1.Can you describe in detail how Electronic Arts (EA) could strengthen its feedforward controls in order to improve performance at the leading edge of this industry.
2.Can you also describe in detail how EA can use concurrent controls to improve the process of game development and sales.
Case 9 Electronic Arts | Inside Fantasy Sports iPac Electronic Arts is the third largest and one of the most a se profitable players in the video game industry. Exclusive And contracts with professional sports teams have enabled and it to dominate the sports gaming market. Can EA stay in tinat the pole position as gaming shifts to mobile in a crowded was and contentious market? trad on it Play Form failur an in trend When Duty , consu Mim Friday/Alamy ZA ON game a fail SPORTS with anno FIFA n infiltr appea made Founded in 1982 by William "Trip" Hawkins, an early director of strategy comp and marketing for Apple Computer, EA gained quick distinction for its dissat detail-oriented sports titles compatible with the Nintendo and Sega game platforms. Although EA has also received good reviews for its strategy contin and first-person shooter games, it left its heart on the ice, diamond, consic court, or any other playing field long ago. According to former under EA Sports marketing chief Jeffrey Karp, EA wanted to be "a sports company that makes games." Case A Ad Revenue In, Ad Revenue Out 1. Dis trols h Word of mouth may still be the most trusted form of advertising, and EA has always depended on fans to spread its gaming gospel. But in 2. Dis a highly competitive-and lucrative-gaming market, EA knows better most u than to skimp on brand building: it spends two to three times as much 3. Pro to market and advertise a title as it does developing it. down The realism of EA's graphics set it apart from competitors long ago, Identify but the energy and talent used to depict that realism might be wasted be set s if EA games didn't include the one element fans most want to see: their 4. Furt favourite players from leagues such as the NHL, NBA, and NFL. How- regain i ever, top athletes aren't cheap, and neither are their virtual depictions. doing? EA spends $100+ million annually to license athletes, players' associa- petitive tions, and teams. It's a complex dance: FIFA Soccer for iPad, for example, is Bion requires hundreds of different licences from a total of 22 club leagues, games 500 teams, and 15,000 players. The investment pays off, however; in 2016, FIFA 17 was the top-selling video game in the world. Sources accesse Past Glory "Investo EA's past devotion to sports games has been a winning asset. But a downloa funny thing happened on the way to the bank-over the course of a 56d4ea few short years, the gaming market radically changed. The way games Breakfas were played in the past is not the way they are played now. Creative Blame the Wii. Or blame Apple. Or downloads. Or Android and Beat.con social media platforms. Or blame the success of Activision Blizzard's 'Even If massively successful World of Warcraft (WOW) that dominated EA's 12' Gam failed Star Wars: The Old Republic, which was intended to compete pher Gra with WOW for gaming dollars. Successive generations of iphone and Joystiq.Management Cases for Critical Thinking 395 iPad improved iOS gaming, and Apple's App Store suddenly became a self-sufficient gaming platform faster than you can say Angry Birds. Android apps are keeping the smart device playing field on the move and increasingly popular. Facebook also came into its own as a des- tination for simple but time-swallowing games. This kind of gaming was worlds away from EA's graphics-intense, true-to-life realism traditions, and it forced the company to do some serious reckoning on its future. Playing for Keeps Former CEO John Riccitiello stepped down in the face of management failures and tumbling market value. Although historically a leader and an innovator in the gaming space, EA may have become more of a trend follower than a trend setter under his waning days at the top. When arch rival Activision found market success with its game Call of Duty, Riccitiello tried to copy their success with similar products. But consumers showed fatigue with first-person shooter military-themed games. EA also failed to remain current with market trends, making a failed foray into online gaming with SimCity and not keeping pace with rivals in gaming hardware. Another threat emerged with the announcement that computer code from third-party servers could infiltrate some of the EA gaming platforms. And then unwanted bugs appeared in Battlefield 4 and the market turned against EA games made for aging console players. Although still a top player, EA faces substantial challenges from competing game companies, the cost of doing business, legal issues, and ts dissatisfied gamers. The next great bet by EA is another futuristic shooter ga game, Titanfall. It sounds good, but can EA overcome these threats and continue producing games with franchises that brought the company considerable success in the past? Above all, does EA have its operations er under control as it makes plans for the current big thing-mobile? ts Case Analysis Questions 1. Discussion How can feedforward, concurrent, and feedback con- trols help Electronic Arts meet its quality goals for video games? id 2. Discussion Which of the control systems and techniques can be in most useful to EA's next round of business decisions, and why? er ch 3. Problem Solving Break the video-game production process down into its various components, a start-to-finish workflow model. Identify for each phase in the process the control standards that could be set so that managers make the process work best overall. ir 4. Further Research What is the latest in Electronic Arts's quest to
