Introduction
Companies that employ numerous people often become subject to different legal and ethical challenges that frequently arise due to the failure to ensure proper management. Every year, notable companies encounter issues concerning their ethical conduct, which eventually may translate into lawsuits and conflicts with their employees and partners. The presence of ethical problems may significantly undermine companies’ market positions and negatively impact their ability to attract new employees and attain revenue goals. One of the recent examples of such a company was Activision Blizzard, an internationally-recognized developer, and publisher of video games. Over the past two years, Activision Blizzard has faced challenges related to sexual harassment in the workplace, pay discrepancies, and employee suicide, which can be solved only through a change in the organizational culture.
Discussion
It is first important to present basic information on Activision Blizzard and its key problems and challenges in the legal and ethical realms. Activision Blizzard is one of the largest companies operating in the industry of video games which has created major titles such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. The company has offices in multiple countries worldwide, and in 2021 it reported a total revenue of more than $8 billion (Clement, 2021). Activision Blizzard has often been subject to controversy, yet recently the challenges encountered by the company became particularly serious and were made public, which attracted the attention of the media and millions of players.
As mentioned above, the key problem of Activision Blizzard was the organizational culture which promoted the unequal treatment of female employees and involved subjecting them to oppressive practices. As a result of the company’s culture, several ethical and one major legal challenges have emerged. Specifically, Activision Blizzard was accused by its employees of ignoring sexual discrimination and harassment to take place (Schreier, 2021). Another ethical challenge encountered by the company was that it paid less to its female workers (Browning, 2021). One of the recent ethical problems concerning Activision Blizzard is the death of one of its employees by suicide due to sexual harassment at work (Gonzalez, 2022). Finally, the legal challenge Activision Blizzard faces today is the lawsuit against the company by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. According to the agency, an investigation showed that the company allowed daily abuse of female employees and failed to address the problem (Zwiezen, 2021). Thus, it is clear Activision Blizzard has many challenges to solve and requires a clear plan on how to do it.
The first challenge that will be explored in detail is sexual discrimination and harassment in the workplace, which, according to the employees, the company ignored for a long period of time. Specifically, the witnesses and victims of the practice stated that the male managers of the company openly made jokes about sensitive topics such as rape and engaged in inappropriate behavior while being drunk. For instance, the male workers organized so-called cube crawls, which involved going to the cubicles of female employees and harassing them there, making sexual advances (Browning, 2021). The current challenge is reliable and valid since there are many accounts of unethical sexual practices in the company, which are additionally supported by the investigation and lawsuit of special agencies.
The solution to the aforementioned ethical problem can be the introduction of a new organizational culture which implies having a framework for addressing sexual harassment cases. Specifically, it is essential that the chief executive officer openly recognizes a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual discrimination in the workplace. Next, there has to be a simple procedure created for the victims of inappropriate conduct to report all incidents (Cascio & Aquinis, 2019). The company needs to have an independent investigation team to analyze each case. Finally, clear sanctions must be outlined for perpetrators, and protection for victims, as well as proper training on the matter, should be provided to all managers.
Another ethical challenge the company has is the account of unequal pay, meaning that female employees receive lower salaries compared to their male colleagues who do the same type of work. Moreover, according to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the company had an unofficial policy of not promoting female employees to higher positions (Browning, 2021). Such a problem is clearly ethical since it demonstrates that the managers at Activision Blizzard considered it appropriate to pay less money to women. The information about the practice is valid and reliable since it is evidenced by the data offered by the aforementioned department. Addressing the matter of unequal pay based on gender should involve the company changing the practice and recognizing the failure to ensure equality in the workplace. Moreover, in order to guarantee equal pay, the company can offer more transparency to its employees. For instance, the company can disclose information about the salaries offered to people holding different positions. Such a decision will help the company to be more accountable to its employees.
The third ethical problem is the death of one of the company’s female employees by suicide. Essentially, the woman who held the position of finance manager at the company was found dead at Activision Blizzard’s retreat. According to the parents of the woman, she committed suicide because her male colleagues shared explicit photos of her (Gonzalez, 2022). Such a situation demonstrates not only inappropriate behavior on the part of the company’s male employees but also potentially criminal actions. In other words, the suicide of the woman can be viewed as wrongful death caused by the actions of the company and its employees who shared private photos of the deceased. Apart from introducing a reliable system for addressing cases of sexual harassment presented above, the company needs to provide an opportunity for workers to receive psychological support (Cascio & Aquinis, 2019). The challenge is valid and reliable because it constitutes a serious matter that needs to be addressed by the company. In other words, Activision Blizzard should hire psychologists and counselors who will offer their services to employees facing adverse situations in their lives.
Finally, the key legal challenge faced by the economy concerns all of the aforementioned ethical problems. Essentially, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing started a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for the violation of numerous acts, including the Labor Code and the California Equal Pay Act (Gonzalez, 2022). The lawsuit presents a major legal challenge for the company since it may put it in a serious predicament if it loses the case. The challenge is valid and reliable since the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing relies on a years-long investigation and has accounts of numerous employees who witnessed the unfair treatment of female workers.
In order to address the problem and prevent such situations in the future, the company has to revise its organizational culture. Thus, to achieve such a goal, Activision Blizzard should implement strategic responsibility management (SRM). Essentially, the SRM will involve creating a vision of becoming a more transparent company with zero tolerance toward any type of discrimination (Cascio & Aquinis, 2019). The vision can be ensured through the introduction of clear policies such as the thorough protection of any discrimination victim. Another policy should be the termination of the contract with any employee violating the established ethical standards and rules of behavior. Finally, the company must create an auditing department tasked with monitoring the fulfillment of the company’s vision and practices by all managers and employees.
The organizational change in response to the aforementioned challenges can be beneficial for the company and its employees from several perspectives. First of all, from the organizational point of view, a more transparent and safer environment will facilitate talent management by helping to attract more professionals. Similarly, such an environment will promote better relationships among employees contributing to the company’s performance and its ability to generate revenue. Additionally, from a humanistic perspective, a less toxic workplace culture will enable all employees to be more satisfied with their jobs which will increase organizational performance.
Conclusion
Activision Blizzard is a notable video-game company that has recently encountered several ethical and legal challenges that undermine its reputation. Specifically, the company faced criticism for its abusive workplace, which involved subjecting female employees to sexual harassment and unequal pay. Additionally, the company is being sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing for the violation of state and federal laws. In order to address the challenges, the company has to embrace a new organizational culture built on the principles of transparency and zero tolerance toward any type of harassment. Subsequently, the change will enable the company to improve its reputation and increase satisfaction among its employees.
References
Browning, K. (2021). Activision Blizzard is sued by California over workplace culture. The New York Times. Web.
Cascio, W. F. & Aquinis, H. (2019). Applied psychology in talent management (8th ed.). Sage.
Clement, J. (2021). Net revenue generated by Activision Blizzard from 2005 to 2021. Statista. Web.
Gonzalez, O. (2022). Activision Blizzard sued for wrongful death of female employee. CNET. Web.
Schreier, J. (2021). Activision Blizzard workers walked out. Did the company hear them? Bloomberg. Web.
Zwiezen, Z. (2021). Everything that has happened since the Activision Blizzard lawsuit was filed. Kotaku. Web.