The purpose of this study is to examine whether playing the serious game Flow Leadership Is Good Business for You (FLIGBY) helps university students develop sustainability-related management skills. By leveraging the Flow theory, FLIGBY provides an immersive learning experience in which players assume the role of a manager responsible for balancing financial objectives with the implementation of sustainable development.
This study analyzes a sample of 1,723 undergraduate and postgraduate students from higher education institutions. It applies Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses and regression models to examine whether playing the serious game FLIGBY contributes to the development of sustainability-related management skills among university students. Four independent variables are considered, such as profit, stakeholder management, social dynamics and Flow.
Only stakeholder management and Flow showed significant correlations with sustainability performance, but with weak effect sizes. These findings suggest that while stakeholder engagement and Flow experiences may contribute to sustainability-related learning in FLIGBY, they account for only a small portion of sustainability performance variance. This highlights the need to consider additional factors when evaluating the role of serious games in supporting the development of skills relevant for sustainable leadership.
This study highlights the innovative use of FLIGBY for developing sustainability skills through experiential learning. Unlike traditional approaches (e.g. merely numerical simulations or static situational role-plays), FLIGBY integrates ethical dilemmas, stakeholder engagement and sustainable leadership into decision-making processes.
