Product-Service Systems (PSS) Value Proposition Towards Circular Economy Supported by Gamification

Abstract

Product-service systems (PSS) are being increasingly employed as opportunities to keep innovating. However, companies still have product and technology orientation, with difficult to contemplate services in the value proposition, which guides the PSS business model design. The dynamics of the PSS value proposition is still presented as a research opportunity, whose aspect becomes even more relevant when considering the Circular Economy approach. In this context, the gamification presents as a mechanism for guidance and decision support during the PSS design, as the game characteristics are analogous to reality, reflecting the progress and effects of stakeholders' decisions when developing new solutions in a complex system. This research internship Project is part of a Ph.D. project that aims to develop a method for defining the PSS value proposition based on the application of gamification principles considering the context of circular economy. The specific goals of this research internship project are to assure adequate alignment of the representation of value proposition with the circular business model on PSS, and to develop and validate the prototype of the game based on applications in companies and with experts on circular PSS. Those goals fit the prescriptive stage of the Ph.D. project, where the following activities will be performed: focus group with researchers and experts who are developing a circular business model on PSS in order to validate the representation of value proposition; game prototyping with support from Danish experts to avoid bias and assure that the method gamified is aligned with the circular business model on PSS; and beta tests with Danish researchers and Danish companies to validate the game prototype and support the definition of a beta version of the game.