Ee Changshun Andrew (Jan 2012 intake) Supervisor: Assoc Prof Jung Younbo , WKWSCI

1. EeChangshun Andrew (Jan 2012 intake) Supervisor: Assoc Prof Jung Younbo, WKWSCI Co-Supervisor: Prof Nadia Thalmann, IMI

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

3. MMORPGs & Society The MMORPG market: A shining star in the computer games industry Impact on society, especially youth, becomes increasingly important Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

4. MMORPGs & Leadership 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 Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

5. Rationale for Study 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 Theoretical frameworks used: + Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

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

7. Conventional qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs Qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs Attempts to integrate other leadership taxonomies within a single framework All 4 competencies found in MMORPG leadership (Reeves et al., 2007) Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

8. Unique qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs Qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs 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) Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

9. Qualities of effective leadership in MMORPGs 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) Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

10. Bandura’s (1986) Social Cognitive Theory SCT: A valid way to understand MMORPG leadership development from a social psychological angle Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

11. McCormick’s (2001) SCT-applied Leadership Model Considers only generalised notions of leadership Self-efficacy Goals KSAs Task Strategy Development Experiences Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

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

13. Research Objective 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) Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

14. Research Questions RQs endeavoured to examine the role of each of the 3 SCT factors on MMORPG leadership development Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

15. Research Questions 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? Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

16. Research Questions RQ2: How do players' individual characteristics help to foster their leadership qualities (in terms of Visioning, Relating, Sensemaking, and Inventing) in MMORPGs? RQ2a RQ2b Self-efficacy KSAs Experiences RQ2c Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

17. Research Questions 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? Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

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

19. 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: 13 males and 7 females aged 21-28 17participants had at least 1 avatar of level 80 5 “Guild Leaders,” 7 “Guild Officers”, 8 ‘guild’ members Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

20. 4 Sloan Leadership capabilities in the context of WoW (Reeves et al., 2007) 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 Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

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

22. The messages can be quite overwhelming Participant 19 What matters is how much your thoughts contribute to the ‘guild’s’ interests Participant 9 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 RQ1: How does the game environment and context players are situated in help to foster their leadership qualities in MMORPGs? 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 It takes more courage and confidence to organise real-life ‘guild’ meetups. I’ll be so embarassed if no one turns up! Participant 7 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 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 Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

23. RQ2a: How do players' self-efficacy help to foster their leadership qualities in MMORPGs? 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 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

24. RQ2b: How do players' knowledge, skills, and abilities help to foster their leadership qualities in MMORPGs? 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 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

25. RQ2c: How do players' prior experiences help to foster their leadership qualities in MMORPGs? Each participant cited at least one example in explaining how his/her past experiences proved beneficial towards developing the all 4 capabilities 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

26. Research Question 3: How do the actions of players in MMORPGs help to foster their leadership qualities in MMORPGs? 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 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 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 Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

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

28. In Summary Findings generally support the triadic reciprocality of Bandura’s (1986) SCT and McCormick’s (2001) SCT-applied leadership model: 3 main factors of SCT are important for developing Inventing 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… Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

29. In Summary 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 Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

30. Limitations Affective personal factors given less significance Data collection: Accuracy in recall of experiences and self-reporting of behaviour Participants’ interpretation of interview questions Interviews focused on in-game experiences Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

31. Looking into the future… 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 Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion

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

33. In Conclusion… Thank You!  Introduction | Literature Review | Research Objectives Methodology | Findings & Analysis | Discussion | Conclusion