UOP COM537 Best Game Productions Communication Plan

COM537 Phoenix Best Game Productions Communication Plan Initial Proposal

THE CHOSEN SOLUTION FOR THIS COMPANY IS TO POSTPONE THE RELEASE OF THE GAME AND FIX THE ISSUES.

Analyze the culture, values, and ethics for the company, as well as cultural differences and perspectives for each department.

Explain the solution that you think is best for the company based on all of the information provided to you. Use that solution and your reason for selecting it to create your Communication Plan Initial Proposal.

Create a 950 - 1,400-word initial proposal in which you:

• Outline all necessary communications. Determine the necessary communications and appropriate channels for your communication plan.
• Construct your communications to best persuade the CEO and stakeholders that your solution is the best for the company.
• Discuss the audience for each communication; your analysis of the culture, values, ethics, and perspectives of the company and individual departments; the purpose of each communication; and the basic message that you will use in each communication.
• Select the appropriate channel for each piece of communication.

Cite at least two references in your paper.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Best Game Productions: Company Background and Business Scenario

You are a consultant for Best Game Productions. Best Game Productions is a large video game company that needs help solving an urgent dilemma. The company’s game developers have been creating a highly anticipated video game for 2 years, and the release date is set for the coveted holiday season, now only a month away. Customers have been anticipating the game’s release for a long time, and the company expects to make a significant amount of its total game profit during the holiday season. Marketing materials announcing the release date have been displayed in stores for weeks now, and the company’s employees, stockholders, and customers are all excited about the game.

To generate more buzz for the game’s release, the company has embraced the opportunity for reviewers to play the game and discuss the details and findings with the public. Unfortunately, a bug affecting the quality of the game was discovered in the most recent review. People can still play the game, but the bug noticeably decreases the quality of game play and will disappoint customers. This game is a sequel to several previous games, and plans are already in the works for the sequel to this game; therefore, a major concern for the company is maintaining customer loyalty for future games.

Due to the recent discovery of the game’s bug, the company now faces a major dilemma. Do they ignore the bug and release the video game on the anticipated date, or do they delay the game’s release to fix the bug? If the bug is fixed, the game will not release until January, causing customer disappointment and loss of holiday sales. However, releasing the game on the expected date could also cause customer disappointment due to the decreased quality of the game, affecting company loyalty and future game sales.

Adding to the difficulty of the decision is that there are many different perspectives involved. In addition to customers, the company’s developers, quality control, marketing, public relations, and finance employees have concerns about how a decision will affect them. The CEO of Best Game Productions has left the decision up to you based on your analysis of all perspectives. Ultimately, you are responsible for proposing the best solution and your rationale for selecting that solution. You must balance your suggested solution with the CEO’s desire to watch the bottom line of his company. The CEO must report back to the stockholders, and they will question him about the overall profit for the game. He is reasonable, but he also has a very direct communication style. He strives to make as much money as possible for the company so that he can retain employees and please stakeholders; however, he also pushes his employees to make ethical decisions for the public and the community. His motto is “An ethical company is a thriving company,” and he works hard to uphold the ethical code at Best Game Productions. Primary principles of the company’s ethical code include the following: • • • •

Best Game Productions is knowledgeable of and complies with all pertinent laws and legal regulations.

Best Game Productions provides comprehensive and timely company information to the public and investors.

The staff and board members at Best Game Productions represent the company with integrity and honesty.

Best Game Productions provides a working environment that advocates fairness and respect at all times.

Read the description and perspective of each department. Use this information to analyze each aspect of the company’s dilemma as an individual consultant in the Week Three assignment, and then as part of a consulting team to create the best communication for each stakeholder.

Game Developers: The video game developers are driven by a deadline for completing the video game. If the game is not completed by the deadline, the developers risk a lowered rating on their performance evaluations. Because that rating affects their job status and annual raise amount, the developers are determined to complete the game on time. Although players might be disappointed by the overall game quality because of the bug, the game works, and developers will make sure the same bug does not exist in the game’s sequel.

Quality Control: The quality control employees have examined the quality of the game and have confirmed the bug that the reviewer discovered. Although the game does work, players will be disappointed. The quality control employees do not believe the game meets the company’s standards of quality and would like to delay the release of the game to allow time for developers to fix the bug. The game can then be released once it meets the company’s standards. It is more important that consumers receive a quality product even if it is released a few months later than anticipated.

Marketing: The marketing employees have identified that consumers are eager for the game’s release. In fact, the original release date was requested by marketing employees so that the game would satisfy that need for consumers and allow them to purchase the game for gifts. If the bug is fixed and the game release is delayed until after the holidays, consumers will be unhappy and likely to purchase competitor’s games for gifts. Additionally, the employees created all of the marketing materials with the original release date in mind. A delayed release date would require all of the completed marketing materials to be edited, which would put the marketing department over the planned budget for this game.

Public Relations: The public relations employees work hard to maintain a positive relationship between the company and its consumers. Unfortunately, the public relations department will be tasked with maintaining consumer loyalty with or without a delay in the game’s release date. A delay in the release date will disappoint consumers, requiring significant damage control for the public relations employees. Maintaining customer loyalty after a release date delay to keep customers from purchasing competing products would be a huge task for the department. On the other hand, consumers will be disappointed in the quality of the video game if it is released on time but the bug is not corrected. If consumers lose trust in the company’s product quality, they might be less likely to purchase any future products from the company and instead purchase products from competing organizations.

Finance: The finance department has a responsibility to maintain the overall costs and budget for the game. Additionally, the department feels pressure from the executive management team to maintain the bottom line to satisfy the company’s shareholders. Delaying the deadline for the game might cause problems for the finance employees. If the game is not released in time for the holiday season, consumers might purchase other games as gifts and cause a decrease in the overall sales of the game. Additionally, the time and resources required to fix the bug will put the project significantly over budget.