vManagement: Initial Exploration of Management Practice

Abstract

For several years, the authors have maintained a simulation (sim) in Second LifeTM, with management responsibility for allocating sim resources across research and instructional projects, some of which involved working with residents. Although not originally anticipated to be a research site in management theory and practice, the project presented an unexpected pattern of difficulty and an unexpectedly rich case study to examine why and how the virtual environment generated norms of power and empowerment for which traditional management practice was not effective. We conducted a theoretical thematic analysis on a body of conversation transcripts, meeting agendas and minutes, email messages and other administrative documents, applying concepts from the literature on presence, copresence, embodiment and social capital, seeking to identify the sociocultural context and structural conditions that shaped meanings and experiences of participants in this project. This exploratory analysis suggests a need for development of management theory and practice based on norms of empowerment shaped by designer-user role hybridization – in short, vManagement.

Popularity of the metaverse: Embodied social presence theory perspective

“…When the public learns about and participates in metaverse communities, driven by the media hype, they may have a strong sense of presence due to fantasy. Another study noted that users in a metaverse environment could also customize each other’s avatars based on their imagination, thus increasing the mutual perception of each participant and consequently the sense of co-presence ( Wurtz et al, 2013 ). Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:…”