Case Study Presentation: Management Approaches at EA môn Principles of Management | Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

Marking Criteria Marks Learning outcomes/attributes
Quality of arguments: relevance, 20
Ability to give compelling arguments and logic and cohesion reasoning to support analysis Use of frameworks to support 20
Ability to structure problems in accordance with analysis
theoretical frameworks and resolve them
Use of case evidence to support 20
Ability to conduct applied research to gather analysis
data/information pertaining to the case
Originality and usefulness of the 20
Ability to engage in creative problem solving analysis skills Organization, clarity of 20 Clarity of vision expression, editing,etc
- Good morning everyone, today we - group 3 - together will bring to you the present about case study 9 : ELECTRONIC ARTS
- And these are my team members, who were extremely carefully prepared for this morning's presentation.
- Today's presentation will be divided into three main parts:
- Let’s jump right into the first part 1. Introduction (Company)
- Electronic Arts (EA) is one of the largest and most profitable video game makers.
- The company was founded in 1982 by William Trip Hawkins, an early director of strategy and marketing for Apple Computer.
- EA has developed and published a massive title such as Anthem and Apex Legends, as well as
established franchises some latest games such as Dead Space, Battlefield, and Star Wars game series,
including EA Sports titles FIFA, NHL, NFL, and UFC.
- EA also has several development studios present across Canada, USA, England, Sweden, and South Korea. 2. Case summary
( what exactly happened to EA ? )
- Electronic Arts (EA) has been such a major video game maker that has dominated the sports gaming
market.The reason why EA used to dominate the game market was because the game consoles at that
time could not be played on desktop and mobile devices because the configuration was not strong
enough. However, as gaming has shifted to laptops, phones, and tablets, due to technological
developments, EA is struggling to hold its position.
To address this issue, EA has been actively seeking new ways to engage with gamers and expand their
reach. EA spends heavily on marketing and advertising. Additionally, it spends $100 million annually
to license athletes, players' associations, and teams. Despite these efforts, EA faces stiff competition
from other game companies and the ever-increasing cost of doing business. Furthermore, gamers are
becoming more demanding and expect a better overall experience from the games they play.
In order to stay competitive, EA has been shifting gears to introduce new products and services that
cater to the changing gaming landscape. This includes digital distribution, social gaming, and massive
multiplayer online games. So the question here is how EA is gonna proceed and whether these efforts will be successful or not? 3. Case solving
Question 1: How can feedforward, concurrent, and feedback controls help Electronic Arts meet
its quality goals for video games?
Feedforward Controls to Improve EA’s Performance -
(Definition: Often used in the input process: solve problems before they occur: make sure the
objective is cleared, direction is set and resources are available) -
In the case study, the trends of playing games have changed, which generates two challenges
for the EA company: How they can deal with the shift of its customers' demand in games
for mobile devices and how to promote their products. While other competitors were
making games for big screens, mobile devices and conducting advertising, the firm only
focused on sports games and depended on word of mouth to sell its products. If EA
strengthens its feed-forward controls, the company can realize the situation earlier.
Therefore, the key in feedforward control is identifying new gaming trends in the competitive industry.
Concurrent Controls to Improve the Quality of Game Products. -
Definition: Concurrent controls allow companies to find out problems and bugs of the
products during production, and keep things going as planned.
-If Electronic Arts apply concurrent controls, it will observe market trends continuously
during the process of production to understand customers' demand. This gives EA more
flexibility in adjusting its products that satisfy the customers, which also ensures the
successful launching of new products and higher return for the company. -
The gaming industry is thought to be very fluctuated in terms of market trends. Many game
developers have cancelled games mid-production, simply because market trends change, and
certain genres and gameplays become outdated over a short period of time. -
Titanfall online, for example, was canceled after beta running in Korea in 2018, primarily due
to poor reception during testing and changing market.
Feedback Controls to Analyze Competitive Position -
(Definition: solve problem after it occurs: perform improvement or learning)
Feedback controls are an effective strategy for EA to analyze its competitive position. There are two
main areas where feedback can be utilized:
1. External environment: By interacting with customers, EA can gain insights about the quality
of games, customer behavior, and preferences. This can help EA evaluate its competitors'
games and understand why customers may choose their products over EA's. If a sale is
declined, EA can directly interact with customers to understand the root causes. This
information can be used to develop appropriate action plans.
2. Internal environment: EA's management can collaborate with different teams in the game
development department to evaluate and monitor the process. The administration needs to
observe how teams meet work goals and produce outputs according to expectations.
Employees or team members can provide suggestions to improve the work process and create
competitive outputs that can beat competitors in the market.
The main stakeholders in these feedback controls are customers and employees. The purpose is to
develop better games than competitors in the highly competitive market. Controlling process
In the case study, the battlefield is one of the best game series of EA. However, our team has
discovered that Battlefield 4 was not successful when it was first released. Therefore, we suggest EA
should apply the controlling process to improve its performance on that game. So, let’s begin with a
quick review of the control process.
There are 4 steps including: Establishing performance objectives and standards, measuring actual
performance, comparing actual performance with objectives and standards, and taking corrective actions. (Firstly about)
1. Establish objectives and standards.
EA should set some standards for this game, such as an element of realism, unique features of games,
improving game graphics and quality to meet the current market trends. Moreover, these standards are
frequently evaluated to ensure they satisfy customers. 2. Measure actual performance.
The next step is to measure the actual performance. After Battlefield 4 was initially finished, EA had
to test the graphics, animation, and storytelling of the game. In post-production, the game developers
of the company have to improve the game products and define any bugs. To measure whether
Battlefield 4 is aligned with market trends or not, the general approach is to release a pre-launch
version to audiences to experience and provide feedback on any bugs and errors in the game. If users
provide positive feedback, it means the game meets market trends and standards. Conversely, if
negative feedback is more prevalent, the game needs further improvements.
3. Compare actual and desired performance.
The third step in this process is vital, as it ensures that the game meets the company's standards before
it is released. In order to accomplish this, EA should carefully compare the performance data that has
been collected with established objectives and standards. This includes evaluating the level of realism,
the variety of features, and the quality of the graphics and sound. If the game meets these standards, it
can be launched into the market, where it will be able to compete with other popular games. Any
identified deviations are needed to analyze and find solutions to address. 4. Take corrective action.
The last step is to take necessary actions. If the game does not meet the standards, the company needs
to take corrective actions to improve the game's performance. This can include adjusting the game. By
doing so, EA can ensure that the game meets the standards and satisfies the customers' preferences and expectations.
Question 2: Can you see the principle of management by exception at play in any of EA’s recent
business decisions? Why or why not?
Definition: Management by exception (MBE) is a workplace practice that allows employees to work
more independently and only involve their managers on specific issues to normal operations.
Battlefield 4 is one of the most favorable games released by EA. Many gamers are looking forward to
experiencing that game. However, in reality, Battlefield 4 is not really worth it when compared to
Battlefield 3. Game has numerous problems with server connection, stability, login, and dozens of other critical errors.
Furthermore, this problem occurred on every computer system which Battlefield 4 was available and
ignored by EA for many months afterward. EA is facing two problems at the same time: An
investor lawsuit against EA overstating game quality and the customers’ outrage. This scandal
severely affected EA’ stock price, which needs to be solved by using “management by exception”.
When there are two considerable problems, EA’s executives decide to solve the lawsuit first. They
promptly defused the situation by committing to resolve all issues between now and December.
Therefore, the petition was dismissed and the stock’s price was recovered.
Then, EA admitted their fault when they let the troubles related to Battlefield 4 lasted for too long,
causing distrust from players and indirectly affecting investors when the stock price dropped during the past period.
we also make a research bout ea Further Research
In order to regain its position as a top gaming publisher, EA has applied “videogame as a service”
which allows the company to monetize a game after the initial release or as an ongoing revenue
stream for F2P games. There are 2 types: microtransaction, and monthly subscription. In terms of
Apex Legends, there were over 50 million players in the first month releasing the game in 2019, each
of them spent only $3-$5 for special features and EA had a revenue of 200 million dollars. According
to a survey, the last release of the franchise FIFA 23. After the first week of releasing the game, it
reached over 20 million players worldwide, 10% more copies were sold compared to “FIFA 22” in the
same period. Additionally, Electronic Arts also funds many sports campaigns, recently, they
sponsored over $150 million to the FIFA World Cup Currently, Electronic Arts has been dominating
the game market and predicted to lead this market for a long period.
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