Innovating for energy efficiency: Digital gamification in the European steel industry

Abstract

The European steel industry, as an energy intensive industry, has significant concerns over energy efficiency and compliance with EU environmental regulations. Hence, across the industry, energy efficiency is a key area of innovation activity. However, responding to climate change measures and finding efficiency gains by technological means is becoming increasingly difficult and so managements are turning attention to modifying, that is, ‘greening’ worker behaviours. Here, we focus on an innovation that combines a digital technology application with a management strategy, that is, gamification for energy efficiency behaviour modification. Drawing on data from a project involving steel plants in Germany, Norway and the UK, we adopt an international comparative approach to examine the implications of differing industrial relations contexts for shaping steel firm engagement with ‘green’ innovations.

The digitalisation of service work: A comparative study of restructuring of the banking sector in the United Kingdom and Luxembourg

“…Indeed, recent work suggests that there are strong national differences in union power that affect the implementation of robotics and automation in the food processing industry between the United Kingdom and Norway (Lloyd and Payne, 2021). Similar studies suggest that resistance or acceptance of the digitalisation drives do vary across industrial relations contexts in the European steel industry (Stroud et al, 2020). More specifically, we hypothesise that distinct adjustment paths to digitalisation will also depend on the support of the state (Doellgast, Nohara, et al, 2009) as well as the employers' associations capacities and power (Brandl and Lehr, 2019;Kornelakis, 2014).…”

Fewer jobs, better jobs? An international comparative study of robots and ‘routine’ work in the public sector

“…At a national level, labour costs in Norway are substantially higher than in Scotland, which should incentivise investment in labour‐saving automation (Lloyd & Payne, 2019). However, digital technologies that are designed to enhance efficiency through the monitoring and surveillance of workers might be thought less likely in Norway due to regulatory barriers and the power of unions to oppose such uses (Stroud et al, 2020). Capitalist competition and the drive for profit are the underlying motivations for investing in technology in the private sector.…”

“…Outside of the ‘gig economy’, evidence is lacking on actual developments in the use of digital technologies within particular sectors and workplaces. A few studies are beginning to emerge (Rolandsson et al, 2019; Stroud et al, 2020), but we still know little about the processes of implementation or how lower skilled jobs are changing, not least in the public sector.…”

Management of Energy and Resource - Saving Innovation Projects at Agri-Food Enterprises

“…The research work of McAdam, Dunn is devoted to the study of promising development of horizontal innovation networks based on resource conservation within the networks of artisanal bakeries in the agri-food sector of the United Kingdom [9]. The results of the study by Stroud, Evans, Weinel demonstrate that with the help of economic design and modularity, it is possible to implement economic innovations in Indian agri-food enterprises that create value with less resources [11]. In the article by Ting the analysis of energy saving at the enterprises-manufacturers of paper is carried out, measures on the state support of energy and resource saving at the specified enterprises by introduction of innovative technologies in manufacture are offered [12].…”