Research Commentary—Virtual Worlds: A Performative Perspective on Globally Distributed, Immersive Work

Abstract

Virtual worlds are immersive, simulated, persistent and dynamic environments that include rich graphical 3-D spaces, high fidelity audio, motion, viewpoint, and interactivity. Initially dismissed as environments of play, virtual worlds have gained legitimacy in business and educational settings for their application in globally-distributed work, project management, online learning, and real-time simulation. Understanding the emergent aspects of these virtual worlds and their implications for organizations will require both new theories and new methods. We propose that a performative perspective may be particularly useful as it challenges the existence of independent objects with fixed or given properties and boundaries, and focuses instead on situated and relational practices that enact entangled and contingent boundaries, entities, identities, and effects.

From Knowing It to “Getting It”: Envisioning Practices in Computer Games Development

“…This privileging of vision over the conventional analysis of user needs can be seen as a consequence of development teams not only having to work across divisions in their expertise, but also the wider fields of cultural production and software production. As outlined in our findings, developers drew creatively from a range of resources originating in domains such as movie and TV production to develop the narratively structured and self-consistent features that help make gaming an immersive and flow-like experience for users (Schultze and Orlikowski 2010). This spanning of different fields was thus expressed, and enabled, through a creative and collective agency that involved individuals and groups acting outside their formal role responsibilities as developers or managers.…”

“…As one study notes: "Due to their interactive nature, it is difficult to gauge players' ultimate reactions to such a product while it is under development sometimes until the game has nearly been completed" (Tschang and Szczypula 2006, p. 276). In addition, the experiential dimension of use requires the blending of cultural, affective, and aesthetic features into a user experience that is self-consistent, immersive, and interpretively satisfying for the user (Aoyama and Izushi 2003, Hassenzahl and Tractinsky 2006, Schultze and Orlikowski 2010, Van der Heijden 2004. In many established cultural industries there is what can be termed an "authorial" solution to this challenge whereby the intentions of a creative individual are translated directly through the product of that individual to the reader or viewer (Braudy andCohen 2004, Csikszentmihalyi 1991).…”

“…This is because such software needs to be interactive, "immersive" and aesthetically pleasing to stimulate and engage the user (Lin and Bhattacherjee 2010), including "virtual worlds" or "hyperreal" environments that allow users Information Systems Research 24(4), pp. 933-955, © 2013 INFORMS to create new meanings through their use (Aoyama and Izushi 2003;Schultze and Orlikowski 2010;Wasko et al 2011;Schultze 2010Schultze , 2011.…”

Narrative Methodologies In Information Systems Literature: Illuminating Interconnectivity And Change Over Time

“…There is a surging interest in IS scholarship to understand the performative aspects of the ITimplementation process (Schultze & Orlikowski, 2010). A performative orientation focuses on action and enactment since it conceptualizes reality as "a doing", as enacted in ongoing practice (Schultze & Orlikowski, 2010).…”

“…A performative orientation focuses on action and enactment since it conceptualizes reality as "a doing", as enacted in ongoing practice (Schultze & Orlikowski, 2010). It also suggests that objects, as a set of work arrangement that are both material and processual, are enacted into being (e.g., object-in-use) through the process of translation that connects ongoing actions to objects (Lindberg & Czarniawska, 2006;Lindberg & Walter, 2013).…”