The beginning of value co-creation: Understanding dynamics, efforts, and betterment

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the beginning of value co-creation by uncovering the roles, efforts, and desired outcomes of employees and how they affect employees’ responses to their firm’s co-creation initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach - This study applies a single case study to explore micro-level processes at the beginning of value co-creation informed by a case about how a Taiwanese firm moved from a conventional to a co-creative business model.

Findings - The case study findings affirm nine subthemes that underlie three key themes: co-creation dynamics, efforts, and betterment. The authors provide a value co-creation framework that is informed by nine subthemes derived from interview data.

Research limitations/implications - Current literature on understanding value co-creation processes focuses on formalized co-creation processes which produce diverse and contextually dependent findings. The authors contribute to current value co-creation literature by offering convergent insights into the interplay of dynamics, efforts, and betterment experienced by employees transitioning to a value co-creation process.

Practical implications - The authors offer a diagnostic value co-creation checklist and propose three benefits of using the checklist, which can help managers mitigate the uncertainty that arises during the transition from a conventional to a co-creation firm.

Originality/value - The study responds to calls for research to investigate where and when the co-creation of value emerges, value co-creation behavior from employees’ point of view, and employees’ roles in the co-creation of value.