• Energy Research

Since the turn of the century, there has been a growth in the use of e-business by both large and small companies worldwide, a trend that has been given further impetus by the move to online trading in the COVID-19 pandemic era. For small companies, there are the potential benefits of increased efficiencies and market share gain, associated with the re-engineering of selling and marketing processes; but in developing countries, such as Nigeria, research into how small businesses are using e-business systems and technologies is limited. This article builds upon earlier case study research in the Nigerian small business sector to develop a framework for e-business strategy development, implementation and review. Using an inductive approach, data was collected from six small businesses, using interviews and questionnaires, to profile the e-business operations of these companies. This study found that e-business strategy was generally lacking in these companies, but interview material was used to support the development and validation of the strategy framework, which provides a process and a checklist for small businesses pursuing e-business initiatives in developing world environments.

Gamification’s adoption in the enterprise today is on the rise and provides benefits such as customer loyalty and increased employee engagement. In this article, the use of gamification in the enterprise is assessed in seeking to understand how fully gamified systems differ from related concepts such as toys, playful designs, and serious games. Given the increasing interest in enterprise gamification, it is useful to evaluate how it has evolved and its acceptance via a multidisciplinary lens. It is also critical to assess frameworks and approaches applied in understanding the trend. The current article concludes that a value-oriented approach is needed for a more comprehensive understanding of enterprise gamification acceptance and users’ experience, particularly in today’s workforce that is largely dominated by millennials.