Games Hit the Bottom Line Games are being seen as a way to promote a culture of learning, individualism, and fun, while also focusing attention on the company's bottom-line performance goals. Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games, says, We are shifting into an enjoyment-based economy. And who knows more about making enjoyment than game developers? The commercial contexts for gamification range from customer engagement to employee performance, to training, to innovation management, to personal development, and to sustainability. Gamespecific problem solving can enhance critical thinking and analytical abilities, as well as develop desirable personal attributes such as persistence, creativity, and resilience. An IBM executive says the firm's use of gaming for employees that spend a lot of time working from home or traveling is a way to help colleagues connect and stay engaged. Games are being used by more and more companies for surprising reasons; for example, they are used by the U.S. Army to promote recruitment efforts, Samsung to promote social loyalty, Kaplan University to promote educational achievement, World Bank to promote development of innovative solutions to pervasive social problems such as poverty and hunger, and Verizon to promote customer engagement. Playing by the Rules Experts claim that gaming is a great motivator for increasing employees' enthusiasm for their daily activities and the energy they bring to work. But there's also fear that gaming can breed unhealthy competition and hurt relationships within organizations. For sure, gamification has to be well integrated with business needs and objectives. To achieve success for companies starting in gamification, says industry analyst Brian Burke, the first design point is to motivate players to achieve their goalsand those goals should overlap with the business goals. Kris Duggan, chief executive of game-maker Badgeville, cautions, Adding gamification to the workplace drives performance but it doesn't make up for bad management. The Appeal of the Game According to James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton presidential professor of literacy studies at Arizona State University, one of the reasons that gamification is capturing the attention of so many organizations is that video games are learning machines. They get themselves learned and learned well. If a game cannot be learned and even mastered at a certain level, it won't get played by enough people. From companies' perspectives, one of the reasons gamification is such a potentially powerful tool is because video games are addictive. In fact, Deloitte counted on this aspect to improve leadership for senior executives, incorporating elements such as badges, leaderboards, and status symbols to measure their participation in and completion of training courses. Games draw in employees and keep them hooked on incentives that are only meaningful within the game. The badges and status symbols that executives earn as they go through training don't have an external valueand so are very cost effective for the consulting giant. What do you think? Is it right to use addictive video games to get employees to do their work? What are some of the ethical issues that potentially come into play? Case Analysis Questions 1. DISCUSSION What arguments can you make that support making gamification part of an organization's culture? What are the arguments against it? What logic or examples can you offer in support of your arguments? (10 Points) 2. PROBLEM SOLVING Consider yourself the go-to idea person for friends who head two local organizationsa fire department and a public library. Both complain about morale problems and ask you for advice on creating a positive organizational culture. They want to know how your interest in gaming can be used to improve morale and performance. What will you suggest, and why? (10 Points) 3. FURTHER RESEARCH Review how organizations such as major corporations, nonprofits, and the military are using gaming. What role does gaming have in these settings, and how does its use affect the organizational cultures? What does the evidence suggestis gamification a passing trend, or is it here to stay? (10 Points).