Arizona State University

Arizona State University’s School of Global Management and Leadership is bringing video gaming to its classrooms with an eye on using the educational and training tool to teach students about competing successfully in business on three levels – information technology, process management and operations.

The school’s partnership with IBM, a worldwide leader in technology products and services, will help students develop a specific set of business and information technology (IT) skills required in today’s global marketplace.  The “serious games” that form the basis for the partnership are seen by many corporations as an effective way of teaching new skills to a generation that has been brought up in the video game era – computer and video games used as educational and training tools. The game may be a simulation which has the look and feel of a game, but corresponds to non-game events or processes, including business operations and processes.

According to The Apply Group, by 2012 between 100 and 135 of the Global Fortune 500 will have adopted gaming for learning.  The United States, United Kingdom and Germany are expected to be the vanguard of such a move.ASU’s global management school plans to begin testing the IBM “Innov8” software in classes immediately.

“This is a 21^st century version of the meat and potatoes core business courses that deal with technology,” says Pierre Balthazard, director of the school’s graduate programs.  “IBM has developed a unique and exciting platform to present complicated material in a way that will engage the students. 

“We will be introducing this software to our master’s in applied leadership and management class in mid-November as part of an exercise to learn business process management and the assessment of new technologies.  Our students will eat this up.”

Innov8 has been specifically designed by IBM to help bridge the gap in understanding between IT teams and business leaders in an organization.  Featuring simulations that have the look and feel of a video game but correspond to business activities such as improving operational processes, serious gaming has recently emerged as a successful method to train employees or develop new skills.

The game, which is played with a joystick, is based on advanced commercial gaming technologies and allows players to visualize how technology and the related business strategy affect different parts of the organization. Together, players can literally see business processes, identify bottlenecks, and explore 'what-if' scenarios before the technology is deployed.

“We believe this is cutting edge and will be of tremendous benefit to our students and faculty,” says Balthazard, whose research in brain mapping for leadership skills was recently the subject of a front page feature in The Wall Street Journal.  “The system and its gaming approach will add an interesting dimension to our pedagogy; we teach to non-technical global management students mostly.  IBM has developed the tools that will enhance the learning process for our students, and we are looking forward to utilizing those tools in our classrooms because this represents great promise as we strive to find new ways to present challenging, heavily quantitative lessons and make them easier to grasp.”

The promise of the serious games concept is evidenced by a recent IBM survey in which 75 percent of CEOs surveyed cited education and the lack of qualified candidates as the issues that will have the greatest impact on their business over the next three years.  Over half (56 percent) of IBM’s clients reported that not having the right blend of business and IT skills is the most immediate challenge they face.  Other studies show technology workers themselves worry that their lack of business skills is holding them back in areas like budget management, strategy and business savvy. 

ASU’s School of Global Management and Leadership prepares students to become innovative and skilled business leaders in today’s dynamic and global business economy, whether in their own community or elsewhere in the world.  Faculty members are experts in their fields who bring international research and current events into the classroom.  Additional information is available at http://sgml.asu.edu/.