How gaming can take corporate environments to a new level

THERE IS AN underground revolution sweeping through the corporate sector. While much has been said about the impact Generations X and Y are making on corporate environments around the world, one critical aspect of their lives and its influence on their behavior and expectations has been overlooked. "Generation X is the first generation to grow up with computer games rather than with board games as a means of entertainment," explains Raymond de Villiers, CEO of Wisdom Games. "As the Millennials follow Generation X into the workplace, the recreation habits of these groups are changing the way they do business."

De Villiers says that as a result there are numerous implications for business. These can be simplified into two generic areas: the impact on organisational structures and culture, and the impact on the way businesses lead, manage and train. "Gamers bring critical skills and perspectives to companies that are operating in a quickly changing reality," he adds.

This is not an entirely new perspective. A book written by John Beck and Mitchell Wade examining the impact of gamers on the business world concludes that there are certain common traits that gamers bring with them into business as a result of their gaming-based world view, and that these can add a new dynamic to organisations.

"In light of these traits, companies and their leaders have one of two choices.  They can fight against them and try to force gamers into the traditional mould, or they can roll with them and modify organisations to get the best out of gamers as employees and customers," says De Villiers. "As the corporate world has been exposed to the reality of virtual worlds, it has seen a growing influence on how companies can train and communicate."

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

De Villiers says that as a social dynamic, computer gaming is a growing and influential reality. The role and influence of computer games is therefore going to increase within the corporate world. "It is safe to say that in the future we can expect more uptake of the opportunities offered by these environments.  There are several reasons for anticipating this, some of which are rooted in recent economic experiences, while others are driven by the desire for innovation and competitive advantage endemic within corporate culture."

Wisdom Games is offering companies a way to capitalise on these trends, breaking new ground by offering a new kind of training  me-based simulations of business reality that are designed to be engaging, informative and instructive. "The virtualising of company training programmes will allow a company to achieve significant decreases in the cost of delivery and also the costs of supporting the training. As the environments are largely self-contained, less trainee support is required when delivering material. Furthermore, this training can be delivered directly into the person`s working environment using existing internal infrastructure. Training won`t need separate venues booked, and employees dragged away from their work environment for days on end," explains De Villiers.

He adds that while corporates have been exposed to the reality of virtual worlds, the subject has as many detractors as proponents. "This largely because from a South African perspective, high data costs and bandwidth constraints led to early adopters experiencing issues unique to the local environment," says De Villiers. "But this limitation is less of an issue and today, nothing stands in the way of organisations joining the virtual revolution."

He feels that the lessons of the early adopters will serve as `school fees` for those wishing to employ virtual solutions. "Companies that engage in the virtual and game-based business simulation areas in 2009 will have adjusted their expectations accordingly. Virtual environments will be used less for marketing and product placement, and more for global project teams and collaboration, along with a healthy dose of training activity."

De Villiers predicts that this will result in more, rather than less, uptake of the opportunities offered by these environments. While activity in generic environments like Second Life will grow marginally, the real growth will occur in companies investing in the development of their own environments and applications.  These environments will mimic their real-life environments and processes so that they are able to use the virtual environment to leverage internal intellectual and human capital in a way that delivers contextually relevant competitive advantage," he says.