Harvard Case - Activision: The 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' Project
"Activision: The 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' Project" Harvard business case study is written by Alan MacCormack, Kerry Herman, Enrico D'Angelo. It deals with the challenges in the field of Operations Management. The case study is 24 page(s) long and it was first published on : Jul 19, 2004
At Fern Fort University, we recommend that Activision proceed with the development and launch of 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' while implementing a robust operations strategy to ensure successful product development, production, and market launch. This strategy will incorporate lean manufacturing principles, Six Sigma quality control, and agile manufacturing to optimize production processes, minimize waste, and deliver a high-quality product within budget and timeline.
2. Background
The case study focuses on Activision's decision to develop and launch 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer,' a surfing video game featuring the legendary surfer Kelly Slater. The company faces the challenge of balancing the ambitious vision for the game with the need to manage development costs and timeframes.
The main protagonists are:
- Activision: The video game developer and publisher, responsible for the game's development, production, and marketing.
- Kelly Slater: The world-renowned surfer, lending his name and expertise to the game.
- Development Team: The team responsible for designing, coding, and testing the game.
3. Analysis of the Case Study
The case study presents several key challenges for Activision:
1. Operations Strategy:
- Product Development: The game's ambitious scope, including realistic surfing physics and a diverse game world, presents significant development challenges.
- Production Processes: Activision needs to optimize production processes to ensure timely and cost-effective game production.
- Supply Chain Management: Managing the global supply chain for game manufacturing and distribution requires careful planning and coordination.
2. Financial Management:
- Budget Control: Staying within budget is crucial for the project's success, requiring careful cost management and resource allocation.
- Return on Investment: Activision needs to ensure that the game generates sufficient revenue to justify the investment in development and marketing.
3. Marketing and Sales:
- Target Audience: Identifying and reaching the target audience of surfing enthusiasts and video game players is essential for successful marketing.
- Competitive Landscape: The competitive landscape of surfing video games is crowded, requiring Activision to differentiate its product and attract players.
4. Risk Management:
- Development Delays: Delays in development could impact the game's launch date and profitability.
- Quality Issues: Poor game quality could damage Activision's reputation and lead to customer dissatisfaction.
4. Recommendations
1. Operations Strategy:
- Lean Manufacturing: Implement lean manufacturing principles to eliminate waste in production processes, optimize resource utilization, and reduce costs. This includes value stream mapping, bottleneck analysis, and Kaizen continuous improvement initiatives.
- Six Sigma: Employ Six Sigma methodology to ensure high product quality and minimize defects. This involves statistical process control, process design, and quality control measures throughout the development cycle.
- Agile Manufacturing: Utilize agile manufacturing principles to adapt to changing market demands and customer feedback. This involves flexible manufacturing systems, short production runs, and quick response times.
- Capacity Planning: Conduct thorough capacity planning to ensure sufficient resources are available for production and distribution. This includes production planning, inventory control, and materials requirements planning (MRP).
- Project Management: Implement robust project management processes to track progress, manage risks, and ensure timely completion of the game development. This involves clear project goals, milestones, and communication channels.
2. Supply Chain Management:
- Global Sourcing: Leverage global sourcing to optimize cost and availability of game components. This requires careful supplier selection, contract negotiation, and risk management strategies.
- Logistics Management: Optimize logistics management to ensure efficient and timely distribution of the game to retailers and consumers. This includes inventory management, warehousing, and transportation planning.
- Information Systems: Implement robust information systems to track inventory levels, manage orders, and monitor supply chain performance. This includes enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and demand forecasting tools.
3. Marketing and Sales:
- Target Audience Segmentation: Develop a clear understanding of the target audience and segment them based on demographics, gaming preferences, and surfing interests.
- Marketing Strategy: Implement a multi-channel marketing strategy to reach the target audience. This includes digital marketing, social media campaigns, public relations, and strategic partnerships with surfing organizations and athletes.
- Competitive Analysis: Conduct thorough competitive analysis to understand the strengths and weaknesses of competing games and develop a unique selling proposition for 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer.'
4. Risk Management:
- Development Delays: Implement risk mitigation strategies to minimize the impact of potential development delays. This includes contingency planning, resource allocation adjustments, and communication protocols.
- Quality Issues: Establish rigorous quality assurance (QA) testing processes to ensure the game meets high quality standards before release. This involves beta testing, user feedback collection, and bug fixing.
5. Basis of Recommendations
These recommendations are based on the following considerations:
- Core Competencies and Consistency with Mission: The recommendations align with Activision's core competencies in game development and publishing, and its mission to deliver high-quality entertainment experiences.
- External Customers and Internal Clients: The recommendations consider the needs of both external customers (gamers) and internal clients (development team).
- Competitors: The recommendations address the competitive landscape of surfing video games and aim to differentiate 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' from competitors.
- Attractiveness ' Quantitative Measures: The recommendations aim to maximize the game's profitability through cost optimization, efficient production, and effective marketing.
6. Conclusion
Activision has a significant opportunity to launch a successful surfing video game with 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer.' By implementing a robust operations strategy that incorporates lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and agile manufacturing principles, the company can optimize production processes, minimize waste, and deliver a high-quality product within budget and timeline.
7. Discussion
Other alternatives not selected include:
- Outsourcing game development: This could reduce development costs but could also lead to quality control issues and communication challenges.
- Delaying the game's launch: This could allow for more time for development and testing but could also result in lost market opportunity.
Key assumptions of the recommendations include:
- Technological advancements: The recommendations assume that technology will continue to evolve and support the development and production of high-quality video games.
- Market demand: The recommendations assume that there is sufficient market demand for a surfing video game featuring Kelly Slater.
- Financial resources: The recommendations assume that Activision has sufficient financial resources to invest in the development and marketing of the game.
8. Next Steps
- Develop a detailed operations plan: This plan should outline the specific steps involved in implementing the recommended strategies.
- Establish a project management team: This team will be responsible for overseeing the development and production of the game.
- Conduct a feasibility study: This study will assess the financial viability of the project and identify potential risks.
- Secure funding: Activision will need to secure funding to support the development and marketing of the game.
- Launch the game: Once the game is complete, Activision will launch it to the market through a comprehensive marketing campaign.
By following these steps, Activision can maximize the chances of success for 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' and establish itself as a leader in the surfing video game market.
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Case Description
Mike Ward, the producer in charge of developing the Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer game for Activision, must decide whether to launch the game in time for the 2002 Christmas season. Complicating his decision are the lukewarm response from consumers to TV test spots of the game and the need to fund a multimillion dollar marketing campaign. Also describes Activision's approach to game development, which was based on a green-light process adopted by the firm in 2000 to better control new game development better.
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