The Sustainable Gamer: Developing Corporate Social Responsibility Through Games

Abstract

According to Wilson and Holton (Changing manager mindsets—Report of the working group on the development of professional skills for the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (Department of Trade & Industry, The Corporate Responsibility Group), 2003), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) entails behaviour that can be learned, but is not easily taught. As a consequence, a question arises: Can attitudes, knowledge, and skills important for teaching sustainable development and CSR be acquired with the use of simulation games? Based on the dynamically evolving educational market, current developments in educational psychology and practical experience as game developers, we provide evidence that games offer a unique toolbox for teaching CSR both in academia and in the organisational context. This learning approach comprises the missing link proposed in this chapter.

Even though all learning can be considered as learning from experience, there are significant qualities that make simulation games uniquely effective in teaching CSR. No other technique offers so many distinct features that can be employed in order to explore and understand CSR in practice—from gamified learning, to single-issue games, to complex system simulations. One of the qualities which characterises games is the potential to change participants’ mind-set with high fidelity simulations that allow them to discover complex relations and unexpected consequences of regular day-to-day business decisions, as well as to experience their long-term impact on the multiple bottom-line.

In this chapter, we provide both theoretical and practical insights into how simulations can be used for skills and knowledge development crucial for implementing CSR in a given organisational context. Apart from explaining the mechanisms behind the effectiveness of simulation games, we provide examples of different CSR simulation games developed across the world.