Reputation Crisis? Facebook meets Cambridge Analytica

Erasmus University Rotterdam via Coursera

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/reputation-management-facebook-cambridge-analytica

Syllabus

Introduction to the MOOC and the Case Study approach

This week, you will be introduced to the case of Facebook – Cambridge Analytica scandal: what happened, how the scandal evolved, and how the two companies were implicated. You will also get to know more about the case teaching method, and will learn how to best tackle this type of approach to learning. After you have viewed the two videos, we invite you to read the case and complete a short quiz to test your understanding of case facts.

Reputation Management

This week, we will take you through the basics of corporate reputation – what it is, and why it is so vital for organizations. Moreover, this week features a discussion with two experts about data privacy, and how critical it is for all organizations in the contemporary business climate, and for big tech in particular.

Leadership and Culture

This week, we will look into culture and leadership, and explore its relevance for corporate reputation. More specifically, we will look at the importance of leadership in today’s dynamic business environment and highlight the key challenges facing corporate leaders. This week we also have an expert to share his knowledge and understanding about the topic.

Governance and Whistleblowing

This week, our focus turns to the very reason we got to know about the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal. As the misconducts were brought to the daylight by the whistleblowers, Christopher Wylie and Brittany Kaiser, it highlights the critical yet contested role of whistleblowing in and for organizations and for the whistleblowers themselves.

Corporate Responsibilities and Purpose-driven Organisations

This week, we will tackle the final driver of reputation that is included in this course: Corporate responsibility (also known by other related terms such as citizenship, corporate social responsibility or business responsibility, etcetera). The video and readings for this week will prompt you to think about the purpose of business in society, as well as the impact of stakeholders on businesses.

Capstone Project

This final week brings all the previous weeks together by summarizing them and presenting learners with the assignment of the Capstone Project. In addition to the final assignment, we provide learners with additional information that they can use to inform their analysis: (a) Case Epilogue; and (b) additional perspective from the academic experts featured in earlier weeks. Please watch the videos and review this additional material before you start working on the capstone project. Upon completion of this Project, learners will have applied the relevant knowledge about reputation management from a number of different angles, and will have analyzed the particular situation of Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal critically. This ensures the resources and the knowledge obtained throughout the course is brought together seamlessly and is actively used in a practical setting, ensuring that learners have gone through the materials and are able to apply it.

Overview

Do you remember when you first created your Facebook account? Do you know what happens to the data and stories you share on Facebook? Are you aware of the Facebook – Cambridge Analytica crisis and its ramifications? In this course, you will take a deep dive into reputation management by tackling a case study on the crisis, the effects of which are still unravelling for Facebook, the tech industry, and society at large. You will explore the concept of corporate reputation, and touch upon topics

Skills

Leadership And Management

Reviews

I learned a lot and I thought the case study was very relevant for contemporary reputation management.

Learned a lot from this very timely course. The readings and videos support the lecture material and the case study is excellent.

Insightful course that helped me to narrow down specifically how can the customers continue to maintain trust with the company. Facebook as an example was useful.