Applying Game Design Elements in the Workplace

Gamification, whereby users are engaged in pre-assigned activities induced by game elements, is gaining interest among researchers and practitioners. While it has been touted that enterprise gamified information systems (ISs) can successfully tempt users, ensuring sustainable user engagement has been identified as a major challenge for organizations that have adopted the gamification ideas. Despite the proliferation of enterprise social media with gamified applications, little research has empirically examined how gamification ideas generate practical values in the workplace. To fill this gap, drawing on cognitive evaluation theory and the theory of aesthetic experience, this study develops a theoretical model that explains how game dynamics influence an employee’s work engagement within an enterprise gamified IS. On the basis of the results of model test, we can discuss how different game dynamics (i.e., reward-based and aesthetic-based dynamics) jointly influence users’ intrinsic motivation (enjoyment) to engage in work-related activities

Machinelike or Humanlike? A Literature Review of Anthropomorphism in AI-Enabled Technology

Due to the recent proliferation of AI-enabled technology (AIET), the concept of anthropomorphism, human likeness in technology, has increasingly attracted researchers’ attention. Researchers have examined how anthropomorphism influences users’ perception, adoption, and continued use of AIET. However, researchers have yet to agree on how to conceptualize and operationalize anthropomorphism in AIET, which has resulted in inconsistent findings. A comprehensive understanding is thus needed of the current state of research on anthropomorphism in AIET contexts. To conduct an in-depth analysis of the literature on anthropomorphism, we reviewed 35 empirical studies focusing on conceptualizing and operationalizing AIET anthropomorphism, and its antecedents and consequences. Based on our analysis, we discuss potential research gaps and offer directions for future research

The Role of Spatial Ability in Learning with Virtual Reality: A Literature Review

No research has systematically reviewed the role of spatial ability in virtual reality (VR) learning. This has resulted in inefficiencies in educators’ ability to adopt personalized teaching strategies based on learners’ spatial ability to maximize the effectiveness of VR. Therefore, this study conducted a literature review on spatial ability in VR learning to provide researchers and educators with a comprehensive understanding of how spatial ability affects VR learning. After searching Scopus with keywords and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, the researchers identified 30 relevant research articles for the review. This literature review mainly analyzed research trends, contexts, theories, methodologies, and findings from the identified articles. The contradictory role of spatial ability in VR learning was also summarized. Based on the literature analysis, this study identified research gaps and indicated directions for future research

Discrepancy between Actual Self and Virtual Self: Theoretical Extensions, Measurement and Relation to Contribution in Virtual Communities

Virtual communities enable one to pretend to be a different person or to possess a different identity at little or no cost. Despite the ubiquity of such communities, there is only limited theoretical and empirical research on how taking on a different identity is associated with one’s contributive behavior in those communities. Drawing on the social psychology literature, we adopt the concept of self-discrepancy rooted in self-identity and derive an index for self-discrepancy by using the differences between actual and virtual identities. Next, we link the self-discrepancy with perceived privacy rights and with quality and quantity of contribution. Analysis of 299 respondents showed that self-discrepancy significantly influenced perceived privacy rights and indirectly reduced quality and quantity of contribution in virtual communities. Furthermore, sub-group analysis revealed that the effects of self-discrepancy varied depending on whether the virtual community was utilitarian or hedonic. The present study aims to show how an individual member’s self-concept is associated with his or her psychological state in a virtual community, thereby offering practical insights for managers of virtual communities by suggesting how multi-identity should be managed therein

Does Virtuality Increase Social Capital within an Organization?

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between virtuality and social capital. Does virtuality decrease the strength of individuals’ social ties? Or does virtuality increase social capital by expanding the range of individuals’ social networks? To address these questions, first, we identify the properties of virtuality, whose definition still varies in a variety of research settings and at a variety of units of analysis. Second, we develop a conceptual framework that explores the links between virtuality and social capital. By combining the concept of weak ties from social network research and the notion of virtuality from the IS literature, we suggest a new perspective on virtual work: more virtuality leads to more social capital when the bridging relationships based on weak ties are maximized

Revisiting User Engagement: Concepts, Themes, and Opportunities

Given the proliferation of information technology (IT), the growing research interest across diverse disciplines in user engagement with IT is unsurprising. However, defining, designing for, and evaluating user engagement remain complex issues within the information systems community, prompting researchers to call for a systematic understanding of these areas. To bridge this gap, this review presents an analysis of the main themes of 59 empirical studies focusing on the conceptualization, operationalization, antecedents, consequences, and forms of user engagement. Based on the findings of this review, opportunities for future research that address study settings, emerging technologies, the factor structure and forms of user engagement, as well as user engagement frameworks, are presented. As technological advances continue to shape how users engage with IT, the concept of user engagement should be refined and elaborated on according to the research context

The Influence of Social Media on Collective Action in the Context of Digital Activism: An Affordance Approach

This study examines how social media influence collective action in the context of digital activism. This is achieved by using the concept of media affordance as a theoretical lens and applying it to the collective purposes of network building and synthesis, as suggested by mobilization theory. Employing latent class logit regression, we tested the proposed hypotheses based on data from 384 digital activism events in 100 countries, classifying success in digital activism as either partial or complete success. The results show that when the purpose of digital activism is network building, media with greater affordances for promoting environmental shaping were positively related to the success of digital activism. Conversely, when the purpose of digital activism is synthesis, media with greater affordances for promoting contagion were positively related to the success of digital activism

Social Network and Knowledge Accessibility of Project Teams: A Multi-level Approach

This study deals with the relationship between the project team\u27s social network and knowledge accessibility from an empirical aspect. What kind of network structure is desirable to improve project team members\u27 knowledge accessibility? Does a strong connection among group members improve their knowledge accessibility? Otherwise, does the expansion of the external network of a group improve its members\u27 knowledge accessibility more efficiently? This study aims to contribute to developing existing network theories and knowledge management theories by answering these questions. To solve the raised research questions, a multi-level research model was developed on the basis of social network theory. From a social network analysis which was conducted on 172 consultants and 42 project teams in 5 global consulting companies doing business in Korea, it was found that the research results backed the existing two different social network mechanisms: closure mechanism and brokerage mechanism. However, the effect of social network on knowledge accessibility of project team members varied along the type of network involved. This study is meaningful in that it overcame the limits of the unit of analysis shown in existing studies by distinguishing group-level network density from individual-level network properties, and by analyzing the moderating effect between them

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL POWER ON TRANSACTIVE MEMORY SYSTEMS AND KNOWLEDGE UTILIZATION

Many organizations have attempted to develop knowledge management strategies through which they can substantially enhance their employees’ ability to utilize knowledge resources dispersed across business units. While previous studies have acknowledged that social power is one of the critical factors in facilitating or constraining social interactions among individuals, few studies have examined in-depth how social power within a work group influences an individual’s knowledge utilization. Given that social power in an organization determines the processes of recognizing others’ knowledge and applying it to real business, the investigation of the influence of social power on knowledge utilization is of value to researchers and practitioners. Integrating the volitional model and the theory of social power, this study develops a theoretical model that explains how social power influences individuals’ affect, transactive memory system (TMS), and knowledge utilization. The proposed model was tested using data collected from 206 individuals. The results of this study show that social power significantly influences an individual’s affect and TMS, which in turn influences intention to utilize knowledge. Notably, this study reveals that different power bases have different effects on individuals’ cognitive (TMS levels) and emotional (positive affect) aspects in relation to knowledge utilization in organizations

CLEVER: Gamification and Enterprise Knowledge Learning

© Lennart Nacke, 2016. This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in CHI PLAY Companion '16 Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts, https://doi.org/10.1145/2968120.2987745This paper describes the design and a preliminary implementation study of a gamified knowledge management system (KMS) that supports the learning component within knowledge management (KM). KM includes acquiring social capital through the process of acquisition, sharing, and dissemination of knowledge within a company. Employees often lack the motivation to share their implicit knowledge with one another and are reluctant to engage in a collaborative forum for such knowledge exchange. We developed a gamified learning component of an enterprise KMS to help foster this process of collaborative and participatory learning. More importantly, this game combines trivia and strategy elements as game elements to motivate the players for knowledge exchange. We report preliminary results from an exploratory study with nine participants which indicates that the above combination of game elements does contribute to participatory knowledge learning within an enterprise KMS.NSERC SSHRCPeer-reviewe