir his website called “Facemash”. What Zuckerberg did is
very unethical. This is a privacy breach. You cannot take or steal a photo without a knowledge
by the owner.

Giving punishment for violators of privacy is appropriate. In this case the campus authority
gave a punishment to Zuckerberg for the misuse of the privacy of others in his campus area.
The campus provides punishment in the form of 6 months of academic probation.

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After that incident, Zuckerberg suddenly got viral on his campus, especially among men. For
them, Zuckerberg was a hero because he was able to provide important information about
women at Harvard. However, there are also many haters because of what Zuckerberg did.

After that incident, Zuckerberg got an offer from the Winklevoss brothers with his friend Divya
Narendra to work together to build a website created by the three of them called
"HarvardConnection". Not long ago they collaborated suddenly Zuckerberg took over the
website and replaced it with "the facebook" without unbeknown by Narendra and Winklevoss.
Zuckerberg Together with Saverin. Zuckerberg convinced Saverin to build thefacebook.com
into a wider network and Saverin finally invested US $ 1,000 for the development of
thefacebook.com. After a few years, finally thefacebook.com network has expanded to top
universities in the United States and even reached Oxford. This certainly makes the Winklevoss
brothers and Narendra upset. They think their website has been stolen by Zuckerberg. Their
beliefs about the assets of millions of dollars have been stolen by Zuckerberg. They had
complained to Harvard Chancellor for the violations committed by Zuckerberg. However, this
was only in vain because Chancellor considered this as voidable. In the end the Winklevoss
brothers sued Zuckerberg for stealing other people's intellectual rights and Zuckerberg was
willing to pay US $ 65 million to the Winklevoss brothers.

Reflecting on this incident, it would be nice if Zuckerberg told the Winklevoss brother and
Narendra about taking this copyright. Narendra and Winklevoss have gone to great lengths to
build the website. Narendra and Winklevoss should have the right to get some shares from
Facebook if Mark does not steal their website.

After thefacebook.com has extended to Stanford, there are person who want to work together
to developing thefacebook.com. He is Sean Parker. He knew thefacebook.com from his
girlfriend who studying at Stanford. After he know that Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin
are creator of thefacebook.com, he called them directly and invited them to meet at the high-
class restaurant. Zuckerberg very interesting with idea that given by Sean about developing of
thefacebook.com. Sean suggested that “the” in thefacebook.com must be erased. This is the
forerunner of Facebook.com. Zuckerberg felt Sean's idea and his idea matched and decided to
work with him. On the other side, Saverin did not like Sean Parker. He was skeptics with Sean.
He is like do not want Sean to enter to facebook.com. This problem resulted in Saverin freezing

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his account for Facebook. Knowing this, Zuckerberg became very angry with Saverin. He said
that Facebook.com would not be able to operate if it did not have funds. Even so, Zuckerberg
ignored it because not long after that facebook.com received a large injection of funds from
businessman Peter Thiel.

In this case, Saverin's excessive dislike of Sean Parker is something that cannot be justified.
Be vigilant is allowed as long as you don't damage the relationship.

At that time Facebook had a decent and well-known office. At that time Facebook users had
reached almost one million users. And the problem began when Zuckerberg diluted a massive
amount of shares. Automatically the percentage of shares held by the previous shareholders
became smaller. At that time the signing of the share diluted must be signed by Eduardo
Saverin, who at that time served as Chief Financial Officer of Facebook. When Saverin read
this letter he became very angry with Zuckerberg. Even so upset he slammed down the laptop
that was used by Zuckerberg. This made the office excited and finally Saverin left the office.
After that, Zuckerberg revoked Saverin's position as CFO and co-founder of Facebook.

Recommendation for this is Zuckerberg should tell all shareholders and discuss dilution of
shares, including to Saverin because he is one of Facebook's shareholders. At that time Eduardo
Saverin had Facebook shares at 34% and became 0.03% after the share dilution. When Saverin
left the Facebook office, Zuckerberg continued to dilute shares. Saverin at that time was not
informed if there would be a dilution of shares. He only found out when he read the signatory
letter. The percentage of Zuckerberg's shares decreases from 51% to 5%.

After Facebook users have reached one million users, finally Sean Parker invited Facebook
employees to party to their achievements. Sean then rented a house unit and invited Facebook
interns to party. When they were having a party, the police came and raided the whole house
that Sean used to party. There the police found cocaine and minors that were clearly illegal
there. As a result of his actions, Sean was finally forced to relinquish his position as President.

The ethical side here is that Sean violated the law set by the local government. As the President
of Facebook, which is actually a large company, it is very embarrassing and not worthy of
emulation. Recommendation for them is to keep abiding by the law there. Although it does not

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violate the law of using drugs and the exploitation of minors is not ethically appropriate. It
would be better if you don't need to have an unethical party.

2.5. Ethical Decision Making

One ethical problem in The Social Network is hacking into computers and online directories.
They hack directories to get the information they want to start their original website, Facemash.
Computer hacking may be illegal, not only unethical. Zuckerberg was charged with security
breaches and privacy violations, which led to a six-month probationary period from Harvard.
It is clear in this situation that Zuckerberg thinks and operates differently from most people.
He really thinks he must be rewarded for showing a lack in the university's security system. He
could not help but to grin when the accusation was placed on him. He is proud of the data
mining he does. This is the example of Zuckerberg in stage 2 of Kohlberg's stage of moral
development. He doesn't care what the university or other people think. He acts fully for his
own good.
This problem was partially resolved by serving a trial period and in part by the creation of a
popular Facebook site. People enjoy the final product from Facebook, which helps restore
Zuckerberg's reputation. However, this is certainly not the goal of his last creation, but rather
a pleasant side effect.
Computer hacking is certainly not the right way to do business. There are serious consequences.
Zuckerberg's punishment is rather small because the university handles problems inside and
the results do not create profits or affect too many people. A better alternative is to go from
dormitory to dormitory or campus to campus and ask permission to these emails. This will be
difficult because you have to sell people on benefits and make sure this is not a scam. Although
tough, this is the approach I will take. This is the approach he finally took after he was arrested
for hacking.
The next obvious ethical problem is stealing ideas. A group of Harvard students who belong to
the Winklevoss twins claim that they are the people who created the idea for social media
websites. They initially reach Zuckerberg and share ideas with him so he can help them with
programming. Zuckerberg continued to send e-mails to this group repeatedly saying he was
too busy to do it now. Meanwhile, he really only does his own programming in pursuit of
making his own site. This example also shows that Zuckerberg is in stage 2 of Kohlberg's stage

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of moral development. The Winklevoss twins went on to sue Zuckerberg for stealing
intellectual property. This is an interesting problem because the Harvard President did not even
agree with the Winklevoss twins. He basically gave Zuckerberg credit in running with ideas
and encouraging the twins to work on the next idea. They are not satisfied with this result, so
they proceed to court.
In the end, this problem was resolved by an off-court settlement. Zuckerberg pays Winklevoss
millions of money. Zuckerberg was advised that he could not win the case directly and it would
be better to pay it and continue. Zuckerberg wasn't happy with this because he didn't feel he
stole or copied something. He wrote all the programs himself.
Zuckerberg knows that going there first is everything when it comes to business ideas. That's
why he postponed his business with the group by sending an email that forgave him. I might
handle the situation in the same way as Zuckerberg. He did not steal and the group did not have
a utility patent. It's simple and an idea in the initial group discussion. Actually it seems more
unethical than the Winklevoss twins to sue him rather than unethically Zuckerberg stole the
idea, but there may be more stories than the film tells. Settling out of court may ultimately save
you money. That is the right step that allows him to continue business operations.
The third major ethical dilemma is faced by Facebook co-founders throughout the film.
Zuckerberg and Saverin do not have strong and stable communication. Lack of communication
frustrate each other. It is very unethical to run a business without sharing all information
relating to each owner. Zuckerberg decided to move the business to Palo Alto, California, and
even found a place to move the business there without telling Saverin. He then allows Sean
Parker, an external mentor that Saverin doesn't get along with, to move to Palo Alto without
telling Saverin. Saverin's non-communication step is to freeze the company's bank account. He
did it to get Zuckerberg's attention, but did it behind his back. In the end, Zuckerberg came out
to get a large investment for the company. With that investment, he chose not to increase the
number of shares owned by his co-founder, which reduced Saverin's ownership to a very small
percentage. He basically gave his "death letter".
These events caused a fall between Zuckerberg and Saverin. Saverin sued Zuckerberg and also
paid millions of dollars out of court. Saverin has been temporarily removed from the website,
but has now been restored. Saverin still has a small percentage of the company, but of course
not the thirty percent that was originally owned. Saverin, like most other people in the film, is
in stage 3 of Kohlberg's stage of moral development. He tried to be part of the Phoenix
brotherhood and tried to work as a team on the Facebook website. He uses laws and commands
to help restore what is lost, but not fully in stage 4. Although Zuckerberg sometimes pretends

14
to be in stage 3 by acting for the good of the group, he always has the next step in mind that
will benefit him. He withholds information from Saverin for his own good which continues to
show in stage 2.
Lack of communication is understandable, but not acceptable. It is difficult to inform all parties
of all information when the company tries to grow quickly. However, I will prepare a
communication method that makes everyone on the same page. It might have been a daily e-
mail, weekly conference call, or anything similar that would keep both parties informed about
important issues. It's terrible Zuckerberg to get rid of Saverin from business as he did.
Personally, I will take a completely different approach. I will make it clear to my co-founder
that he is not performing at an adequate level. This will make him know where I stand and also
let him know that he needs to be improved. If the behavior continues, Zuckerberg should take
a more formal approach to dominating it. He should have asked the board of directors to tell
Saverin that he was demoted. Because Zuckerberg has majority control over the company, it is
not unethical for him to lose or fire anyone. This is the company. However, he shouldn't do it
secretly or behind his partner's back like he did. Being more open and honest may have led to
a more graceful separation between the two.

3. Conclusion

In conclusion, overall I learned that communication is the most important thing in business.
Businesses must have the right communication between founders, owners, managers, and
others. Hiding information related to each other is unethical. This can be solved by creating a
communication plan that meets all stakeholders. I also learned that you need to be aware of the
impact of your decision. It might be easy to do things one way now, but it will burden you in
the long run. On The Social Network, some of Zuckerberg's decisions again cost millions of
dollars. It is best to do due diligence up front and do ethical things ahead. This action will save
you and your business in the long run. There are a number of problems shown in the film that
are certainly not handled properly. Some of them even pushed past being unethical to be illegal.
Unethical and illegal activities can harm the business.

Harvard University developed many talented students into entrepreneurs. Mark Zuckerberg,
CEO of Facebook, is one of the most famous entrepreneurs who attended, and dropped out of

15
college, Harvard University. Social Networking is a 2010 film that shares stories about
developments and issues that are in line with starting Facebook. Facebook is a social
networking website that now connects millions of people around the world. Zuckerberg, played
by Jesse Eisenberg in the film, is accused of stealing ideas for business from other Harvard
students. He then found a way to get rid of his co-founder, Eduardo Saverin, out of business.
He faces lawsuits for both of these actions. The film highlights various business decisions
facing Zuckerberg. In the end, Zuckerberg completed his lawsuits and remained in control of
the business. Just because he is not punished for any crime does not mean he is ethical in the
creation of a company.

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4. References:

Business Ethics & The Social Network. (n.d). retrieved from


https://blogs.ubc.ca/andreachong/2010/10/07/business-ethics-the-social-network/

O'Neil, A. (n.d). retrieved from http://anikki23.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-unethical-behavior-


behind-social.html

The Social Network – Business Ethics in Movies. (n.d). retrieved from


http://www.cleancutmedia.com/movies/the-social-network-business-ethics-in-movies

An Ethical Analysis on "the Social Network". (n.d.). retrieved from


https://mediaethicsmorning.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/an-ethical-analysis-on-the-social-
network/

Fritze, J. (n.d.). The Social Network Managment Issues. Retrieved from


https://prezi.com/c49secszi1pr/the-social-network-managment-issues/

Characters of the ethical issues at social network


https://filmbor.com/the-social-network/sinopsis/

Why the characters do unethical thing ? (n.d). In Quora. Retrieved from


https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Eduardo-Saverin-get-kicked-out-of-Facebook

An Ethical Analysis on “The Social Network”. (n.d.). retrieved from


https://mediaethicsmorning.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/an-ethical-analysis-on-the-social-
network/

What characters movie face or encounters ? (n.d.). retrieved from


https://www.realestateinvestorlaw.com/Articles/Critical-lessons-to-learn-from-The-Social-
Network.shtml

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https://mediaethicsafternoon.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/the-ethics-of-the-social-network/

The role of ethical theories in ethical reasoning and behavior within organizations.
(n.d.).retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c791/9684bff2e43abb96bcc54d7deadfefcc596e.pdf

The thinker’s guide to ethical reasoning. (n.d.). retrieved from


https://www.criticalthinking.org/store/get_file.php?inventories_id=169&inventories_files_id
=379

The Social Network. (n.d.). retrieved from https://www.revolvy.com/page/The-Social-


Network

Bradshaw, P. (Oct 14, 2010). The Social Network – review. The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/14/the-social-network-review

imdb. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2018, Retrieved from


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/plotsummary

Mark Zuckenberg. (n.d.). In Wikipedia . Retreived October 15, 2018. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg

Sean Parker. (n.d.). In Wikipedia . Retreived October 15, 2018. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Parker#Facebook

Eduardo Saverrin. (n.d.). In Wikipedia . Retreived October 15, 2018. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Saverin

The Social Network. (2010). [DVD] David Fincher.

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5. Appendices

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

Appendix 4

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