Value Creation Mechanisms Research Articles

Capabilities to create new value for business sustainability: a retailer case study from Malaysia

PurposeThe lack of a direct link between business value and sustainability is a critical roadblock to truly embedding sustainability in business strategies. Before launching the sustainability journey, every organisation should answer the question: “What value would this strategy offer our organisation?” Conversely, when organisations are opportunistic toward quick profits, the negative consequences of one domain spill over to another. The desire to produce more may result in overproduction, overconsumption or environmental pollution.Design/methodology/approachTo give a complete analysis of sustainable capabilities, this study combines current theoretical understanding from past literature, followed by exploratory interviews and a thorough case study. The case study ventured into uncharted territories, unveiling an exciting new sphere of value catalysed by the mechanisms of sustainable co-creation. Additionally, it exposed thought-provoking motives driving supply chain actors’ unwavering commitment to ethical decision-making, even amidst towering challenges.FindingsOur empirical lens reveals the hidden mechanics of resource sharing and the genesis of newfound value, illuminating previously obscure corners of the sustainability field. Moreover, it sheds light on retailers striving to cultivate green retail supply chains. It delivers an actionable framework that bolsters business sustainability and fuels competitive edge, which is vital in the rapidly evolving landscapes of emerging economies.Originality/valueThis study offers insights into the sustainable value-creation mechanism in ALPHA, a Malaysian retailer, uncovering how supply chain actors’ business activities generate economic, social and environmental performance.

Wallet wars or digital public infrastructure? Orchestrating a digital identity data ecosystem from a government perspective

With the eIDAS 2.0 legislation, the European Union seeks to establish a digital identity data ecosystem and to empower citizens to manage digital credentials from various sources through an ID wallet interface. To achieve this, governments must develop holistic orchestration models integrating technical, regulatory, and economic perspectives. This approach will foster ecosystem value creation, address orchestration tensions, and design sustainable operating models for various ecosystem actors. While IS research has explored private-sector governance mechanisms in platform and data ecosystems, a research gap exists in understanding public–private orchestration where governments act as orchestrators. We address this through a structured document analysis of 80 position papers from various stakeholders participating in a public government consultation process and 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews. By examining ecosystem value creation mechanisms, orchestration tensions, and monetization challenges, we identify two government orchestration standard types for the ID wallet provision. The Government ID-Infrastructure Wallet model embodies an ecosystem-integrated public infrastructure, while the Trust ID Wallet Federation exemplifies a dynamic and competition-driven approach. By bridging the self-sovereign identity ecosystem paradigm with digital identity infrastructure research, our work contributes to the understanding and theoretical development of data ecosystems and digital identity research from a government perspective.

Value Creation in Technology-Driven Ecosystems: Role of Coopetition in Industrial Networks

Coopetition, while offering significant strategic advantages, presents challenges in maintaining long-term collaboration among competitors, often due to a lack of perceived value for the participating actors. This study explores the role of technology in overcoming these challenges by applying the Service-Dominant Logic (S-D Logic) framework to investigate how technology-driven networks can enhance value co-creation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study hypothesizes that transitioning to technology-driven coopetition networks can substantially improve value co-creation. To test this hypothesis, the research critically evaluates existing theoretical approaches to coopetition, identifies gaps in understanding value creation mechanisms, and implements an experimental technology-driven coopetition network leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The research design is applied explicitly to the Portuguese ornamental stone industry, a significant economic and cultural sector. The findings confirm that technology-driven coopetition networks can enhance value co-creation and improve outputs. These results suggest that integrating technology into coopetition frameworks can provide a viable path to sustaining competitive advantages in SMEs.

Leading impactful research: applying platform thinking to drive collaborative inquiry in the innovation field

PurposeThis study investigates the application of collaborative inquiry within innovation management, employing platform thinking to address challenges of generalizability and relevance. The aim is to integrate Collaborative Inquiry methods, characterized by participatory, diffuse, and reflective practices, to transform research into a tool for impactful change in organizations in the field of innovation management.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal participatory case study approach focuses on the IDeaLs case—a research platform that collaborated with multiple companies over several years. The data gathered and analyzed comes from the research project within the research platforms over the first two editions and from the research platform management and coordination activities.FindingsThe study introduces the Collaborative Research Platform Approach (CRPA), demonstrating its effectiveness in addressing typical constraints of traditional research methodologies through a real-world application within the IDeaLs case. The findings highlight the CRPA's potential in fostering a dynamic, co-creative research environment that bridges theoretical knowledge with practical applications, thus enhancing both scholarly and organizational outcomes while pursuing a future change within the organizations.Research limitations/implicationsThere are two main research implications. First, it proposes platform thinking as a theoretical lens to read a multi-stakeholder phenomenon in the research domain, confirming its nature of value-creation mechanisms, using it outside the business model and strategic space. Second, it offers a methodological contribution by presenting the CRPA framework.Practical implicationsThe CRPA framework offers organizations a structured approach to managing collaborative research projects that align with both academic rigor and practical relevance. Companies engaged in the study reported enhanced ability to implement actionable insights from research, influencing real-time decision-making processes.Social implicationsBy fostering collaborative engagements across multiple stakeholders, the CRPA promotes a research culture that values inclusivity and practical impact, potentially leading to broader societal benefits through improved innovation management practices.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the innovation management field by proposing the CRPA, which integrates principles of Platform Thinking with Collaborative Inquiry. This novel approach is designed to improve the applicability and scope of innovation research, offering a robust framework that enhances engagement and utility across academic and business domains. It uses platforms as a theoretical lens to read a multi-stakeholder environment in the research domain.

Embracing new disruptions: Business model innovation in the transition to Mobility as a Service (MaaS)

A decade ago, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has emerged as a revolutionary concept destined to change the traditional transport paradigm. Indeed, MaaS envisions an integrated and on-demand transportation ecosystem where users have access to a variety of mobility options via a unified digital platform that centralizes information, ticketing, and payment systems for different service providers. Recognizing its disruptive potential, in this paper we examinate the effects of MaaS introduction in the market, with a particular focus on businesses within the industry. Specifically, we aim at investigating the dynamic nature of business model innovation within the MaaS business ecosystem, thus capturing the changes, adaptations, and innovations that organizations have undergone, providing valuable insights into the new value creation, capture and delivery mechanisms that have emerged. To achieve these goals, we have employed an inductive, multiple case study approach, focusing on a total of six renowned organizations representing two key actor categories within MaaS ecosystems: service providers and technology providers. Our findings reveal that, despite their heterogeneity, both service and technology providers have adopted similar strategies in their transition to MaaS. Utilizing the value creation, capture, and delivery framework, we developed distinct models for each of these categories. We have identified common firm-specific mechanisms which have been categorized into broader macro-level mechanisms of value creation, capture, and delivery, drawing from existing literature. The findings of this study contribute to the ongoing academic literature related to MaaS and to business model innovation. Furthermore, they offer valuable practical insights for managers and policymakers, providing a guidance for strategic decision-making aimed at fostering the development and sustainability of innovative MaaS systems.

Digital technology integration in business model innovation for carbon neutrality: An evolutionary process model for SMEs

This study investigates into the strategies employed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to embed digital technology into their business models, aiming to reach carbon neutrality. We offer a comprehensive analysis of five high technology SMEs, unveiling an evolutionary process model that highlights their journey toward integrating technology. The integration process is delineated into three progressive stages. Initially, digital technology is seen as an ‘enabler’ that promotes the birth of an innovative business model, essentially transforming the mechanisms of value creation, delivery, and capture. As SMEs evolve to an intermediate stage, digital technology becomes a ‘disruptor’, reshaping and reinventing the business model in terms of how value is created, delivered, and captured. Entering the maturity stage, digital technology is elevated to the role of ‘expertise’, leading to a sophisticated business model that refines and optimizes these aspects of value. The influence of these business model innovations on carbon neutrality is complex and varies distinctly with each stage, reflecting the dynamic interplay between digital technology and business model evolution.

Correction to “Public value creation and appropriation mechanisms in public–private partnerships: How does it play a role?”

Correction to “Public value creation and appropriation mechanisms in public–private partnerships: How does it play a role?”

Value creation mechanisms in a social and health care innovation ecosystem – an institutional perspective

This study explores value-creation mechanisms in an institutionally diverse social and health care ecosystem, specifically through the lenses of institutional logics and institutional work. The research context is the social and health care innovation ecosystem in Tampere, Finland, comprising actors from various institutional backgrounds. The research method is an inductive interpretivist analysis, frequently used in studies on institutional logics. The alternation between empirical data—derived from interviews (n = 21), surveys (n = 23), and memos (n = 71)—and the theoretical framework yields new insights. Specifically, the empirical and the theoretical evidence provides practical examples of value-creation mechanisms, institutional logics, and modes of institutional work in social and health care innovation ecosystems. This article is one of the few papers that integrate institutional logics and institutional work to study value creation in a diverse social and health care innovation ecosystem. It contributes to the existing literature on collaborative value creation and the social and health care ecosystem by identifying how different value-creation mechanisms are manifested as hybridity in the ecosystem and how institutional work fosters collaborative value creation. This study fills a research gap by refining the understanding of collaborative value-creation mechanisms and their institutional underpinnings in social and health care ecosystems, thereby enriching both bodies of literature. These insights promote a nuanced understanding of collaborative value-creation practices in institutionalized settings, with implications for both policymaking and further research.

Creating value from additive manufacturing: An analysis of entrepreneurial firms along the value chain

Many new ventures position themselves along the additive manufacturing (AM) value chain to benefit from the quickly maturing technology. Yet, their business models and sources of value creation are largely unidentified. We compile a unique dataset with 160 entrepreneurial AM-firms using a leading crowd-sourced database and organize the data in a card file system. We code the data along multiple dimensions and apply a Latent Class Analysis to identify unique segments of firms that focus on different complementary activities along the AM value chain. By using the NICE framework, we additionally reveal the value creation mechanisms of each identified class. We identify four unique segments of AM-firms that focus on different complementary activities: (i) hardware providers, (ii) software and data experts, (iii) full-service providers, and (iv) manufacturing orchestrators. While a lot of value creation across these segments is currently still driven by novelty and innovation, AM-firms also introduce lock-in and complementary products and services to capture value beyond production. In characterizing value chain structures, we outline how firms can position themselves in this emerging industry.

Corporate social responsibility and green supply chain efficiency: conditioning effects based on CEO narcissism

Accelerating the construction of the green supply chain system and improving the efficiency of the green supply chain is the key to promoting the high-quality development of enterprises. In view of this, based on stakeholder theory, higher order theory and expectancy theory, this study focuses on the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate green supply chain efficiency (GSCE) and the moderating role of chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism. A regression analysis of the observed sample reveals that CSR significantly enhances GSCE. Further decomposing CSR into internal CSR and external CSR to reveal the impact of different types of CSR on GSCE, we find that internal CSR fulfillment has a significant positive impact on GSCE, and this relationship is strengthened when CEOs are narcissistic. Furthermore, external CSR has a significant negative impact on GSCE, and this relationship is also strengthened by CEO narcissism. The main contribution of this paper is to study the relationship between CSR and green supply chain efficiency, decompose CSR into internal and external CSR, enrich the research on the intrinsic mechanism of value creation of CSR. It also enriches the research in the context of CSR from the perspective of CEO personality traits, providing new ideas and suggestions for manager selection and corporate greening governance in practice.

A Microfoundation Perspective on Business Model Innovation: The Cases of Roblox and Meta in Metaverse

This article investigates the microfoundations of business model innovation (BMI) by unveiling the main micro factors explaining macro variables that in turn influence innovation in value creation and capture mechanisms of firms’ business models (BMs). Specifically, through the analysis of two companies innovating their BMs in metaverse setting (i.e., Roblox and Meta), the article provides and discusses a model bridging macro variables and micro factors. Indeed, first the model illustrates macro variables influencing innovation in value creation (i.e., technological infrastructure and knowledge management) and in value capture (i.e., stakeholders readiness and stimulation of interest). Second, the model clarifies how each of these macro variables is explained by two types of microfoundations, as individual microfoundations, pertaining with skills and actions of individuals, and relational microfoundations, relative to relationships among individuals. Our findings contribute to both BMI and microfoundation literature, by assessing, on the one hand, the macro variables driving innovation in value creation and value capture, and, on the other hand, the micro factors explaining such innovation. Moreover, the article suggests managers how to intervene on specific micro factors to drive the macro-level outcome of BMI.

How Digital Technologies Enable Business Model Innovation in the Energy Sector: An Empirical Study of Italian Energy Service Companies

The evolution of digital technologies has been expanding the business opportunities that firms can tap by leveraging such technologies. Business model innovation triggered by digital technologies allows firms to extend the scope of products and services they offer and create new markets. This trend is particularly relevant in the energy sector. However, little is known about how actually energy firms’ business models evolve because of the adoption of digital technologies. Therefore, this article aims at shedding light on the business model innovation process enabled by digital technologies in the energy sector. To this aim, eight Italian energy service companies that innovated their business model by adopting digital technologies are analyzed. The empirical analysis allows to spot an archetypal business models innovation process enabled by digital technologies in the energy sector. The study contributes to the literature on business model and business model innovation by highlighting how digital technologies may promote the evolution of business models and by spotting an archetypal business models innovation process that can be implemented accordingly. It also contributes to the emerging literature on digital transformation, by showing how digital technologies can be exploited by energy firms to improve their value creation, delivery, and appropriation mechanisms.

Value Co-Creation Process in Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: The Case of Hakka Heritage Tourism in Taiwan

The purpose of this study is to explore how multi-stakeholder co-create collective value in a local context. Moreover, we aim to examine what barriers between the participators and what mechanisms could reduce these barriers, and then induce the local value. This paper presents a collaborative project that the university implemented in Jia-dong, a township of Pingtung county in Taiwan. Jia-dong is a traditional Hakka cluster with rich and historical elements. The purpose of collaborative project is to integrate Jia-dong’s developmental factors and help to create local value. This case study demonstrates that different stake-holder motivations and their ability to provide resources, differences are observed in the value creation activities and mechanisms at three stages: mobilization, expansion, and stabilization. This paper contrib-utes in two aspects: first, it highlights the evolution of collaborative rela-tionships among stakeholders during the process of value co-creation, and second, it provides a deep understanding of the role of value co-creation mechanisms is deeply understood while collaborative barriers derive from developing the local tourism.

Digital humanism in business models: Unveiling value creation mechanisms

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how companies can adopt digital humanism (DH), defined as the integration of humanistic skills in the development process of digital technologies, to create value and consequently develop effective business models. Specifically, the aim is to answer the following research question: what are the main DH mechanisms through which companies create value?Design/methodology/approachGiven the limited understanding of the phenomenon under investigation, a qualitative approach was adopted based on a multiple-case study to explore how companies are embracing DH. The study will focus on three exemplar cases in the use of DH, namely, IBM, Microsoft and SAP, well recognized as three of the market leaders in the IT industry. In addition, the selected companies are recognized as some of the most innovative in their specific industries, hence offering a rich set of information on how to specifically embrace DH.FindingsThis study unveils the main mechanisms through which companies can create value by implementing DH’s approaches into their business models.Originality/valueThe originality of this research lies in its focus on how companies integrate DH into their business models. Indeed, the study aims at uncovering the main mechanisms that companies use to integrate DH into their overall business practices. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into how companies can effectively integrate DH into their business models, which could have important implications for creating responsible, sustainable and inclusive solutions that prioritize human needs and values.

Inclusive business for rural development: New typology and differentiated value creation in the agri‐food sector

AbstractInclusive businesses (IBs) resonate with policymakers seeking to leverage private capital in support of poverty alleviation and sustainable development. In the agri‐food sector, which represents the largest segment of the base‐of‐the‐pyramid (BOP) market and a key source of livelihood for the rural poor, there is limited evidence on their diversity and social value creation mechanisms. This prevents practitioners from identifying impactful IB types and design features. A statistical analysis of 46 cases in Tanzania and Ghana identified four IB types: (1) self‐reliant agribusinesses, (2) domestic plantation companies, (3) social enterprises, and (4) locally‐embedded Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Our findings suggest that socially‐driven and localized IBs hold high impact potential but require significant external support, while more self‐sufficient IBs adopt less socially innovative designs. This study demonstrates the utility of a data‐driven approach to capture the complexity of real‐world IBs, which yielded practical insights for more effective poverty alleviation through business means.

Value creation for online collaboration between doctors and medical institutions: empirical evidence from online health communities

PurposeDoctor–medical institution collaboration (DMIC) services are an emerging service mode in focal online health communities (OHCs). This new service mode is anticipated to affect user satisfaction and doctors' engagement behaviors. However, whether and how DMIC occurs is still ambiguous because the topic is rarely examined. To bridge this gap, this study explores doctors' participation in DMIC services and its effects on their online performance, as well as its effect on patients' evaluation of them on OHC platforms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose hypotheses based on structural holes theory. A unique dataset obtained from one of the most popular OHCs in China is used to test the hypotheses, and difference-in-differences estimation is adopted to test the causality of the relationship.FindingsThe results demonstrate that providing DMIC services improves doctors' online consultation performance and patients' evaluations of them but has no significant effect on doctors' knowledge-sharing performance on OHC platforms. Doctors' knowledge-sharing performance and consultation performance mediate the relationship between participation in DMIC services and patients' evaluation of doctors. Regarding doctors' participation in DMIC services, its impact on doctors' consultation performance and patients' evaluation of them is weaker for doctors with higher professional titles than for doctors with lower professional titles.Originality/valueThe findings clarify the value creation mechanisms of online collaboration between doctors and medical institutions and thereafter facilitate doctors' participation in DMIC services and enhance the sustainable development of OHCs.

Accounting and reporting for facing multiple values in meso-level hybrid organisations

This work examines a new form of second-level hybrid, Meso-Level Hybrid Organisations (MLHOs), which do not generate an entity with a legal form or boundaries and are composed by a set of members in the organisational field, linked by multiple relationships and engaged in solving complex problems that require both public and private efforts. Our research interest is in the role that accounting and reporting systems can play in these hybrids, which do not have to comply with mandatory accounting requirements but have to respond to information pressures from their internal and external stakeholders, having different institutional logics and conflicting values and goals. By interpreting accounting and reporting as boundary objects through which value work can be enacted, the research highlights the role that accountants play in recomposing multiple values through participatory processes of designing and implementing an accounting and reporting system. A case study narrated through the discursive lens of ‘mixing, compromising and legitimising mechanisms of value creation among hybrids' shows how the design of a voluntary reporting system can, under certain conditions, strengthen an MHLO. Our findings show that a tailored accounting system can counteract the centrifugal and disruptive forces inherent in these forms of hybrid settings.

The niche and value creation mechanism of the innovation ecosystem of crowd innovation space: a multi-case study

ABSTRACT Twelve crowd innovation spaces (from China) are selected as case samples, and the niche distribution model of the crowd innovation space’s innovation ecosystem is constructed based on structural hole theory. Further, this research reveals the interactive relationship and value creation mechanism among the innovation ecosystem's components from the value co-creation theory perspective. The research draws the following conclusions from three aspects: (1) The niche of the components of the crowd innovation space ecosystem is characterised by multiple levels, which can be divided into the core layer, convergence layer, and support layer. (2) In the innovation ecosystem, crowd innovation space is at the convergence layer. By filling structural holes, the innovation ecosystem can reach the ‘no holes’ state. Thus, it can promote the connection of the components of the innovation ecosystem to form a network of innovation resources such as knowledge and technology; (3) The value creation in the crowd innovation space’s innovation ecosystem is two-dimensional. Based on whether there is direct interaction or not, value creation can be divided into value co-creation and value auxiliary-creation. Relationship embeddedness and value co-creation are two important mechanisms of value creation in the innovation ecosystem of crowd innovation space.

Public value creation mechanisms in the context of public service logic: an integrated conceptual framework

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper maintains that mainstream public management theories have failed to incorporate public services as a fundamental part of the public administration system. That failure does a disservice to the potential of public services to address societal betterment through the creation of public value, which can strengthen democracy. This paper presents an integrated conceptual framework to help make sense of the public value creation flows in the context of politics (encompassing public policy and public service goal attainment) and public service outcomes. We suggest there are four flows creating public value.

‘Breaking the Mirror’ to Face Digital Convergence: The Role of Selective Mirroring in the Trade-Off between Value Creation and Capture Mechanisms

‘Breaking the Mirror’ to Face Digital Convergence: The Role of Selective Mirroring in the Trade-Off between Value Creation and Capture Mechanisms