Although their expertise lies in creating games, it’s definitely serious business for the video game industry. The computer and video game industry has struggled over the last couple of years as game makers looked for new sources of revenues and worked to hold down costs. And nipping at the industry’s heels were companies like Zynga that saw the opportunities and jumped in on the burgeoning social gaming revolution. One company, Electronics Arts (EA), exemplifies the challenges of this industry, where customers are fickle and demanding and competition is intense. As one of the world’s top three interactive entertainment software companies, EA lives and dies by its innovations. Its product lineup includes more than 100 titles such as Battlefield, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Rock Band, Need for Speed, and The Simpsons. The company has created more than 50 best-sellers (each with more than 1 million copies sold) since 1998. In 2011, revenues were almost $3.6 billion—a decrease of almost 2 percent from the previous year—and the company had a net loss of $276 million. The last three years have been quite challenging as the company lowered its sales and profit projections because of changes in the behavior of consumers and retailers. In addition, EA missed the initial social gaming trend, but is now pushing hard to develop digital platforms for many of its popular games. As a result, its Sims Social is the number 2 game on Facebook, behind Zynga’s CityVille.

EA continues to look for ways to prosper. Paranoia has been a critical part of EA’s strategy for success. A top game title takes anywhere from 12 to 36 months to produce and costs between $5 million and $10 million. That’s a significant investment risk riding on the company’s ability to be innovative. John Riccitello (former president and chief operating officer who left the company in 2004 to start a private equity firm but then returned in 2007 as CEO) has guided much of the company’s game design accomplishments. He said, “The forgotten aspect of creativity is discipline.” The hard part, and the part that EA pursues relentlessly, “is identifying the right idea, assembling the best development team, solving the inevitable technical problems, creating a game that people want to play, getting all of the work done on schedule, getting it to market at the right time, and knowing how to generate buzz about it in an increasingly crowded market.” How does EA do it?

It starts with the discipline of understanding ideas. Game designers try to identify the creative center of a game—what they call the “creative x”—so they understand what the game is about. Then, it’s the discipline of understanding the customers by using focus groups to pinpoint desires and likes and dislikes. And it’s the discipline of sharing best practices and technologies through the company’s intranet library. As one employee said, “If somebody develops a better blade of grass in one game, that grass will be in somebody else’s game the next day.” Then, there’s the discipline of developing the next generation of creative leaders. The company’s “emerging leaders” program gives participants firsthand experience in departments outside their own. And there’s the discipline of studying the competition. Employees are encouraged to know the features of competitors’ products. Then, it’s disciplined project management. Riccitello, known for his strict discipline, said, “If you’re working on a game and you miss your deadlines, you won’t be working here very long.” Although the discipline of creativity is important at EA, you can’t overlook the passion of the company’s game designers. Nearly everyone at EA grew up playing games. They love what they do and are inspired to look for new and creative challenges not only for the hard-core gamers, but for the casual gamers as well.

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Locate peer reviewed  research articles published within the last five (5) years. Article should relate to incremental analysis.Complete the Research Evaluation Table (attached below) and write a 1 page paper. 

One-to-two-page introduction to the article. Include the following sections and include no opinions, judgments, or beliefs about the study. Only present the facts.

• Topic – State the broad organizational or field of study topic and establish the overall context for the study.
• Problem or Opportunity – Describe the problem or opportunity that the researcher was trying to address.
• Purpose of the Study – Discuss the intent of the study and list any research questions or hypotheses that were used.
• Research Approach and Design – Describe the overall research approach and information that you find related to the research design. Research design might include such things as the setting (field, laboratory, etc), the type of data that was collected, the sample and sample selection, the way data was prepared, analyzed, or presented, for example.
• Audience – Identify the individual or groups that might be interested in the findings of the study.
• Summary – Present the main points that you have covered in your paper; introduce no new information or concepts.

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

• Use academic writing style, clear and concise language, and well-developed paragraphs (minimum of three sentences required to develop a paragraph)
•  APA standards
• Be 1-2 pages in length

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Q1:

• Operational requirements, software specifications, process constraints, and product constraints are all necessary inputs for project planning. Describe how each is used for defining the project planning processes. Provide specific examples to justify your answer.
• Synthesize the project management challenges that may occur without an explicitly written project plan. Summarize how this impacts a project manager’s ability to lead a technology project.

Q2:

• Explain how each fundamental design principle is integral to process improvement within the logistics and distribution industry.
• Explain why adhering to the four fundamental design principles are important considerations when developing secure applications.

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Write a 3+ page, double-spaced essay regarding: Mapping the Process of Innovation

1. Pick an industry (e.g. groceries, airlines, publishing, etc.) and explain the innovative process that must take place for successful integration of innovation.
2. Recommend how an industry leader should search, select, implement, acquire, execute, launch, and sustain an innovative offering that is appropriate for the chosen industry.
3. What can they learn from the adopting innovation?
4. How can this be used to maintain a competitive edge?
5. Were there any areas within this process that required extra emphasis?

Write in APA format with complete paragraphs (4-8 sentences each).

• Include an introduction, body and conclusion.
• Cite consistently throughout your work in APA format.
• Paraphrase rather than directly quote citations.
• Write in third person. Include a title and reference page.
• For an example of a paper in APA format, please see: Example Paper in APA.
• For help with formatting the essay, please watch the following video: How to Write a Perfect College Paper.

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Acting as the executive for a small company, your team will apply the principles of capital budgeting to invest in growth and cash flow improvement opportunities in three phases over 10 simulated years. Each opportunity has a unique financial profile and you must analyze the effects on working capital. Examples of opportunities include taking on new customers, capitalizing on supplier discounts, and reducing inventory. You must understand how the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows are interconnected and be able to analyze forecasted financial information to consider possible effects of each opportunity on the firm’s financial position. The company operates on thin margins with a constrained cash position and limited available credit. You must optimize use of internal and external credit as you balance the desire for growth with the need for maintaining liquidity. Create a 450-word analysis of your decisions during each phase (1-3) and how they influenced the final results. • Analyze the influence of member’s decisions on sales outcomes or metrics of SNC. • Analyze the influence of member’s decisions on EBIT outcomes or metrics of SNC. • Assess the influence of member’s decisions on Net Income outcomes or metrics of SNC. • Analyze the influence of member’s decisions on Free Cash Flow outcomes or metrics of SNC. • Assess the influence of member’s decisions on Total Firm Value outcomes or metrics of SNC. Cite a minimum of two scholarly references. Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines.

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