EA Consulting Project Assignment 1 
Consulting Project Assignment
Electronic Arts (EA) is a multi-billion dollar company that develops, markets, and publishes video games. It has been recognized for its innovativeness and its aggressive acquisition strategy (buying smaller development studios and then re-shaping them to fit into the corporate frame). It is also well known for its outrageous employment policies -- employees tend to work extraordinarily long hours (100 hours per week). EA has experienced a number of challenges during the last years, and more challenges are likely ahead. The list of challenges includes (but is not limited to):
A class action lawsuit brought by game artists to compensate for "unpaid overtime".
Extensive turnover among the top management team, including many of the co-founders.
Difficulty finding enough new employees to hire that match EA's needs for creative content.
Several failed takeover bids.
Extensive layoffs (more than 11% of its workforce).
Poor sales and poor economic performance of the company, including failure to release blockbuster titles.
Accusations that EA 'crushes' smaller studios.
Products rushed to completion and then shipped with bugs.
An anti-trust law suit about EA's exclusive contracts with the NFL Players Association and the NCAA and Arena Football League.
A huge public outcry over its DRM technology.
Your group should research the background of these challenges (and other challenges that you may find) and select a subset of related challenges that your group finds interesting (note, finding and discussing the relationships between the challenges you select will be important because that will give your report a unified focus). You might want to discuss in your report why you chose to focus on the selected topics (e.g., importance to company success, the specialization of your consulting team, ease of implementation, expected benefits, etc). Normally, consulting groups focus on a handful of challenges. Your consulting group will need to
Electronic Arts (EA) is a multi-billion dollar company that develops, markets, and publishes video games. It has been recognized for its innovativeness and its aggressive acquisition strategy (buying smaller development studios and then re-shaping them to fit into the corporate frame). It is also well known for its outrageous employment policies -- employees tend to work extraordinarily long hours (100 hours per week). EA has experienced a number of challenges during the last years, and more challenges are likely ahead. The list of challenges includes (but is not limited to):
A class action lawsuit brought by game artists to compensate for "unpaid overtime".
Extensive turnover among the top management team, including many of the co-founders.
Difficulty finding enough new employees to hire that match EA's needs for creative content.
Several failed takeover bids.
Extensive layoffs (more than 11% of its workforce).
Poor sales and poor economic performance of the company, including failure to release blockbuster titles.
Accusations that EA 'crushes' smaller studios.
Products rushed to completion and then shipped with bugs.
An anti-trust law suit about EA's exclusive contracts with the NFL Players Association and the NCAA and Arena Football League.
A huge public outcry over its DRM technology.
Your group should research the background of these challenges (and other challenges that you may find) and select a subset of related challenges that your group finds interesting (note, finding and discussing the relationships between the challenges you select will be important because that will give your report a unified focus). You might want to discuss in your report why you chose to focus on the selected topics (e.g., importance to company success, the specialization of your consulting team, ease of implementation, expected benefits, etc). Normally, consulting groups focus on a handful of challenges. Your consulting group will need to