&samhoud joins forces with serious gaming expert
Consulting firm &samhoud has taken a 50% stake in Ranj, a specialist in applied gaming. As part of the capability sharing, the Rotterdam based Ranj will change their name to &ranj.
Ranj names itself a global pioneer in applied gaming and gamification. The firm employs around 30 people across its offices in Rotterdam, Hamburg and Minneapolis, servicing global corporate clients (including Philips, Shell and Heineken) as well medical clients. Ranj aims at developing specialist videogames for managers, with the aim of changing human behaviour.
&samhoud was originally founded as a consultancy firm, although the firm has expanded its practice from its base in management consulting to among others media, hospitality and food. The firm employs 150 people across the globe, with offices in the Netherlands, Malaysia, Germany and Switzerland.
Gamification – the application of gaming techniques for the realisation and embedment of positive behavioural changes – has been growing as a trend in management consulting over the past years. In 2013 Consultancy.uk wrote about gamification in a report from Capgemini Consulting, in which the firm claimed that gamification would become a mega trend; the worldwide appetite for gamification rapidly increasing according to Gartner, the market in 2016 will be with $2.8 billion, up considerably from ‘just’ $242 million in 2012. The key growth driver: the new generation is reading less and less, and is increasingly learning through the medium of games, even at management level.
To capitalise on the growth potential, &samhoud has decided to take a 50% stake in Ranj. With the move, &samhoud aims at bundle its competencies in HR, leadership and transformation with Ranj’s expertise in gaming and digital tools, to jointly give form to one of the biggest challenges of around: digital transformation. “People are becoming increasingly self-aware, are taking more risks, and are learning faster. We’re taking advantage of that by inspiring and connecting people: with our people oriented approach to cultural change, through online media and gamification. Together with &ranj we are endeavouring to create further connections with organisations and wider societ”, says Salem Samhoud, founder of &samhoud.
As part of the deal the partners decided to rename Ranj to &ranj, to reflect the wider branding of labels within &samhoud’s network. The partners are straight to work; working together to deliver an innovative health game for a Greek health insurer. In the long term, &samhoud and &ranj see a wealth of opportunities together, among others, in the arena of leadership, process management, recruitment, and in strategy. Games are, according to &samhoud, here to stay in education, in candidate assessment but also in the process of thinking through situation and the improvement of collaboration between suppliers and clients.
