The Most Effective Method of Solving the Problems - Assignment Example

Table of Contents: Background………………………………………………3 Proposals…………………………………………………..4 Recommendations…………………………………….…..9 References…………………………………………………11 Appendixes…………………………………………………12 Background: Issues: One of the important issues that arise from this gaming situation is that the producer of a medieval quest game was able to produce a game that has been downloaded by more than 100 million people in the entire world. This game is always available through the online application stores of Android, as well as App Store. The game under consideration targets children who have an average age of 13 years old. Another issue that arises from this gaming situation is that the medieval game is infected with a virus, that depicts a highly sexual female figure, who keeps on appearing in games, and offers sexual favors, in exchange of key artifacts during the game. It is important to understand that in the game, a player has to work through a set of situations for purposes of collecting key medieval artifacts as a way of gaining riches. It is this artifact that the female figure asks from its various players. Due to this situation, the organizations interactive online community has received a lot of negative comments regarding this situation. Another issue that emerges is the inability of the organizations programmers to remove this virus. This is because any attempt to remove the virus, another similar virus appears. The main reason as to why the organizations programmers are unable to remove this virus is based on the fact that there isn’t any programming solution that has the capability of solving the situation under consideration. Another issue that emerges is that this situation has managed to attract the attention of international media, which are reporting it as their headlines. The censorship bodies of the government are also notified, and they have put an injunction on the distribution of the game. Potential Impact: Production: This situation will most possibly halt the production of these medieval quest games. This is because the audiences of these games are 13 year old children, who are not supposed to be exposed to sexually explicit materials. Distribution: The distribution of these products would stop, and on this basis, the app and android stores will stop accepting the downloading of these games. Marketing: The marketing of the games will have to stop, and the company engaging in a serious rebranding effort for purposes of promoting its image, and repairing the damage that is caused by the existence of the virus. It is important to explain that the relationship between the company and the media will also be on the negative, and this is mainly because of the negative publicity that emanates from the media, concerning the games under consideration. Audience: Because the target audiences of the games were small children, then chances are high that the audience of the games will reduce. Financials: The Company would lose a lot of revenues because of a halt in the production and distribution of the games. Legal: Chances are high that the government might sue the company for breach of trust or negligence, and this may result into a huge financial damage against the company. Proposals: Proposal 1: A refund of defective games One proposal for solving the issues identified above is for the producer of the medieval gaming solution to is to stop the circulation of the games. It is important to understand that the games under consideration are pornographic in nature, and the target audiences are small children. It is therefore prudent for the organization to stop the circulation of these games, and recall all the downloaded games, with the option of refunding the money used in acquiring these games by the customers. This is also for purposes of giving him an opportunity to begin afresh designing the game, and producing a more acceptable version of the game. Through this action, the producer will be accepting liability for the mistakes that occurred in production and manufacture of these games. It is important to denote that in the technological field, such errors normally occur, and most companies normally have a recall clause in their various productions in case they are defective (Moon, 2001). For example, Toys For Us is an online company that sales different toys for children, and this includes trains, video games, cars, playing blocks, etc. This company has a policy whereby any toy that is purchased from its online stores, and has some defects; the purchaser has some rights of returning the toys under consideration (Cole, 2008). However, there is a conditionality attached to this clause, whereby the purchased toys must be returned within a maximum period of 90 days. Another real life example is a recall of more than 20 million vehicles by Toyota, on 9th of April 2014. These vehicles were recalled by Toyota, because they had faulty seats, and steering wheels (Rankin, 2014). This was a massive loss for Toyota; however, the company would be able to save itself from litigations and lawsuits because of these malfunctioning of its products. The Managing Director of Toyota denoted that the recall was timely, and this is because the vehicles have not caused any accidents due to their defects. Based on these examples therefore, the producers of the medieval quest games should recall these games and provide a full refund to the owners of the games. However, there should be a conditionality attached to this situation. This condition is that the games which qualify for a refund must be the ones which are affected by the virus. It is important to explain that this situation will be extremely beneficial to the producer, and this is because he will be able to redeem the brand name of his production. This is because the media will most definitely praise such an initiative. Furthermore, this will save the producers from expensive lawsuits emanating from the parents of these children, saving his financial situation. Furthermore, this would be marketing and Public relations act, whereby the customers of the producer will always trust the ethical standards and believes of the producer and hence continue doing business with him. This is because of accepting responsibility for the damage caused by the virus. It is therefore important to denote that when the producer accepts responsibility for the virus in the games, and recalls the products, then an immediate cessation of the production and distribution of the games will stop. This option would therefore lead to a massive loss on the producer, because of the recall of the games (Paliwal, 2006). Furthermore, the producer can enter into a non-legal settlement with government censorship bodies, for purposes of settling this dispute outside the courts. Proposal 2: Changing the audience of the games: Another proposal for the producer is to change the target audience of the games under consideration. Initially, these games targeted children whose average age was 13 years old. But because of the existence of the sexually explicit female virus, this game can no longer be played by children who are under the age of 13 years old. This would amount to exposing them to an indecent material, and on this basis, the producer can be charged for a sexual offence. On the other hand, the producer of these games can change the age of people who can purchase the games, to possible 20 years, or even more. These people are considered as adults, and on this basis, the producer may achieve some sales of his production, and the government censorship bodies may uplift the censorship on the product under consideration. It is important to explain that in certain circumstances, the only option of a business organization is to change its line of business and production for purposes of surviving in the market. Under this scenario, the producer is faced by over 100 million people who were able to download the medieval quest game. On this basis, recalling the games, and issuing a refund would most definitely spell a financial disaster to the producer. This is because a massive amount of money is involved, and chances are high that the producer can go bankrupt. On this basis, the only way of survival is changing the target audience and market of the medieval quest game. It is important to explain that there are various examples all over the world, of companies that were going bankrupt, and they had to change their target market and production for purposes of ensuring their survival. A good example is Facebook, and Napster. For instance, Facebook consisted of mostly college students during its initial years, and it had stringent conditionality for anybody to join the site. For example, an individual was required to possess an .edu email address for him or her to qualify as a Facebook user. Most of the users of this services liked it in this way, however, the expansion of Facebook was only limited to college users. In his bid to expand, Mark Zuckerberg opened the site to high school students in the 2005 (Kirkpatrick, 2010). Later on, in the 2006, he was able to allow 13 year old kids to join the site. Right now, Facebook is one of the largest online communities in the world. Another example of a scenario that closely resembles this situation is that of Napster, an online company that allowed individuals to download music for free. This online company was very popular during the periods of 1999-2001, and this is because it was easy to find music, and download them. However, its fortunes changed in 2000, when people were able to download unreleased music for various bands, leading to litigations and lawsuits against the company. These made the company to go bankrupt, and in September 2008, Napster was able to change its strategy, going into paid downloads for music, achieving great success in this initiative (Ambrosek, 2007). On this basis, chances are high that if the company manages to change its target market, it will be able to survive the financial problems and losses that this situation brought to it. However, chances are high that the brand name for these gaming games will be seriously damaged by this situation, and the producer might not be able to recover from this negative branding of his business association. On the hand, the producer will be faced by a series of lawsuits emanating from parents who want a refund of their money, as well as from the government. The government may sue the producer for a sexual offence, or even negligence, for allowing making available a product that depicts an offensive image. Proposal 3: Halting the production of the games, and designing another type of games that is not related to the Medieval Quest Game: Under this proposal, the producer of the games will have to stop the production and distribution of these games, and hence design and develop another set of games. These games must not be similar to the Medieval Quest Games; however, they should target children. This is because children are a luxurious market segment for the games, and chances are high that if a new game that carters for the needs of children is developed, then chances are high that it may manage to acquire the same response as the medieval quest games. A good example of a technological firm that managed to turn around its fortunes is Apples. In the 1990s, Apples was a company that was struggling to sale its products, due to poor marketing and production of products that did not satisfy the needs of its customers. However, with the entry of Steve Jobs, Apples was able to radically change the type of products it was producing, and this is because he changed the design of its electronics to a product which were beautiful, and very sleek (Seba, 2013). It is important to denote that Steve Jobs did not change did not change the line of business of the organization; he only improved on the quality of its products, by designing other similar products. On this basis, there will be a need of designing and creating other children games, which are free from viruses, and which will carter for the various needs of the children. There will also be a need of changing the names of the games, to another significant name, and this is because the term Medieval Quest Games is associated with pornography and sexual images. Through this new strategy, chances are high that the organization might recover from its losses, and hence achieve profitability through its new line of business. Recommendations: To conclude, the most effective method of solving the problems above is recalling the games under consideration, and paying a refund for to the owners of the games. This situation is viable, and this is because the producer will be accepting liability for the mistakes, and hence strive to correct the mistake under consideration. Chances are also high that the producer will be able to negotiate with the government censorship body on an out of court settlement that may protect the producer from prosecution (Cory, 2005). It is important to denote that the case in point may make the company to achieve bankruptcy, and this is because of the massive number of people who downloaded the games, standing at 100, million people. However, the company can find strategic partners, who can help it come out of bankruptcy. A good example of a company that faced such a situation, and went bankrupt is Napster. However, after finding a strategic partner, in German retail giant, Best Buy, the company was able to come out of bankruptcy in 2008. Currently, Napster is one of the most profitable online companies in the world. On this basis, we can emulate Napster, take responsibility for our actions, recall the games, pay the refunds, and seek a strategic partner who can help the come out in debts. Furthermore, in the long run, this option is beneficial to the company, because by taking responsibility for the mistakes, the company will be creating a very strong brand name. This will therefore make the company to gain trust from its customers. Furthermore, the option of changing audiences is not a good option. This is escapism in nature, and in the long run, this is not beneficial to the company. This is because the marketing campaigns of the company was focused on small children whose average age is 13 years, and abruptly changing the audience will not be a guarantee of success. Furthermore, the company risks being sued by parents as well as the government, and on this basis, the organization also runs a risk of going bankrupt. On this note, the company will not have any money, to market its products to its target market. This would result to the failure of the organizations products and business. Designing another set of games is another option of the company, however, I would strongly advocate against it. This is because the process of designing other set of games is very expensive, and based on the current situation of the company; it would not be possible without looking for other financiers. Furthermore, it will also be very difficult to convince other financiers to join our team, based on the negative publicity that the company currently garners. Changing the brand name will also be very expensive for the producer. This is because the producer will be faced with lawsuits emanating from his distribution of Medieval Quest Game. On this basis, the best option for the producer is to take responsibility of these actions, and recall the games, no matter how painful it is. References: Ambrosek, R. (2007). Shawn Fanning: the founder of Napster. New York: Rosen Pub.. Cole, M. (2008). The business. London: Headline. Cory, J. (2005). Activist business ethics. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers ;. Kirkpatrick, D. (2010). The Facebook effect: the inside story of the company that is connecting the world. New York: Simon & Schuster. Moon, C. (2001). Business ethics. London: Economist. Paliwal, M. (2006). Business ethics. New Delhi: New Age International. Rankin, J. (2014, April 10). Toyota recalls more than 6.5m cars over steering and seat problems. theguardian.com. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/apr/09/toyota-recalls-over-6m-cars- worldwide Seba, J. (2013). Steve Jobs: from Apples to apps. Broomall, Pa.: Mason Crest Publishers. Appendixes: Toy For Us: An online store for buying toys. Facebook: A social media site that connect the entire world. Apples: A computer hardware company, formed by Steve Jobs. Medieval Quest Games: Online games targeting children. Pornography: Adult sexual contents. Read More