QAB020X601S: Business Ethics and Responsible Management - EA Games: Fifa - Loot boxes and whales - Management Assignment Help

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Assignment Task:

Assessment Case Choice 1 - EA Games: Fifa, Loot boxes and whales

Background:

The business of gaming is complex; ‘freemium’ on-line games are built on a model of allowing access to games for free, but then directing players towards in-game purchases as well as accruing revenue from advertising. These, in themselves, are controversial, especially where games are directed towards children. Recently the spotlight has shifted more specifically to ‘loot boxes’. These are in-game purchasers where a buyer does not know the content of the box; will it be Lionel Messi to improve a football team or a particular weapon or skill to help on a quest?
Recently the UK Parliament has been examining whether loot boxes should be regulated (they increasing elsewhere – see the articles below). Giving evidence before MPs Kerry Hopkins, A Vice President of EA games said that the boxes are ‘quite ethical and fun’ and ‘just like a Kinder egg’. And yet some are arguing they are gambling, encourage gambling, and succeed only because the games are designed to be addictive. Then there are the stories of gamers spending large amounts of money in the hope of getting something worthwhile in the loot box with the media very quick to report parents who have had their ‘bank accounts emptied’ by game-playing children.  Perhaps the industry doesn’t help itself by characterising some gamers as ‘whales’ – the loyal gamers who account for a large amount of in-game revenue.
So – is Kerry Hopkins right? Are loot boxes ‘quite ethical’?
Your task is to write a report to the senior management of a games company and set out the ethical argument and what a responsible approach to selling games could be. You are playing the role of an employee within the company who has been tasked to write the report for senior managers. It could be EA you are writing to, or it could be another company, the choice is yours.

Your assessment into two parts with part 1 being further split into two. Read the requirements below and attempt all three parts:

Part 1:

a. You are now required to write a brief report to senior managers at the company of your choice (For example EA or another games /app developer/company) from the perspective of an employee who has been asked to write a report for senior managers outlining the ethical issue involved in having loot boxes as part of your business model. You will need to explore and write about a number of factors including - Why should the company be looking at this issue from an ethical perspective of ethics? How might this issue influence the public image of the company? What alternatives ways are there to think about a business’ role in society? Who/what are the stakeholders impacted in the scenario you are reporting on and how are they impacted on? Are there examples of business that act responsibly and ones that do not? You should illustrate this by including research you can find e.g. where is their research that shows good choices benefit companies and bad choices have a negative impact?. Finally, you should conclude with some recommendations for what the company should do (here you may want to look at the reports noted above on ‘understanding your organisation’s gender pay gap’ and ‘Actions to close the gap’.

This part of your assessment should be written as a report but should be referenced in the normal academic way using Harvard citations and referencing.

b. For this part, you should again use the case study – but this time choose TWO ethical theories (using ones we have looked at in class) and demonstrate that you can apply these to the case to show how your chosen theories lead you to a view on the ethics of the case. For example, if you applied utilitarian thinking to the idea of selling loot boxes to children,  what would you need to consider and how might the issue look from that perspective? Or, what if you apply Kant’s thinking here?  NOTE – you do NOT have to use ‘opposing’ ideas, we are interested most in how you use theory, if, when you apply two theories they seem to give the same answer that is fine if they seem to give different outcomes that is fine too. This section is written in a more academic style than the report.

Part 2:

Part 2 is NOT related to the case study. This section requires you to discuss what makes an ethical leader and how you would, as an ethical manager, manage your business and/or others to a high ethical standard.

You will need to think about personal ethics, about the conditions that bring about unethical organisations and practices, about organisational values and methods of compliance. This part can be written in a more reflective style, where the first person can be used.


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