Applying Gamification for Digital Transformation to a Platform-Based Business

Abstract

The study conducts a single case study and inductive approach to explore how a famous hairdressing chain in Taiwan transforms its business to a platform-centric enterprise in the digital era. In order to deal with its employee resistance to digital transformation resulting from path dependence and increase its employee’s engagement in driving digital transformation, gamification is deployed. As a result, the company has reshaped five domains of its business strategy—customer, competition, data, innovation, and value to build a platform. The platform is the key enabler in facilitating interactions among hairdressers and customers. The co-created hairstyle designs will be the resource of this two-sided market formed by hairdressers and customers in this sharing economy.