Serious games in the context of organizational knowledge management practices

Authors: Albena Antonova and Siva Ekambaram

2011, Presented at the 12th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Passau, Germany.

Abstract

Serious games (SG) are increasingly gaining popularity in various fields such as, education, business, entertainment and research, and they capture attention of learners, researchers and the business community. Serious games are commonly defined as digital games used for purposes other than mere entertainment or fun. SGs are considered as effective tools for enhancing knowledge building and testing of soft skills and complex competences. With these characteristics, SG can lead to better visualization and understanding of reality and high-order learning. Thus, being recognized as an enhanced learning platform, SG has entered in the field of corporate training and competence development. The development and the widespread implementation of SG can influence knowledge management (KM) processes and knowledge flows in organizations.

The present research objectives are to investigate the impact of SG implementation on different organizational practices of KM. SG directly influence individuals’ (employees’) attitudes toward knowledge acquisition, competence building, and cooperation and motivation. Furthermore, SGs contribute to improve organizational processes and pave the way to enhance KM practices in organizations. And at the same time focus on KM can also improve the processes of developing and implementing SG in companies.

The paper first presents a theoretical overview of issues related to KM and SG. Followed by this presentation, the paper describes the connection between KM and SG. This description will incorporate both the individual dimension of KM and the organizational dimension of KM with respect to SG. The following discussion provides recommendations for developing or adopting SG for KM purposes. Finally, conclusion winds up the whole discussion.