This study addresses a gap in literature by empirically examining the role of FLIGBY in the development of thinking skills and creativity, contributing to a more holistic understanding of the pedagogical value of serious games in higher education. Two research questions guide the study: (i) how FLIGBY assesses and contributes to the development of thinking skills; and (ii) how the pedagogical approach and challenges embedded in FLIGBY foster creativity. A mixed-methods design was adopted. Quantitative methods were first used to assess students' performance in thinking skills, which in FLIGBY are measured continuously through behavior-based analytics using the Master Analytics Profiler (MAP) system. In parallel, qualitative methods were employed to explore the development of creative competencies through thematic analysis of interview data. The results indicate that FLIGBY is an effective tool for the integrated development of thinking skills and creative competencies in higher education. Statistical analysis reveals moderate to high levels of cognitive skills such as emotional intelligence, leadership, and systemic decision-making, with strong and significant interrelationships among these dimensions. The thematic analysis further shows that FLIGBY fosters creativity by providing a safe environment for experimentation, adaptive decision-making, complex problem solving, and metacognitive reflection. Accordingly, the findings suggest that FLIGBY not only strengthens strategic cognitive skills but also stimulates creative and reflective processes transferable to real-world leadership and management contexts, offering important implications for educational practice and policy in higher education.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the use of the serious game FLIGBY to recognize and enhance conflict management skills in international business education. It explores how the game's realistic scenarios and embedded conflict resolution frameworks (i.e. Thomas-Kilmann Instrument, Interest-Based Relational approach and Harvard Negotiation Principles) support the development of key competencies through experiential, gamified learning.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzes data from 16,597 FLIGBY players using multiple regression models to examine how the game facilitates the recognition of conflict situations and the application of resolution strategies. The risk-free, simulated environment of FLIGBY provides a controlled setting to assess players' conflict management competencies.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that serious games like FLIGBY not only enhance students' understanding of conflict management theories but also actively support the development of practical skills and self-awareness. Players are challenged to analyze interpersonal dynamics, make strategic decisions and reflect on the outcomes of their actions, fostering the development of conflict management skills.Originality/valueThe inclusion of FLIGBY in a business education program has the potential to facilitate experiential learning in conflict management, which is a key topic in international business. Furthermore, it offers data-driven insights into how individuals and teams approach conflict resolutions which may be relevant to refine theoretical models based on gameplay analytics.

Informal employment in Kazakhstan remains one of the most acute and complex problems of the modern labor market. The absence of official employment contracts, non-payment of taxes and social contributions, and instability of employment and income pose risks not only to employees, but also to social and economic stability in the country. The relevance of the research is due to the need for a comprehensive understanding of the scale, structure and factors contributing to the spread of informal employment in order to develop effective public policy.The purpose of the study is to analyze current trends in informal employment in Kazakhstan and identify key socio–economic and institutional factors influencing its development.The paper uses methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis: processing of official statistics, data from international organizations, scientific research, expert assessments and inter-regional comparisons. The results of the study showed that informal employment is particularly prevalent in sectors such as agriculture, construction, trade, and consumer services. Gender and age analysis revealed a higher involvement of men in productive but informal industries, while women are more often employed in low-paid and socially vulnerable areas. It hasalso been found that even a high level of education does not always guarantee formal employment, which indicates structural inconsistencies in the labor market.The practical significance of the work lies in the development of proposals to improve labor policy: stimulating the legalization of employment through tax and social measures, the development of retraining programs, improving the mechanisms for registering the self-employed and strengthening the institutional framework of employment. The results of the study can be used in the development of a comprehensive strategy to reduce informal employment and strengthen social protection of workers in Kazakhstan.

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractStrategic planning is a driver of leaders’ performance in today’s turbulent and demanding environment, yet the relative importance of soft versus hard skills within it remains insufficiently researched. This study aims to test how gender, age, and cultural context influence the distribution of soft and hard skills in strategic planning and managers’ goal attainment. Utilizing a behavioral outcome measure (high performance), we analyzed a sample of 1,468 managers from Kazakhstan (n = 694) and Hungary (n = 774), who participated in the scientifically grounded AI business simulation. A two-step analytical approach, involving PLS-SEM and logistic regression, was implemented in Python. The results demonstrate that soft skills are the dominant driver of high performance, with an Odds Ratio (OR) of 3.44, indicating they are 2.5 times more effective than hard skills. Leaders’ age exerted a negligible effect on their performance (OR = 1.02, p = 0.728). The overall sample showed no gender differences, but the country-specific analysis revealed a moderated mediation pattern where the link between gender and soft skills varies by country (p = 0.018). Managers in Kazakhstan exhibited slightly higher average softskill scores than their counterparts in Hungary (p = 0.014). Despite cultural differences, the model demonstrated consistent predictive utility in both settings, with an overall accuracy of 72.9% in Kazakhstan and 72.4% in Hungary. The designed competency model is highly stable and cross-culturally valid for predicting managerial performance. Thus, managerial excellence is driven by competencies that are largely independent of demographic characteristics across different cultural settings.AcknowledgmentThis research has been funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP22687001) within the project titled “Designing a Conceptual Model of Managers’ Leadership Competencies in Kazakhstan through the Gender Potential Prism”.

Type of the article: Research Article AbstractSustainable leadership has become one of the widely addressed topics over the last decade, both in business and academia. This paper examines how personal, organizational, and industry characteristics influence sustainable leadership competencies across Turkic nations and how the country variable moderates these relationships. The study utilized the results of a comprehensive leadership assessment based on managers’ involvement in a business simulation, operated by artificial intelligence and rooted in scientific management. Assessment results of 1,756 managers from Hungary (N = 695), Kazakhstan (N = 647), and Türkiye (N = 414), employed in manufacturing and construction, education and research, finance, production and trade, information technologies, public relations and services, were analyzed. The two-step approach to structural equation modeling was implemented using Python software. The results showed that strategic and normative competences were partially dependent on managers’ gender (β = 1.450, p = 0.022), age (β = 5.678, p < 0.001; β = –3.587, p < 0.001), tenure (β = 3.767, p < 0.001; β = –1.898; p = 0.020) and industry (β = 1.194, p = 0.031; β = 3.092, p = 0.001), whereas interpersonal and anticipatory competencies remained unaffected. The country demonstrated a significant positive moderation in the relationships associated with normative competence (β = 3.260, p = 0.039) and interpersonal competence (β = 5.667, p = 0.041). In contrast, it exhibits a noteworthy negative moderation in strategic competence (β = –3.665, p = 0.043) and systems thinking competence (β = –3.853, p = 0.006). The moderation effect between the managers’ age, tenure, industry, and sustainable competencies was most pronounced in Kazakhstan, followed by Hungary, and least in Türkiye. This nuanced understanding highlights the diverse impact the country has on different aspects of competence, underscoring the importance of context in these relationships. AcknowledgmentThis research has been funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP22687001) within the project titled “Designing a Conceptual Model of Managers’ Leadership Competencies in Kazakhstan through the Gender Potential Prism”.

The design of serious games for learning is shaped by a fundamental tension between realism and abstraction. Realism in serious games can manifest in multiple dimensions, such as graphical fidelity, sound design, game mechanics, narrative structure etc. Some serious games aim for high-fidelity simulation, replicating real-world scenarios as closely as possible (e.g., flight simulators or medical training applications). Others may incorporate abstract elements while still being grounded in real-world principles, such as strategy games that simplify complex decision-making processes. Abstraction, by removing unnecessary complexity, may reduce extraneous cognitive load and enhance generalisation of learning. In contrast, realism may support situated learning and contextual skill transfer, particularly when training requires familiarity with real-world environments. To better understand the implications of abstraction and realism in serious game design, this paper comparatively explores two case studies: FLIGBY, a corporate leadership development game Cipher, a language-learning game designed for children. Findings identify six key dimensions that differentiate abstraction and realism in serious games: visual style, audio style, mechanics and interface, rule systems and feedback. Engagement, motivation and cultural perception are also considered, noting that realism may appeal more in professional settings, while abstraction may be particularly effective in child-centred learning environments. This research contributes to the broader field of serious games by providing a conceptual framework to guide educators, game designers and researchers in making informed design decisions, also offering a foundation for future empirical research.

Drawing from status characteristics theory, we develop a multilevel model to explain the relationships between gender composition (e.g., female-female supervisor-subordinate dyads, a female majority at the next higher level, and a female majority at the same job level) in the workplace and women's career satisfaction. We hypothesise that working with a female supervisor and a female majority at the same level will be negatively related to women's career satisfaction, while a female majority at the next higher level will be positively related to women's career satisfaction. Moreover, we propose that formal societal (gender-equality) institutions and informal cultural (gender-egalitarian) values, each has a moderating effect on the impact of gender compositions on women's career satisfaction. Our results from a multilevel analysis of 2291 women across 35 societies support the three hypothesised main effects. Whereas institutions that support gender equality weaken the positive effect of working with a female majority at the next higher level, they amplify the negative effect of a female majority at the same hierarchical level. Our findings highlight the complex and paradoxical nature of gender composition effects on women's career satisfaction. We discuss the theoretical contributions of our findings and their implications for the diversity management practices of multinational enterprises.

The considerable proliferation of serious games (SG) in management education necessitates an academic foundation grounded in the concepts and practice of leadership, Flow, learning and development theory. Going beyond addressing the benefits of SG, this study is the first to demonstrate the successful use of SG in two areas: (a) teaching Flow theory within management studies via dedicated software designed to train a Flow-promoting Leadership style; and (b) showing that SG can serve as an innovative tool for measuring 29 leadership skills. The article demonstrates how non-intrusive data - collected during FLIGBY gameplay by 7931 managers globally, who made 150+ simulated leadership decisions - de facto support the process of leadership skill development. The findings show the system of relationships among the four critical Flow-promoting Leadership Skills that are needed for leading a work environment with more frequent Flow experiences. The results support educators and content developers in their quest to find optimal pathways and combinations for effectively developing skills by showing the underlying complexities of Flow and Leadership. The study contributes to the application of Flow-promoting leadership theory in practice via the help of innovative SG technology.

Serious games can play a crucial role in developing competencies for the job market, offering an innovative and engaging approach to learning. This study uses FLIGBY to develop employability skills among computer engineering graduates. FLIGBY is a serious game that simulates a virtual company environment where players make strategic decisions, emphasizing the principles of flow and positive psychology. Immersion in realistic scenarios provides practical experience, contributing to the development of market-ready skills. A quantitative methodology based on descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing was adopted to measure the development of competencies for the job market using the Systems Engineering Competency Framework. The results show that competence development occurs mainly in the professional and managerial dimensions. In contrast, there is no development of core and technical competencies. Furthermore, the perception of the development of these competencies occurs mainly for students with more years of professional experience. The experiential nature of FLIGBY allows users to develop practical knowledge, promoting adaptability and resilience. This gamified approach accelerates the learning curve, preparing individuals for real-world challenges in the computer engineering workplace.

This chapter provides an overview of the history and development of the successor countries in the vast territory of the former Soviet Union. A deeper focus will be applied to Kazakhstan, the Republic in Central Asia with the most developed economy of the former Soviet Union countries. The case of the IT company 'Success Group' describes the internationalization process of two entrepreneurs from Almaty and their efforts to find opportunities to diversify business across borders. Fundamental concepts related to the culture and people will be discussed, such as the role of family, clans and tribes, the varying notions of what constitutes performance, the peculiar functionality of HRM and the process of organizational decision-making. The chapter also deals with newly emerging realities and the role of women in management.

This article seeks to present an initiative to integrate a serious game into an entrepreneurship course, attended by tourism students, which enables them to have a more reliable and comprehensive experience of the multiple dimensions of this phenomenon. The study uses a mixed-methods approach to explore several dimensions of the impact on the use of the game by measuring student performance and conducting semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that FLIGBY has helped the tourism students to have a more complete and reliable perception of the business reality and to practice their skills in a wide range of areas such as emotional intelligence, conflict management, time management, strategic thinking, or leadership. The results also indicate the development of analytical skills in the area of business management and viniculture due to the central theme of FLIGBY.

This study explores the contribution of serious game teaching technology, such as FLIGBY, to the development of entrepreneurial learning outcomes in the context of an entrepreneurship course in higher education. The sample is composed of 551 students through the construction of a randomized pretest-posttest control group. A quantitative methodology is adopted through the development of a structured equation model that seeks to assess the effectiveness of FLIGBY in the development of three constructs related to the development of entrepreneurial skills, reduction in the perception of barriers associated with entrepreneurial activity and increase the entrepreneurial intention. The findings reveal that FLIGBY can effectively contribute to the development of the first two constructs. However, we found that it has no effect on the third construct because it was not possible to identify significant differences in the entrepreneurial intention of FLIGBY students with those of the control group. The results of this study are relevant in extending the understanding of the impact of adopting a serious game in the context of entrepreneurship education and also supports their role in the development of more immersive and student-centered training.

We investigate whether different individual-level microculture cohorts, as defined by respondents’ gender and life-stage, exhibit different organizational culture preferences in business organizations. We conceptualize the microculture cohorts by combining gender (male and female) with life-stage (young-adulthood and middle-adulthood) to form four microculture cohorts. Further, we take a holistic perspective with our model by including a meso-level predictor (Trust-in-Top-Management) and a macro-level moderator (Human Development Index) to better define the specificity of the environments surrounding these individuals. Using hierarchical linear modeling across our 40-society sample of business professionals, we identify life-stage as a primary influence in determining these microculture cohort preferences for organizational cultures (Clan/Adhocracy/Market/Hierarchy). Interestingly, we found that gender played a negligible role. Thus, contrary to previous studies using general-population samples (e.g., teachers, students), which have found a plethora of gender differences, we found that there were next to none in our sample of business professionals. These findings support the perspective that a global-business-subculture has evolved into existence, and that this subculture is different from the other sectors of societies in our 40-society sample. We discuss the organizational and societal implications of our research relative to less culture-specific research findings.

Serious games are increasingly present in higher education and many researchers are reflecting on how to use them in the development and training of new skills. However, an unexplored area is the analysis of the impact that serious games have on students’ academic performance in an entrepreneurship course. In this sense, this study simultaneously seeks to explore the impact of the use of a serious game, titled FLIGBY, on the development of hard and soft skills through the use of a mixed methods approach, in which quantitative and qualitative methods are combined by adopting the convergent parallel design model. The findings did not allow us to establish a correlation between the parameters assessed in the FLIGBY and the students’ academic performance. However, it was possible to identify several benefits in the development of soft skills with potential impact on the students’ academic and professional careers.

A szerzők tanulmányukban a vezetés emberi tényezőivel foglalkoznak, Csíkszentmihályi Mihály flow-elméletéhez (1997) kapcsolódóan a munkahelyi flow-állapotot elősegítő vezetéshez szükséges készségeket és ezek összefüggéseit vizsgálják. Rámutatnak arra, hogy a játékosítás és a komoly játékok fontos szerepet tölthetnek be a modern vezetőképzésben: az érintettek valósághű virtuális döntési szituációkon keresztül tapasztalatokat szerezhetnek készségeikről, döntéseik hatásáról, egyben fejleszthetik versenyképességet biztosító vezetői képességeiket. A kutatás újdonsága, hogy a flow-elmélet és a vezetői készségek közötti kapcsolatot a komoly játék eszközével létrehozott, kiterjedt adatbázison vizsgálja: a FLIGBY® („Flow is Good Business For You”), a flow-alapú vezetői készségek mérésére és fejlesztésére kidolgozott komoly játék közel egy évtizedre visszatekintő adatai adják empirikus elemzésük alapját. Többszáz magyar megfigyelés alapján, a vezetői készségek közti kapcsolatok statisztikai elemzésével megvizsgálják, hogy a munkahelyi flow-t elősegítő négy fő készséget (a stratégiai gondolkodásmód, a visszacsatolás, az egyéni erősségek felismerése, valamint a kihívások és a készségek közti egyensúly megteremtésének készsége) milyen további vezetői képességek támogatják leginkább.

Serious games are tools for measuring, evaluating, and developing leadership skills through the decisions taken by participants on leadership training. We analyse decision-making skills in relation to 29 leadership skills measured through FLIGBY, a Flow-developing serious game. Our empirical research explores the intuitive versus the analytical decision-making approaches' connections to other leadership skills demonstrated by 734 leaders and managers: through a series of complex management decisions made in the game. Participants gain deeper insights into their skill sets, experience the immediate consequences of their decisions, and enhance their personal competitiveness by developing their leadership skills. The novelty of our research lies in analysing the relationship between Flow theory, leadership skills, and particularly decision-making skills. We highlight which leadership skills are most relevant to analytical and intuitive thinking skills. Our results show that both decision-making approaches could support the Flow-promoting leadership style, however intuitive thinking has a stronger relationship with it.

We investigate the relationships between gender-role-orientation (i.e., androgynous, masculine, feminine and undifferentiated) and subjective career success among business professionals from 36 societies. Drawing on the resource management perspective, we predict that androgynous individuals will report the highest subjective career success, followed by masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated individuals. We also postulate that meso-organizational culture and macro-societal values will have moderating effects on gender role's impact on subjective career success. The results of our hierarchical linear models support the hypothesized hierarchy of the relationships between gender-role-orientations and subjective career success. However, we found that ethical achievement values at the societal culture level was the only variable that had a positive moderating impact on the relationship between feminine orientation and subjective career success. Thus, our findings of minimal moderation effect suggest that meso- and macro-level environments may not play a significant role in determining an individual's perception of career success.

Purpose This study aims to present a practical approach to recognizing leadership styles by adopting a serious game in the context of an entrepreneurship course in higher education. Design/methodology/approach The action-research methodology is adopted to explore how the various leadership styles are perceived and assimilated by students. Furthermore, students are organized into eight groups to explore this phenomenon through a thematic analysis. Findings The findings reveal that transformational and transactional leadership can coexist and be applied in organizational management. The results also indicate that students with relevant professional experience have a greater ability to identify the benefits and challenges associated with each leadership style as they recognize these styles throughout their professional careers. Originality/value This paper mainly offers practical implications by presenting an alternative and complementary approach to exploring leadership styles. Through this approach, students can recognize the various leadership styles in the game personas and realize their impact on the dynamics of an organization.

This paper discusses a unique serious game which harnesses a psychological state of Flow both as a pedagogical tool and a development target. The FLIGBY game was developed with the intention of teaching learners to understand the concept of Flow and apply this within their leadership practice. In FLIGBY, the player assumes the role of General Manager of a winery in California and must make 150+ complex decisions while managing the winery team and strategic direction to ensure the business’s success. This allows for the assessment of players’ skill level in 29 ‘soft skills’ and provides the rare ability to quantify changes in players’ leadership abilities. Use of the game to develop soft skills is discussed, including an extensive range of feedback provided during the game. Suggestions for future research include further interrogation of the dataset collected as learners progress through the game, along with additional measurement to assess how learners achieve a state of Flow while playing the game. Investigation of the roles of storification and socially constructed realities is also recommended.

Traditionally, serious games have been used in the development of hard skills, particularly in technical areas such as health, engineering, defence or the environment. However, they can also be applied in the assessment and development of soft skills, which are increasingly key competencies for an individual in the twenty-first century. In this sense, this study proposes the adoption of the FLIGBY serious game in a higher education institution to evaluate and develop students' skills in this field. The findings indicate a large correspondence between the soft skills fundamental to the twenty-first century and the assessment dimensions recorded by the game. Furthermore, the findings reveal that FLIGBY can be used primarily to develop skills in dimensions such as leadership, conflict management, diplomacy and emotional intelligence. These findings are relevant for higher education institutions that intend to include and foster the development of soft skills competencies in their curricula.