Students are required to read the following two-page cases prior to the workshop and prepare the core message that the protagonist in each case needs to deliver to the feedback recipient Ramesh Patel at Aragon Entertainment Limited.

Assignment:

Formulate the core message that the protagonist needs to deliver in his or her feedback to the recipient.

As he was lulled into a meditative state by the rhythmic sounds of the slowly moving train, Ramesh Patel replayed in his mind the events of the last few months. Three months ago, Patel had been nominated to be a part of the New Horizons Board, a select group of senior and high-potential leaders who were hand-picked to chart the company's potential future directions. The "NHB," as it was known, was chaired by the company's chief innovation officer and included senior executives from key functional areas along with six high-potential employees who were nominated to serve on the NHB for nine months. The NHB was charged with developing recommendations for line extensions or new titles for Aragon Entertainment, a leading producer of adventure-based, multi- player role-playing video games. Patel, associate director of business development, had joined the company in 2008 and quickly excelled in finding new outlets and distribution channels for Aragon's products. Almost as soon as he joined the company, Patel wanted to be part of the NHB. The NHB was considered a centerpiece of innovation and creativity, and in the past three years, two of the recommendations from the NHB had become best-selling products and two others showed significant promise. Being a member of the NHB also provided great exposure to senior executives. Patel was thrilled to be on the NHB and was even more excited when he learned that his friend, Jeremy Gibson, a quality control engineer, had also been selected. Patel and Gibson had joined the company within a few days of each other and attended the same employee orientation and training sessions. Over the past few years, they had socialized inside and outside of the company a few times but had not worked together on any specific project. The first few meetings of the NHB were amazing. Patel learned a lot about the company and the process of product design and iteration. He desperately wanted to make a positive impression on his senior colleagues, and was nervous but excited when sub-team assignments were determined for new NHB members. Patel, Gibson, and Maria Hernandez, one of the other high-potential employees, were assigned to analyze customer data on one of Aragon's promising new offerings (Days of Knights) to determine if and what a potential sequel product might entail. The customer data included game usage protocols, blog entries (there was a vibrant and committed on-line community that posted critiques and suggestions on the games), user group satisfaction surveys, and other data. The sub- team was also expected to do a competitive market analysis. After they learned of their sub-team assignment, Patel, Gibson, and Hernandez met for coffee the next morning to figure out how they would divide up the work. Patel would review and analyze the Senior Lecturer Anthony J. Mayo and Professor Joshua D. Margolis prepared this case. The company mentioned in the case is fictional. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright 2011, 2012 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545- 7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School.