Keywords

video games, group performance, flow, cohesion, team building

Abstract

Organizational tasks are complex and time-sensitive, requiring group effort to achieve goals under pressure. To improve group performance, organizations often invest in a services designed to strengthen teams (e.g., ropes courses). However, such activities are time- and resource-expensive and have demonstrated mixed results. To proffer a more practical (shorter and less expensive) alternative, we explore the potential of video gaming as a team building activity. To this end, we employed a multi-experiment study in which we administered competitive and cooperative video games to newly formed work teams. To theoretically explain the effects of video gaming on group performance, we adapt the theoretical construct to flow to the group level. Our results reveal that all forms of video gaming had a positive effect on group performance. However, competitive versus cooperative gaming have different effects on the sub-constructs of group flow. Therefore, optimal results are obtained with cooperative-competitive video games.

Original Publication Citation

Keith, M. J., Anderson, G. Dean, D., Gaskin, J., and Payne, K. (2016). The Effects of Video Gaming on Work Group Performance. Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), December 14-17, Dublin, Ireland.

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2018

Publisher

Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Information Systems Management

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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