Leading the Charge in E-Sports An exploration of leadership behaviors in League of Legends Author: Vidak Rajovic Student-ID: 92135 Master Thesis Cand.merc.(Kom) – Copenhagen Business School Supervisor: Thomas Feldborg Lohse Date of hand-in: 15-05-2019 Number of pages: 80 Number of characters: 181923 Abstract Følgende afhandling har til formål at bidrage med ny viden omkring de gavnlige aspekter af E-Sports ved at anskue det underudviklede og nye spændingsområde der eksisterer imellem lederskab og E- Sports. Metodisk søgte afhandlingen at afdække dette spændingsområde ved at benytte et mixed methods forskningsdesign hvorved en hermeneutisk og positivistisk tilgang dannede grobund for opgavens kvalitative- og kvantitative dataindsamlingsmetoder. Herved blev en trianguleringsstrategi udarbejdet for at sikre effektiv brug af de to paradigmer, hvilket udmøntede sig i brug af ét spørgeskema og tre semi-strukturerede ekspertintervieWs der udgør afhandlingens primære empiri. Således er der mulighed for både at indhente nuanceret og dybdegående viden om afhandlingens spændingsfelt, men lige så vel generalisere den opnåede viden og dermed give opgavens konklusioner en universel karakter. Spændingsområdet blev undersøgt teoretisk ved brug af Avolio & Bass’ Full-Range Leadership Theory og tilhørende Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Dernæst blev E-Sports’ lederskabsudviklende karakter anskuet igennem Social Learning Theory som beskrevet af Anthony Banduras, og Leadership Development Theory som beskrevet af David V. Day. Den kvalitative analyse påviste at E-Sports opfylder en række af de nødvendige kriterier for kunne udvikle og styrke lederskabs kompetencer, hvorved de specifikke roller spillere kan optage i spillet kan skabe bedre forhold for lederskabsudvikling og praktisering. Dernæst blev en forbindelse imellem spillerens niveau og lederskabsadfærd etableret; des højere niveau en spiller besidder, des stærkere lederskabsadfærd bør de udvise. Afslutningsvist blev det påvist hvorledes lederskabsudvikling er en proces der afhænger af intentionalitet hvormed spillerens aktive involvering i lederskab er afgørende for en eventuel udvikling. Den kvantitative analyse påviste indledningsvist at der var en signifikant negativ korrelation imellem personer med E-Sports erfaring og selv-opfattet lederskabsadfærd; mennesker med E-Sports baggrund udviste svagere transFormational-, transactional- og laissez-Faire lederskabsadfærd end mennesker med ingen erfaring indenfor E-Sports. Dernæst blev det påvist at spillerens niveau ikke har en indflydelse på deres selv-opfattede lederskabsadfærd. Afslutningsvist blev det påvist at spillere der optager AD-carry rollen vil udvise en stærkere selvopfattelse af transFormational- og transactional lederskabsfaktorer, end personer der besidder en support rolle. 2 Konkluderende har denne afhandling bidraget med ny viden til et underudviklet og komplekst spændingsfelt imellem E-Sport og lederskab og opfordrer til yderligere undersøgelser med fokus på de lederskabsudviklende træk E-Sports besidder, og hvordan disse kan bruges af organisationer udenfor en E-Sports sammenhæng. 3 ABSTRACT ___________________________________________________________________________ 2 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________ 6 INTRODUCTION _______________________________________________________________________ 6 PROBLEM STATEMENT _________________________________________________________________ 8 RESEARCH QUESTION __________________________________________________________________ 9 DELIMITATION ______________________________________________________________________ 10 THESIS OUTLINE _____________________________________________________________________ 11 A HISTORY OF E-SPORTS ______________________________________________________________ 11 DeFining E-Sport __________________________________________________________________ 11 The Beginning of E-Sports ___________________________________________________________ 12 League of Legends _________________________________________________________________ 13 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY _______________________________________________________ 15 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE ______________________________________________________________ 15 The Hermeneutic approach __________________________________________________________ 15 The positivistic approach ____________________________________________________________ 17 METHODOLOGICAL TRIANGULATION _____________________________________________________ 19 Time Horizon _____________________________________________________________________ 20 RESEARCH DESIGN – THEORY DEVELOPMENT _____________________________________________ 21 Empirical data ____________________________________________________________________ 22 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN ______________________________________________________________ 23 Questionnaire structure _____________________________________________________________ 24 Questionnaire pilot test _____________________________________________________________ 27 INTERVIEW STRUCTURE _______________________________________________________________ 27 Interviewees ______________________________________________________________________ 28 Pilot testing ______________________________________________________________________ 29 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ___________________________________________________________ 30 Quantitative reliability and validity ____________________________________________________ 31 Qualitative validity _________________________________________________________________ 32 SUMMARY: METHODOLOGY ____________________________________________________________ 34 CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW __________________________________________________ 35 LEADERSHIP THEORY _________________________________________________________________ 35 MULTIFACTOR LEADERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE – MLQ ________________________________________ 37 Nine-factor full-range leadership theory ________________________________________________ 38 Full-Range Leadership Theory Limitations ______________________________________________ 39 DeFining leadership ________________________________________________________________ 40 LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ___________________________________________________________ 40 SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY ____________________________________________________________ 42 SelF-efFicacy ______________________________________________________________________ 43 LEADERSHIP IN E-SPORTS _____________________________________________________________ 44 CHAPTER 4: QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS _______________________________________________ 45 THICK, RICH DESCRIPTION _____________________________________________________________ 45 DEMOGRAPHIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS ____________________________________ 46 PROCEDURES ________________________________________________________________________ 48 DAVID V. DAY – LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ______________________________________________ 49 SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY ____________________________________________________________ 50 4 Learning leadership through playing __________________________________________________ 50 SELF-EFFICACY AND SELF-REINFORCEMENT ______________________________________________ 52 LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WITHIN GAME-ROLES __________________________________________ 57 DISCONFIRMING EVIDENCE ____________________________________________________________ 59 Is leadership necessary to succeed? ___________________________________________________ 59 CHAPTER 4B: QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ____________________________________________ 61 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS – SURVEY SAMPLE ______________________________________________ 61 League of Legends descriptive statistics ________________________________________________ 63 CRONBACH’S ALPHA __________________________________________________________________ 65 EXPERIMENTAL- AND COMPARISON GROUP ________________________________________________ 66 FIRST HYPOTHESIS: LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL- AND COMPARISON GROUP ______ 68 SECOND HYPOTHESIS: LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR AND IN-GAME SKILL LEVEL _________________________ 70 THIRD HYPOTHESIS: LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR AND IN-GAME ROLES _______________________________ 72 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ____________________________________________________________ 74 E-SPORTS AS A PLATFORM TO AUTOMATED LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT? ________________________ 74 LEADERSHIP AND IN-GAME SKILL LEVEL __________________________________________________ 75 GAME ROLES ________________________________________________________________________ 76 IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS _________________________________________________________ 78 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION ___________________________________________________________ 79 BIBLIOGRAPHY _____________________________________________________________________ 81 APPENDICES ________________________________________________________________________ 90 5 Chapter 1: Introduction The following chapter Will introduce the thesis along With the research question, delimitation, thesis outline and concludes with a brief exploration of the history of E-Sports. Introduction The notion of leadership has been an integral part of any business-oriented venture for decades, and its importance continues to rise With time; both business leaders as Well as academia has reached a consensus, that leadership is a driving factor in change and must be nurtured carefully. John Gardner (1965), an American scholar, politician and essayist adhered to the notion of leadership as one of the utmost important pillars of society in which