Activision Blizzard well-known game developer and publisher was accused of covering up sexual harassment and defending the accusers rather than the victims. Discuss Activision Blizzards communication plan and response to the sexual harassment and suggestions to improve their communications plan.

Professional Development (MBA 525)

Group Project

Develop a project with your assigned group. Groups will work together to develop a 15-page paper (minimum) that analyzes a crisis that a company recently endured. The paper should examine the leadership of the company (how the leadership addressed the crisis), the communication plan surrounding the crisis, and the organization’s overall response to the crisis.

In analyzing the organization’s communication plan, the paper should explain and discuss the company’s use (or lack) of social media, websites, blogs, press releases, media releases, press conferences, etc. Based on the analysis of the research and data collected, the paper should discuss conclusions about the organization’s response to the crisis. Did the leadership respond effectively? Or was the response ineffective? How do you know? On what did you base your analysis and conclusions? The paper should reflect your research of course concepts such as crisis management, critical thinking, effective communication, emotional intelligence, leadership or diversity in the workplace.

Discuss the project among the group members. Email your chosen topic (the company and the crisis) to your professor for approval before you begin working on the project.  Then work with your group to determine how you will divide the work. For example, you might divide the topic into different sections and have each team member work on a section; you might also split the up-front writing and research with the integration and revision of the document or any other way that you choose to divide the work.

evelop and present the project in Three Phases:

Phase I:  During Module 1, meet with your group and begin discussing and establishing the topic and plan for your project. Submit the topic (the company and the crisis) to the professor for approval. (11:59 pm EST, Thursday October 7)

Phase II:  Work with your group to develop and submit an outline for your project to your professor. Use the “Group Project Plan” link in Module 3 to submit your outline. One document should be submitted by only one person in the group. (11:59 pm EST, Thursday October 7)

The following information should be included in the Group Project Plan:

• Discuss the organization and the crisis the group will analyze:  What happened? When did it happen? Who was involved? What was the impact?
• Address how you will include the required components of the paper: crisis, leadership, communication plan, leadership’s response, and suggestions to improve
• Explain the group’s approach for developing the project
• List the course concepts that will be integrated in the paper: crisis management, critical thinking, effective communication, emotional intelligence, leadership or diversity in the workplace.
• Explain individual assignments (include specific research and writing tasks for each member)
• Explain the research method used: Where will research be conducted? How will you integrate the research findings?
• Only one person per group needs to submit the Project Plan
• Be sure to include everyone’s name with your submission.

 

Phase III:  During Module 8, submit the Final Project to Chalk and Wire using the “Group Project” link. Because this is a program assessment, each student must submit the document to the Chalk and Wire link. (11:59 pm EST, Thursday December 9)

The final project should result in a 15-page APA formatted paper (double-spaced with 1” margins on all sides, Times New Roman 12 font) consisting of in text citations and a reference list. The paper should reflect critical analysis of the relationship among the different sources. Use at least 10 different sources for the project; 5 of these sources must be scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles.

Activision Blizzard – Messaging

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Activision Blizzard – Messaging

Activision Blizzard, a leading and well-known game developer and publisher in the United States, has recently been facing many issues owing to the exposure and allegations directed to it by the Blizzard department of fair housing and employment and housing in California (DFEH). DFEH carried and completed a two-year investigation of Activision Blizzard in 2021. Out of the investigation, several issues stood out, and Activision Blizzard was accused of not employing adequate female employees and mistreating and harassing their current female employees. The company was also accused of sexual harassment and binge drinking of the employees. This paper discusses Activision Blizzard’s communication plan, their response to sexual harassment, and suggestions on improving their communication plans.

Communication Plan

Communication plans are vital for every organization. They outline how a company will communicate crucial information regarding project completion to its key stakeholders. Communication plans also help make team members understand how and when they are required to complete different parts of a project (Julia, 2021). At Activision Blizzard, Chief Communications Officer Helaine Klasky handles and oversees all external and internal global communications on behalf of the company. Activision Blizzard recently created a new head of marketing position in their marketing department. The head of marketing communications reports to the Global head of marketing. He oversees external communications, internal communications, and PR for the company’s rapidly rising advertising business.

The head of marketing communications also develops and implements an innovative and strategic external and internal communication plan as per the company’s vision and strategic initiatives. At Activision Blizzard, all central communications relating to the company are prepared by the Chief Communications Officer and are announced by the Chief Executive Officer (Ray, 2021). Having well-developed communication helps a lot, especially during a crisis. When there is any problem within the company, communication plans can be used as an effective tool to handle the situation. When Activision Blizzard was recently accused of sexual harassment of workers within the company, its Chief Executive Officer did not respond quickly to these allegations. This almost made the situation worse as their employees resorted to demonstrations to demand the ouster of the CEO. The CEO had to come out and respond to these allegations. This played a crucial role in quelling the situation before it got worse.

Response to the Sexual Harassment

Immediately the department of fair housing and employment and housing in California (DFEH) made allegations of sexual harassment against Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick; the Chief Executive Officer did not act quickly to communicate about these allegations (Edward, 2022). As was reported by the Wall Street Journal, the company did not address this issue but instead decided to ignore it to not further damage the reputation of the company. The Wall Street journal made another report that Bobby Kotick, the Chief Executive Officer, had for a long time been aware of these sexual harassment conducts within the company and had even tried to minimize the extent of these issues to the board of directors within the company (Kristen et al., 2021). This report by the Wallstreet journal became a hot topic that Blizzard company employees resorted to a mass walkout. This brought severe effects to the company, lowering its stock to where the company almost became bankrupt.

After constant pressure from their shareholders and partners, the CEO was forced to respond publicly to the allegation. The CEO responded by making an internal video to his employees, telling them that the ongoing reports about him and members of his leadership were false and inaccurate (Jason, 2021). To prevent the mass walkout of his employees, Mr. Kotick further made a transcript. He posted to the newsroom page of the company’s website, stating that the company had resorted to coming up with a no-tolerance policy for any inappropriate behavior within the company (Matt, 2021). The company also stated that it would increase the number of female employees by 50%. The company also responded by silently firing and pushing out more than three dozen employees and placing disciplinary action on some other 40 employees to address the sexual harassment allegations. In fear of further damaging the already broken image of the company, the CEO resorted to making these actions silent and not releasing them as had earlier been scheduled. The CEO also stated that their company had acquired the services of a law firm to help them conduct a review of its policies and promised the employees swift action that would ensure there was a safe environment within the company, free of harassment.

Suggestions for Improvement of the Communication Plan

Despite having a well-set-out strategy and communication plan, Activision Blizzard’s plan is still not so influential. This was recently seen in how they handled the sexual harassment allegations. The company responded to the allegations but not at the right time. If they had decided to act a little quicker, then maybe things would have been different, and they would have prevented the mass employee walkout. I would suggest that the company’s communication plan always be ready and not wait long before responding to a crisis. The more you wait to make a response about a matter, the worse it gets (Ciaran, 2021). The company should develop a special PR team tasked with responding to any allegation or matter of grave concern in the company within one hour of the occurrence.

Activision Blizzard should also develop a crisis communication plan that will handle all forms of crisis within the company. Failures, crises, and negative stories are a standard part of every company. Having a crisis communication plan will help the company get ahead of all negative stories about them before they threaten to damage their reputation and will also aid all members within the organization know how to handle the situation and what kind of issues statements to be presented to the media. The company should also strengthen the connections between the employees and the managers. This can be achieved by conducting management training programs where managers meet with their employees, listen keenly to them, and better understand them (Jostle, 2022). I would suggest that the Activision Blizzard company hold regular management training programs to boost and strengthen communication between the employees and their managers. Lastly, the company can improve its communication plan by incorporating more channels to communicate with its employees. They should critically look at all the pros and cons of the primary methods like email, telephone, video conferencing, and team chats that they are currently using.

In summary, this paper has presented a discussion of Activision Blizzard’s communication plan, their response to the sexual harassment, and provided suggestions on how to improve their communication plan. At Activision Blizzard, the head of marketing communications develops and implements an innovative and strategic external and internal communication plan as per the company’s vision and strategic initiatives. The company should review its current communication plan and incorporate some of the suggestions presented in this paper to improve it.

 

 

Reference

Ciaran, Holland. (2021). Twenty-three ways to improve internal Communications. Work Vivo. https://www.workvivo.com/blog/improve-internal-communications/

Edward, Segal. (2022). Activision Blizzard Shows Why Companies Should Quickly Report and Respond to Allegations. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/01/17/activision-blizzard-shows-why-companies-should-quickly-report-and-respond-to-allegations/?sh=3c246ff8107e

Jason, Schreier. (2021). After Strike threats. Activision apologizes for a ‘tone deaf’ response to sexual harassment allegations. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2021/07/28/activision-blizzard-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-apology-response/#:~:text=After%20strike%20threats%2C%20Activision%20apologizes,response%20to%20sexual%20harassment%20allegations&text=In%20Kotick’s%20message%2C%20the%20CEO,and%20to%20stamp%20out%20harassment.

Jostle. (2022). 7 Ways to Improve Internal Communication at Your Business. https://blog.jostle.me/blog/7-ways-to-improve-internal-communication-at-your-business-2-2/

Julia, Martins. (2021). Why a clear communication plan is more important than you think. Asana. https://asana.com/resources/communication-plan

Kristen, Grind., Ben, Fritz., & Sarah, Needleman. (2021). Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Knew for years about Sexual-Misconduct Allegations at Videogame Giant. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/activision-videogames-bobby-kotick-sexual-misconduct-allegations-11637075680

Matt, Purslow. (2021). Activision Blizzard to Introduce ‘Zero-Tolerance’ Harassment Policy. IGN Africa. https://za.ign.com/diablo-4/158610/news/activision-blizzard-to-introduce-zero-tolerance-harassment-policy

Ray, M. (2021, October 29). online gaming. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/online-gaming