Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of FLIGBY
Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of
FLIGBY
Fernando Almeida
almd@fe.up.pt
University of Porto, ISPGaya & INESC TEC, Portugal
Zoltan Buzady
zoltan@buzady.hu
Corvinus Business School, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
Abstract
Serious games are increasingly being used as innovative tool for developing entrepreneurial
skills, such as strategic management, leadership, communication, negotiation or decision
making. FLIGBY is a serious game that was initially developed with the objective of
simulating the business management process and the application of Flow theory in a
business context. However, most recently it has been suggested that serious games in
general, and FLIGBY in particular, can be used in other contexts, namely in the
development of entrepreneurial skills. In this sense, this study tries to verify if the
competences developed and evaluated in FLIGBY on the Master Analytics Profiler (MAP) can
be used to evaluate the entrepreneurial capacities of the students in the context of the
course of entrepreneurship in a higher education institution. The findings indicate that the
performance of these students in FLIGBY is very similar to the benchmark with only small
oscillations. However, some asymmetries emerged considering the educational and
professional experience, such that the students of the management course showed better
business-oriented thinking and IT students revealed greater time-management skills.
Finally, professional experience has proved to be relevant for making decisions about stress
and for the completion of managerial tasks successfully.
Keywords
Entrepreneurship; Learning; Assessment; Serious Games; Flow; FLIGBY
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I. Introduction
Education is a complex phenomenon and implies a careful and contextualized evaluation. Firstly,
anyone might expect with good reason that a change in education (curriculum, organization or
structure) has immediate implications and results. In fact, education is a gradual and interactive
process, and sometimes the results can take decades to be evidenced. Secondly, education is a
model whose results are not linear, in which a political or formal change has no implication on
results in the same proportion. Nonetheless, there is broad consensus about that higher education
institutions should contribute to building a more prosperous, fairer, more open and accountable
society (Keller, 2008; Katiliütė et al., 2014; Ramaley, 2014). Furthermore, and in addition to the
fundamental and historical role of universities in teaching and research, a third mission of the
university arises that aims to provide an interface between the university and society. According to
Loi & Di Guardo (2015), the third mission of universities is the dimensions of innovation and
technology transfer, continuing education, and social commitment.
The introduction of entrepreneurship education has a revolutionary character, since it adds to the
traditional vocational training of employees and academics, the entrepreneurial culture, more
appropriate to the new formats of labor relations resulting from the restructuring of the world
economy. Faced with this changed scenario, educational institutions should not refrain from
focusing on preparing students for job searching and focusing on life preparation and the
development of self-learning, incorporating entrepreneurship education into regular curricula and
the formation of new professional. The importance of the dissemination of an entrepreneurial
culture at universities, in the attempt to provide an entrepreneurial environment for future
professionals, is fundamental, because according to Ghina (2014) and Baptista & Naia (2015) the
traits of entrepreneurial behavior can be achieved by the practice and lived experiences, by the
assimilation of structured and developed knowledge in the classroom.
Arbaugh (2010) advocates that the process of teaching entrepreneurship needs to be highly
interactive and immersive to develop entrepreneurial skills in students. In this sense, serious
games emerge as a pertinent approach to developing entrepreneurial skills. However, although
there are several serious games for entrepreneurship learning and reports of their adoption in a
university context, it is verified that most of these serious games do not include an integrated
assessment process of the developed entrepreneurial competencies. This study aims to explore the
process of identifying and evaluating the students' entrepreneurial skills using FLIGBY game. In
total, 29 management/leadership competencies are collected, which constitutes the Master
Analytics Profiler (MAP) of each player, and it becomes pertinent to evaluate the relevance of these
metrics in the development of entrepreneurship skills. Additionally, this study intends to explore
how FLIGBY can be used by students to assess their entrepreneurial ability. Consequently, three
research questions emerged as relevant to assess during this study:
• Are the required entrepreneurship skills aligned with the dimensions assessed in FLIGBY?
• What were the indicators in which entrepreneurship students had better and worse
performance?
• Is there a relationship between students' game performance and their prior course profile or
professional experience?
The manuscript is structured as follows: we initially perform a literature review on entrepreneurship
competencies and on the adoption of serious games and simulations for entrepreneurship learning.
Consequently, the concept of Flow theory and the FLIGBY are presented. After that, the adopted
methodology is presented and the main results are discussed. Finally, the main conclusions are
enumerated and some relevant points for future work are given.
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II. Literature Review
a. Entrepreneurship Competencies
One of the most relevant studies in the field of entrepreneurship competencies was developed by
Komarkova et al. (2015) to the European Commission in which authors synthesized a number of
policies and initiatives in order to promote the development of entrepreneurship competencies. This
report clustered the entrepreneurship competencies in three main conceptual areas: (i) operational
and contextual, those referring to knowledge and skills for the creation of a new start-up; (ii)
entrepreneurial, those relating to the process of identification, evaluation and exploration of a
business opportunity; and (iii) conceptual and relationship, those referring to attitudes and actionoriented skills. The report presents a long list of 292 competencies, of which 120 are related to
skills, 102 to knowledge and 70 to attitudes. Another model published by the European
Commission that can be used as reference for designing entrepreneurship curricula is the
EntreComp, also known as Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (Bacigalupo et al., 2016).
EntreComp organizes entrepreneurship competencies in a spiral composed of three spheres. The
core sphere includes the ideas and opportunities (e.g., vision, creativity), the intermediate sphere
includes resources (e.g., motivation and perseverance, mobilizing resources and others), and the
outer layer is called into action (e.g., taking the initiative, learning through experience).
The model of grouping the entrepreneurship competencies into several layers is one of the most
used, which is also adopted by Mitchelmore & Rowley (2010) that identify attitudinal, behavioral,
and managerial competencies. Other approaches that extend this base model through the inclusion
of new layers have emerged in recent years. Smith & Shankar (2015) establish a four-category
model composed of four dimensions: (i) achievement; (ii) personal power; (iii) planning; and (iv)
relationship building. For its part, a five-tiered model is proposed by Sugars (2014) which includes
two innovative dimensions (i.e., entrepreneurial investor and true entrepreneur) over previous
models. This proposal highlights the entrepreneur's role in accepting market risk and his innate
ability to successively create new ventures. Finally, the Entrepreneurship Competency Model
proposed in 2010 establishes a six-tiered competency pyramid (ECM, 2010): (i) personal
effectiveness competencies (e.g., interpersonal skills, ambition, adaptability); (ii) academic
competencies (e.g., reading, writing, science and technology); (iii) workplace competencies (e.g.,
creative thinking, networking, planning); (iv) industry-wide technical competencies (e.g.,
innovation, marketing, business operation); (v) industry-sector technical competencies (e.g., micro
enterprise, small business development); and (vi) management competencies and occupationspecific requirements.
Briefly, the identified models allow us to trace a gradual evolution of entrepreneurship
competences. The classical models organize the competences into three fundamental competences
related to the intrinsic entrepreneurial capacity of individuals, the capacity of these individuals to
establish relationships and the capacity for action. On the other hand, the 4-layer models subdivide
the individual's entrepreneurial skills into his/her planning and achievement capacity. On the other
hand, the 5-layered models highlight the importance of the entrepreneur in taking on leadership
roles and in communicating and motivating his/her employees. Finally, the 6-layer models
emphasize the importance of industry knowledge for the entrepreneur to be able to create
competitive advantages.
It states clear that entrepreneurship skills span multiple dimensions. In this sense, it is expected as
demonstrated by Van der Hoeff (2013) that entrepreneurial teams are more successful compared
to entrepreneurs who work alone. This perspective is shared by other authors who highlight the
role of teamwork and the existence of members with multidisciplinary competencies in the success
of an entrepreneurship project (Brinckmann & Hoegl, 2011; Liguori et al., 2014). In fact, the
existence of multidisciplinary competencies among venture promoters emerges as one of the
relevant factors in a new venture performance (Jin et al., 2017). Additionally, Yoon (2018)
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advocates that entrepreneurial orientation of venture companies is determined by entrepreneurial
team characteristics, such as human and social capital, and the existence of marketing top talents.
There are some studies that aim to set a priority list of key competencies for entrepreneurship.
Robles & Zárraga-Rodriguez (2015) establish a ranking of key individual competencies that defines
the ability of a person to become an entrepreneur. This study uses the Delphi method to conclude
that the most important competencies are: (i) risk assumption; (ii) initiative; (iii) leadership; (iv)
teamwork; (v) responsibility; (vi) autonomy; (vii) self-confidence; (viii) integrity; (ix) negotiation;
and (x) dynamism. On the other side, competencies related to social mobility, quality of work and
change management emerges at least relevant. Zarefard & Cho (2017) explored the main relevant
managerial competencies to create an innovative start-up among university students in Iran and
concluded that administrative competency, knowledge and technology competence and attaining
financial capability emerge as decisive elements. A similar study was developed by Lizote et al.
(2018) in which they used a sample of 61 entrepreneurship courses in Brazil to conclude that the
most relevant competencies to determine the entrepreneurial ability of university students are: (i)
ability to search for information; (ii) commitment; and (iii) persuasion and networking.
The development and application of entrepreneurial skills are not exclusively essential in the
process of creating a new venture. According to Sánchez (2012), they also influence on small firm
performance because they can play a key role in organizational capability and competitive scope.
Chatterjee & Das (2016) studied the impact of five dimension skills essential for development and
entrepreneurial ability, such as leadership skills, communication skills, human relation skills,
technical skills and inborn aptitude, and they concluded a positive correlation between those skills
on the success of micro-entrepreneurs in an Indian region. Hashim et al. (2018) also confirm this
effect and advocate that dynamic capabilities mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial
competencies and small firm performance.
b. Serious Games and Simulations for Entrepreneurship Learning
It is possible identify a very diverse set of technological solutions that promote the process of
learning and practice entrepreneurship competencies in the market of serious games. One of the
most comprehensive studies that performed a systematic literature review on this field was
elaborated by Fox et al. (2018) that identified a total of 40 serious games and analyzed
comparatively the characteristics offered by these serious games. This study is also of great
importance for identifying six types of learning that can be acquired in entrepreneurship game
environments, respectively (Fox et al., 2018):
• Active learning – engaging learning by doing, solving problems and making decisions within
the game context;
• Entrepreneurial preparedness – extent to which the game draws on and adds to the learner’s
existing stock of experience;
• Reflective learning - ability of the game to elicit in the player logical and reflective
developmental rationales;
• Situated learning – game places learners within situational contexts and promote the
interaction with other players and other nonplayable characters;
• Vicarious learning – level of involvement of other stakeholders in the learning process like
peers, mentors and instructors;
• Affective learning – emotional engagement with the game, which includes elements such as
feelings, motivation, attitudes and values.
In addition to serious games, simulations emerge as an alternative and a highly interactive digital
approach to learning entrepreneurship. The simulations seek to represent and offer a replica of a
real situation. Routledge (2016) advocates that simulations provide a flexible environment where
the player can define their strategies according to the rules of the game, without the consequences
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of their mistakes and bad decisions have an impact in reality. Costin et al. (2018) argue that this
approach helps students to realize the complexities of running a venture, in an environment where
decisions occur simultaneously and interactively.
The integration of games in the context of classroom activities is a topic addressed by several
studies. At this level, it is possible to find approaches that advocate a totally focused approach in elearning and others that promote blended learning environments (includes distance and face-toface training sessions). Allegra et al. (2013) developed a web-based game called PNPVillage that
allow students to simulate the process of managing a touristic company. Protopsaltis et al. (2014)
describe the implementation of a project composed of a series of mini-games for entrepreneurship
learning and a Web 2.0 platform that promotes the collaborative competition among students. For
its part, La Guardia et al. (2014) presents a b-learning model based on classroom activities and
online learning activities. The classroom activities are used for the development of soft skills, which
are essential for the development of an entrepreneurial mindset; while online learning activities
allow students to explore in a simulated environment the essential business concepts associated
with the process of launching a new venture. Another approach that also adopts the b-learning
model was followed by Almeida (2017) that adopts the ENTRExplorer SG as a complement to the
training in the classroom context. In each session, several themes of the game are taught, which
are later experienced by students outside the classroom while playing the game. Lamrani et al.
(2017) demonstrate the use of serious games to encourage and motivate entrepreneurship
education and promote youth entrepreneurship.
Some advantages and also challenges are pointed out in relation to the use of serious games for
the promotion of entrepreneurship among students. Garalis & Strazdiene (2007) carried out a
study among undergraduate management students to evaluate the skills their developed through
the adoption of simulation business enterprises. The findings of this study emphasize the three
most important developed competencies: (i) organizational skills; (ii) communication skills; and
(iii) decision making ability. For its part, Bellotti et al. (2014) emphasize several benefits, such as
building problem-solving skills, applicable to real-world situations, learning by doing, high
interactivity, and the promotion of multi-tasking. In this study, several issues are also addressed,
such as serious games can distract students from the learning content, game difficulty cannot be
appropriate for all students, and most part of serious games has a commercial purpose and lack
focus on the didactical.
Although it is relatively consensual that business-focused serious games can provide students with
an authentic learning experience, which will help them in acquiring core competencies for the
entrepreneurial activity as established in Bacigalupo et al. (2016) framework, its impact on the
increase of entrepreneurial intent is not consensual. Fellnhofer (2015) reports that the adoption of
serious games contributes to the change of entrepreneurial intention and behavior and
consequently has a positive effect on the creation of new companies. Similarly, Harkema & Popescu
(2015) also reported benefits in increasing the entrepreneurial intention among adults who
attended an entrepreneurship course in the Netherlands. However, in the opposite direction, the
results obtained by Newbery et al. (2016) indicate that the serious games had a significant
negative impact on entrepreneurial intent of undergraduate students.
III. Flow Theory and FLIGBY
The Flow theory was introduced in positive psychology by Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the
decade of 60. According to Csikszentmihalyi (2014), Flow is a state in which a person is completely
absorbed and flowing a pleasant activity. Consequently, when a person is totally absorbed in what
he/she does, then we do not realize time passing. In this state, people can produce and achieve
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their best results, because mind and body are completely integrated and immersed in the moment
(Csikszentmihalyi, 2014).
The Flow state can be achieved by a careful and fair balance between two opposite states: the
state of anxiety, in which the challenge placed upon the individual is superior than a person's skill
level, and the state of boredom, which arises when the abilities of the people are clearly superior to
the demands by the challenges. According to Author (2017), this balancing process arises
sequentially, that is, when a person needs to accomplish a more difficult task, then he/she begins
to learn in a gradual way, this moving away from a state of anxiety toward that of arousal and
finally into Flow. Flow states can be described in terms of the following basic preconditions and
characteristics (Csikszentmihalyi, 2003, pp. 42-56):
1. Balance between challenges and skills;
2. Goals are clear;
3. Immediate and clear feedback (not need to be positive but must be constructive);
4. Intense concentration;
5. Effortless action;
6. Loss of ego;
7. Sense of control;
8. Distortion of temporal experience (unaware of time, space, noise, hunger);
9. Doing an activity because it “feels good”, not in expectation of any external reward.
Several authors explored the benefits offered by Flow theory in various activities. Broadly, these
benefits can be grouped into three dimensions (Sahoo & Sahu, 2009; Alexiou et al., 2012; Zumeta
et al., 2016):
• Increase the emotional, cognitive and social repertoire of the individual;
• Increase employee well-being and performance;
• Raise motivation, sense of commitment and perceptions of personal growth.
Flow theory is relevant for entrepreneurs, leaders and managers, because they all have to manage
people and create an environment where employees feel comfortable and enjoy their work and
grow in the process of doing it. Andony (2016) and Lan et al., (2017) advocate that managers,
entrepreneurs and leaders have to take the responsibility for creating a rewarding work
environment that will consequently bring benefits to employee satisfaction and company results. In
this sense, Flow-based entrepreneurial style will attract and retain better individuals, contribute to
increased collective and individual productivity, and contribute to the formation of individuals with
a more committed organizational citizenship behavior. It is also to be noted, that in order to
sustain the entrepreneurial process and to constantly develop new sets and higher level of skills
needed to master the complexity of the entrepreneurial venture, the entrepreneur also needs to
know and apply the concept of Flow to him or herself effectively.
The concept of Flow is highly applicable to a various type of interactive learning, particularly as a
serious gaming, in which we integrate the following three dimensions: (i) some theory in the
process of learning; (ii) use of technology in the simulation process; and fun elements that act as
games.
FLIGBY appeared in the market as a serious game integrating three dimensions: (i) learning the
Flow in business; (ii) simulation using for it a practical teaching tool; and (iii) include motivating
elements as games. The objective was to provide a serious game that can be used in education
and training of business, management, and entrepreneurial skills and attitudes (Marer et al.,
2015).
FLIGBY adopts a 3-tier architecture. A central component is the game software that is presented in
an interactive mobile format that allows the player to interact with the characters on the game.
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Other component is the databank that offers a central database repository to store all data (e.g.,
login, profile, decision, actions, etc.) generated during the game play. Finally, the Master Analytics
Profiler (MAP) is responsible to assess the performance of the player during the game. The game
produces a final report for each individual player on his/her 29 management/leadership
competencies measured during the game play. Table 1 synthesizes the MAP’s dimensions. These
dimensions have been deducted by Csikszentmihalyi (2003) based on his research interviews with
dozens of CEOs of top US corporation, which is the foundation of his Good Business book.
Dimension
Active listening
Description
Way of responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. This
is a method of listening that involves understanding the content of a message as
well as the intent of the sender and the circumstance under which the message
is given. Active listening is a structured form of listening and responding that
focuses the attention on the speaker. The listener does not have to agree with
the speaker – he or she must simply state what he or she thinks the speaker
said.
Analytical skill
The readinesses to visualize, articulate, and solve complex problems, and
concepts, and make decisions that are sensible based on the available
information. Such skills include demonstration of the ability to apply logical
thinking to gathering and analyzing information, designing and testing solutions
to problems, and formulating plans.
Assertiveness
The readiness to express your emotions and needs without violating the rights of
others and without being aggressive. Assertiveness is the behavior which enables
you to act in your own best interests, to stand up for yourself without undue
anxiety, to express your honest feelings comfortable, or to exercise you own
rights without denying the rights of others.
Balancing skill
The ability to maintain the same importance between things, considering them in
the same way. Effective leadership is about balance. A balance between
challenges and skills is necessary for Flow. It is easier to become completely
involved in a task if we believe it is doable; if it appears to be beyond our
capacity we tend to respond to it by feeling anxious; if the task is too easy we
get bored. In either case attention shifts from what needs to be accomplishedthe anxious person is distracted by worries about the outcome, while the bored
one starts searching for other things to do. The ideal condition can be expressed
by the simple formula: Flow occurs when both challenges and skills are high and
equal to each other.
Building engagement
The willingness to create trust and a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of
mind that is characterized by dedication. Dedication refers to being strongly
involved in one’s work and experiencing a sense of significance, enthusiasm, and
challenge. Building someone’s (the colleagues, the community) confidence in or
reliance on some quality or attribute of a person or a thing, or the truth in a
statement.
Business-oriented thinking
The readiness to manage situation and solve problems in order to create added
value
to
the
company
and
in
the
end,
create
value
for
the
shareholders/stakeholders. To be successful in business development you need
to manage the opportunities and threats of the corporate environment and to
recognize organizational weaknesses to avoid, and strengths to build upon.
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Communication skills
Set of skills that enable a person to convey information so that it is received and
understood. Communication skills refer to the repertoire of interpersonal
behavior.
Conflict-management
The practice of identifying and handling conflicts in a sensible, fair, and efficient
manner. Conflict management is the principle that all conflicts cannot necessarily
be resolved, but learning how to manage them can decrease the odds of
nonproductive escalation.
Delegation
The readiness to confer function or powers on another person so he or she can
act on behalf of the manager. Delegation empowers a subordinate to make
decisions (i.e., it is a shift of decision-making authority from one organizational
level to a lower one).
Diplomacy
The willingness to take into account the varying interests and values of the other
parties involved in the negotiation, treating those differences with respect and
dealing with people in a tactful manner.
Emotional intelligence
The capacity and readiness to understand, express and regulate emotions in
oneself and in others.
Empowerment
The skill of sharing information, rewards, and power with employees so that they
can take initiative and make decisions to solve problems and improve service
and performance.
Entrepreneurship
The capacity and willingness to undertake conception, organization, and
management of a productive venture with all attendant risks, while seeking profit
as a reward. Entrepreneurial spirit is a characterized by innovation and risktaking, and an essential component to succeed in an ever changing and more
competitive globe marketplace.
Execution
The act of performing, the completion of managerial tasks (execution of a plan, a
task, etc.), and the readiness of doing something successfully. It involves
managing the business aligned with the common values. Executing strategic
goals is by far the greatest challenge in business today.
Feedback
Process of giving information regarding the performance of employees, so that
they can act on. Feedback must be shared in a manner that is understandable
and perceived by them as being provided in a highly respectful manner. As an
organization seeks to improve its performance, feedback helps it to make the
required adjustments. Feedback is immediate. It is difficult for people to stay
absorbed in any activity unless they get timely, “online” information about how
well they are doing. The sense of total involvement of the Flow experience
derives in a large part from knowing that what one does matters and has
consequences. Feedback may come from colleagues or supervisors who
comment on performance, but preferably it is the activity itself that will provide
this information.
Future orientation
The readiness to think in long terms. This is the skills of “forward-looking”.
Information gathering
The readiness to collect adequate information to perform the next step based on
this information. Managers must know what information to gather, where to find
it, how to collect it, and ultimately how to process the collected information.
Intuitive thinking
Way of thinking that does not use rational processes such as facts and data. It is
unfocused, nonlinear, sees many things at once, views the big picture and
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contains perspective. Good intuition comes from years of knowledge and
experience that allows you to understand how people and the world works. Its
strength is that it can produce a rapid result. It is acting on feelings or hunches,
and it can also be guided by emotions.
Involvement
The
readiness
to
participate
in
the
activities
of
formal
or
information
teams/groups, all the way to the execution process.
Motivational skills
Those skills that enable a person to become motivated and work toward
achieving goals. This is the readiness to understand what causes a person to
become motivated and stay that way. It helps with making sure people are the
most productive that they can be.
Organizing
The willingness to initiate, arrange and manage several elements into a
purposeful structure. This is the ability to create throughout the organization a
network of people who can help solve implementation problems as they occur.
Good implementers customize this network to include individuals who can handle
the special types of problems anticipated in the implementation of a particular
strategy.
Prioritization
The readiness to evaluate a group of items and ranking them in their order of
importance or urgency.
Time pressured decision-
The readiness to form, facilitate and monitor teamwork and teams.
making
Personal strengths
Recognizing and applying personal strengths is the readiness to discover and to
put to good use those personal strengths of others that are not immediately
obvious. It is the realization that those strengths can potentially induce Flow
states in that other person and thus benefit the organization.
Social dynamics
Awareness of the complexity of many situations and the social dynamics that
govern them. This skill can be used to advance one’s own interest – for the good
or otherwise – and/or that of the organization.
Stakeholder management
The ability to manage the business process, often involving trade-off, so as to
have a positive impact on the organizations’ stakeholders, including that of
society at large.
Strategic thinking
Helps managers to set goals, to determine priorities, to review policy issues, and
to perform long term planning. Clear goals are necessary to reach the Flowstate. For a person to become deeply involved in any activity it is essential that
he or she knows precisely what tasks he or she must accomplish moment by
moment. Of course the ultimate goals of an activity are all important but true
enjoyment comes from steps one takes toward attaining a goal, not from
actually reaching it.
Teamwork management
The readiness to form, facilitate and monitor teamwork and teams.
Time management
Ability of systematic, priority-based structuring of time allocation and distribution
among competing demands
Table 1. Dimensions considered in MAP
Source: author’s own illustration
FLIGBY offers 23 scenarios, in which the user will have several stages of interaction with the
characters in the game. Players are presented with two to five options, and they pick one from the
list. The player makes a decision and then selects the appropriate choice, which produces
consequences. At each point the game provides feedback and the player moves to next scenario.
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Each decision point involves a three-step sequence: (i) the challenge; (ii) the decisions; and (iii)
the outcomes/feedback.
IV. Methodology
The methodology is organized into four phases as depicted in Figure 1. The study employs a focus
group as an approach to the simultaneous collection of qualitative and quantitative data. Focus
group approach was also adopted by Gaudelli & Taylor (2011) and Raju & Sankar (2014) in the
context of the development and use of serious games in the field of engineering and social
sciences. Additionally, Queirós et al. (2017) state that focus groups are mainly useful to investigate
complex behavior and allow the researcher to interact with participants.
Figure. 1. Adopted methodology
Source: author’s own illustration
The preliminary stage is essential to identify the key entrepreneurship competencies and
understand how the flow theory and FLIGBY can foster the acquisition of fundamental skills to
create a new venture. For that, a correspondence analysis was performed between the
competencies evaluated in FLIGBY through the use of the MAP and the fundamental competences
that an entrepreneur must possess. The result of the analysis process is mapped in Table 2. Only a
maximum of 5 dimensions was considered for each competency to simplify the analysis. “N/A”
means “not applied”, that is, no match was found. It turns out that most entrepreneurship
competencies have direct correspondence with MAP dimensions regardless of the considered
model. There are only four exceptions: (i) operational and contextual, because none of the skills
developed by FLIGBY is related to specific knowledge and skills needed to create a new start-up;
(ii) entrepreneurial investor, because FLIGBY does not specifically assess the player's necessary
financial skills, although some basic financial management skills are needed to make the best
strategic decisions to ensure the viability of the business; (iii) industry-sector, because the
necessary knowledge is globally transversal and not specific to a sector of activity in which a
promoter can create his/her business; (iv) management and occupation-specific, since the purpose
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Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of FLIGBY
of the game is not to develop and apply management-specific knowledge of an activity sector,
despite the relevance of the application of industry-wide knowledge. Correspondence analysis has
also allowed us to identify whether all dimensions measured in FLIGBY are relevant to
entrepreneurial activity, particularly those that foster the development of soft skills and the
establishment of relationships between people.
Entrepreneurship competencies
MAP dimensions
3-tiers
Operational and contextual
N/A
Entrepreneurial
Entrepreneurship,
Conceptual and relationship
Active listening, Communication, Conflict-management, Motivation,
Business-oriented
thinking,
Empowerment,
Strategic thinking
Teamwork
4-tiers
Achievement
Engagement
and
trust,
Business-oriented
thinking,
Execution,
Prioritizing, Timely decision-making
Personal Power
Analytical
skills,
Assertiveness,
Communication,
Emotional
intelligence, Time management
Planning
Balancing
skill,
Information
gathering,
Organizing,
Strategic
thinking,
Relationship building
Conflict-management,
Delegating,
Empowerment,
Feedback,
Involvement, Teamwork
5-tiers
Self-Employed Mindset
Organizing, Prioritizing, Time management
Managerial Perspective
Execution, Business-oriented thinking, Teamwork
Attitude of Owner/Leader
Conflict-management, Delegation, Diplomacy, Motivation, Social
responsibility
Entrepreneurial Investor
N/A
True Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship, Strategic thinking
6-tiers
Personal effectiveness
Active listening, Communication, Emotional intelligence, Intuitive
thinking, Motivation
Academic
Workplace
Analytical skills
Conflict-management,
Delegation,
Empowerment,
Feedback,
Teamwork
Industry-wide
Business-oriented
Industry-sector
N/A
Management and occupation-specific
N/A
thinking,
Entrepreneurship,
Timely
decision-
making, Social responsibility, Strategic thinking
Table 2. Correspondence analysis between entrepreneurship competencies and MAP dimensions
Source: author’s own illustration
The presentation stage is a relevant phase before students play the game. Initially, a focus group
has been established. According to Krueger & Casey (2014), three elements emerge as
fundamental to the definition of a focus group: (i) number of participants, which must be between
2 and maximum 12; (ii) timeframe that should be limited to two hours or less; and (iii) diversity
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Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of FLIGBY
that should include persons equally distributed by sex, area of expertise, academic qualifications,
etc. In this sense, eight students were assigned to the focus group, of which half of them are from
the management course and the other half of the computer science course; and a weekly meeting
with a maximum duration of 60 minutes was defined for discussion of the learning process and
problems during the game in the period of one month; and half of the students are male and
female, and four of them already have a relevant professional experience (more than one year).
Finally, after the definition of the members in the focus group, an informal presentation session of
the Flow and FLIGBY theory was prepared. This session lasted for 90 minutes, in which 75% of this
time was dedicated to the presentation of the relevant theoretical contents and 25% of the time for
clarification of doubts.
The fieldwork stage is the conceptually simpler phase. From the operational point of view, it was
necessary to create an individual access account for each student with their respective credentials
(username and password). Additionally, the name of the regent of the entrepreneurship classes
was associated as manager of this group. This allows the teacher to monitor the evolution of the
players in the game, namely to know in which episode of the game each of the students is playing.
Relevant statistical information is also collected as the average time of each player per episode.
The assessment stage is responsible for analyzing the students' performance in the game. Firstly,
the students' performance was analyzed considering each game decision, resulting in various
dimensions (such as financial results, impact on group-level atmosphere or individuals’
emotional/mental states). Once the game is finished all decisions of the player are then compared
to that of all other players’ in the vast databank (currently over 20000) and a comparative
benchmarked result of skills sets is reported. All information was automatically collected by FLIGBY
and sent to the teacher in an “.xls” format file. In FLIGBY, each player's leadership profile is
comprised of his or her scores on each of the 29 leadership competencies. The profiles are
automatically generated at the end of the stimulation for those who had completed the game. The
continuous recording of every stroke of every player, as well as the complex statistical analysis of
the results, are done routinely in the automated and pre-programmed algorithm embedded in
FLIGBY's. For some of the items in the FLIGBY Leadership Skillset, a player has as many as 30
occasions to earn points; This approach means that the strength of the evidence on which a
player's competence level is determined is "very well established" on certain skills and "less well
established" on certain other skills in the set, but no competency item has fewer than nine decision
points for its assessment. For each particular skill, the maximum number of points that can be
earned is then standardized at 100%. This makes it possible to determine the percentage score of
each player on each skill. This approach facilitates the comparison of a player's level of skill among
the 29 skills and to compare it with the average of the group the player was a member of. The
approach also allows making comparative analyses, across industry sectors, by nationality
background, by job tasks, among others. The designers of FLIGBY named this system as MAP,
Master Analytics Profiler. It drives the individual and peer-level learning process of skills
assessment and supports the trainer or teachers. More importantly, as the simulation can be
repeated again and again, the individual player can use the system to improve on certain targeted
skills, similarly to the functionality of a pilot’s flight simulator.
Finally, an in-depth interview was conducted to allow a discussion of these results with the
students, in order to understand and explain the found statistical results. This in-depth interview
was held after the completion of the game by all students. Three challenging questions have been
raised for debate: (i) what is the contribution of FLIGBY to the development of managerial
competencies; (ii) what skills were essential during the game?; and (iii) what were the main
challenges felt by the students throughout the game?
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V. Results and Discussion
a. The students’ performance
The students' performance in the game was measured considering the 29 dimensions of the MAP
(see Table 3). A unilateral hypothesis test (α = 0.05) was defined to evaluate whether focus group
students' performance is higher than the benchmark. The results obtained allow us to conclude
there are only two dimensions in which the focus group performance was lower: (i) businessoriented thinking; and (ii) prioritizing. These results indicate that students attending the
entrepreneurship course show less ability to look at business from the customer's perspective and
assume greater capacity to evaluate risks in the business of their decisions and performed
calculated decisions. Finally, these students showed more difficulties in making decisions in stress
environments, namely in identifying the priority tasks for the business. FLIGBY presents several
situations in which the player has to make decisions in a short time and in which it is not possible
to optimize all the processes. For example, early in the game, the player faces the challenge of
scheduling meetings with employees on their first day of work, but in which the length of each
meeting does not allow scheduling of sessions with all employees on that day. Setting priorities
among key contributors is one of the first challenges put to the player.
Performance’s
dimensions
Active listening
Analytical skills
Assertiveness
Balancing skills
Building engagement
Business-oriented thinking
Communication
Conflict management
Delegation
Diplomacy
Emotional intelligence
Empowerment
Entrepreneurship
Execution
Feedback
Future orientation
Information gathering
Intuitive thinking
Involvement
Motivation
Organizing
Prioritizing
Time pressured decisionmaking
Personal strengths
Social dynamics
Stakeholder management
Strategic thinking
Teamwork management
Time management
Focus group
Mean
Std. dev.
66
16
57
17
50
9,3
63
17
67
6
55
6,1
65
11
59
6,2
58
14
64
13
69
11
65
17
65
18
61
15
68
15
67
10
71
11
61
13
68
8,1
68
14
61
12
50
5,3
49
19
71
66
64
59
60
50
14
10
21
14
9,2
15
Benchmark
Mean
Std. dev.
63
11,45
63
10,76
54
11,15
61
10,5
65
8,7
61
9,1
65
11,1
61
8,9
60
14,8
65
10,3
70
9,5
58
14,2
64
11,8
59
11,5
67
11,2
67
10,9
71
10,2
60
10,2
70
11,1
66
10,5
67
10,8
58
10,6
57
10,7
66
65
63
62
61
56
10,2
9,2
14,4
10,3
10,4
16,2
Pr(µd ≠ 0)
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
Table 3. Students’ performance in FLIGBY
Source: author’s own illustration
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Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of FLIGBY
The complementary results of the in-depth interview allowed us to conclude that unanimously all
students considered that FLIGBY helped them in acquiring leadership competencies. In addition,
other management areas were also referred by students, such as: customer relationship
management, strategic management, decision-making process, and financial planning. It is also
important to acknowledge that students expressed that the experience lived in the game was quite
different, since the decisions taken by the players throughout each episode have implications in the
unfolding of the game in other episodes.
b. The course profile
Table 4 outlines the performance of students considering their course profile. Statistical analysis
allowed us to identify that the performance of these students was statistically significant in the
following dimensions: (i) business-oriented thinking, in which IT students perform worse; (ii)
empowerment, in which management students showed a better performance; (iii) prioritizing, in
which the performance of the students of both courses was clearly inferior to the benchmarking;
(iv) stakeholder management, in which the performance of IT students was higher; and (v) time
management, in which students' performance was quite heterogeneous.
Performance’s
dimensions
Active listening
Analytical skills
Assertiveness
Balancing skills
Building engagement
Business-oriented thinking
Communication
Conflict management
Delegation
Diplomacy
Emotional intelligence
Empowerment
Entrepreneurship
Execution
Feedback
Future orientation
Information gathering
Intuitive thinking
Involvement
Motivation
Organizing
Prioritizing
Time pressured decisionmaking
Personal strengths
Social dynamics
Stakeholder management
Strategic thinking
Teamwork management
Time management
Mng. students
Mean
Std. dev.
60
11
51
21
47
11
58
18
68
65
55
8,4
61
13
57
7,8
64
10
61
17
67
11
75
14
59
18
57
19
63
16
66
12
67
13
57
12
69
9,5
66
16
57
15
52
3
43
24
67
65
60
58
62
41
10
11
29
18
12
12
IT students
Mean
Std. dev.
74
21
65
8,1
54
5,9
68
16
67
5,5
54
2
70
2,3
61
3,5
50
17
68
7,1
71
12
53
14
74
18
66
9,5
74
15
69
9,5
76
5
66
14
67
7,6
71
13
65
2
49
8,2
57
1,7
77
67
70
61
59
63
19
12
0
5,5
4,7
0
Pr(µd ≠ 0)
Mng
IT
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H1
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H1
Table 4. Students’ performance in FLIGBY considering their course profile
Source: author’s own illustration
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Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of FLIGBY
The in-depth interview allowed us to explore the causes that justify this pattern of behavior in the
dimensions mentioned above. It is thus possible for us to draw the following conclusions for each
dimension:
• Business-oriented thinking – students of the IT course do not have any curricular unit of
management in their course. In this sense, they felt greater difficulties in perceiving the
importance of identifying the needs of the client and the economic viability of the taken
decisions. These results are reflected in the study developed by Moore (2004), which
indicates that the nature of IT is the antithesis of the business oriented thinking;
• Prioritizing – the students expressed difficulties in defining the priority tasks for each
scenario. Some students indicated they expected that each scenario would be longer and
would allow them to reverse the decisions taken previously. This was a difficulty felt by all
the students;
• Time management – the dynamics work of the students of these two courses is quite
different. The management course is essentially organized in curricular units with a higher
theoretical component in which the need for teamwork is reduced. On the other hand, IT
students have curricular units with more practical assessment methods and, in many of
them, they developed teamwork competencies. This situation helped them to have a better
time management ability, which was reflected in the performance of these students in the
game;
• Empowerment and stakeholder management – in these two dimensions it was not possible to
identify the causes for the performance of students per course. A larger sample would be
required to retrieve relevant information.
c. The professional experience
Table 5 presents the performance of the students considering the number of years of professional
experience. Two clusters were created: (i) students without or with less than 1 year of professional
experience (PE < 1); and (ii) students with more than one year of professional experience (PE ≥
1). The results indicate that: (i) students with PE ≥ 1 have better execution performance, but
worse prioritizing; and (ii) students with PE < 1 show less ability to perform time pressured
decisions.
Performance’s dimensions
Active listening
Analytical skills
Assertiveness
Balancing skills
Building engagement
Business-oriented thinking
Communication
Conflict management
Delegation
Diplomacy
Emotional intelligence
Empowerment
Entrepreneurship
Execution
Feedback
Future orientation
Information gathering
Intuitive thinking
PE < 1
Mean
Std.
dev.
65
20
50
19
48
12
58
18
67
6,1
53
6,2
59
9,9
56
6,2
64
10
64
18
68
13
66
9,3
61
21
56
18
65
19
66
12
67
13
58
14
PE ≥ 1
Mean
Std.
dev.
68
13
67
9,7
52
5,7
68
16
68
7,1
57
6,4
72
6,1
62
5
50
17
65
2,5
70
9,5
65
27
71
16
68
8,7
72
12
69
9,5
76
5
64
13
Pr(µd ≠ 0)
PE < 1
PE ≥ 1
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H0
H0
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Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of FLIGBY
Involvement
Motivation
Organizing
Prioritizing
Time pressured decisionmaking
Personal strengths
Social dynamics
Stakeholder management
Strategic thinking
Teamwork management
Time management
65
65
57
53
39
9,1
14
15
4,5
17
72
72
65
47
63
5,8
15
2
5,5
12
H0
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
H0
H0
H1
H0
69
67
55
55
58
50
15
12
24
16
11
10
73
65
77
64
64
50
16
9,2
12
10
7
22
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
Table 5. Students’ performance in FLIGBY considering their professional experience
Source: author’s own illustration
Based on the in-depth interview it was possible to discuss these results and find some relevant
information:
- Students with more professional experience considered that the FLIGBY learning and
development experience was relevant to them so as to make more precise and correct
decisions, because many of the situations exposed in the game scenarios are fully reflecting
those real situations which they had already experienced in their own companies too. Their
past experiences allowed these students to be better prepared for the challenges posed by
FLIGBY. However, it was not possible to identify the reasons for the poor performance of
these students in the skills dimension ‘prioritization of activities’;
- Students without relevant professional experience (PE < 1) indicated that the game
experience was very important in understanding and experiencing the challenges of running
a business. For these students it was a surprise that many of the main challenges are in
managing people and processes. They also mentioned difficulties in realizing that decisions
taken in one area of the company have an impact on other areas. They also found it difficult
to make the best decisions when dealing simultaneously with several people that request an
immediately action. In fact, making important decisions is not easy, especially when both
alternatives have positive and negative impacts. However, if we are stressed, it is more
difficult to assess the situation and make a consistent choice (Driskell & Salas, 2016).
Additionally, the study conducted by De Paola & Gioia (2014) suggest greater difficulties of
undergraduate students when exposed to time pressure decisions with significant impact on
students' performance both verbal and at numerical tasks. This situation was also confirmed
in the FLIGBY game for students without relevant professional experience.
VI. Conclusions
The authors have shown that FLIGBY is an innovative serious game that can be exploited for the
development of entrepreneurship skills among students of a higher education institution. FLIGBY
evaluates the player's performance and measures 29 management and leadership skills, which
then constitute the MAP reporting system’s core dimensions. The developed research study allowed
us now to demonstrate that in general the basic competencies, which an entrepreneur must
possess are well mapped in FLIGBY’s MAP model, with the exception of some knowledge fields
related to financial, industry-sector specific and occupation-specific categories. When compared
with other serious games identified in the literature that promote the development of
entrepreneurship competencies, the authors have found that FLIGBY offers high interactivity and
engagement without compromising the pedagogical dimension. A particular benefit of FLIGBY is
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Assessment of Entrepreneurship Competencies Through the Use of FLIGBY
that players’ performance is measured in a non-intrusive way, thus not distorted, and skills are
measured on real management challenges which arise in the simulated process of managing a new
venture.
The performance of the students who took part in the focus group was similar to the existing
benchmark, with the exception of the business-oriented thinking and prioritizing dimensions. For
these dimensions the focus group reported greater difficulties. The present study also evaluated
the performance of these students considering the isolated dimensions related to their courses and
years of professional experience, and some asymmetries emerged in such a way that: students of
management course had better scores of business-oriented thinking, while IT students revealed
greater time-management skills; students without relevant professional experience had lower
business-oriented thinking and greater difficulty in making decisions about stress environments,
while the students with relevant professional experience showed a greater capacity to execute
management processes, but a lower ability to prioritize activities.
The results of this study have relevant practical implications since it allowed demonstrating the
viability of adopting FLIGBY as a complement to the traditional models of teaching
entrepreneurship that are based on theoretical expositions and applied projects. The adoption of a
focus group made it possible to perceive the difficulties experienced by the students and to define a
model that allows the integration of FLIGBY within the existing evaluation rules that are adopted by
the educational institution. In this sense, the researchers of this project are developing efforts to
involve all the students of this new school year (2018/19) to use the game FLIGBY in the context of
the academic activities of the course of entrepreneurship. This future research will work with a
sample of significant size (more than 50 students), which will allow us to obtain more robust and
rigorous statistical results.
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