Utilising the Best Practices of Alternative Management Structures in the Gaming Industry

Abstract

This paper covers the study conducted on the topic of alternative management structures. The business environment is changing at a faster pace than ever before, especially due to the accelerating technological development, which makes it difficult for companies to stay relevant. Despite this, the majority of companies still utilise traditional management practices which may not be ideal. They are said to restrict creativity, grant decision making power only to some individuals, and negatively impact employee engagement. However, this study explores the rivalling alternative management approaches which could provide a solution to the problem. The aim of the research was to examine two different alternative management structures of Spotify and Valve Corporation and to determine what the best practices and the pitfalls of such models are. These best practices were then to be compiled into an appliable action plan for the beneficiaries, medium to large European game development companies. The research included a theoretical background focusing on the modern business context, where technological inventions such as AI, big data, and business analytics were examined alongside other trends impacting the modern business environment such as globalisation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, both traditional and alternative management theory was explored. The traditional management section introduced hierarchy and bureaucracy, their role in the business world and the issues often connected with them. The alternative management section, on the other hand, focused on the characterisation of the topic itself, and the introduction of concepts such as humanocracy, polyarchy, and agile method tailoring. A holistic case study approach with multiple units of analysis was used to then tackle the research question of ”How can game development companies utilise the best practices of alternative management structures to gain competitive advantage?”. The unique management structures and practices of Spotify and Valve Corporation were analysed. Each of the company analysis included four main areas of focus: an introduction where the company was set into context, the management structure exploration, where the approaches were described, employee satisfaction, where workplace reviews were examined, and the conclusion. The data was then coded and organised in a table for the two companies to be compared. Following this, another table was compiled assessing the relevance of the practices utilised by the organisations through connection to the issues and strengths of traditional management and the impact of the modern business environment introduced in the theory. Lastly, the best practices and pitfalls were drawn from the results and an appliable action plan was constructed for the beneficiaries. The results generally confirmed that alternative management structures may be better suitable for the current business environment thanks to their focus on innovation, employee empowerment, and adaptability which was demonstrated by both of the studied companies, despite their significantly different organisational structures.