Esports as a Catalyst: Bridging Behavioral Science, Managerial Science, and Data Science Across Disciplines
Dr. Guido Bruinsma
Assistant Professor, IEBIS, UT
This unprecedented growth offers fertile ground for interdisciplinary research, enabling us toaddress complex societal and organizational challenges with fresh perspectives. Esports, with its dynamic interplay of human behavior, technological systems, and organizational strategy, provides a unique context for studying foundational questions. Behavioral science can uncover how individuals and teams make decisions under pressure, manage stress, and foster collaboration in high-stakes virtual environments. Managerial science can explore innovative approaches to team management, organizational design, and stakeholder engagement in this fastpaced ecosystem. Meanwhile, data science can harness the vast datasets generated by esports to extract actionable insights, refine predictive models, and push the boundaries of machine learning applications. Esports has the potential for today’s society to take the role that Formula 1 has taken to advance our daily driver.
Dr. G.W.J. (Guido) Bruinsma is an Assistant Professor in the Industrial Engineering & Business Information, Systems (IEBIS) group at the University of Twente. He holds a background in work and organizational psychology and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Twente, focusing on developing a simulation model for orchestrating complex multi-organizational collaborative work during emergency response situations. Guido's research interests lie at the intersection of technology, human behavior, and research methodology. He specializes in the development and implementation of game-based interventions, commonly known as serious games, and the creation of health, performance, and data-driven systems for esports. To advance these interests, he founded the Esportslab at the University of Twente and Gamelaboost in the municipality of Enschede. Beyond academia, Guido is actively involved in several startups and organizations focusing on organizational improvement, applied gaming, and esports. His interdisciplinary approach bridges computer science, psychology, and social sciences, contributing to advancements in serious game design, simulation, human resource management and organisational science. Guido's scholarly contributions include publications on serious games for business information technology alignment, game-based learning in formal education, and performance enhancement in competitive environments. His work has been presented at various international conferences, with a focus on integrating academic research with practical applications in technology and human behavior.