Enablers of co-creation in hospital-supplier relationships: empirical study in Indian healthcare context

Abstract

ABSTRACTOne of the biggest challenges in healthcare is cost containment. In the face of continuously spiralling cost hospitals are facing steep competition to provide increased access to high quality services. In this backdrop, network relationship become vital and offers extensive opportunities to explore hospital-supplier relationships. Past literature highlights interaction and collaborative ambience as pre-requisite to value co-creation. This study focuses on co-creation aspect in the hospital-supplier relationship context (medical-surgical suppliers) and uses a Service-Dominant-Logic lens besides drawing support from Relational-View and Relational-Coordination-Theory. This study aims at empirically exploring the relational antecedents of co-creation and establishing the DART (Dialogue-Access-Risk-Assessment-Transparency) framework proposed by Prahalad and Ramaswamy in the year 2004, trust and commitment as antecedents to co-creation. Data were collected from 229 private tertiary-care hospitals in and around four major urban areas in India. The relationships proposed in the research model were tested using structural equation modelling. Results indicate that DART parameters and relational variables (trust, commitment) act as antecedents to co-creation and have significant and positive relationships, thereby enhancing co-creation activities. Study also explored the impact of interdependence between hospital and suppliers on DART-parameters, trust and commitment besides exploring trust to DART linkages. Structural model outcomes indicate significant and positive relationship for the linkages.