Working together: understanding value co-creation processes in professional service delivery

Abstract

Creating superior client value is key to company success. Traditionally, research on value creation has focused on the value created by the company, though the client increasingly serves as an active partner, able to create value within the company in a collaborative manner. This is especially true for professional services that require more collaborative development of business solutions and a greater client adoption. The authors focus on a specific type of professional servicesbusiness consultingand aim to characterize the value co-creation processes that occur between a business consulting company and its clients. The case study results reveal eight value co-creation processes with different impacts on a service provider and a client: (1) building trust and trusting relationships; (2) clients' needs identification; (3) clarifying the client's role; (4) self-motivation to be involved in value co-creation; (5) pursuit of service effectivenes; (6) involvement and commitment for mutual long-term activities; (7) identification of opportunities for reciprocal cooperation, and (8) searching the conditions for mutual growth. Value co-creation processes are analysed from a client perspective.

Designing of Service Dominant Logic and Business Model Canvas: Narrative Study of Village Tourism

“…The central idea of SDL is that there is no value until the offer is used and experienced by the customer (Chan, Yim, & Lam, 2010). SDL argues that companies can offer a value proposition and the value is always created together (Bagdonienė & Valkauskienė, 2018;Grönroos, 2011) has provided an alternative view, service logic, which shows that the customer is the value creator during the value generating process and in the interaction that supports the value. The company is a facilitator and co-creator involved in the customer process.…”

Co-creation of social services on the example of social hackathon: The case of Estonia

“…The concept of co-creation has been internationally defined by scholars to mean a variety of things, including innovation activities, interaction and joint value creation (Bagdoniene and Valkauskiene, 2018; Oertzen et al, 2018; Ramaswamy and Ozcan, 2018; Tossavainen, 2016). Nevertheless, there is a common understanding in this concept: active involvement of the service user.…”

“…In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in research on co-creation as a new development strategy for the public sector (Voorberg et al, 2014), especially on the value of co-creation in business studies (Alves et al, 2016; Kukk et al, 2014; Petri and Jacob, 2016). Nevertheless, studies focusing on education, healthcare, hospitality and professional services can also be found (Bagdoniene and Valkauskiene, 2018; Osei-Frimpong et al, 2016). Several authors refer to new service innovations in communities in relation to co-creation and its relevance to service development (Sembada, 2018; Yang et al, 2016), addressing the needs of communities.…”

“…Bagdoniene and Valkauskiene (2018: 104) argue that changes in the professional services industry require more iterative and collaborative development to produce solutions that are more creative. Customer co-creation has become increasingly popular among companies, where engagement and communication with customers are seen as determinants of the success of a new service (Gustafsson et al, 2012; Verleye, 2015).…”

“…Despite the growing interest in this topic, there is a lack of research on co-creation in the context of social services development. Bagdoniene and Valkauskiene (2018) underline the importance of identifying clients’ needs in developing services, which requires client involvement in service delivery. In order to increase the understanding of co-creation in service development, this article is an attempt to report on the findings of the first service experience co-creation study in the context of social hackathons in one region of Estonia.…”