The CanGo managers engaged in such a debate as they struggled with the decision

Question

The CanGo managers engaged in such a debate as they struggled with the decision to offer violent online games as part of their product mix. Whatever decision the managers reach will depend not only on their business judgment, but on their personal philosophies and outlooks as well. You saw a typical range of opinion among the CanGo management team. Like many corporate officers, Warren, for example, took a broad economic view of the decision. By contrast, Maria emphasized the social ramifications of CanGo's product choices. Clark voiced yet another common view. Thinking pragmatically, he insisted that CanGo team should confine itself to the possible impact of their choices on the firm's future success. What are the issues and the recommendations for the above business case?

Explanation / Answer

The main issue here are (i) whether ConGo offer violent online games (ii) on what basis the decision should be taken - should the decision be taken purely from an economic and business point of view (i.e introduce the online games if there is a good market for it and if ConGo can earn good topline and healthy bottomline from the new offering) or should we als consider the effects that such a game would have on individuals and on the society?

Recommendations: For the above business case, CanGo should consider both the business and commercial aspect as well as the social aspect of the introduction of the violent online games. As a company, CanGo has several stakeholders - its consumers, employees, developers and programmers, etc. A business has to look after the interest of all stakeholders in order to succeed in the long term. A business cannot succeed just by aiming to generate high profits, while ignoring its responsibility towards society. So, CanGo should carefully consider the social ramifications that its violent online games can have and what will be the fallout of such ramifications. The negative consequences can destroy the company's goodwill and brand equity and this may result in a situation where the entire portfolio of the company (all its games offerings) can suffer. Thus the company should consider both the social ramifications, its responsibility to the society as well as the business aspect when taking a decision.

For example, Volkswagen sought to maximise its sales by using a cheat device in its cars to falsify the emission level of its cars. It ignored its responsibility to the society. Once the presence of this cheat device was discovered, the sales of Volkswagen cars has been falling throughout the globe. Had the company considered both the business aspect as well as its responsibility to the society, its business would not have suffered in the long run.

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