Project Proposal

The issue of Facebook’s low diversity in decision making processes.

201906687
Executive Summary

The following proposal offers a 15-week project that attempts to address issues of a lack
of diversity within Facebook’s decision-making processes. This proposal will aim to
assess the current state of diversity within the company, before identifying causes of low
diversity and barriers to changing this. The proposal will then aim to create an action plan
for meaningful change while implementing.
The project itself is divided into five phases: initial assessment and stakeholder
engagement, diagnosis and root cause analysis, strategy development and action planning,
implementation and capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation. The proposed
timeline includes these factors and are in sync with the key deliverables of this proposal;
an in-depth report, a monitoring strategy, staff training and an overall action plan.
To analyse sensitive information in an organised fashion this proposal will include
analytical tools such as User Stories, Soft Systems Methodology, PESTLE analysis and
Mult-Criteria Decision Analysis. For further insight it is asked that Facebook provide the
consultant with access to employees, documentation and an estimated budget.
Overall, this project will aim to benefit Facebook by improving their brand image,
increasing staff retention, improved decision making and an easier venture to acquiring
talents from across the globe. It must be noted that potential budget constraints, the
changing external environment and unpredictable circumstances delaying the project are
all limitations identified.
 1. Background and Problem:
With revenues comparable with certain emerging economies, large tech companies participate
in forming the online experience of billions of users worldwide. For this social experience to
reflect and nurture the diversity in its user base, companies such as Meta must take steps into
addressing the current lack of diversity within Facebook’s decision-making processes. This
issue originates from McKinsey’s report which highlights the correlation between diversity
within an organisation and performance. The proposed project aims to identify the barriers
and issues relative to diversity within Facebook decision making processes before developing
a 15 week action plan to tackle such issues.

2. Objectives:
• Analyse and assess the current state of diversity within Facebook.
• Identify the root causes of low diversity within the company.
• Create an action plan to address diversity issues.
• Evaluate the impact of the action plan on both employee satisfaction and user
experience.
• Establish a post-implementation plan in order to monitor and evaluate the
effectiveness of the proposed solution(s).

3. Methodology:
In order to successfully plan out a course of action relative to Facebook’s issues this proposal
will be divided into a set of five phases, spanning several analytical tools to better syphon and
evaluate relevant data (including User stories, SSM, PESTLE and MCDA). The phases are as
following; initial assessment and stakeholder engagement, diagnosis and root cause analysis,
strategy development and action planning, implementation and capacity building and
monitoring and evaluation.

4. Required data from Facebook:

• Access to individuals in management and employees for focus groups and interviews
to better understand key issues.
• Access to documentation detailing the functioning of the decision-making processes
at Facebook.
• A potential measure of ROI relative to this diversity initiative.
• An estimated budget for project planning and implementation
 5. Project Phases and Timeline:

5.1. Phase 1, Initial Assessment and Stakeholder Engagement (Week 1-Week 2):
For meaningful change it is crucial that both the company and the stakeholders and assessed
and understood. We therefore begin our project by reviewing current policies and practices
centred around the issue of diversity in Facebook. Engaging and understanding the different
stakeholders will also allow us to make meaningful changes that are in line with stakeholder
interest. To have a holistic view on such a multidimensional issue it is suggested to create a
set of user stories relative to these stakeholders.
5.2. Phase 2 Diagnosis and Root Cause Analysis (Week 3-Week 5):
In the third week of the project, we will aim to collect and analyse all the relevant internal
and external data that may explain low diversity. It would be interesting for instance to cover
Facebook’s annual diversity reports and EEO-1 filings. To do so we aim to first use Soft
Systems Methodology (SSM) as this tool allows a visualising of the problem (through rich
pictures), allows for flexibility (especially important in an ever-changing environment),
allows for the inclusion of multiple Stakeholders and is an action-oriented tool to tackle real
world issues. To gain further insight a PESTLE analysis could benefit the project as this
could identify barriers to diversity within the larger macroenvironment and how this is
affecting Facebook and the tech industry. In the fourth and fifth week it is suggested to
conduct workshops and focus groups to have direct understanding of the situation with staff.
5.3. Phase 3: Strategy Development and Action Planning (Week 6-Week 9):
With the relevant information organising for purposeful use, it will then be key to develop a
strategy based on conclusions from gathered data. This strategy must promote diversity
within decision making processes while changing barriers to it. With large amounts of criteria
stemming from different stakeholders, as well as the overall possibility of different solutions,
it will be key to evaluate the different solutions. To do so it could be methodological to use a
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to better select solutions relative to trade-offs. Once decided
a proposed action plan can be set up.
5.4. Phase 4: Implementation and Capacity building (Week 10-Week 13)
Once an action plan completely developed it will be key to present the plan to Facebook’s
leadership and stakeholders in order to gain approval. Once approved we aim for a three-
week implementation of said action plan, giving sufficient amount of time to test and change
the plan. It will then be necessary to train Facebook employees in order to equip the staff with
the skills to work with diversity within decision making.
5.5. Phase 5: Monitoring and Evaluation (Week 14 – Week 15)
Once implemented it will be important to establish relevant KPIs to evaluate the success of
the action plan and its effectiveness concerning diversity. Collecting feedback not only from
stakeholders but also employees will allow for an identification of areas of improvements of
the current plan.
 6. Deliverables and Gantt chart
• A report detailing internal and external trends to the issue of diversity in Facebook’s
decision-making processes.
• An action plan resolving issues of diversity within Facebook.
• An established monitoring strategy to insure present and future success of the action
plan.
• Necessary resources to train Facebook staff.

Figure 1: Gantt Chart detailing proposed plan.

7. Benefits of our project:

• Improved decision making: Diversity within decision making has been researched to
be beneficial for strategic direction. This diversity will allow decision making process
to be less biased and more well-rounded.
• Enhanced employee satisfaction: By creating an inclusive organisational culture,
Facebook will be able to retain vital employees and hire top talent from diverse
upbringings.
• Brand reputation: With a more inclusive company, Facebook will be perceived as
socially progressive, enhancing its relations and opportunities relative to its users and
investors.
 8. Associated costs.
• While impossible to detail the exact financial costs of the project without the
necessary information from Facebook.
• Consultant fees – Time spent on data analysis, implementation, workshops and focus
group discussions. Estimated at £20 per hour (excluding travel expenses).
• Software or tools – Third party software required for effective analysis could increase
costs.
• Human Resources – additional personnel could invite more costs due to salary
constraints.
• Materiel – Any material vital for training staff.

9. Limitations of the project:

• While five weeks are given for the implementation of the action plan, it is possible
that unpredictable circumstances may extent the duration of the project.
• Very difficult to determine costs due to complexity of problem, there is a potential for
budget constraints. However, Facebook is a tech giant with large amounts of funds.
• PESTLE will allow for greater external understand but can be limited due to the
unpredictable nature of social trends.

10. Terms and Conditions

Both parties must agree to maintain confidentiality relative to all information and data used in
this project. This includes but not limited to any documentation provided by Facebook,
sensitive information on employees and consultant knowledge. The scope of the project must
be mutually agreed upon with both parties and can be reflected in a change to the project
timeline.
Payment terms will be agreed between Facebook and the consultant, with a fixed cost of £20
per hour. Other payments will be agreed when an appropriate solution is selected. Either party
can immediately terminate the project if any action is taken to breach of the mentioned terms
and conditions. In no event shall the consultant be liable for any incidental damage, including
loss in revenues or/and profit.