Purpose: The paper aims to explore the relationship between gamification and design thinking approach to innovation in the context of the early stage of innovation process (ESoIP). Design thinking is conceptually appropriate to support innovative, complex and uncertain business environments. Still, its practices have demonstrated some difficulties in managing the ESoIP, such as lack of structure and clarity around goals. This paper argues that gamification can enhance and complement design thinking in the management of firms' ESoIP.Design/methodology/approach: Given the need to achieve a deeper understanding of the linkages between gamification and design thinking, the paper follows an exploratory theory building approach for this complex reality of innovation. The case study research method was conducted in three firms (Trivalor, Novartis and Microsoft) that applied a gamification approach to the ESoIP.Findings: The results demonstrate that gamification has the power to enhance and complement design thinking practices by getting tasks more organized and improving coordination and employees' engagement in the innovation process.Practical implications: The paper provides critical managerial contributions on how firms can use gamification to improve design thinking approaches to ESoIP. Its consequences are also crucial to innovation, R&D, and product/service development managers interested in using gamification to support the ideation and concept development of new solutions complementing traditional design thinking approaches.Originality/value: Merging the gamification and design thinking approaches is novel, particularly on firms' ESoIP. The paper provides a comprehensive discussion of design thinking shortcomings and the role that gamification can play in overcoming them.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the link between gamification and innovation and describes the use of a particular gamified method and tool, which helps teams get committed and engaged in idea development. The goal is to provide valuable insights on how gamification can accelerate innovation. Design/methodology/approach: A study was conducted using a combination of qualitative methods: workshops based on action research method followed by semi-structured interviews with workshop participants and problem/challenge owners, representing two segments, corporate innovation teams and entrepreneurship. Data were collected from innovation consultants and IT/Software companies’ team members that used this gamification approach to address innovation challenges as well as from an entrepreneurship class from university that also used this particular gamification approach to support an idea competition program. Findings: The paper provides insights and discusses the major impacts of gamification from the perspective of innovation consultants, corporate teams as well as from young entrepreneurs. It suggests that the application of this gamified method and tool enhances the quality of the idea that is developed to address an outlined innovation challenge. It was also found that team members/participants as a result of this process subsequently developed important innovation and entrepreneurship capabilities. Originality/value: Despite the growing body of literature on gamification, there is a lack of empirical research that examines the use of gamification tools on companies’ innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives. This paper contributes to clarify the contribution of gamified methods and tools toward the success of corporate innovation and entrepreneurship programs by describing the use of a particular gamified approach. Researchers will gain insights into the effects of gamification approaches and a better understanding of the integration requirements with other related research areas. Practitioners will understand how this new method and tool can be implemented in order to drive innovation and entrepreneurship forward.

This paper presents part of the findings of a research project aiming at characterising high-performance collaborative business networks and at defining the conditions required for their creation and management. The project adopted a multiple case study research strategy and three different business networks are presented in this paper. Empirical studies have been performed in Northern Portugal. The results of the study include operational definitions based on a comprehensive literature review, a conceptual reference framework for the analysis of high-performance collaborative networks and recommendations for the creation and management of such networks.

The adoption of Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) in the banking sector presents new opportunities to enhance customer service efficiency, reduce operational costs, and modernize service delivery channels. However, the factors driving IVA adoption and usage, particularly in specific regional contexts such as Portugal, remain underexplored. This study examined the determinants of IVA adoption intention and actual usage in the Portuguese banking sector, drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as its theoretical foundation. Data were collected through an online questionnaire distributed to 154 banking customers after they interacted with a commercial bank’s IVA. The analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that perceived usefulness significantly influences the intention to adopt, which in turn significantly impacts actual usage. In contrast, other variables—including trust, ease of use, anthropomorphism, awareness, service quality, and gendered voice—did not show a significant effect. These results suggest that Portuguese users adopt IVAs based primarily on functional utility, highlighting the importance of outcome-oriented design and communication strategies. This study contributes to the understanding of technology adoption in mature digital markets and offers practical guidance for banks seeking to enhance the perceived value of their virtual assistants.