A gamification como ferramenta de gestão de recursos humanos

Versão final (Esta versão contém as críticas e sugestões dos elementos do júri)A gamification surgiu primeiramente como uma área de interesse em investigação no âmbito da educação, tendo-se destacado mais tarde a possibilidade de utilizar sistemas gamificados no contexto profissional e organizacional, de forma a aumentar a motivação dos trabalhadores. No entanto, são ainda poucos os estudos, sobretudo no nosso país, que dão conta da utilização da gamification como uma ferramenta de gestão de recursos humanos. O estudo desta temática torna-se ainda mais pertinente, visto que as gerações que nasceram e cresceram na era da tecnologia e dos jogos começam agora a dominar a força de trabalho, tornando pertinentes os esforços necessários para gerir os recursos humanos das empresas de forma a implementar medidas que ajudem a alcançar os seus objetivos organizacionais, bem como os objetivos pessoais dos seus colaboradores, tendo em conta as suas características, que se distinguem das gerações anteriores. Desta forma, este estudo foi desenvolvido sob a forma de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, com o objetivo de agregar e propor uma organização da informação e teoria existente na área da gamification, sobretudo no âmbito da gestão de recursos humanos, para que o mesmo sirva de mote a possíveis novos estudos e investigações. Dos 136 artigos encontrados no decorrer do processo de pesquisa desta revisão, foram incluídos 37 artigos, e foram excluídos 99 artigos no total, como resultado de duas fases distintas de avaliação dos estudos, tendo sido seguido um protocolo de revisão sistemática da literatura. Finda a realização desta revisão, verificamos que a maioria dos estudos parece ser do tipo teórico ou concetual, havendo lacunas de investigação sobretudo nos efeitos que derivam da utilização de um sistema gamificado na gestão dos recursos humanos das empresas, tanto para a organização, como para os seus colaboradores, destacando as vantagens, bem como as desvantagens dessa utilização.Gamification first appeared as an area of research interest in education, and only later was the possibility of using gamified systems in the professional and organizational context highlighted, in order to increase the motivation of workers. However, there are still few studies, especially in our country, that account for the use of gamification as a human resources management tool. The study of this issue becomes all the more pertinent since the generations that were born and raised in the age of technology and games are now beginning to dominate the workforce, making relevant the efforts needed to manage the companies human resources in order to implement measures that can help achieve their organizational goals, as well as the personal goals of their employees, taking into account their characteristics, which are different from previous generations. Thus, this study was developed in the form of a systematic literature review, in order to aggregate and propose an organization of information and theory in the area of gamification, especially in the scope of human resources management, so that it serves as a starting point for possible new studies and investigations. Out of the 136 articles found during the research process of this review, 37 articles were included, and 99 articles were excluded in total, as a result of two distinct phases of study evaluation. After completing this review, it was possible to verify that most of the work conducted so far seems to be theoretical or conceptual in nature, and there is a gap of knowledge on the effects of the use of a gamified system in order to manage the companies human resources, as well as its employees, highlighting the advantages as well as the disadvantages of this use

Relative Performance Information and Financial Incentives in Multidimensional Task Settings – A Conceptual and Experimental Analysis of Effects on Performance and Attention towards Task Dimensions

The provision of Relative Performance Information (RPI) is commonly used by firms to increase the performance of their employees. In case employees have to fulfil tasks that involve multiple dimensions, firms have to decide on the dimensionality of RPI and can basically choose between unidimensional and multidimensional Performance Information. I discuss behavioural effects of unidimensional and multidimensional RPI under different compensation schemes and apply a controlled laboratory experiment to empirically test the influence of the dimensionality of RPI on performance and attention towards task dimensions. The study demonstrates that solely the provision of unidimensional RPI improves performance in multidimensional task settings while the effects for multidimensional RPI are small and insignificant. Importantly, both unidimensional and multidimensional RPI imply a negative effect on the performance of participants with a low position in the provided ranking on overall performance. Additionally, the application of performance-based compensation negatively moderates the performance impact of both forms of RPI which though seem to be especially critical for multidimensional RPI. In this regard, multidimensional RPI induces a significant performance decrease compared to unidimensional RPI in the presence of a performance-based contract. The findings provide some indication that a distortion of attention toward the ‘quantity’ dimension of the applied experimental task may have caused the negative performance effect. Notably, the experimental results do not indicate increased learning effects regarding a task-specific strategy under multidimensional as compared to unidimensional RPI. Overall, no significant differences in attention towards task dimensions between the two forms of RPI can be shown.Keywords: Relative performance information, Incentive schemes, Multidimensional tasks, Social comparison theory, Competition, Feedbac

Effects of gamification on achievement, engagement and intrinsic motivation among students of different player traits in science learning

The infusion of educational technology on students depends not only on the purpose of learning but also on individual needs. This is vital in tackling issues of boredom and disengagement among students when it comes to learning Science. Therefore, gamification, use of game elements in non-gaming context has been adopted to help alleviate the issues. The research examined type of player traits, effects of gamification on engagement, intrinsic motivation and achievement levels, how game elements affect users as well as identify effects of player motivation as a mediating variable. Next, a model of gamification based learning and assessment was developed. A quasi-experimental research was carried out for 8 weeks. 28 students were in the experimental group and 26 students were in the control group. To reduce threats to the research, a dedicated system login, similar educator’s teaching experience and schools with sufficient IT equipment were used. The experimental group was exposed to gamification online via Zondle platform and the traditional classroom used offline via infusion of game elements. Both groups were tested for intrinsic motivation levels using Intrinsic Motivation questionnaire, and the pre-and post-tests were used to identify their achievement levels. The experimental group were tested for player traits using Player Motivation questionnaires and their participation level was based on Zondle Platform usage. The player traits showed that 68% of the experimental group retained their player motivation types and the highest player trait was immersion. Meanwhile, the engagement levels of the experimental students using the gamified platform peaked for Topic 6 at 36.21 times login in comparison to the lowest which was Topic 7 with 5.2 times login. Intrinsic motivation levels of the experimental group showed that their levels of interest, effort, perceived choice and usefulness construct had significant changes at the end of the research. The analysis of achievement levels, showed that pre-and post-test scores of the control group were strong and positively correlated (r=0.630,p<0.001) and the experimental group’s results were moderate and positively correlated (r=0.496,p< 0.007). There was a significant difference between pre-and post-test scores of the experimental group (t=8.040, p<0.000). As an indication of how game elements were affected, it was found that initially there was no preference. However, at the end of the research, the students favoured gamified leader board especially as it motivates them to be better academically and competitive. Meanwhile, badges were preferred offline as students prefer physically acquiring them, for online gamified learning, points and leader board were preferred. The mediating analyses in this research have paved the way to create a model for gamification based learning and assessment for future educators and researchers

O impacto da gamificação na motivação e no engagement dos vendedores: um estudo de caso

Introdução: A gamificação tem proliferado como uma estratégia auspiciosa perante desafios empresariais contemporâneos, nomeadamente a alienação da força de trabalho. Todavia, pouco se sabe acerca de como a gamificação transforma o comportamento humano, sobretudo na área comercial. Objetivos: Pretende-se estudar o impacto da gamificação na motivação e no engagement dos vendedores, identificando os elementos de jogo, bem como as características demográficas, profissionais e o hábito de jogo com impacto no desempenho. Metodologia: Estudo de caso de uma empresa portuguesa atuante no retalho dos eletrodomésticos, eletrónica de consumo e entretenimento. Foi realizada uma análise de conteúdo a cinco focus groups, com cinco vendedores cada, bem como uma análise de documentos online sobre a gamificação na empresa e observações diretas informais. Resultados: A gamificação motiva os colaboradores, particularmente através de recompensas, competição e cooperação, mas não promove engagement nos vendedores devido a obstáculos distintos, especialmente sentimentos de injustiça no sistema de avaliação/recompensas e ausência de recursos tecnológicos adequados à gamificação. Conclusões: Apesar da gamificação potenciar o comportamento e ser uma ferramenta valorizada, a sua aplicação deve ser criteriosa e humanista, de forma a garantir a produtividade através da diversão na força de vendas. Implicações para a prática: O sistema gamificado deve ser transacional, alinhado às especificidades organizacionais/individuais, antecipar os efeitos colaterais da competição, fornecer oportunidades de diversão e ser monitorizado constantemente. Simultaneamente, a liderança deve apoiar um mindset favorável à gamificação. Valor/originalidade: Ainda que os resultados não possam ser generalizados, este estudo contribui para a compreensão deste fenómeno, fornecendo contributos sobre as potencialidades, os constrangimentos e as considerações éticas da gamificação. Acrescenta ainda evidencia sobre a necessidade de investigação adicional.Background: Gamification has proliferated as an auspicious strategy towards contemporary challenges, namely the alienation of the workforce. However, little is known about how gamification transforms human behavior, especially in the sales department. Purpose: Intention to study the impact of gamification on the motivation and engagement of the sales people, identifying the game elements, the demographic and professional characteristics and game habits that impact performance. Methodology: Case study of a Portuguese company operating in the retail of home appliance electronics, consumer electronics and entertainment devices. A content analysis was carried out on five focus groups, with five salespeople each, as well as an analysis of online documents about gamification in the company and direct informal observations. Results: Gamification motivates employees, especially through rewards, competition and cooperation, but does not promote engagement in salespeople due to different obstacles, specifically by feelings of injustice in the evaluation/rewards system and lack of technological resources to support gamification. Conclusion: Although gamification enhances behavior and it's a valued too, its application needs to discerning and humanistic in order to achieve productivity through fun in the sales force. Practical implications: The gamified system must be transactional, in agreement with organizational/individual specificities, anticipating the effects of competition, providing fun opportunities and being continuously monitored. At the same time, a leadership must support a gamification-friendly mindset. Value/originality: Although the results cannot be generalized, this study contributed to the understanding of this phenomenon, providing contributions on the potentialities, constraints and ethical considerations of gamification. In addition, this study shows the need for further investigations

An e-learning environment for enterprise resource planning systems

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) education can positively impact the success of an ERP implementation. Incorporating new tools and technologies into the learning process can potentially alleviate the evident problems with ERP education. Blended learning and e-learning environments both offer opportunities for improvement in education. However, there are various factors and components that need to be in place for such an environment to be successful. The aim of this research is to provide an ERP e-Learning Environment (ERPeL) that can assist with ERP education in terms of creating an integrated and comprehensive learning environment for novice ERP users. In order to achieve this aim, this study followed the Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology which is specific to educational technology research and was applied in iterative cycles where various components of the environment were evaluated by different participants. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected by means of field studies (interviews, focus groups and questionnaires). The proposed ERPeL underwent several iterations of feedback and improvement. In order to determine the success of e-learning, various critical success factors and evaluation criteria were investigated. Field studies were conducted in order to validate the theory in a real-world context. An initial field study was conducted with third year Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) students who were enrolled in the 2014 ERP systems’ module in the Department of Computing Sciences. Many of the problems identified in theory were found to be prevalent in the real-world context. One of the DBR process cycles involved the implementation of specific components of the ERPeL at the Developing and Strengthening Industry-driven Knowledge-transfer between developing Countries (DASIK) introduction to ERP systems course. Participants were either NMMU students, academic staff or industry delegates. The components evaluated included videos, learning content, badges, assessment and the SYSPRO Latte m-learning application. Additional components of a leader board, live chats, peer reviewing, expert reviews, user generated content, consultancy with experts and SYSPRO ERP certification were implemented in the subsequent cycle where participants were 2015 third year NMMU ERP systems students. The criteria used to evaluate the success of the ERPeL and its e-learning components were adapted from literature and a new set of evaluation criteria for e-learning was proposed. The ERPeL is made up of Moodle, the SYSPRO ERP System, the SYSPRO e-Learning System, the SYSPRO Latte m-learning application, learning content and components. Overall the ERPeL was positively received by the various sample groups. The research results indicate that the use of an e-learning environment for ERP systems was positively received. The most positive aspects reported were the implementation of e-learning components such as the interactive videos, simulations and m-learning. In support of this Masters dissertation, the following three papers have been published and presented at two local conferences and one international conference: 1. SACLA 2014, Port Elizabeth (South Africa); 2. SAICSIT 2015, Stellenbosch (South Africa); and 3. IDIA 2015, Zanzibar (Tanzania)

Perceived and actual role of gamification principles

Although gamification has successfully been applied in office scenarios, it remains unclear how employees really feel about the introduction of a gamified system at their workplace. In this paper, we address this issue from two directions. First, we present the outcome of an online survey where we analyze users' opinion about gamification in a workplace environment. Then, we analyze the interaction logs of a re-designed gamified enterprise book marking system to compare the employees' subjective perception of gamification with their actual behavior when using a gamified system. Results indicate that there is a strong relationship between employees' perception of gamification and their actual interaction with such system