Actor engagement, value creation and market innovation

Abstract

We extend the discourse on actor engagement by arguing that the ‘actor’ should be viewed both as a single-actor (humans or machines) and a group of actors (collectives or organizations), and that engagement implies both exchange-based and non-exchange-based resource contributions, which are facilitated by dispositions, formed partly by actor specific characteristics and partly by the institutional and organizational arrangements prevalent in the context in which the resource contributions occur. We further show how the resource contributions, combined with other resources, improve resource density and, thus, drive value creation. This mechanism can be the foundation for ‘economies of actor engagement’; focal actors can achieve increasing returns by mobilizing actor engagement. Building on this, we argue that actor engagement is central for market-shaping strategies that aim for market innovations, which we define as the emergence and institutionalization of resource linkages that improve resource density and, hence, value creation in a market. Finally, we suggest that the dramatic shifts that we see in the operating environment are elevating the role of actor engagement, making the management of actor engagement a strategic priority.