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PurposeIn this paper, the authors report the findings of an experiment on the effectiveness of gamification on work performance in a real industrial workplace setting with monotonous, repetitive work.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an experiment with a simple gamification application that the authors added to a given information system and compared the work performance of an experimental group (n = 16) with a control group (n = 15) over a period of one month.FindingsThe results of the authors’ experiment show that gamification of the workplace leads to a measurable improvement of work performance, creates prevailingly positive emotions and increases the motivation of the workers.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ findings provide reasons for conducting future research on the contiguity of gamification and the Hawthorne effect or similar phenomena. In this regard, it also seems necessary to take a closer look at who is really affected by a gamified environment and what the boundaries of the gamified environment are.Practical implicationsThe authors demonstrate that gamification is a useful tool for process improvement. Furthermore, our results are helpful for a more successful implementation of gamification.Originality/valueGamification has proven to be effective in a large number of application contexts, such as education, health and crowdsourcing. Despite the generally positive evaluation of its effectiveness, gamification is still thought to work differently in different contexts. Therefore, there is a gap in the literature on this topic with respect to real industrial workplaces. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors are among the first to have conducted a gamification experiment in a real industrial context.

Social networking technologies such as social media, crowd concepts, or gamification represent key resources for the integration of customers, value network partners, and the community into sustainable business models. However, there is a lack of understanding of how sustainable enterprises apply such technologies. To close this gap, we propose a taxonomy of design options for social networking technologies in sustainable business models. Our taxonomy comprises eight dimensions that deal with relevant questions of the design of social networking technologies. When creating our taxonomy, we built on existing literature and use cases and involved experienced practitioners in the field of sustainable business models for the validation of our taxonomy. In this way, our study contributes to knowledge on the use of social networking technologies in sustainable business models and how such technologies influence the boundaries of sustainable business models. Likewise, we provide practical insights into the use of social networking technologies in sustainable business models.

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Over the past decade, the proliferation of entrepreneurial ventures and small firms with sustainable business models have pushed the sustainability agenda in the fashion industry. Despite prominent success stories, these companies often encounter significant operative challenges that hinder growth or even cause business failure. This paper adopts a qualitative research design and uses data gathered during 18 expert interviews with entrepreneurs and executive managers of 18 firms from 13 countries to identify and explore the dominant challenges that micro- and small-sized sustainable fashion companies struggle with. The results indicate that communicating with consumers is perceived as surprisingly difficult, especially because sustainable brands need to justify higher prices and explain the added benefits of their products. Second, resource constraints lead to operative friction and overburdening of the decision makers and their small management teams. Third, sustainable sourcing and production processes are economically difficult in an industry that continues to occupy a mass and low-cost logic. Against the background of these insights, a range of managerial recommendations are developed and contextualized in the framework of the Business Model Canvas. This novel approach makes the suggestions which are rooted in the resource-based view actionable and supports sustainable businesses to better manage their operations and achieve growth. For example, collaborative approaches with different stakeholders may mitigate constraints across all three identified problem areas.