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Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018

Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (A)

by William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu

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Abstract

Sidar Şahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games, a Turkey-based global mobile gaming company, must decide on the final list of candidates for the critical global marketing director position the company has been trying to fill for over a year. Since its founding in 2010, Peak Games has grown to become Europe’s 3rd biggest grossing online gaming company and its mobile games have made a name for themselves internationally. Şahin’s team has grown to 100 people, almost all of whom reside in the same office in Istanbul, Turkey. As Peak’s games reached an audience of over 350 million users worldwide, the recruitment needs and criteria also changed. Şahin needed more internationally experienced talent in the company. Yet, this was not an easy background to acquire in Turkey, and Şahin valued that team members shared the office to meld into the company culture. Throughout the year, the company’s HR director has used multiple search channels and interviewed various candidates. In April 2017, having received a short list of candidates, none of whom looked like the “perfect fit” at an initial glance, Şahin is set on reaching a decision on the position.

Keywords: recruiting; staffing; emergent countries; Turkey; entrepreneurial management; private sector; business model; Business Strategy; competitive advantage; growth and development strategy; value creation; decision; growth management; Decision Choices and Conditions; talent and talent management; organizational culture; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Turkey;

Language: English Format: Print 20 pages Educators

Citation:

Kerr, William R., and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (A)." Harvard Business School Case 818-083, January 2018.

Related Work

  1. Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2018

    Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (B)

    William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu

    On November 7th, 2017, Sidar Şahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games, a Turkey-based global mobile gaming company, had just closed the sale of Peak Games’ card games studio. This sale included three of the company’s top grossing games and half of its team. Sidar was happy about the $100 million sale to the global gaming giant Zynga. He felt that the spin out would sharpen Peak Games’ focus on the casual game genre, which was a faster growing genre with cyclical trends. Having attained the desired focus for the company, Sidar was already thinking about what he needed to do to make Peak Games into 10x what it is today.

    Keywords: games; gaming; Turkey; emerging markets; Acquisitions; exits; entrepreneurship; private sector; for-profit firms; business model; Business Strategy; competitive advantage; growth and development strategy; value creation; decision; leading change; management teams; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Decision Making; Information Technology Industry; Turkey;

    Citation:

    Kerr, William R., and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 818-084, January 2018.  View Details
    CiteView Details Related

About the Author

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William R. Kerr
Dimitri V. D'Arbeloff - MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration
Entrepreneurial Management

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More from the Author

  • Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2019

    Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC

    Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

    Networking and the giving and receiving of advice outside of one’s own firm are important features of entrepreneurship and innovation. We study how immigrants and natives utilize the potential networking opportunities provided by CIC, formerly known as the Cambridge Innovation Center. CIC is widely considered the center of the Boston entrepreneurial ecosystem. We surveyed 1,334 people working at CIC in three locations spread across the Boston area and CIC’s first expansion facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Survey responses show that immigrants value networking capabilities in CIC more than natives, and the networks developed by immigrants at CIC tend to be larger. Immigrants report substantially greater rates of giving and receiving advice than natives for six surveyed factors: business operations, venture financing, technology, suppliers, people to recruit, and customers. The structure and composition of CIC floors has only a modest influence on these immigrant versus native differences.

    Keywords: Immigrants; Networking; advice; entrepreneurs; inventors; start-up employees; venturing; co-working; agglomeration; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Innovation and Invention; Social and Collaborative Networks;

    Citation:

    Kerr, Sari Pekkala, and William R. Kerr. "Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-078, January 2019.  View Details
    CiteView Details Read Now Related
  • Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | January 2019

    The Golden Triangle: Back in Business (A)

    William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman and Donald Maruyama

    Citation:

    Kerr, William R., Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, and Donald Maruyama. "The Golden Triangle: Back in Business (A)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 819-066, January 2019.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2018

    Modern Automation (A): Artificial Intelligence

    William R. Kerr and James Palano

    This primer provides an overview of the implications of automation technology based on state-of-the-art "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) in the late 2010s: including the trends leading to the surge in AI, applications of AI categorized by the type of work performed, limitations of the technology, discussion about AI adoption, and key concerns the technology brought about.

    Keywords: artificial intelligence; digitization; connectivity; Computing; future of work; automation; Technology; Technology Adoption; Employment; Management;

    Citation:

    Kerr, William R., and James Palano. "Modern Automation (A): Artificial Intelligence." Harvard Business School Case 819-084, December 2018.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducators Related
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