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Simulation and Gaming in the Network Society pp 199–214Cite as

Massively Multiplayer Online Games as Information System: Implications for Organizational Learning

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Part of the book series: Translational Systems Sciences ((TSS,volume 9))

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss the implications of the information systems structures of massively multiplayer online role-playing games to organizational learning that takes place within them or connected to them. The games consist of three interdependent information systems: an information retrieval system accessed by using game content as its keywords, a social system formed by the players, and an expanded system that extends outside of play proper, in the form of experience records like game blogs and videos. By developing their procedural literacies, players learn to analyze the systems and to compare their content and logics to the real world. In-game groups in turn use strategic practices to spread such learning organization-wide, in order to foster efficiency and better content access. By cleverly using briefing, debriefing, and strategizing procedures, real-world organizations too can then learn from these processes, as they free their members from individual learning traps and extend the lessons gained from voluntary gaming into absorptive and adaptive real-world practices.

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Acknowledgments

Parts of this chapter were produced with financial support from the University of Tampere and the FinCEAL+ project. The authors wish to thank Olle Sköld for his insightful comments during the preparation of this text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    J. Tuomas Harviainen

  2. Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Espoo, Finland

    J. Tuomas Harviainen

  3. Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland

    Mikko Vesa

Authors
  1. J. Tuomas Harviainen
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  2. Mikko Vesa
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Correspondence to J. Tuomas Harviainen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific & Engineering Simulation, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

    Toshiyuki Kaneda

  2. Mitigation of Urban Cultural Herita, Research Center for Disaster, Kita-ku Kyoto, Japan

    Hidehiko Kanegae

  3. Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan

    Yusuke Toyoda

  4. Urban Planning, Palazzo del Pou Salit, University of Sassari, Dep. of Arch. Design, Alghero, Sassari, Italy

    Paola Rizzi

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Harviainen, J.T., Vesa, M. (2016). Massively Multiplayer Online Games as Information System: Implications for Organizational Learning. In: Kaneda, T., Kanegae, H., Toyoda, Y., Rizzi, P. (eds) Simulation and Gaming in the Network Society. Translational Systems Sciences, vol 9. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0575-6_16

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