Robson, K.E., Plangger, K.A., Kietzmann, J., McCarthy, I., and Pitt, L.F. (2014) Understanding Gamification of Consumer Experiences, Advances in Consumer Research, 42, 352-356
Recently, organizations have begun to tout ‘gamification’ as an effective method of increasing motivation and engagement of employees, customers, patients, and students, among other stakeholders (Wingfield 2012). Nonetheless, despite projections that such gamification will become a widely adopted phenomenon, estimates are gloomy with respect to the real impact these projects will have on the experiences of ‘players’ (i.e., participants who are supposed to have fun), and on the organizations that would like to use gamification to improve the players’ behavior in their favor (Burke 2011). Gamification is difficult, and fraught with problems that can lead to strategic and resource-based problems for the firm. In this article, we present an experience framework in order to show the effect of gamification on consumers’ experiences that is illustrated through four extended examples. We conclude this article with a few implications for future research into, as well as practical application for the successful gamification of consumer experiences. But first, we discuss what gamification is and what it is not.
Is it all a game? Understanding the principles of gamificationIan McCarthy
There is growing interest in how gamification–—defined as the application of game design principles in non-gaming contexts–—can be used in business. However, academic research and management practice have paid little attention to the challenges of how best to design, implement, manage, and optimize gamification strategies. To advance understanding of gamification, this article defines what it is and explains how it prompts managers to think about business practice in new and innovative ways. Drawing upon the game design literature, we present a framework of three gamification principles –— mechanics, dynamics, and emotions (MDE) –— to explain how gamified experiences can be created. We then provide an extended illustration of gamification and conclude with ideas for future research and application opportunities.
There is growing interest in how gamification–—defined as the application of game design principles in non-gaming contexts–—can be used in business. However, academic research and management practice have paid little attention to the challenges of how best to design, implement, manage, and optimize gamification strategies. To advance understanding of gamification, this article defines what it is and explains how it prompts managers to think about business practice in new and innovative ways. Drawing upon the game design literature, we present a framework of three gamification principles–—mechanics, dynamics, and emotions (MDE)–—to explain how gamified experiences can be created. We then provide an extended illustration of gamification and conclude with ideas for future research and application opportu- nities.
Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamificationIan McCarthy
Managers are frequently tasked with increasing the engagement levels of key stakeholders, such as customers and employees. Gamification - defined as the application of game design principles to change behavior in non-gaming contexts - is a tool that, if crafted and implemented properly, can increase engagement. In this article we discuss how gamification can aid customer and employee engagement, and delineate between four different types of customers and employees who act as ‘players’ in gamified experiences. We include illustrative examples of gamification and conclude by presenting five lessons for managers who wish to utilize gamification.
Is it all a game? Understanding the principles of gamificationIan McCarthy
There is growing interest in how gamification–—defined as the application of game design principles in non-gaming contexts–—can be used in business. However, academic research and management practice have paid little attention to the challenges of how best to design, implement, manage, and optimize gamification strategies. To advance understanding of gamification, this article defines what it is and explains how it prompts managers to think about business practice in new and innovative ways. Drawing upon the game design literature, we present a framework of three gamification principles –— mechanics, dynamics, and emotions (MDE) –— to explain how gamified experiences can be created. We then provide an extended illustration of gamification and conclude with ideas for future research and application opportunities.
There is growing interest in how gamification–—defined as the application of game design principles in non-gaming contexts–—can be used in business. However, academic research and management practice have paid little attention to the challenges of how best to design, implement, manage, and optimize gamification strategies. To advance understanding of gamification, this article defines what it is and explains how it prompts managers to think about business practice in new and innovative ways. Drawing upon the game design literature, we present a framework of three gamification principles–—mechanics, dynamics, and emotions (MDE)–—to explain how gamified experiences can be created. We then provide an extended illustration of gamification and conclude with ideas for future research and application opportu- nities.
Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamificationIan McCarthy
Managers are frequently tasked with increasing the engagement levels of key stakeholders, such as customers and employees. Gamification - defined as the application of game design principles to change behavior in non-gaming contexts - is a tool that, if crafted and implemented properly, can increase engagement. In this article we discuss how gamification can aid customer and employee engagement, and delineate between four different types of customers and employees who act as ‘players’ in gamified experiences. We include illustrative examples of gamification and conclude by presenting five lessons for managers who wish to utilize gamification.
Burson-Marsteller has carried out a research together with IMD business school involving over 200 European companies, looking at how they define and communicate Corporate Purpose to internal and external stakeholders. The analysis led to a number of findings, most notably that corporate purpose enhances financial performance by 17%!
웨버 샌드윅(Weber Shandwick) 본사에서 새로운 글로벌 리포트, “The Convergence Ahead : The Integration of Communications and Marketing” 발표하여, 리포트 내용 중 주요 포인트를 공유합니다.
해당 리포트는 2013년 10월부터 2014년 3월까지 약 6개월 기간 동안 미국, 유럽, 아시아-태평양 등 주요 글로벌 기업 내 최고 커뮤니케이션 경영자(CCO) 와 최고 마케팅 경영자(CMO)를 대상으로 전화인터뷰를 실시해서 완성되었다.
디지털 미디어 시대의 도래로 인해, 기업 및 브랜드와 기업 인지도의 상관 관계는 더욱 밀접해지고 있으며, 이에 따라, 기업 커뮤니케이션/ 마케팅 커뮤니케이션 활동에도 변화가 필요하게 되었다. 전통적으로 독자적인 영역이었던 두 부문이 서로의 영역 구분이 모호해지고 있음을 설문 참여 대상자들이 해당 리포트에서 확인시켜 주고 있다. 이미 이러한 커뮤니케이션 변화를 예상하고, 해당 변화에 대응하고자 몇몇 글로벌 기업들은 최고 커뮤니케이션 & 마케팅 경영자(CCMO, Chief Communication & Marketing Officer)라는 통합 직급을 새롭게 만들었으며, 본 리포트에는 CCMO의 경험을 기반으로 정리된 유익한 정보를 담고 있다.
해당 리포트에서는 기업 커뮤니케이션 & 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이 수렴화되는 트렌드(Convergence Trend)가 도래하게 된 배경을 분석하였을 뿐 아니라, CCMO의 성공적인 Convergence 를 위해 참고가 필요한 사항들을 6가지로 정리했으며, 주요 내용은 다음과 같다.
기업 커뮤니케이션과 마케팅 커뮤니케이션 활동의 성공적인 수렴화를 위한 6단계:
Consider Convergence for Strategic advantage: 두 커뮤니케이션 분야가 수렴화를 통해 얻을 수 있는 전략적 혜택을 고려하라
Start with a shared vision and mission: 조직에서 서로가 합의된 목표와 비전을 갖고 시작하라. 브랜드의 정체성을 정의한 후, 두 커뮤니케이션 부문의 수렴화를 진행하는 이유와 목표를 조직에 공유시켜야 한다
Evangelize widely and deeply: 각 부문 리더, 외부 관계자, 주요 클라이언트의 니즈를 파악하고 새로운 미션을 조직 내에 널리 알려야 한다.
Govern the integration: 통합된 조직을 탄생 시키기 위해서는, 각 부서를 통합 관리하는 능력이 필요하다.
Move quickly but planfully: 새로운 통합 과정이 조직 내에서 스무스하게 진행될 수 있도록, 본인과 팀의 능력을 믿고, 계획하에서 신속히 움직여라.
Celebrate successes early and often: 변화에서 얻게 되는 가시적인 성과와 혜택을 조직 내에 자주 보여주고 공유할 수 있는 방안을 찾아야 한다. CCMO 들은 성과가 있는 부분은 내부적으로 프로모션하고, 또 다른 성과를 이끌어내어야 한다.
Friending in High Places: Business Leaders On Facebook and InstagramBurson-Marsteller
Executive engagement on social media has become an integral part of the corporate communication mix, and Facebook and Instagram are making their way into executive floors and boardrooms of many global companies. For the last six years, Burson-Marsteller has studied how heads of state, governments and international organizations use social media
channels. For the last two years, it has produced reports specifically about world leaders’ use of Facebook. This year, in addition to studying world leaders, Burson-Marsteller conducted this study of business leaders to see how they connect with their audiences on Facebook and
Instagram.
Mit Convergence Ahead: The Integration of Communication and Marketing präsentiert Weber Shandwick eine qualitative Studie, die den Blick für die zunehmende Überschneidung von Kommunikation und Marketing schärft. Convergence Ahead untersucht die Erfahrungen von Führungskräften, die diese traditionellen Silo-Funktionen bereits erfolgreich zusammengeführt haben.
Für die Studie wurden telefonische Tiefeninterviews mit Kommunikations- und Marketingverantwortlichen (CCMOs bzw. CMCOs) geführt, die in ihrem Unternehmen für die erfolgreiche Bündelung dieser beiden Aufgabenbereiche verantwortlich zeichnen. Als treibende Faktoren für die Konvergenz wurden neben der immer komplexer werdenden Medienwelt auch sich rasant entwickelnde soziale und digitale Technologien sowie die zunehmende Überschneidung von Marke und Reputation identifiziert. Die Studie zeigt neben diesen Faktoren auch Chancen und Herausforderungen einer solchen Strukturveränderung.
In Convergence Ahead hat Weber Shandwick anhand der CCMO-Erfahrungen einen Sechs-Stufen-Plan für eine erfolgreiche Fusion von Kommunikation und Marketing entwickelt.
When customers get clever: Managerial approaches to dealing with creative con...Ian McCarthy
Creative consumers (defined as customers who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering) represent an intriguing paradox for business. On
one hand, they can signify a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property. On the other hand, they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. Central to business is the need to create and capture value, and creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms accomplish both. Based upon their attitude and action toward customer innovation, we develop a typology of firms’ stances toward creative consumers. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy and
examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers: awareness, analysis, and response.
The ability of current statistical classifications to separateservices and ma...Ian McCarthy
This paper explores the performance of current statistical classification systems in classifying firms and, in particular, their ability to distinguish between firms that provide services and firms that provide manufacturing. We find that a large share of firms, almost 20%, are not classified as expected based on a comparison of their statements of activities with the assigned industry codes. This result is robust to analyses on different levels of aggregation and is validated in an additional survey. It is well known from earlier literature that industry classification systems are not perfect. This paper provides a quantification of the flaws in classifications of firms. Moreover, it is explained why the classifications of firms are imprecise. The increasing complexity of production, inertia in changes to statistical systems and the increasing integration of manufacturing products and services are some of the primary and interrelated explanations for this lack of precision. We emphasise, however, that such classification problems are not resolved using a ‘technical fix’. Any statistical classification method involves a number of tradeoffs.
Organisational diversity, evolution and cladistic classificationsIan McCarthy
This article presents a case for the construction of a formal classification of manufacturing systems using cladistics, a technique from the biological school of classification. A seven-stage framework for roducing a manufacturing cladogram is presented, along with a pilot case study example. This article describes the role that classification plays in the pure and applied sciences, the social sciences and reviews the status of existing manufacturing classifications. If organisational diversity and organisational change processes are governed by evolutionary mechanisms, studies of organisations based on an evolutionary approach such as cladistics could have potential, because as March [March JG. The evolution of evolution. In: Baum JAC, Singh JV, editors. Evolutionary dynamics of organizations. Oxford University Press, 1994. p. 39±52], page 45, states ``there is natural speculation that organisations, like species can be engineered by understanding the evolutionary processes well enough to intervene and produce competitive organisational effects''. It is suggested that a cladistic study could provide organisations with a ``knowledge map'' of the ecosystem in which they exist and by using this phylogenetic and situational analysis, they could determine coherent and appropriate action for the specification of change.
Why do some patents get licensed while others do not?Ian McCarthy
To understand why some patents get licensed and others do not, we estimate a portfolio of firm- and patent-level determinants for why a particular licensor’s patent was licensed over all technologically similar patents held by other licensors. Using data for licensed biopharmaceutical patents, we build a set of alternate patents that could have been licensed-in using topic modeling techniques. This provides a more sophisticated way of controlling for patent characteristics and analyzing the attractiveness of a licensor and the characteristics of the patent itself. We find that patents owned by licensors with technological prestige, experience at licensing, and combined technological depth and breadth have a greater chance at being chosen by licensees. This suggests that a licensor’s standing and organizational learning rather than the quality of its patent alone influence the success of outward licensing.
Innovation in manufacturing as an evolutionary complex systemIan McCarthy
The focus of this paper is on innovation in terms of the new product development processes and to discuss its main features. This is followed by a presentation of the new ideas emerging from complex systems science. It is then demonstrated how complex systems provides an overall conceptual framework for thinking about innovation and for considering how this helps to provide understanding and advice for the organisation of new product development in different circumstances. Three case studies are quoted which illustrate the application of these new ideas.
Understanding the effects of outsourcing: unpacking the total factor producti...Ian McCarthy
Research on why firms should outsource and how they should do it has proliferated in the past two decades, but few consistent findings have emerged concerning the benefits of outsourcing. We argue that this is in part due to the lack of an adequate framework for measuring the effects of outsourcing. To address this, we present such a framework based upon the Cobb–Douglas productivity function. We explain how our framework can be used to unpack one component of the Cobb–Douglas productivity function, the ‘total factor productivity’, which represents the other numerous sub-variables that affect outsourcing productivity, beyond the capital and labour expenditures. We also demonstrate the framework using a simple illustrative example.
Technology Management - A Complex Adaptive Systems ApproachIan McCarthy
There are systems methods and evolutionary processes that can help organisations understand the innovative patterns and competitive mechanisms that influence the creation, management and exploitation of technology. This paper presents a specific model based on the evolutionary processes of variation, selection, retention and struggle, coupled with fitness landscape theory. This latter concept is a complex adaptive systems theory that has attained recognition as an approach for visually mapping the strategic options an evolving system could pursue. The relevance and utility of fitness landscape theory to the strategic management of technology is explored, and a definition and model of technological fitness provided. The complex adaptive systems perspective adopted by this paper, views organisations as evolving systems that formulate strategies by classifying, selecting, adopting and exploiting various combinations of technological capabilities. A model called the strategy configuration chain is presented to illustrate this strategic process.
Achieving Agility Using Cladistics: An Evolutionary AnalysisIan McCarthy
To achieve the status of an agile manufacturer, organisations need to clearly understand the concept of agility, relative to their industrial and business circumstances and to then identify and acquire the appropriate characteristics which will result in an agile manufacturing organisation. This paper is not simply another discussion on the definition of agility, or a philosophical debate on the drivers and characteristics of agility. This paper presents an evolutionary modelling technique (cladistics) which could enable organisations to systematically manage and understand the emergence of new manufacturing forms within their business environment. This fundamental, but important insight is valuable for achieving successful organisational design and change. Thus, regardless of the industrial sector, managers could use cladistics as an evolutionary analysis technique for determining ``where they have been and where they are now''. Moving from a non-agile manufacture to an agile manufacture is a process of organisational change and evolutionary development. This evolutionary method will enable organisations to understand the landscape of manufacturing possibilities that exist, to identify appropriate agile forms and to successfully navigate that landscape.
Achieving contextual ambidexterity in R&D organizations: a management control...Ian McCarthy
Research on how managers control R&D activities has tended to focus on the performance measurement systems used to exploit existing knowledge and capabilities. This focus has been at the expense of how broader forms of management control could be used to enable R&D contextual ambidexterity, the capacity to attain appropriate levels of exploitation and exploration behaviors in the same R&D organizational unit. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework for understanding how different types of control system, guided by different R&D strategic goals, can be used to induce and balance both exploitation and exploration. We illustrate the elements of this framework and their relations using data from biotechnology firms, and then discuss how the framework provides a basis to empirically examine a number of important control relationships and phenomena.
Toward a Phylogenetic Reconstruction of Organizational LifeIan McCarthy
Classification is an important activity that facilitates theory development in many academic disciplines. Scholars in fields such as organizational science, management science and economics and have long recognized that classification offers an approach for ordering and understanding the diversity of organizational taxa (groups of one or more similar organizational entities). However, even the most prominent organizational classifications have limited utility, as they tend to be shaped by a specific research bias, inadequate units of analysis and a standard neoclassical economic view that does not naturally accommodate the disequilibrium dynamics of modern competition. The result is a relatively large number of individual and unconnected organizational classifications, which tend to ignore the processes of change responsible for organizational diversity. Collectively they fail to provide any sort of universal system for ordering, compiling and presenting knowledge on organizational diversity. This paper has two purposes. First, it reviews the general status of the major theoretical approaches to biological and organizational classification and compares the methods and resulting classifications derived from each approach. Definitions of key terms and a discussion on the three principal schools of biological classification (evolutionary systematics, phenetics and cladistics) are included in this review. Second, this paper aims to encourage critical thinking and debate about the use of the cladistic classification approach for inferring and representing the historical relationships underpinning organizational diversity. This involves examining the feasibility of applying the logic of common ancestry to populations of organizations. Consequently, this paper is exploratory and preparatory in style, with illustrations and assertions concerning the study and classification of organizational diversity.
Complex adaptive system mechanisms, adaptive management practices, and firm p...Ian McCarthy
As a fascinating concept, the mechanisms of complex adaptive system (CAS) attracted many researchers from a variety of disciplines. Nevertheless, how the mechanism-related variables, such as strategic resonance, accreting nodes, pattern forming, and catalytic behavior of organization, impact the firm product innovativeness is rarely addressed empirically in the new product development (NPD) literature. Also, there exist limited studies on the antecedents of the mechanisms of CAS in the NPD literature. In this respect, we identified and operationalized the adaptive management practices, which involve bonding, nonlinear, and attractor behaviors of management, as antecedents of mechanisms and firm product innovativeness. By studying 235 firms, we found that (1) strategic resonance and accreting nodes are positively related to firm product innovativeness, (2) bonding, nonlinear, and attractor behaviors of management positively influence the mechanism variables, and (3) market and technology turbulence impact the adaptive management practices. We also found that mechanisms of CAS partially mediate the relationship between adaptive management practices and firm product innovativeness.
Burson-Marsteller has carried out a research together with IMD business school involving over 200 European companies, looking at how they define and communicate Corporate Purpose to internal and external stakeholders. The analysis led to a number of findings, most notably that corporate purpose enhances financial performance by 17%!
웨버 샌드윅(Weber Shandwick) 본사에서 새로운 글로벌 리포트, “The Convergence Ahead : The Integration of Communications and Marketing” 발표하여, 리포트 내용 중 주요 포인트를 공유합니다.
해당 리포트는 2013년 10월부터 2014년 3월까지 약 6개월 기간 동안 미국, 유럽, 아시아-태평양 등 주요 글로벌 기업 내 최고 커뮤니케이션 경영자(CCO) 와 최고 마케팅 경영자(CMO)를 대상으로 전화인터뷰를 실시해서 완성되었다.
디지털 미디어 시대의 도래로 인해, 기업 및 브랜드와 기업 인지도의 상관 관계는 더욱 밀접해지고 있으며, 이에 따라, 기업 커뮤니케이션/ 마케팅 커뮤니케이션 활동에도 변화가 필요하게 되었다. 전통적으로 독자적인 영역이었던 두 부문이 서로의 영역 구분이 모호해지고 있음을 설문 참여 대상자들이 해당 리포트에서 확인시켜 주고 있다. 이미 이러한 커뮤니케이션 변화를 예상하고, 해당 변화에 대응하고자 몇몇 글로벌 기업들은 최고 커뮤니케이션 & 마케팅 경영자(CCMO, Chief Communication & Marketing Officer)라는 통합 직급을 새롭게 만들었으며, 본 리포트에는 CCMO의 경험을 기반으로 정리된 유익한 정보를 담고 있다.
해당 리포트에서는 기업 커뮤니케이션 & 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이 수렴화되는 트렌드(Convergence Trend)가 도래하게 된 배경을 분석하였을 뿐 아니라, CCMO의 성공적인 Convergence 를 위해 참고가 필요한 사항들을 6가지로 정리했으며, 주요 내용은 다음과 같다.
기업 커뮤니케이션과 마케팅 커뮤니케이션 활동의 성공적인 수렴화를 위한 6단계:
Consider Convergence for Strategic advantage: 두 커뮤니케이션 분야가 수렴화를 통해 얻을 수 있는 전략적 혜택을 고려하라
Start with a shared vision and mission: 조직에서 서로가 합의된 목표와 비전을 갖고 시작하라. 브랜드의 정체성을 정의한 후, 두 커뮤니케이션 부문의 수렴화를 진행하는 이유와 목표를 조직에 공유시켜야 한다
Evangelize widely and deeply: 각 부문 리더, 외부 관계자, 주요 클라이언트의 니즈를 파악하고 새로운 미션을 조직 내에 널리 알려야 한다.
Govern the integration: 통합된 조직을 탄생 시키기 위해서는, 각 부서를 통합 관리하는 능력이 필요하다.
Move quickly but planfully: 새로운 통합 과정이 조직 내에서 스무스하게 진행될 수 있도록, 본인과 팀의 능력을 믿고, 계획하에서 신속히 움직여라.
Celebrate successes early and often: 변화에서 얻게 되는 가시적인 성과와 혜택을 조직 내에 자주 보여주고 공유할 수 있는 방안을 찾아야 한다. CCMO 들은 성과가 있는 부분은 내부적으로 프로모션하고, 또 다른 성과를 이끌어내어야 한다.
Friending in High Places: Business Leaders On Facebook and InstagramBurson-Marsteller
Executive engagement on social media has become an integral part of the corporate communication mix, and Facebook and Instagram are making their way into executive floors and boardrooms of many global companies. For the last six years, Burson-Marsteller has studied how heads of state, governments and international organizations use social media
channels. For the last two years, it has produced reports specifically about world leaders’ use of Facebook. This year, in addition to studying world leaders, Burson-Marsteller conducted this study of business leaders to see how they connect with their audiences on Facebook and
Instagram.
Mit Convergence Ahead: The Integration of Communication and Marketing präsentiert Weber Shandwick eine qualitative Studie, die den Blick für die zunehmende Überschneidung von Kommunikation und Marketing schärft. Convergence Ahead untersucht die Erfahrungen von Führungskräften, die diese traditionellen Silo-Funktionen bereits erfolgreich zusammengeführt haben.
Für die Studie wurden telefonische Tiefeninterviews mit Kommunikations- und Marketingverantwortlichen (CCMOs bzw. CMCOs) geführt, die in ihrem Unternehmen für die erfolgreiche Bündelung dieser beiden Aufgabenbereiche verantwortlich zeichnen. Als treibende Faktoren für die Konvergenz wurden neben der immer komplexer werdenden Medienwelt auch sich rasant entwickelnde soziale und digitale Technologien sowie die zunehmende Überschneidung von Marke und Reputation identifiziert. Die Studie zeigt neben diesen Faktoren auch Chancen und Herausforderungen einer solchen Strukturveränderung.
In Convergence Ahead hat Weber Shandwick anhand der CCMO-Erfahrungen einen Sechs-Stufen-Plan für eine erfolgreiche Fusion von Kommunikation und Marketing entwickelt.
When customers get clever: Managerial approaches to dealing with creative con...Ian McCarthy
Creative consumers (defined as customers who adapt, modify, or transform a proprietary offering) represent an intriguing paradox for business. On
one hand, they can signify a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property. On the other hand, they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. Central to business is the need to create and capture value, and creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms accomplish both. Based upon their attitude and action toward customer innovation, we develop a typology of firms’ stances toward creative consumers. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy and
examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers: awareness, analysis, and response.
The ability of current statistical classifications to separateservices and ma...Ian McCarthy
This paper explores the performance of current statistical classification systems in classifying firms and, in particular, their ability to distinguish between firms that provide services and firms that provide manufacturing. We find that a large share of firms, almost 20%, are not classified as expected based on a comparison of their statements of activities with the assigned industry codes. This result is robust to analyses on different levels of aggregation and is validated in an additional survey. It is well known from earlier literature that industry classification systems are not perfect. This paper provides a quantification of the flaws in classifications of firms. Moreover, it is explained why the classifications of firms are imprecise. The increasing complexity of production, inertia in changes to statistical systems and the increasing integration of manufacturing products and services are some of the primary and interrelated explanations for this lack of precision. We emphasise, however, that such classification problems are not resolved using a ‘technical fix’. Any statistical classification method involves a number of tradeoffs.
Organisational diversity, evolution and cladistic classificationsIan McCarthy
This article presents a case for the construction of a formal classification of manufacturing systems using cladistics, a technique from the biological school of classification. A seven-stage framework for roducing a manufacturing cladogram is presented, along with a pilot case study example. This article describes the role that classification plays in the pure and applied sciences, the social sciences and reviews the status of existing manufacturing classifications. If organisational diversity and organisational change processes are governed by evolutionary mechanisms, studies of organisations based on an evolutionary approach such as cladistics could have potential, because as March [March JG. The evolution of evolution. In: Baum JAC, Singh JV, editors. Evolutionary dynamics of organizations. Oxford University Press, 1994. p. 39±52], page 45, states ``there is natural speculation that organisations, like species can be engineered by understanding the evolutionary processes well enough to intervene and produce competitive organisational effects''. It is suggested that a cladistic study could provide organisations with a ``knowledge map'' of the ecosystem in which they exist and by using this phylogenetic and situational analysis, they could determine coherent and appropriate action for the specification of change.
Why do some patents get licensed while others do not?Ian McCarthy
To understand why some patents get licensed and others do not, we estimate a portfolio of firm- and patent-level determinants for why a particular licensor’s patent was licensed over all technologically similar patents held by other licensors. Using data for licensed biopharmaceutical patents, we build a set of alternate patents that could have been licensed-in using topic modeling techniques. This provides a more sophisticated way of controlling for patent characteristics and analyzing the attractiveness of a licensor and the characteristics of the patent itself. We find that patents owned by licensors with technological prestige, experience at licensing, and combined technological depth and breadth have a greater chance at being chosen by licensees. This suggests that a licensor’s standing and organizational learning rather than the quality of its patent alone influence the success of outward licensing.
Innovation in manufacturing as an evolutionary complex systemIan McCarthy
The focus of this paper is on innovation in terms of the new product development processes and to discuss its main features. This is followed by a presentation of the new ideas emerging from complex systems science. It is then demonstrated how complex systems provides an overall conceptual framework for thinking about innovation and for considering how this helps to provide understanding and advice for the organisation of new product development in different circumstances. Three case studies are quoted which illustrate the application of these new ideas.
Understanding the effects of outsourcing: unpacking the total factor producti...Ian McCarthy
Research on why firms should outsource and how they should do it has proliferated in the past two decades, but few consistent findings have emerged concerning the benefits of outsourcing. We argue that this is in part due to the lack of an adequate framework for measuring the effects of outsourcing. To address this, we present such a framework based upon the Cobb–Douglas productivity function. We explain how our framework can be used to unpack one component of the Cobb–Douglas productivity function, the ‘total factor productivity’, which represents the other numerous sub-variables that affect outsourcing productivity, beyond the capital and labour expenditures. We also demonstrate the framework using a simple illustrative example.
Technology Management - A Complex Adaptive Systems ApproachIan McCarthy
There are systems methods and evolutionary processes that can help organisations understand the innovative patterns and competitive mechanisms that influence the creation, management and exploitation of technology. This paper presents a specific model based on the evolutionary processes of variation, selection, retention and struggle, coupled with fitness landscape theory. This latter concept is a complex adaptive systems theory that has attained recognition as an approach for visually mapping the strategic options an evolving system could pursue. The relevance and utility of fitness landscape theory to the strategic management of technology is explored, and a definition and model of technological fitness provided. The complex adaptive systems perspective adopted by this paper, views organisations as evolving systems that formulate strategies by classifying, selecting, adopting and exploiting various combinations of technological capabilities. A model called the strategy configuration chain is presented to illustrate this strategic process.
Achieving Agility Using Cladistics: An Evolutionary AnalysisIan McCarthy
To achieve the status of an agile manufacturer, organisations need to clearly understand the concept of agility, relative to their industrial and business circumstances and to then identify and acquire the appropriate characteristics which will result in an agile manufacturing organisation. This paper is not simply another discussion on the definition of agility, or a philosophical debate on the drivers and characteristics of agility. This paper presents an evolutionary modelling technique (cladistics) which could enable organisations to systematically manage and understand the emergence of new manufacturing forms within their business environment. This fundamental, but important insight is valuable for achieving successful organisational design and change. Thus, regardless of the industrial sector, managers could use cladistics as an evolutionary analysis technique for determining ``where they have been and where they are now''. Moving from a non-agile manufacture to an agile manufacture is a process of organisational change and evolutionary development. This evolutionary method will enable organisations to understand the landscape of manufacturing possibilities that exist, to identify appropriate agile forms and to successfully navigate that landscape.
Achieving contextual ambidexterity in R&D organizations: a management control...Ian McCarthy
Research on how managers control R&D activities has tended to focus on the performance measurement systems used to exploit existing knowledge and capabilities. This focus has been at the expense of how broader forms of management control could be used to enable R&D contextual ambidexterity, the capacity to attain appropriate levels of exploitation and exploration behaviors in the same R&D organizational unit. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework for understanding how different types of control system, guided by different R&D strategic goals, can be used to induce and balance both exploitation and exploration. We illustrate the elements of this framework and their relations using data from biotechnology firms, and then discuss how the framework provides a basis to empirically examine a number of important control relationships and phenomena.
Toward a Phylogenetic Reconstruction of Organizational LifeIan McCarthy
Classification is an important activity that facilitates theory development in many academic disciplines. Scholars in fields such as organizational science, management science and economics and have long recognized that classification offers an approach for ordering and understanding the diversity of organizational taxa (groups of one or more similar organizational entities). However, even the most prominent organizational classifications have limited utility, as they tend to be shaped by a specific research bias, inadequate units of analysis and a standard neoclassical economic view that does not naturally accommodate the disequilibrium dynamics of modern competition. The result is a relatively large number of individual and unconnected organizational classifications, which tend to ignore the processes of change responsible for organizational diversity. Collectively they fail to provide any sort of universal system for ordering, compiling and presenting knowledge on organizational diversity. This paper has two purposes. First, it reviews the general status of the major theoretical approaches to biological and organizational classification and compares the methods and resulting classifications derived from each approach. Definitions of key terms and a discussion on the three principal schools of biological classification (evolutionary systematics, phenetics and cladistics) are included in this review. Second, this paper aims to encourage critical thinking and debate about the use of the cladistic classification approach for inferring and representing the historical relationships underpinning organizational diversity. This involves examining the feasibility of applying the logic of common ancestry to populations of organizations. Consequently, this paper is exploratory and preparatory in style, with illustrations and assertions concerning the study and classification of organizational diversity.
Complex adaptive system mechanisms, adaptive management practices, and firm p...Ian McCarthy
As a fascinating concept, the mechanisms of complex adaptive system (CAS) attracted many researchers from a variety of disciplines. Nevertheless, how the mechanism-related variables, such as strategic resonance, accreting nodes, pattern forming, and catalytic behavior of organization, impact the firm product innovativeness is rarely addressed empirically in the new product development (NPD) literature. Also, there exist limited studies on the antecedents of the mechanisms of CAS in the NPD literature. In this respect, we identified and operationalized the adaptive management practices, which involve bonding, nonlinear, and attractor behaviors of management, as antecedents of mechanisms and firm product innovativeness. By studying 235 firms, we found that (1) strategic resonance and accreting nodes are positively related to firm product innovativeness, (2) bonding, nonlinear, and attractor behaviors of management positively influence the mechanism variables, and (3) market and technology turbulence impact the adaptive management practices. We also found that mechanisms of CAS partially mediate the relationship between adaptive management practices and firm product innovativeness.
New Product Development as a Complex Adaptive System of DecisionsIan McCarthy
Early research on new product development (NPD) has produced descriptive frameworks and models that view the process as a linear system with sequential and discrete stages. More recently, recursive and chaotic frameworks of NPD have been developed, both of which acknowledge that NPD progresses through a series of stages, but with overlaps, feedback loops, and resulting behaviors that resist reductionism
and linear analysis. This article extends the linear, recursive, and chaotic frameworks by viewing NPD as a complex adaptive system (CAS) governed by three levels of decision making — in-stage, review, and strategic—and the accompanying decision rules. The research develops and presents propositions that predict how the configuration and organization of NPD decision-making agents will influence
the potential for three mutually dependent CAS phenomena: nonlinearity, selforganization, and emergence. Together these phenomena underpin the potential for NPD process adaptability and congruence. To support and to verify the propositions, this study uses comparative case studies, which show that NPD process adaptability occurs and that it is dependent on the number and variety of agents, their corresponding connections and interactions, and the ordering or disordering effect of the decision levels and rules. Thus, the CAS framework developed within this article maintains a fit among descriptive stance, system behavior, and innovation type, as it considers individual NPD processes to be capable of switching or toggling between different behaviors — linear to chaotic — to produce corresponding innovation outputs that range from incremental to radical in accord with market expectations.
Understanding outsourcing contexts through information asymmetry and capabili...Ian McCarthy
Outsourcing is a strategic activity that has long been central to operations management research and practice. Yet, there are still many outsourcing management challenges that remain. In this article, we explore two of the outsourcing challenges that motivated this special issue and are central to the 10 articles included. To do this, we develop a theoretical model that examines how variations in capability fit and information asymmetry combine to present firms with four different outsourcing contexts. We then explain how each of the articles included in this special issue relate to our theoretical model and explore several avenues for future research.
Unpacking the Social Media Phenomenon: Towards a Research AgendaIan McCarthy
In this paper, we highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that social media presents to researchers, and offer relevant theoretical avenues to be explored. To do this, we present a model that unpacks social media by using a honeycomb of seven functional building blocks. We then examine each of the seven building blocks and, through appropriate social and socio-technical theories, raise questions that warrant further in-depth research to advance the conceptualization of social media in public affairs research. Finally, we combine the individual research questions for each building block back into the honeycomb model to illustrate how the theories in combination provide a powerful macro-lens for research on social media dynamics.
Making a face: Graphical illustrations of managerial stances toward customer ...Ian McCarthy
Creative consumers – consumers who adapt, modify or transform a proprietary offering – represent an intriguing paradox for business. On the one hand they can be a black hole for future revenue, with breach of copyright and intellectual property, while on the other hand they represent a gold mine of ideas and business opportunities. This problem is central to business – business needs to both create and capture value; the problem is that creative consumers demand a shift in the mindsets and business models of how firms both create and capture value. We develop a typology of firms’ stances to creative consumers based upon their attitude and action towards customer innovation. We then consider the implications of the stances model for corporate strategy, and examine a three-step approach to dealing with creative consumers, namely, awareness, analysis and response.
An Integrated Approach to Studying Multiplexity in Entrepreneurial NetworksIan McCarthy
Multiplexity occurs in entrepreneurial networks when flows interact within and across relationships. It defines how these networks function and evolve and cannot be examined by studying network structure or flows separately. Despite the growing recognition of the importance of multiplexity, related research has remained limited and lacks an integrated approach to simultaneously examine structure and flows, thus restricting our understanding of entrepreneurial networks. We propose an integrated approach for conducting inductive studies into multiplexity, involving an adaptation of the “business networks” conceptual model, the configuration theory perspective, and the Q-analysis method.
Product recovery decisions within the context of Extended Producer Responsibi...Ian McCarthy
Environmental and economic evidence is increasingly supporting the need for better analytical tools for evaluating the recovery of consumer products. In response, we present a novel mathematical model for determining what we call the Optimal Recovery Plan (ORP) for any given product. The ORP is based on an evaluation and optimization of the economics of remanufacturing consumer products versus demanufacturing in the context of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, a driving force behind the adoption remanufacturing initiatives by firms. We provide an illustrative application of the model and then discuss its implications for scholars and practitioners concerned with sustainable business development.
Two related trends characterize the recent past: value propositions are migrating from the physical to the informational, and value creation is shifting from firms to consumers. These two trends meet in the phenomenon of “consumer-generated intellectual property” (CGIP). This article addresses the question: “How should firms manage the intellectual property that their customers create?” It explores how CGIP presents important dilemmas for managers and argues that consumers’ “intellectual property” should not be leveraged at the expense of their “emotional property.” It integrates these perspectives into a diagnostic framework and discusses eight strategies for firms to manage CGIP. (Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Intellectual Property, Innovation Management, New Product Management, Competitive Advantage, Consumers, Product Design)
Organisational diversity, evolution and cladistics classificationsIan McCarthy
This article presents a case for the construction of a formal classification of manufacturing systems using cladistics, a technique from the biological school of classification. A seven-stage framework for producing a manufacturing cladogram is presented, along with a pilot case study example. This article describes the role that classification plays in the pure and applied sciences, the social sciences and reviews the status of existing manufacturing classifications. If organisational diversity and organisational change processes are governed by evolutionary mechanisms, studies of organisations based on an evolutionary approach such as cladistics could have potential, because as March (1994. p. 39], ``there is natural speculation that organisations, like species can be engineered by understanding the evolutionary processes well enough to intervene and produce competitive organisational effects''. It is suggested that a cladistic study could provide organisations with a ``knowledge map'' of the ecosystem in which they exist and by using this phylogenetic and situational analysis, they could determine coherent and appropriate action for the speciation of change.
Game on qualitative researchers: Using gamification to increase partipant eng...InSites Consulting
We believe gamification can be applied in 3 different phases of the research process; (1) during data collection, (2) during analysis and interpretation and (3) during reporting and presentation of the results. In this paper, we present an approach to gamification in online qualitative research. There is already ample research with respect to using gamification in quantitative research; however, a comprehensive approach for online qualitative research is lacking so far.
In this paper we will focus on using gamification during data collection and will briefly demonstrate how we apply gamification in the last 2 phases. At InSites Consulting, we identified 4 levels in an online community at which gamification can be applied to increase data quality, participant engagement and impact on the client side. From a question level to a community level, gamification helps, not only to increase participant engagement, but also to increase data quality.
Emotion In Advertising Part IIIAmber Winfrey, B.docxSALU18
Emotion In Advertising: Part IIIAmber Winfrey, BSCOM/324
Abstract
In this final paper, we will be performing a content analysis on peer-reviewed articles based on emotions in persuasive advertising. Each of us will answer specific questions related to the effectiveness, methods that were used, and other conclusions we have drawn from the articles.
Emotion In Advertising: Part IIITheories(Insert Text)Implications Through research using peer-reviewed articles on the effectiveness of emotional persuasive advertising, it can be implied that emotion positively affects the success of the advertisement overall. Humans have created “the general conception that emotions are not a useless by-product but are essential for rational thinking and behavior” (Karolien and Siegfried, 2006, pg. 18). People tend to make their ultimate decision on a product or service based on the emotion that they have attached to it. Emotion can override cognition if presented correctly. Advertisements have figured this out, and the use of emotional appeal has skyrocketed. One peer-reviewed study article explains that the use of pride and sympathy in advertisements yields the most effective results (Kemp, Kennett, and Kees, 2013). Another peer-reviewed article explains the positive affects of nostalgic advertising techniques. “We conducted two empirical studies to examine these processes. Our results show that nostalgic advertisements evoke more positive emotions and more intensive mental images than non-nostalgic advertisements which in turn affect consumers' attitudes toward the ad and toward the product and their purchase intentions” (Bambauer-Sachse and Gierl, 2009). With these studies done, we can see a positive influence emotion has of the effectiveness of advertisements.Research Methods As mentioned above, researchers tend to use Empirical research to find data on the effectiveness of emotion-based advertisements. Empirical research allows researchers to observe the reactions of the advertisements’ audience. There are specific ways to test the effectiveness of emotion in advertisement, and one way is called self-report measurement. These measures have been widely used to measure emotional reactions to advertisements. “Self-report measures register the respondent's subjective feeling. A ‘subjective feeling’ can be defined as the consciously felt experience of emotions as expressed by the individual (Stout and Leckenby, 1986) In general, we distinguish three types of self-report methods that all measure subjective feelings: verbal self-report, visual self-report, and moment-to-moment rating” (Karolien and Siegfried 2006, pg. 19). Verbal self-report has individuals verbally express how they are feeling about the advertisements using open-ended questions. Visual self-report is similar, but individuals are asked to choose how they feel about the advertisement from cartoon-like figures that each expresses a different emotion. Moment-to-moment rating simply has the individual ...
DESIGNING A NEIGHBORHOOD-BASED SPORTS MARKETING MODEL FOR SMALL VENUESindexPub
In recent years, attention to small neighborhood-based venues as a key element in the development of sports, physical activities, and social interactions within local communities has increased. Managers of professional and university sports organizations must effectively address challenges such as high costs, intensely competitive markets, growing fan dissatisfaction, severed relationships, and the rapid growth of new technologies to survive in the sports business environment.
This article examines the underlying of gamification, explores how brands can utilize gamification to engage and motivate consumers and examines some examples of brands that are successfully utilizing gamification.
International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI) is an international journal intended for professionals and researchers in all fields of Business and Management. IJBMI publishes research articles and reviews within the whole field Business and Management, new teaching methods, assessment, validation and the impact of new technologies and it will continue to provide information on the latest trends and developments in this ever-expanding subject. The publications of papers are selected through double peer reviewed to ensure originality, relevance, and readability. The articles published in our journal can be accessed online.
Modelling the recommendation technique for achieving awareness in serious gam...journalBEEI
Obesity among children is increasing alarmingly. Therefore it is crucial to instill the awareness about the danger of being obese to the children. To instill the awareness is a challenge. A good approach is required for the message to be accepted and conceptualized by the children. Serious game has been an important mechanism to assist the achievement of many serious purposes other than for entertainment and enjoyment. This paper proposes the implementation of content-based recommendation technique in serious game for obesity awareness among children. Several recommendation techniques for awareness had been studied and the content-based recommendation technique is found to be suitable to be implemented in games. The game was developed according to game development approach and fulfilled the game characteristics. For this preliminary study, 10 children participated in the experiment to determine the effectiveness of the game. The participants were given a pre-and post test to answer before and after playing the game. The result of the test shows that participants achieved the obesity awareness after playing the game. The content-based recommendation technique is applicable to be adopted in serious games to instill awareness in the players.
The open academic: Why and how business academics should use social media to ...Ian McCarthy
Abstract: The mission of many business schools and their researchers is to produce research that that impacts how business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, and innovators, think and act. However, this mission remains an elusive ideal for many business school academics because they struggle to design and produce research capable of overcoming the "research-practice gap." To help those scholars address this gap, we explain why and how they should use social media to be more 'open' to connecting with, learning from, and working with academics and other stakeholders outside of their field. We describe how social media can be used as a boundary-spanning technology to help bridge the research-practice gap. To do this, we present a process model of five research activities: networking, framing, investigating, dissemination, and assessment. Using recently published research as an illustrative example, we describe how social media was used to make each activity more open. We conclude with a framework of different social media-enabled open academic approaches (connector, observer, promoter, and influencer) and some dos and don'ts for engaging in each approach. This paper aims to help business academics rethink and change their practices so that our profession is more widely regarded for how its research positively impacts practice and societal well-being more generally.
Big Data for Creating and Capturing Value in the Digitalized Environment: Unp...Ian McCarthy
Despite significant academic and managerial interest in big data, there is a dearth of research on how big data impacts
the long-term firm performance. Reasons for this gap include a lack of objective indices to measure big data
availability and its impact, and the tendency of studies to ignore the costs associated with collecting and analyzing
big data, assuming that big data automatically delivers benefits to firms. Focusing on how firms create and capture
value from big data about customers, we use the resource-based view and three dimensions of big data (i.e., volume,
variety, and veracity) to understand when the benefits outweigh the costs. Relying on the number of downloads of
mobile device applications, we find that volume of big data has a negative effect on firm performance. This result
suggests that the “bigness” of big data alone does not ensure value creation for a firm, and could even constitute a
“dark side” of big data. Because big data variety—measured as the number of types of information taken per each
application—moderates the negative effects of big data volume, simultaneous high values of volume and variety
allow firms to create value that positively affects their performance. In addition, high levels of veracity (i.e., a high
percentage of employees devoted to big data analysis), are linked to firms benefiting from big data via value capture.
These findings shed light on the circumstances in which big data can be beneficial for firms, contributing to a better
theoretical understanding of the opportunities and challenges and providing useful indications to managers.
Standardization in a Digital and Global World: State-of-the-Art and Future Pe...Ian McCarthy
We discuss how the standards emerge from an interaction between three main sources, the standards standard-setting organizations (SSOs), the competitive market forces, and the government. We present a framework (see Table I) that highlights how these sources differ and work together to shape the standardization in a digital and global context. Also, using this framework, we introduce the contribution of each article of this issue and their contribution to some of the major issues that the standardization is facing today in a digital and global world. We conclude with the suggestions of avenues for future research on this topic.
Open branding: Managing the unauthorized use of brand-related intellectual pr...Ian McCarthy
Consumers often innovate with brand-related intellectual property (IP) without permission. Although firms often respond by exercising their legal right to stop such activity, there are a variety of situations in which consumers’ unauthorized use of brand-related IP can be desirable for a brand or in which enforcing IP rights can adversely affect a brand. This article illustrates situations in which managers may benefit from choosing to forgo exercising their IP rights. To assist managers, this article contributes a framework for understanding the managerial approaches to situations in which consumers use IP without permission.
Does getting along matter? Tourist-tourist rapport in guided group activitiesIan McCarthy
Guided group activities, where tourists consume with other tourists, are common and important. Although the
tourism and services literature suggests customer-employee rapport impacts customer satisfaction, the composition
and impact of tourist-tourist rapport in guided group activities have received minimal attention. We use a
three-study mixed method approach to conceptualize and examine tourist-tourist rapport in guided group activities.
Study 1 identifies two recognized dyadic dimensions of tourist-tourist rapport (enjoyable interaction and
personal connection) and two new group-based dimensions (group attentiveness and service congruity). Study 2
(video experiment) and Study 3 (field experiment) find that enjoyable interaction and personal connection
mediate the relationship between group attentiveness and service congruity with satisfaction. Thus, touristtourist
rapport in a group context is more multidimensional and complex than previously conceptualized for
customer-employee rapport and non-group contexts. Further, we find tourist-tourist rapport is a critical service
factor such that high levels satisfy, while low levels dissatisfy.
Social media? It's serious! Understanding the dark side of social mediaIan McCarthy
Research and practice have mostly focused on the “bright side” of social media, aiming to understand and help in leveraging the manifold opportunities afforded by this technology. However, it is increasingly observable that social media present enormous risks for individuals, communities, firms, and even for society as a whole. Examples for this “dark side” of social media include cyberbullying, addictive use, trolling, online witch hunts, fake news, and privacy abuse. In this article, we aim to illustrate the multidimensionality of the dark side of social media and describe the related various undesirable outcomes. To do this, we adapt the established social media honeycomb framework to explain the dark side implications of each of the seven functional building blocks: conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, groups, and identity. On the basis of these reflections, we present a number of avenues for future research, so as to facilitate a better understanding and use of social media.
Leveraging social capital in university-industry knowledge transfer strategie...Ian McCarthy
University-industry partnerships emphasise the transformation of knowledge into products and processes which can be commercially exploited. This paper presents a framework for understanding how social capital in university-industry partnerships affect knowledge transfer strategies, which impacts on collaborative innovation developments. University-industry partnerships in three different countries, all from regions at varying stages of development, are compared using the proposed framework. These include a developed region (Canada), a transition region (Malta), and a developing region (South Africa). Structural, relational and cognitive social capital dimensions are mapped against the knowledge transfer strategy that the university-industry partnership employed: leveraging existing knowledge or appropriating new knowledge. Exploring the comparative presence of social capital in knowledge transfer strategies assists in better understanding how university-industry partnerships can position themselves to facilitate innovation. The paper proposes a link between social capital and knowledge transfer strategy by illustrating how it impacts the competitive positioning of the university-industry partners involved.
Do your employees think your slogan is “fake news?” A framework for understan...Ian McCarthy
Purpose – This article explores how employees can perceive and be impacted by the fakeness of their company slogans.
Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual study draws on the established literature on company slogans, employee audiences, and fake news to create a framework through which to understand fake company slogans.
Findings – Employees attend to two important dimensions of slogans: whether they accurately reflect a company’s (1) values and (2) value proposition. These dimensions combine to form a typology of four ways in which employees can perceive their company’s slogans: namely, authentic, narcissistic, foreign, or corrupt.
Research limitations/implications – This paper outlines how the typology provides a theoretical basis for more refined empirical research on how company slogans influence a key stakeholder: their employees. Future research could test the arguments about how certain characteristics of slogans are more or less likely to cause employees to conclude that slogans are fake news. Those conclusions will, in turn, have implications for the
morale and engagement of employees. The ideas herein can also enable a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of slogans.
Practical implications – Employees can view three types of slogans as fake news (narcissistic, foreign, and corrupt slogans). This paper identifies the implications of each type and explains how companies can go about developing authentic slogans.
Originality/value – This paper explores the impact of slogan fakeness on employees: an important audience that has been neglected by studies to
date. Thus, the insights and implications specific to this internal stakeholder are novel.
Making sense of text: artificial intelligence-enabled content analysisIan McCarthy
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce, apply and compare how artificial intelligence (AI), and specifically the IBM Watson system, can be used for content analysis in marketing research relative to manual and computer-aided (non-AI) approaches to content analysis.
Design/methodology/approach – To illustrate the use of AI enabled content analysis, this paper examines the text of leadership speeches, content related to organizational brand. The process and results of using AI are compared to manual and computer-aided approaches by using three performance factors for content analysis: reliability, validity and efficiency.
Findings – Relative to manual and computer-aided approaches, AI-enabled content analysis provides clear advantages with high reliability, high validity and moderate efficiency.
Research limitations/implications – This paper offers three contributions. First, it highlights the continued importance of the content analysis research method, particularly with the explosive growth of natural language-based user-generated content. Second, it provides a road map of how to use AI-enabled content analysis. Third, it applies and compares AI-enabled content analysis to manual and computer-aided, using leadership speeches.
Practical implications – For each of the three approaches, nine steps are outlined and described to allow for replicability of this study. The advantages and disadvantages of using AI for content analysis are discussed. Together these are intended to motivate and guide researchers to apply and develop AI-enabled content analysis for research in marketing and other disciplines.
Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to introduce, apply and compare how AI can be used for content analysis.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace bullshitIan McCarthy
Abstract Many organizations are drowning in a flood of corporate bullshit, and this is particularly true of organizations in trouble, whose managers tend to make up stuff on the fly and with little regard for future consequences. Bullshitting and lying are not synonymous. While the liar knows the truth and wittingly bends it to suit their purpose, the bullshitter simply does not care about the truth. Managers can actually do something about organizational bullshit, and this Executive Digest provides a sequential framework that enables them to do so. They can comprehend it, they can recognize it for what it is, they can act against it, and they can take steps to prevent it from happening in the future. While it is unlikely that any organization will ever be able to rid itself of bullshit entirely, this article argues that by taking these steps, astute managers can work toward stemming its flood.
The Promise of Digitalization: Unpacking the Effects of Big Data Volume, Vari...Ian McCarthy
Despite significant academic and managerial interest in big data, there is a dearth of research on how big data impacts long-term firm performance. Reasons for this gap include a lack of objective indices to measure big data availability and its impact, and the tendency of studies to ignore the costs associated with collecting and analyzing big data, assuming that big data automatically delivers benefits to firms. Focusing on how firms create and capture value from big data about customers, we use the resource-based view (RBV) and three dimensions of big data (i.e., volume, variety and veracity) to understand when the benefits outweigh the costs. Relying on the number of downloads of mobile device applications, we find that volume of big data has a negative effect on firm performance. This result suggests that the ‘bigness’ of big data alone does not ensure value creation for a firm, and could even constitute a ‘dark side’ of big data. Because big data variety – measured as the number of types of information taken per each application – moderates the negative effects of big data volume, simultaneous high values of volume and variety allow firms to create value that positively affects their performance. In addition, high levels of veracity (i.e., a high percentage of employees devoted to big data analysis), are linked to firms benefiting from big data via value capture. These findings shed light on the circumstances in which big data can be beneficial for firms, contributing to a better theoretical understanding of the opportunities and challenges and providing useful indications to managers.
Masterclass: Confronting indifference to truthIan McCarthy
Many organizations are drowning in a flood of corporate bullshit, and this is particularly true of organizations in trouble, whose managers tend to make up stuff on the fly and with little regard for future consequences. Bullshitting and lying are not synonymous. While the liar knows the truth and wittingly bends it to suit their purpose, the bullshitter simply does not care about the truth. Managers can actually do something about organizational bullshit, and this Executive Digest provides a sequential framework that enables them to do so. They can comprehend it, they can recognize it for what it is, they can act against it, and they can take steps to prevent it from happening in the future. While it is unlikely that any organization will ever be able to rid itself of bullshit entirely, this article argues that by taking these steps, astute managers can work toward stemming its flood.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace bullshitIan McCarthy
Many organizations are drowning in a flood of corporate bullshit, and this is particularly true of organizations in trouble, whose managers tend to make up stuff on the fly and with little regard for future consequences. Bullshitting and lying are not synonymous. While the liar knows the truth and wittingly bends it to suit their purpose, the bullshitter simply does not care about the truth. Managers can actually do something about organizational bullshit, and this Executive Digest provides a sequential framework that enables them to do so. They can comprehend it, they can recognize it for what it is, they can act against it, and they can take steps to prevent it from happening in the future. While it is unlikely that any organization will ever be able to rid itself of bullshit entirely, this article argues that by taking these steps, astute managers can work toward stemming its flood.
Although manipulations of visual and auditory media are as old as the media themselves, the recent entrance of deepfakes has marked a turning point in the creation of fake content. Powered by latest technological advances in AI and machine learning, they offer automated procedures to create fake content that is harder and harder to detect to human observers. The possibilities to deceive are endless, including manipulated pictures, videos and audio, that will have large societal impact. Because of this, organizations need to understand the inner workings of the underlying techniques, as well as their strengths and limitations. This article provides a working definition of deepfakes together with an overview of the underlying technology. We classify different deepfake types: photo (face- and body-swapping), audio (voice-swapping, text to speech), video (face-swapping, face-morphing, full body puppetry) and audio & video (lip-synching), and identify risks and opportunities to help organizations think about the future of deepfakes. Finally, we propose the R.E.A.L. framework to manage deepfake risks: Record original content to assure deniability, Expose deepfakes early, Advocate for legal protection and Leverage trust to counter credulity. Following these principles, we hope that our society can be more prepared to counter the deepfake tricks as we appreciate its treats.
Social media? It’s serious! Understanding the dark side of social mediaIan McCarthy
Research and practice have mostly focused on the “bright side” of social media, aiming to understand and help in leveraging the manifold opportunities afforded by this technology. However, it is increasingly observable that social media present enormous risks for individuals, communities, firms, and even the whole of society. Examples for this “dark side” of social media include cyberbullying, addictive use, trolling, online witch hunts, fake news, and privacy abuse. In this article, we aim to illustrate the multidimensionality of the dark side of social media and describe the related various undesirable outcomes. To do this, we adapt the established social media honeycomb framework to explain the dark side implications of each of the seven functional building blocks: conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, groups, and identity. On the basis of these reflections, we present a number of avenues for future research, so as to facilitate a better understanding and use of social media.
The propensity and speed of technology licensing: at LUISS Guido Carli Univer...Ian McCarthy
Licensing speed: There has been much research interest in the speed of innovation, although few consistent findings have emerged. In this study, we unpack the innovation process and focus on the commercialization stage to examine two questions: Which licensor and patent characteristics determine the speed of licensing? How does the speed of licensing impact the royalties and lumpsum payments to licensors? We addressed these questions by proposing that licensing speed is influenced by variables for licensor prominence (size and experience), licensor knowledge structuration (technological depth, technological breadth and experience), and patent appeal (forward citations, scope and complexity). We predict and find that these variables work to increase the size, complexity and duration of the licensing-out task, while also allowing licensors to take their time to review, negotiate and select agreements with higher royalty rates. These findings are counter to arguments for a fast-paced innovation strategy, as it suggests that for the commercialization stage of the innovation process the relationship between licensing speed and licensor royalty
rates rewards a ‘less haste, greater payoff approach.
Seven steps for framing and testing a research paperIan McCarthy
I use the steps in this presentation to:
(i) test research ideas for research papers,
(ii) shape research papers, and
(iii) help draft the Introduction section of a research paper.
For each step I draft one or two concise paragraphs.
I then present and share these with co-authors, collaborators and colleagues to test the ideas and get feedback on how interesting and valid they are.
I consider and work through these steps several times during the life of a research paper framed.
Kseniya Leshchenko: Shared development support service model as the way to ma...Lviv Startup Club
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Recruiting in the Digital Age: A Social Media MasterclassLuanWise
In this masterclass, presented at the Global HR Summit on 5th June 2024, Luan Wise explored the essential features of social media platforms that support talent acquisition, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.
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Enterprise excellence and inclusive excellence are closely linked, and real-world challenges have shown that both are essential to the success of any organization. To achieve enterprise excellence, organizations must focus on improving their operations and processes while creating an inclusive environment that engages everyone. In this interactive session, the facilitator will highlight commonly established business practices and how they limit our ability to engage everyone every day. More importantly, though, participants will likely gain increased awareness of what we can do differently to maximize enterprise excellence through deliberate inclusion.
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Who might benefit? Anyone and everyone leading folks from the shop floor to top floor.
Dr. William Harvey is a seasoned Operations Leader with extensive experience in chemical processing, manufacturing, and operations management. At Michelman, he currently oversees multiple sites, leading teams in strategic planning and coaching/practicing continuous improvement. William is set to start his eighth year of teaching at the University of Cincinnati where he teaches marketing, finance, and management. William holds various certifications in change management, quality, leadership, operational excellence, team building, and DiSC, among others.
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A personal brand exploration presentation summarizes an individual's unique qualities and goals, covering strengths, values, passions, and target audience. It helps individuals understand what makes them stand out, their desired image, and how they aim to achieve it.
2. Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 42) / 353
TRANSFORMING EXPERIENCES
To aid understanding of how gamification can transform tra-
ditional business processes, we present cases to show the results of
applying the MDE Framework to change the role of the player. Spe-
cifically, in the following four subsections, we describe the gamifi-
cation of a prostate cancer awareness campaign named Movember;
the gamification of the launch of singer Jay-Z’s book Decoded; the
gamification of art-curation at the Brooklyn Museum; and finally
the gamification of personnel management using software called
Freshdesk. In each of these examples, the traditional consumer ex-
perience has been gamified to include other elements of experience,
and the role of the individual involved with the activity expands. We
present these to show how through the appropriate use of gamifica-
tion principles, traditional consumer experiences can become more
fun and engaging by combining appropriate elements from the four
quadrants to deepen the connection and involvement with players.
Gamifying Awareness Campaigns: Movember
When individuals actively participate in an experience and are
absorbed by it (e.g., attending a university lecture), players assume
the role of an apprentice. Traditional social awareness campaigns are
good examples of such experiences, often with interested members
of the public engaging in conversations with outreach volunteers to
learn about social issues. But garnering public interest can be quite
difficult. However, Movember, an organization dedicated to raising
awareness of prostate cancer, has successfully gamified its annual
public awareness campaign by expanding this experience to include
elements of all experience quadrants. Every November since 2003,
male players grow moustaches to “change the face of men’s health”,
and both male and female players work to raise money and public
awareness of prostate cancer.
The mechanics of the experience are limited to the month of
November; each male player must start November with a clean shav-
en face, and then throughout the month must grow and groom a mus-
tache (Movember 2012). Male and female players both work, online
and offline, to generate donations and to increase awareness of pros-
tate cancer. These efforts are rewarded through various achievement
rewards including dollar figure milestones for fundraising, and lead-
erboards that track player, team, and even country performance. Dy-
namics are largely collaborative, with a friendly sense of competition
where teams want to raise more money than others, but have as an
overall goal the maximization of their collective donations. Movem-
ber generates a variety of positive emotions as players often enjoy
the sense of pride and amusement of watching others’ mustaches or
showing off their own regular ‘regents’(like Super Mario’s or Albert
Einstein’s) or particularly eye-catching styles (a ‘Fu Manchu’ or a
‘Salvador Dali’). Interestingly, the milestone progression rewards
(e.g., coupons for razors and shaving cream) players can win are not
overly attractive, rather it is the fun, gamified experience that attracts
1 million players annually to Movember.
Indeed, Movember only succeeds by changing the very nature
of public awareness campaigns. Traditionally, people attracted by
awareness campaigns (think about street level campaigns of Green-
peace and SCPA) are largely apprentices who are at best actively in-
volved and absorbed in the experience. In Movember, these individ-
uals are also entertained by being observers as they passively absorb
the progress of others (e.g., watching mustaches grow). In addition,
players become performers when they grow mustaches and actively
immerse themselves by educating others about men’s health. Female
players, unable grow their own moustaches, can still be immersed in
the campaign and indirectly affect it by supporting their male by gen-
erating discussion about men’s health and prostate cancer. Finally,
people involved in Movember can also be spectators, as they pas-
sively watch those around them and cheer them on. Movember com-
bines all four experience types to provoke an emotionally engaging
experience for players, and motivates not only friendly competition,
but also collegial and supportive dynamics aimed at collectively rais-
ing funds for and awareness of prostate cancer.
Awareness and fundraising campaigns are only one example of
gamifying a traditional experience in which people are predominate-
ly apprentices. There are many others – Khan Academy, for instance,
attracts millions of students who support each others’ learning pro-
cess through novel gamification mechanics, dynamics and emotions.
More generally, employee training sessions and professional devel-
opment workshops can be gamified to further motivate attendants by
making them assume the role of performers, spectators, or observers.
Gamifying a Book Launch: Decoded
When an individual passively absorbs an experience (e.g. when
watching a movie), players are observers. Book launches are good
examples of experiences that involve passive and absorptive partici-
pation of their attendees.
Droga5, a young advertising agency, provides an example of
how this can be changed through gamification. When launching
singer Jay-Z’s book, Decoded, Droga5 utilized a real world scaven-
ger hunt, named Decode, in which participants had to find the pages
of Jay-Z’s book. The result was a highly successful book launch:
Jay-Z saw his Facebook friends increase by more than one million,
Decoded was covered by most major international news outlets and
many cultural influencers (e.g., bloggers), and the book spent 18
weeks on the New York Times’ best sellers list. To understand how
the Decode campaign achieved all this, we again turn to evaluating
the experience.
The mechanics of Decode were similar to those of a typical
scavenger hunt: Decode consisted of sharing the 300 pages of De-
coded across 200 physical locations (some locations had two pages)
in thirteen major US cities in the month before the book’s release in
3. 354 / Understanding Gamification of Consumer Experiences
stores. The spatial dimensions of the scavenger hunt reflected the
content of the prose on the any given page, and players could garner
ideas of where the pages were located based on hints they found
offline “on-the-street”, and online. A fun and competitive dynamic
emerged as individual players raced to be the first to find the page
both online and offline. Progression mechanics and achievement re-
wards were given to the first player to find each page. This player
was rewarded with a copy of Decoded, with the discovered page
signed in ink by Jay-Z. In addition, the player received an invitation
to a book reading by Jay-Z at the New York City Library. Players
experienced a full range of emotions, including excitement when
competing to decode a page, elation when successfully decoding a
page, or frustration and disappointment when unable to find a page.
Droga5 took the traditional book launch experience, in which
consumers were predominantly observers that could not affect the
experience, and gamified it. Droga5 extended the experience into the
other quadrants such that players assumed roles other than that of the
observer. Players acted as apprentices when they received clues about
pages and learned about Jay-Z’s life. Similarly, when players sought
out a page either physically or online, they became performers who
actively produced their own book launch experience. Furthermore,
players were able to review pages already found by others as well as
the clues that led to their discovery, turning players into spectators
who could appreciate the creative placement of pages. This combina-
tion of the four types of experiences lead to a book launch that was
successful for the publisher and the participants alike.
Some other forms of advertising have already been gamified. In
2010, a corrective tape brand called Tipp-Ex launched an advergame
(Mallinckrodt and Mizerski 2007) on YouTube.com, called “Hunter
shoots a bear”. Ultimately, this advertisement became a “choose
your own adventure” in which viewers decided the outcome of the
encounter by typing what they wanted the hunter to do to the bear.
Beyond advertisements, many experiences in which players are ob-
servers could be gamified, such as attendance at movie theatres or
plays.
Gamifying Art Curation: Brooklyn Museum’s GO
Project
Individuals can be passive yet immerse themselves in the ex-
perience (e.g., going on a scenic drive), creating the experience of
players being spectators. Individuals become part of the experience,
but do not directly impact it. For instance, art galleries invite visitors
to view pieces of artwork that a gallery curator previously chose.
Brooklyn Museum’s GO Project tried to change this by providing
an opportunity to co-create (or co-curate) an art exhibit. The GO
project encouraged the public to visit working studios, and invited
participants to nominate artists whose work they would like to see at
the museum. Over the two-day event, an estimated 18,000 members
of the public visited 1,708 artist studios across 44 Brooklyn neigh-
borhoods.
The GO project rule mechanics involved numbering each art-
ist’s studio and then encouraging players to visit a variety of studios
to observe art, or artists at work. After visiting five studios, players
would receive an email ballot and could vote on their favorite artist.
Voting took place over two days, and the whole event was bounded
by the Brooklyn city limits and by registered artists’studio locations.
Players engaged in the GO Project to be part of a community. This
resulting overarching, collective dynamics determined which artists
would be successful for the GO exhibit. However, even those artists
that were not chosen for the exhibit still increased the exposure of
their artistic practice to a whole new pool of potential art enthusiasts.
The results of the voting and other associated statistics were dis-
played on the museum’s GO website for public access and view. GO
players could experience many emotions, not only by voting for their
favorite artist, but also by observing artwork and meeting artists.
Players expressed feelings of wonder or surprise at discovering how
many artists lived around them, by observing their artwork, meeting
the artists, and by voting for them. Moreover, players were exposed
to other art enthusiasts and feelings of fellowship and belonging to
the art community resulted.
Through gamification, the Brooklyn museum GO exhibit of-
fered players multiple elements of experiences. Like most museums,
visitors acted as spectators of artwork and other exhibits that cre-
ate an individual esthetic experience. In contrast to most museums,
however, the Brooklyn Museum’s GO exhibit also had elements of
apprenticeship, observation, and performance. Because the Brook-
lyn museum GO exhibit generated awareness of the fact that art was
being created in people’s neighborhoods, players had the experience
was of being apprentices. That is, the museum’s patrons acted as ap-
prentice curators when they discovered new artists and their stories.
Furthermore, because the experience involved going to art studios
to become immersed and active in the nomination process, players
also had the experience of being performers. Finally, the experience
included assuming the role of the observer, as players watched artists
at work and observed the process of artwork creation.
A number of other experiences in which players are spectators
could be gamified. Indeed, trips to a variety of places of historic or
scientific interest could be improved by incorporating roles as ap-
prentices, performers, and observers. For example, to increase tour-
ist traffic, zoos, science centers, or planetariums could ask patrons
to help co-create their exhibits. Similarly, fans cheering or singing
along at festivals, concerts, or sporting events also be apprentices,
performers, or simply observers if the experience was gamified.
Gamifying Personnel Management: Freshdesk
Finally, when the individual is both actively immersed in an ex-
perience (e.g., playing a sport), the experience is one of being a per-
former with a measure of control as to how the experience unfolds.
Work can be such an experience, when employees actively perform
job related tasks while being deeply immersed in the workplace en-
vironment. In this context, one problem that many employers face is
to increase productivity and sustain employee engagement. Fresh-
desk is a helpdesk software program for customer support centers
that addresses this problem through gamification.
Freshdesk’s mechanics convert customer inquiries, including
telephone inquiries and comments posted on Twitter and Facebook,
into virtual tickets that are then assigned to customer service em-
ployees. Freshdesk rewards employees with points for successfully
completing a virtual ticket. Employees become players who accu-
mulate certain numbers of points reach designated levels and receive
badges for their work, which are visible to superiors and other em-
ployees. In addition, these points provide managers and employees
alike with a means of monitoring performance, and serve as incen-
tives for improvement. Players or teams win a Freshdesk period by
accumulating the most points. Moreover, individual players or teams
compete for the position of having the most points on a leaderboard.
The accumulated points signal a clear leader in the organization on
both the team level and the player level, inspiring a competitive dy-
namic. In addition, dynamics such as bragging, or cheering for other
players or teams, can emerge. Players experience a range of emotions
due to the social nature of the competition, including excitement,
amusement, surprise, wonder, and frustration.
Freshdesk deepens and extends employees’ experience: Fresh-
desk takes a typical work environment and turns it in a gamified ex-
4. Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 42) / 355
perience that incorporates multiple elements of experiences. That is,
the experience of going to work is one of performing: employees are
immersed in their workplace and are actively involved in creating
the workplace experience. Freshdesk adds apprenticeship and ob-
servation aspects to the working experience; employees learn more
about the service offerings through their interactions and observe
the friendly competition and other dynamics that may emerge. Thus,
Freshdesk creates an engaging and deeper experience by including
elements of education and entertainment in addition to more the tra-
ditional experience of being a performer in the workplace.
Performances other than HR could be gamified. For example,
take a personal experience many people can relate to: loosing weight.
Many of today’s weight loss tools extend this experience through
gamification. There are those that keep track of calories (e.g., Calo-
rie Counter), offer information on how much stored energy is in food
(e.g., Food Energy Calculator) and reward players with badges for
each five pounds lost (e.g., Fit Bit).
THE DEPTHS OF ENGAGEMENT
In each of the above examples of gamified experiences, a tra-
ditional experience has been revolutionized using the MDE Frame-
work’s gamification principles to deepen and extend players’ experi-
ences. In Figure 2, we provide a simple summary of the trends in
these examples; specifically, we show the traditional experience and
the general trends of expansion into the most appropriate experience
quadrants that occur as a result of gamification. Sometimes, players
are involved, to various degrees, in all four types of experiences,
in other cases players adopt fewer roles. These four examples have
offered a glimpse into how applying the gamification principles can
engage the public, employees, consumers, or patrons to achieve or-
ganizational goals.
Thus, using a typology and cases, we show that gamification
can transform individuals into different types of players - observers,
apprentices, spectators and performers – who vary in terms of the
extent to which they actively or passively participate in the gamified
experience and in the degree to which they are absorbed or immersed
in the gamified environment. In each experience, gamification added
elements of fun – thus turning experiences such as raising money
for prostate cancer or simply doing ones job as a customer service
employee into something more fun and engaging. Success in gamifi-
cation will depend on understanding the player experience, and thus
must begin with understanding who the players are themselves. In-
deed, at the root of engagement is a connection between the experi-
ence and the players (Chatfield 2010; Zichermann and Cunningham
2011); this requires not only an in-depth understanding of the current
experience the player has, but also of the emotions and dynamics
players for which they yearn.
5. 356 / Understanding Gamification of Consumer Experiences
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Design: Implementing Game Mechanics in Web and Mobile
Apps, San Francisco: O’Reilly Media.
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