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Playing across the playground : paradoxes of knowledge creation in the videogame firm

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick Cohendet

    (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal)

  • Laurent Simon

    (HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal)

Abstract

This contribution illustrates how a videogame firm copes in managing creativity and expression of artistic values, while meeting the constraints of the economics of mass entertainment. The research is based on a case study in one of the largest video game studios in the world located in Montreal, Canada. The approach considers that the creative units of the firms are the communities of specialists (game developers, software programmers, etc.). Each of these communities, which have found a fertile soil in Montreal that nurtures their creative potential, is focused on both exploration and exploitation of a given domain of knowledge. In order to benefit from these sources of creativity, the integration forces implemented by the managers of the firm to bind the creative units together for achieving commercial successes reveal a hybrid form of project management which combines decentralized platforms with strict constraints on time, and a specific management of space that favors informal interactions. However, we suggest that the integration forces put forward by the firm are not just for harnessing creative units: they also generate creative slacks for further expansion of creativity.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Cohendet & Laurent Simon, 2007. "Playing across the playground : paradoxes of knowledge creation in the videogame firm," Post-Print hal-00279260, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00279260
    DOI: 10.1002/job.460
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Arman Avadikyan & Gilles Lambert & Christophe Lerch, 2016. "A Multi-Level Perspective on Ambidexterity: The Case of a Synchrotron Research Facility," Working Papers of BETA 2016-44, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    2. Carolina Rojas-Córdova & Amanda J. Williamson & Julio A. Pertuze & Gustavo Calvo, 2023. "Why one strategy does not fit all: a systematic review on exploration–exploitation in different organizational archetypes," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2251-2295, October.
    3. Claussen, Jörg & Falck, Oliver & Grohsjean, Thorsten, 2012. "The strength of direct ties: Evidence from the electronic game industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 223-230.
    4. Romain Gandia & Elodie Gardet, 2019. "Sources of Dependence and Strategies to Innovate: Evidence from Video Game SMEs," Post-Print hal-01696250, HAL.
    5. Panourgias, Nikiforos S. & Nandhakumar, Joe & Scarbrough, Harry, 2014. "Entanglements of creative agency and digital technology: A sociomaterial study of computer game development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 111-126.
    6. Li, Keyao & Griffin, Mark A., 2023. "Unpacking human systems in data science innovations: Key innovator perspectives," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    7. Patrick Cohendet & David Grandadam & Chahira Mehouachi & Laurent Simon, 2018. "The local, the global and the industry common: the case of the video game industry," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 1045-1068.
    8. Thierry Burger-Helmchen & Patrick Llerena, 2008. "A case study of a creative start-up: governance, communities and knowledge management," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 125-146.
    9. Rym Ibrahim & Céline Desmoulins, 2021. "Quand la mise en œuvre d'une créativité collective permet la formation de compétences collectives. Le cas d'un processus de design collaboratif," Post-Print hal-03467094, HAL.
    10. Elena Casprini & Tommaso Pucci & Gino Vitale & Lorenzo Zanni, 2020. "From Individual Consumption to Venture Development: the Role of Domain Passion in the Videogame Industry," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(4), pages 1470-1488, December.
    11. Joe Nandhakumar & Nikiforos S. Panourgias & Harry Scarbrough, 2013. "From Knowing It to “Getting It”: Envisioning Practices in Computer Games Development," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 933-955, December.
    12. Elisa Salvador & Pierre-Jean Benghozi, 2023. "The evolving place of the Cultural and Creative industries in the public policy orientation: [La place des industries créatives et culturelles dans les politiques publiques]," Post-Print hal-04386344, HAL.
    13. Lesya DYMYD & Patrick LLERENA, 2016. "Fractal and dynamic organizational ambidexterity," Working Papers of BETA 2016-03, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    14. Paola Trevisan, 2017. "The managerialization of the arts in the era of creativity. The case of an Italian opera house," Working Papers 01, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    15. Patrick Cohendet & David Grandadam & Raphaël Suire, 2021. "Reconsidering the dynamics of local knowledge creation: Middlegrounds and local innovation commons in the case of FabLabs," Post-Print hal-03622101, HAL.
    16. Thomas Paris & Gerald Lang & David Massé, 2019. "Polarized Worlds and Contextual Creativity in Creative Industries: The Case of Creation Processes in the Perfume Industry [Mundos polarizados y creatividad contextual en las industrias creativas: e," Post-Print hal-03066164, HAL.
    17. Thierry Gateau & Laurent Simon, 2016. "Clown Scouting And Casting At The Cirque Du Soleil: Designing Boundary Practices For Talent Development And Knowledge Creation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(04), pages 1-31, May.
    18. Cohendet Patrick & Grandadam David & Suire Raphaël, 2021. "Reconsidering the dynamics of local knowledge creation: Middlegrounds and local innovation commons in the case of FabLabs," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 65(1), pages 1-11, March.
    19. Sandra Dubouloz & Anne Berthinier-Poncet & Luciana Castro Gonçalves & Emilie Ruiz & Catherine Thevenard-Puthod, 2021. "Innovation communities: from their characterization to the questioning of their boundaries [Comunidades de innovación: desde su caracterización hasta el cuestionamiento de sus fronteras]," Post-Print hal-02891869, HAL.
    20. Laurent Antonczak & Thierry Burger-Helmchen, 2022. "Creativity on the Move: Nexus of Technology, Slack and Social Complexities," Post-Print hal-03631857, HAL.
    21. Chiambaretto, Paul & Massé, David & Mirc, Nicola, 2019. "“All for One and One for All?” - Knowledge broker roles in managing tensions of internal coopetition: The Ubisoft case," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 584-600.
    22. Sandra Dubouloz & Anne Berthinier-Poncet & Luciana Castro Gonçalves & Emilie Ruiz & Catherine Thevenard-Puthod, 2020. "Communautés d'innovation : de leur caractérisation au questionnement de leurs frontières," Working Papers hal-02891869, HAL.
    23. Barbara Anne Plester & Rhiannon Lloyd, 2023. "Happiness Is ‘Being Yourself’: Psychological Safety and Fun in Hybrid Work," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, October.
    24. Ma, Li & Zhai, Xin & Zhong, Weiguo & Zhang, Zhi-Xue, 2019. "Deploying human capital for innovation: A study of multi-country manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 241-253.
    25. Endrissat, Nada & Islam, Gazi & Noppeney, Claus, 2016. "Visual organizing: Balancing coordination and creative freedom via mood boards," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2353-2362.

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