Analysis of Nintendo

THE HISTORY OF NINTENDO

Nintendo Company, Ltd is based in Kyoto Japan. They are recognized as being the "worldwide leader in the creation of interactive entertainment" (Nintendo, 2002, PG). Some of the world's best selling video gaming has come from the Nintendo Company, including Game Boy and Nintendo 64. In America Nintendo is based in Redmond, Washington. It is interesting to note that in American households nearly 40% have a Nintendo product.

The latest product launched by Nintendo has been the Game Cube, a video game console which will undoubtedly prove to be yet another bestseller.

SWOT ANALYSIS FOR NINTENDO

Strengths: One of the biggest strengths for Nintendo is their completely sensitive human resource issues. Recently Nintendo hired a company, Xylo, Inc., "to provide Nintendo employees with a private online network of work/life products and services designed to help them balance the responsibilities of work and home" (Business Wire, 2000, PG). Nintendo recognizes that employees are a company's most important assets, and like many Japanese companies it strives to make the employees as comfortable and loyal as possible. Because a company strives to seek the comfort and happiness of employees, this normally makes for a very loyal and hard-working employee.

Another great strength at Nintendo when undertaking an analysis of the leadership personality, traits behaviors, attitudes and perceptions show that they are usually never too quick to judge nor are they very critical of others work. Instead of seeking perfection from others as it is sought in that of the leaders, Nintendo's management is normally less judgmental of others and they work on motivating them instead of criticizing.

A good point that is found at Nintendo is that they are able to take control of a group easily, and are natural leaders. While they are sometimes critical and seek perfection, at the same time they are leaders who try to work with the entire group so that the dynamics flow together rather than individually.

Weaknesses: Conflict has been described as the process which begins when one party perceives that the other has frustrated, or is about to frustrate, some concern of his or hers. This could certainly be the case with Nintendo when it fights a head-to-head battle with Microsoft. The meanings of concerns in this case are the needs, wants and values of Nintendo. Therefore, conflict situations might arise when the needs, wants and values of two parties interfere with one another. Depending on how Nintendo and Microsoft react to conflict it may not be harmful. Indeed, it presents opportunities for situations to be driven forward effectively, particularly in business contexts. However, according to some people it appears that all reactions to conflict stem from two general impulses:

(1) The desire to satisfy personal concerns, which shows itself as assertive behavior, and

(2) The desire to satisfy the concerns of others, which shows itself in non-assertive behavior. These represent two behavioral dimensions and provide the basis for conflict-handling modes.

These behaviors are further incorporated into the concept built around the idea that people react in one of five basic ways when faced with interpersonal conflict situations; competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding or accommodating (McKenna 1995).

Opportunities: The creativity involved among groups is another asset Nintendo can try to promote. If, for instance, within the corporation there is the need for a new view on an old problem, then the group could strive to bring together everyone on the project. But this does not necessarily mean that the final decision should be made by the group, although the information that comes from the group members should strongly influence the final decision. Many times the management teams at Nintendo are able to avert conflict by bringing together the necessary group in order to get a broader input of ideas (Anonymous 1996).

The timeline involved is one consideration that should be made in the event organizational conflict arises. If time is scarce, such as with the competition at hand with Microsoft, then a decision is best made by the team leader rather than taking the time necessary to bring together an appropriate committee (Gayeski 1998).

There is sometimes the need for a decision that reflects the bigger picture. In some cases Nintendo has found that team members may have some idea about the situation but they may not see the problem as their supervisor does, from a strategic view. Supervisors at Nintendo need not always let the current movement toward teams cause them to devote staff time to meetings that are unnecessary or cause them to abdicate their leadership role. After all, being decisive is as much a characteristic of a good leader as are cooperation and a sense of teamwork (Anonymous 1996).

Threats: Threats for Nintendo at the moment would be mainly the Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft intends to unveil its current creation, the Xbox, just as Nintendo is going to unleash their Game Cube. Both versions feature excellent graphics and games, but neither will admit to which market it is targeting: the adults or the children. This is the first time that Nintendo has had a head-to-head run-in with an industry giant such as Microsoft.

Nintendo has found that conflict can arise when there are not common goals among the group. For this very reason goal setting is something best done in group settings in which the members commit to the final decisions reached, rather than simply done by oneself. It is here that consensus-based decision making may be critical, for it increases the likelihood of success. The more people at Nintendo that participate in the decision-making process, the more ownership they have in the outcome, and, therefore, the harder they work. Through this effort Nintendo could eliminate conflict of goals at the onset (Anonymous 1996).