Ee Changshun Andrew (Jan 2012 intake)

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Jung Younbo, WKWSCI

Co-Supervisor: Prof Nadia Thalmann, IMI

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

The MMORPG market: A shining star in the computer games industry

Impact on society, especially youth, becomes increasingly important

MMORPGs & Society

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

MMORPGs foreshadow new possibilities for effective leadership

Skills and values leaders need to cope with the effects of a changing society =

Skills and values of MMORPG players

Players may transfer leadership skills honed in MMORPGs to offline contexts as

they become tomorrow’s leaders

MMORPGs & Leadership

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

To examine leadership development in MMORPGs

Previous studies largely offer ‘prescriptions’ based on generalised

notions of leadership

Theoretical frameworks used: Social Cognitive Theory + Sloan Leadership

Model

Data source: 20 MMORPG player interviews

Rationale for Study

Theoretical frameworks used:+

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Conventional qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Attempts to integrate other leadership

taxonomies within a single framework

All 4 competencies found in MMORPG leadership (Reeves et al., 2007)

Qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

MMORPG leadership also possesses unique aspects of leadership not readily found in real-life situations (DeMarco et

al., 2007; Jang & Ryu, 2010)

In many traditional businesses, people are appointed to managerial positions for months or years, they are not

encouraged to take risks, they have time to make decisions, and most people have only limited

opportunities to practice leadership. In online games, the opposite of these things is true. (Reeves et al., 2007,

p. 19)

Qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGsUnique qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Since both types of leadership qualities are found in MMORPGs, we need to know

how they are developed within the context of MMORPGs as well

Studies have proponed the facilitative properties of MMORPG environments on leadership development (Chen, Duh, &

Hong, 2008; Reeves et al., 2007)

Qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

SCT: A valid way to understand MMORPG

leadership development from a social psychological angle

Bandura’s (1986) Social Cognitive Theory

Considers only generalised notions of leadership

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

McCormick’s (2001) SCT-applied Leadership Model

Self-efficacy

KSAs ExperiencesTask StrategyDevelopment

Goals

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

To examine MMORPG leadership development by focusing on how Sloan Leadership competencies are developed in MMORPGs through the lenses of SCT

(and consequently SCT-applied leadership models)

Research Objective

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

RQs endeavoured to examine the role of each of the 3 SCT factors on MMORPG

leadership development

Research Questions

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

RQ1: How does the game environment and context players are situated in help to foster their leadership qualities (in

terms of Visioning, Relating, Sensemaking, and Inventing) in

MMORPGs?

Research Questions

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

RQ2: How do players' individual characteristics help to foster their leadership qualities (in terms of

Visioning, Relating, Sensemaking, and Inventing) in MMORPGs?

Research Questions

Self-efficacy KSAs

Experiences

RQ2a RQ2b

RQ2c

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

RQ3: How do the actions of players in MMORPGs help to foster their leadership qualities (in terms of Visioning, Relating,

Sensemaking, and Inventing) in MMORPGs?

Research Questions

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Semi-Structured Interviews

World of Warcraft (WoW) used as the context for the interview questions

WoW players possessing at least 1 WoW avatar of level 30 recruited via convenience and snowball

sampling

20 participants recruited:

1. 13 males and 7 females aged 21-28

2. 17participants had at least 1 avatar of level 80

3. 5 “Guild Leaders,” 7 “Guild Officers”, 8 ‘guild’ members

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Sharing visions and ideas with other ‘guild’ members

Understanding changes to the internal and external contexts in which a ‘guild’ operates and helping ‘guild’ members to understand them

Building intra-‘guild’ and inter-‘guild’ relationships

Co-ordinating task and strategy execution among other ‘guild’

members

4 Sloan Leadership capabilities in the context of WoW (Reeves et al., 2007)

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Two types of environments: Game Environment, Social Environment

Game Environment: Not important for developing Visioning; may afford or/and hinder development

of other 3 capabilities

Game Environment has reciprocal influence on behaviour and personal factors

Social Environment: Can influence behaviour and personal factors which, in turn, help develop all 4

capabilities

RQ1: How does the game environment and context players are situated inhelp to foster their leadership qualities in MMORPGs?

The game interface is very user-friendly and helps co-ordinate

‘instances’ better. For example, our leader will tell us which enemy to kill first by using icons to mark

the kill order

Participant 20

How can I know a person better if I can’t even tell when he’s

happy or sad?

Participant 6

It’s very easy to share game updates since we can just cut-and-paste information from the

WoW wiki or forum boards

Participant 3

What matters is how much your thoughts contribute to the

‘guild’s’ interests

Participant 9

The messages can be quite overwhelming

Participant 19

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Some members may be very shy, so hiding behind a blanket

of anonymity actually helps them to socialise better

Participant 12

Playing as ‘tanks’ is good learning ground for leaders because they have to

protect everyone else from taking damage

Participant 11

It takes more courage and confidence to organise real-life ‘guild’ meetups. I’ll be so

embarassed if no one turns up!

Participant 7

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Self-efficacy helps to foster Inventing but not so for the other 3 capabilities

Self-efficacy translates to being confident in one’s abilities and consequently making one more assertive, which is important for players to

develop Inventing

Self-efficacy becomes important for all 4 capabilities when ‘guild’ leadership is taken

offline

RQ2a: How do players' self-efficacy help to foster their leadershipqualities in MMORPGs?

Being confident [with regards to non-Inventing behavioural examples] or not doesn’t really matter as long as you’ve got something to say that’s important

to the ‘guild’. However, command and control [Inventing] is different because you’re the one

everyone needs direction from lest the team gets ‘wiped’

Participant 4

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

KSAs are important for Inventing

Participants without ‘guild’ authority: KSAs are not so important for developing other 3

capabilities

Participants with ‘guild’ authority: KSAs are important for developing other 3 capabilities

Participants with ‘guild’ authority: KSAs are important in developing all 4 capabilities where management of day-to-day affairs of ‘guilds’ is

concerned

RQ2b: How do players' knowledge, skills, and abilities help to fostertheir leadership qualities in MMORPGs?

Beating a difficult ‘instance’ becomes second nature after running through it [as well as] similar types of ‘instances’ a few times, with good leaders knowing exactly what to do and how to co-ordinate

member actions

Participant 13

How can you apply the same knowledge and skills to resolve

conflict between members [Relating] when every situation should be

handled case-by-case?

Participant 5 (‘Guild’ member)

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Each participant cited at least one example in explaining how his/her past experiences proved

beneficial towards developing the all 4 capabilities

RQ2c: How do players' prior experiences help to foster their leadershipqualities in MMORPGs?

The co-ordinator tricked us into fighting an optional ‘boss’ and we were caught unawares

because we’ve not played that ‘instance’ before. Quite a few of us were ‘wiped’. Since then, I’ve vowed not to cheat others because it sucks. Don’t do unto others what you don’t

want them to do unto you, right?

Participant 20 recalling a particularly bad experience of task and strategy co-ordination

(Inventing)

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Behaviour is important for developing all 4 capabilities

This importance stems from the influence of behaviour on the other 2 factors of SCT that are

directly responsible for the development of these 4 capabilities which, in turn, influence future

behaviour

Research Question 3: How do the actions of players in MMORPGshelp to foster their leadership qualities in MMORPGs?

I was chatting on the ‘vent’ when it was supposed to be used for leader-member communications. People started

ticking me off. With time and experience, I’ve learnt when to use the ‘vent’ and when to shut up and listen

Participant 17

By fostering care and concern among ‘guild’ members, members will be more responsive to

each others’ needs, even if they’re talking about their offline worries

Participant 8

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Findings generally support the triadic reciprocality of Bandura’s (1986) SCT and

McCormick’s (2001) SCT-applied leadership model:

1. 3 main factors of SCT are important for developing Inventing

2. Social Environment, Past Experiences (as a Personal Factor), and Behaviour are important for developing all 4 capabilities

However, there are some “special cases” as well…

In Summary

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Self-efficacy more important for developing non-Inventing capabilities when ‘guild’ leadership is taken offline

KSAs more important for developing non-Inventing capabilities for “Guild Officers” and “Guild Leaders”

Game Environment has mixed effect on developing of non-Visioning

capabilities

In Summary

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Affective personal factors given less significance

Data collection:

1. Accuracy in recall of experiences and self-reporting of behaviour

2. Participants’ interpretation of interview questions

3. Interviews focused on in-game experiences

Limitations

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

MMORPG leadership research has not fully comprehended how MMORPG

leadership skills are developed:

Use different research methods and/or samples to test findings

Examine how players’ offline experiences reinforce in-game leadership development

Looking into the future…

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

Thank You!

In Conclusion…