Design Science Research in Developing Leadership in Virtual Worlds

Abstract

This paper discusses the Design Science Research (DSR) approach applied in the development of leadership skills in undergraduate business administration students. The development of leadership skills is essential for managers; however, business undergraduate courses do not provide many opportunities and spaces for students to develop their skills. To fill this gap, using the DSR method it was possible to build, test and evaluate an artefact that could be utilized as a training method for leadership development in the threedimensional virtual world Second Life. The research was developed in a business administration undergraduate course in one university in South Brazil. This paper describes the steps of the research showing all methodological considerations and accordingly its contribution to rigor and relevance in the DSR domain. The results demonstrate that DSR is an appropriate approach to study and develop competencies in practice. Furthermore, it was possible to identify the possibilities and limitations of the artefact. The results also indicate that this virtual environment has the resources for the user to encounter a context close to reality. Finally, this paper is useful to researchers who wish to apply the DSR method and serves as supporting material for teaching management, as the created artefact can be totally or partially replicated.

School Health as the Mediator Variable: Determinants of the Principal Instructional Leadership Behavior

“…In addition to leadership and health factors of school organizations, teacher factors also play a considerable role in improving the quality of education. Studies in western countries found that student's pretensions were related to organizational commitment, teacher satisfaction, and teacher efficacy (Colichi et al, 2020;Junior et al, 2019;Molthan-Hill, 2017;Pérez-Macías et al, 2020;Pertiwi et al, 2019;Rizwan et al, 2020). Bryk and Driscoll (1988) examine the relationship between students' pretensions and teacher organizational commitment.…”