IBM GIO Gaming Report

This is an Immesive Education course at Boston College (ImmersiveEducation.org). Also, the original PDF may be downloaded from http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/www_innovate.nsf/images/gio-gaming/$FILE/ibm_gio_gaming_report.pdf .




According to the report, the world is becoming more and more globalized as time goes by, and it truly is affecting the business industry to a great extent. One of the most successful businesses due to this globalization and virtualization is online game industry. The business leaders are developing and operating in environments that are highly distributed by introducing the “MMORPGs,” which stands for massively multiplier online role-playing games. In MMORPGs, one can perform tasks such as learning different skills, self-organize, and settle into various roles by controlling the Avatar, which is the character one controls. Each player is provided with tasks that ultimately lead to a common goal of the entire users, and joining a guild, or a group usually helps the player to reach the goal quicker.

However, it is important to know that online games don’t provide the best analog for business world of the future; risks of the real world are much higher. But gaming leaders are rather comfortable with risk. They accept failure and use the experience as iterative improvement. In the online gaming world, risk-taking is encouraged; leaders can make plans quickly, although provided with imperfect data. They can put their strategy into motion without fear, since there is no real money on the line for most of the time. Business failure in gaming industry can be tought of as a necessity, since trial and error implied with innovative ideas is what makes a successful game.

Another interesting part about MMORPG is that it helps the players to achieve leaderships through the game. These leaderships can also be used in real life, and the generation that grew up with MMORPG is now in the work force. Therefore, the managers should change their styles with respect the gaming generation.

In 2006, IBM paired up with Seriosity, Inc., a software company in order to study the virtual world. To do so, they followed the Sloan Leadership Model. The model described the leadership qualities in four parts: Visioning, Sense-making, Relating, and Inventing. The study indicated that these four parts were present in most of the leaders.

Leadership happens quickly in video games. In raids, which is a group mission in MMORPGs, a leader or guild master needs to be present, and much of the leaderships can be found from these players. Furthermore, the incentive program, which is to reward those who excel, or take more risks, has been a great catalyst to providing players with leadership. Lastly, the advanced communication system is also a critical tool that the players use to take care of their group, and discuss strategy, drawing out much leadership.

In video games, leadership changes constantly; leadership does not last forever. If one fails to perform as a leader, than he will no longer be regarded as a leader. It is the group that picks the leader, rather than some high authority. Sometimes, a good relationship skills can help to form a strong between guild members and such can be thought of as having a good Visioning, the act of creating a compelling vision of the future.

Overall, video games have much to give; it helps one to attain leadership, which can be used even in real life. Not to mention the effectiveness of the communication system, which also reflect the importance of communication in the real world. Sooner or later, there will be a point where writing down video gaming related activity on the resume will not be seen as a negative element.