Godlike Views Of Human Capital : A Qualitative Case Study of Different Internal Stakeholder Views of Human Capital within an Esport Organization

Abstract: The esport industry is growing, and it is growing fast. Research suggests that the phenomenon of esport poses a great opportunity to research the development and assessment of human expertise in our modern digitized society. Consequently, the research in this thesis is that of a case study of an esport organization through which we have sought to answer the research question: "How do stakeholders within an esport organization view human capital, that is the investment in, and the development, assessment, and treatment of players?" We answered this research question by gathering relevant empirical material through five semi-structured interviews, which we analyzed to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying reasons and different justifications as to how human capital in the organization is viewed by different stakeholders within the organization. We present four general conclusions. Firstly, there were similar views among the different stakeholders regarding investments in and development of players. Secondly, it was apparent that the stakeholders viewed the players as the core of the business. Thirdly, upper management seemed to carry more of a goal-oriented perspective on the players development as opposed to stakeholders more ‘hierarchically’ adjacent to the players. And lastly, the investments in the players' development were justified through various aspects. Through these conclusions, we i) contribute to managerial/organizational knowledge on how or how not to invest in, develop, assess, and treat human capital in an esport organization, ii) contribute theoretically by applying various different theories and concepts in an esport context; thus expanding the theoretical knowledge of the capabilities and usage of said theories and concepts, and iii) contribute to the empirical body of literature regarding the esport phenomenon by portraying different stakeholder views of human capital within an esport context.