Ethical Issues and Stakeholder Analysis for EA Games: A Report

This report delves into the realm of business ethics and responsible management, focusing on the case of EA Games. It initiates with an introduction to business ethics and responsible management, setting the stage for an analysis of ethical issues within the gaming industry, particularly concerning EA's practices. The report identifies key stakeholders, including gamers, developers, parents, government, and distributors, and examines the ethical implications of EA's operations, including loot boxes and game violence. It then explores examples of good and bad ethical practices, offering recommendations for improvement. Furthermore, the report applies utilitarian and Kantian ethical theories to evaluate EA's decisions and proposes how these theories can guide the company's ethical framework. Finally, the report concludes with a reflection on ethical leadership and the maintenance of integrity and compliance within an ethical organizational culture, providing a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities in balancing business objectives with ethical responsibilities within the gaming industry.

Business Ethics
and
Responsible
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
PART 1.........................................................................................................................................................3
Ethical issues...........................................................................................................................................3
Role of business in society.......................................................................................................................4
Five stakeholders.....................................................................................................................................4
Example of good and bad ethics..............................................................................................................5
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................5
PART 1-B......................................................................................................................................................6
Two Theories...........................................................................................................................................6
Application of the theories......................................................................................................................7
Critique of theories..................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................8
PART 2.........................................................................................................................................................8
Ethical leadership in an organizational culture........................................................................................8
Maintaining integrity and compliance in an ethical environment...........................................................9
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics is the examination of correct company rules and procedures, like
financial regulation, market manipulation, corruption, sexism, corporate responsibility, and
contractual obligations (Adelstein and Clegg, 2016). Business ethics is always regulated by the
legislation, at other occasions business practices offers a simple framework that companies may
select to adopt to obtain public acceptance. Responsible management can be defined as having to
balance the needs of the whole world (individuals, enterprises, the atmosphere) to thrive for the
advantage of both present and future decades. This report is mainly based on the EA games: Fifa,
Loot boxes and whales. In present time most of the people like to purchase online games and
play online. This report has been categorized into two parts. In first part consist of ethical issues,
role of business in industry, five stakeholders, good & bad ethics, and recommendations. Along
with apply two related theories and provide related recommendations. In second part conduct
reflective essay on ethical leadership management to manage business as per the ethical standard.
PART 1
Ethical issues
An issue or circumstance requiring an individual or group to choose among equivalents
that has to be assessed as correct (Borges and et.al., 2017). This should also be remembered,
though, that there are often two faces to a coin, in this situation that should focus at the pros and
cons associated throughout the sector. Issues related to this specific sector can be described as
health conditions, legal matters, social concerns, technical issues, and most significantly,
everyday-ethical issues.
The biggest Ethical issue related to digital entertainment is brutality and serious abuse
towards society. As per the research of the Indiana University School of Medicine, on violent
games, it has been shown that performing a videogame negatively affects personality-control and
concentration, which not only causes the participant but also implicitly impacts the community.
Such kinds of critical problems are gaining tremendous public interest. Because of the
communication between both the game and players, violent video games represent a more
negative approach than aggressive films and television dramas. This social problem also opens
up various views where one illustration can be given as such games propagate appalling events
between teenagers and young adults, causing them to become accustomed to such instances and
perceive them as common behavior. But another big problem that I would like to discuss is
internet game purchases. Currently the most famous MMORPGS on the marketplace and it has
been World of Warcraft (WoW) for a long period of time. There have been a lot more people
who are generally susceptible to gaming of this category use this as an illustration.

Role of business in society
In present time most of the people addict for the online games and it is beneficial for society.
Gaming is an incredibly big industry (Haski-Leventhal, Pournader and McKinnon, 2017).
Millions of people play video games each day – and families are interested, whether they want to
or not, or even whether they recognize it or not: they probably pay, even without correctly
knowing what they're paying. As this study reveals, several game developers seem to have
purposely crafted their players to gain the amount of profit from customers and their parents and
the broader family by necessity. Loot boxes are especially profitable for gaming businesses, but
they command a high price, especially for gambling addicts, while exposing people to potential
damage. Purchasing a loot box is a form of gambling and it is about time that the copyright laws
were involved. They ask the state to clarify why loot boxes are excluded from the Gambling Act.
Electronic-gaming industry has grown into one of the most competitive industries in the
technological world today. This is from an article released by the Entertainment Software
Association (ESA, 2011), this particular sector has an enormous target audience of about 25
billion USD. The computerized-gaming sector has proved to be one of the world's best
companies. The new age is where people rely on technology to communicate. In contrast, the
video game sector has introduced immense employment prospects to the international business
community by creating approximately 120,000 jobs. A study conducted by the Gaming
commission in 2018 showed that 31 percent of children between the ages of 11 and 16 had
charged for loot boxes, while one gamer told to spent up to £1,000 per year on the Fifa football
match trying to gain better teams for their side. When people buy this so they are developing new
game to entrainment of people and they are taking nap from routine life.
Five stakeholders
The stakeholders for the EA Company are as follows-
 Gamers- Gamers are the biggest stakeholders for the EA Company. EA has to fulfill its
responsibility towards them. Violence and aggression in games affects the overall
mindset of gamers and this spreads negativity in the society also.
 Developers- Developers are also stakeholders for the EA Company (Järlström, Saru and
Vanhala, 2018). The company needs to ask the developers to not to develop such games
which show violence and aggression. Therefore this is the responsibility which EA has
towards the game developers.
 Parents- Many customers of EA games are minor children. Thus the company has to
assure them that it will develop games ethically which do not make their children gaming
ethics. Thus, this is the responsibility which the company has towards the parents of
children.
 Government- EA Company has responsibility to display towards the government. The
company needs to act ethically while selling its games. The government of any country is
particularly concerned about the impact games will make on children belonging to

different age groups. Thus this is the responsibility which the management of company
needs to play.
 Distributors- EA Company needs to be responsible towards its distributors and should
act ethically with them (Kolb, Fröhlich and Schmidpeter, 2017). It should produce good
games which do not display violence and aggression which will be beneficial not just for
it but also for the distributors because they can earn a higher rate of commission on the
games.
Example of good and bad ethics
Good ethics displayed by the companies-
 Value to the customers- Companies with good ethics gives value to the choices of the
customers while making their products. Thus EA needs to give value to the choices of the
customers regarding the games they wish to play.
 Accounting and practices- Companies which have good ethics need to be honest in their
practices towards their stakeholders. Therefore EA has to display an ethical behavior
towards its various stakeholders.
 Truth-in-selling- Companies which display good ethics are very truthful regarding the
products which they are selling to the customers. EA needs to be honest in its approach
about the games which it wants to provide to the customers.
 Integrity in management practices- Companies with good ethics display an integrity in
the practices related to the management (Miska and Mendenhall, 2018). Thus, EA needs
to integrate its management practices.
Bad ethics displayed by companies-
 Over-charging of customers- The companies having bad ethics tend to over-charge their
customers. Therefore, EA needs to avoid this attitude if it has to successfully become a
leading game company in the market.
 Not providing the promised products- Another unethical display by companies is by
not providing the promised products to their customers (Nie, Lämsä and Pučėtaitė, 2018).
EA has to avoid it and should provide products as promised to its customers so that its
reputation and goodwill is maintained within the market and it gets ahead of its
competitors easily. This will help it in becoming a market leader.
Recommendations
The recommendations which can be suggested for the EA Company are as follows-
 The games developed by the company should be according to different age groups. The
company must try not to make very aggressive and violent games and even if it does
there should be a strict minimum age rule to purchase these games. This will ensure that
the violence in the society is controlled.
 The games developed by the company should meet the criteria set by the parents of minor
children. The games must be interactive and should be able to give a lesson to the

children rather than making them addicted to it. This will ensure that addiction towards
games is reduced in children.
 EA should price its games strategically and according to the features provided within it.
They must neither be too cheap nor too expensive to purchase. Thus in this way the
company would be able to maintain its image and goodwill among its customers.
 EA must hold awareness sessions for both gamers as well as their parents. The main
motive of this session should be to raise the overall awareness of the games among the
children and their parents. The suggestions given by gamers and their parents should be
taken into account and the considerations of the society should also be kept within the
mind while developing a particular game. Thus it needs to be seen that the game does not
promotes violence and aggression in the society.
PART 1-B
Two Theories
The theories which can be used by EA are- Utilitarian approach and Kantian ethics. The
detailed discussion regarding these theories is as follows-
Utilitarian approach-
In utilitarian approach, assessment of an action is done on the basis of its consequences.
It analyzes the benefits or harms caused to the stakeholders (Nonet, Kassel and Meijs, 2016). It
determines that by taking a particular action by the company the stakeholders will be benefitted
or will they be harmed. This is done on the basis of statistical analysis of all the probable
outcomes of taking a particular decision. It is a very useful approach to be followed by EA to
develop ethical practices to be followed within the company. It helps in promoting the use of
ethics in the company so that the right practices can reflect on the results obtained after taking a
particular decision.
Kantian ethics-
In Kantian Ethics, there are universal moral principles which can be applied to all human
beings, regardless of context or situation. In Kantian ethics, the morality of an action is
determined based on the reasons for our actions (Ethics According to Immanuel Kant, 2017).
Thus these ethics are quite useful to determine the behavior that should be adopted for displaying
the ethics. The ethics which have been given by Kant are quite useful for the managers of a
company to take suitable decisions. The managers of EA can use this approach to understand the
ethical behavior they can adopt in dealing with different types of situations in the company. This
will develop their efficiency and effectiveness.
Application of the theories
Utilitarian approach-

This approach can be applied in the following manner-
Stakeholders of EA-
 Gamers- If the decision to reduce the violence and aggression in games is taken by EA
then it will positively affect the gamers. This is so because there will be no negativity in
their mind by playing such games.
 Developers- If the decision to reduce the violence and aggression in games is taken by
EA then developers will have positive impact because it will encourage them to bring out
more creative games.
 Parents- If this decision is taken by EA, the parents will be happy. This is so because this
will reduce addiction of games in their children and violence and aggression will be
reduced.
 Government- If this decision is taken by EA then the government will be positively
affected. This is so because the increase in violence in society will reduce.
 Distributors- If this decision is taken by EA then the distributors will be positively
affected. This is so because there will be demand of more creative and interactive games.
Kantian ethics-
The application of Kantian ethics in EA will be as follows-
 Categorical imperatives- According to Kent, the moral duties are driven by categorical
imperatives (Paulraj, Chen and Blome, 2017). These rules can be termed as categorical as
they are universal and can be applied in different types of situations. They are imperative
as human beings are inclined not to follow rules but to seek pleasure and reduce pain.
Thus EA needs to follow the ethics even if it means discontinuing some of its games for
contributing towards reduction in violence in the society.
 Morality- According to Kant, it is the motives and not consequences which determine
the moral value of taking an action (Rhodes, 2016). Thus, the managers of EA have to
display morality so that they contribute in their part towards the society by not making
games with violence and aggression.
 Autonomy and freedom- According to Kant, freedom is a universal law. Kant’s notion
of freedom is different from libertarianism which states that freedom must be possessed
to do something according to one’s own will.
Critique of theories
Advantages and disadvantages of utilitarian approach-
Advantages-
 It is a universal concept which is very easy to understand and apply in all practical
situations facing a business (Schaltegger and Burritt, 2018). Thus it has good utility

among the businesses in determining which decision is ethically right and which decision
is ethically wrong.
 It makes use of an objective process to determine what is right and what is wrong and
thus facilitates ethical decision-making. In this way the firms can take the right decision
in the context of a particular situation.
Disadvantages-
 The outcomes of taking a particular action are always unpredictable and therefore it is
very tough to determine them before taking a particular decision.
 The theory does not itself focus on the act to form its various judgments and therefore it a
disadvantage for the businesses.
Advantages and disadvantages of Kantian ethics-
Advantages-
 Due to the universal applicability of Kantian ethics they are quite impartial (Shen and
Zhang, 2019). They do not discriminate between human beings about the ethical behavior
that should be adopted by them.
 Kant has provided clear rules which can be followed by human beings for taking ethical
decisions.
Disadvantages-
 It is very difficult to resolve moral dilemmas that provide conflicting duties.
 Only having a good will is not enough. Taking of actions leads to certain consequences
and therefore these consequences have to be kept in mind while taking a particular
decision.
Recommendations
The recommendations for EA on the basis of above two theories are that it should focus
on making such games which display less violence and aggression. In this way it will take an
ethical decision and will help in contributing towards making a better society which will have a
low crime rate.
PART 2
Ethical leadership in an organizational culture
Ethical leadership is quite important from an organizational point of view. In my opinion,
it is important because of the following reasons-
 If the leadership of an organization is ethical and takes the right decisions in the context
of the organization then it invokes confidence from the investors to invest in the

company. Therefore it turns out to be quite beneficial from the point of view of the
company.
 When ethical leadership is observed within an organization I have specifically observed
that it leads to increase in loyalty of the customers (Voegtlin and Scherer, 2017).
 When ethical leadership is followed within an organization I have seen that it leads
towards increase in morale and higher performance.
 Following of ethical leadership in an organization leads to a healthier workplace
environment. I think that it is so because positive environment boosts up the creativity
among the employees of the organization.
 Ethical leadership within an organization leads to attraction of better employees in the
organization. These employees can take the organization to new peaks of success. Thus,
in my opinion companies should focus on ethical leadership as many employees wish to
join an organization which follows ethical rules and principles in its working.
Maintaining integrity and compliance in an ethical environment
I think that integrity and compliance has to be maintained in an ethical environment. This
is necessary to ensure that a company takes the right decisions going forward. The steps which
can be taken for this purpose are as follows-
 According to me, by honest assessment of needs and resources it can be easily found out
what the employees in a company actually want (Wymer and Rundle-Thiele, 2017). As a
group there are various ethical challenges which are faced. Therefore according to me
these challenges can be dealt effectively by the management if they display proper ethics.
 I think that establishment of a strong foundation is necessary for an organization if it has
to display ethical behavior. By establishing a stronger foundation and setting a code of
ethics to be followed a company can establish ethical leadership.
Reflection on experience and knowledge
Ethical behavior is quite necessary not just from an organizational point of view but also
from an individual’s point of view. It is required that proper ethics and code of conduct is
followed so as to achieve the necessary outcomes. According to me, ethical code of conduct
is necessary if an individual has to take a right decision and action.
Ethical code of conduct has personally helped me in taking a right decision in a number
of situations and circumstances. Sometimes there are choices between something which is
right and something which is wrong and a decision between the two has to be taken very
carefully. I think that one has to use his/her experience as well as knowledge in these types of
situations to take a right decision.
Thus on the basis of my experience and knowledge I can arrive at a conclusion that an
ethical code of conduct helps an individual a lot in arriving at a right decision. Also, in my
opinion, consequences of taking a particular action matter a lot. Thus it has to be considered

as well. If one takes a right decision based on the ethical code of conduct then the chances of
that decision turning correct naturally increases (Yawar and Seuring, 2017). Thus I think that
according to the prevailing circumstances and situations one needs to take a right decision so
that the necessary objective which one has to achieve by taking that decision or action can be
achieved.
Conclusion
Thus it can be said that ethical code of conduct matters a lot while taking certain
decisions or actions. In an organization, ethical leadership can take it to new heights of success.
Also, it is necessary that integrity and compliance is maintained within an ethical environment to
prevent it from turning unethical. Personal experience and knowledge of managers in tackling
different type of situations and circumstances which occur in an organization matters a lot here
and thus needs to be considered while taking a decision which is deemed to be necessary. Thus
ethics should be followed while taking decisions wherever possible to take a right decision.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that an ethics are required in a business
organization to take right decisions and actions. Sometimes ethical decisions and actions need to
be taken for ensuring that a right decision is taken for the benefit of the society. The managers
need to use their knowledge and experience here so that a right decision can be taken. There are
various ethical issues which can be considered by a business. The role of a business in the
society is quite important. There are various stakeholders which are impacted by the decisions
taken by the management. There is a difference between good and bad ethics. Utilitarian
approach and Kantian ethics are theories which the management can use to arrive at the right
decision. Also a reflective essay which includes views on ethics has been provided.

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Online
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<https://www.ethicssage.com/2017/05/ethics-according-to-immanuel-kant.html>