Value Constellations Research Articles

VALUE CREATION IN E-BUSINESS: A STUDY OF TWO B-TO-B COMPANIES

The current study analyzes the study of Amit and Zott (2001) using the nowadays business practices in two B-to-B companies. The companies utilize value constellations strategies in conducting their business. They re-create values for their business customers. The study intends to find new sources of value creation not discovered in Amit and Zott (2001). Amit and Zott (2001) argue that the sources of value creation in e-business are efficiency, complementarities, lock-in, and novelty. The research uses in-depth interview as a tool in qualitative methodology. Two interviews were conducted on the executives from two e-business companies providing services to other companies in the value chain. After analyzing the data, it was found that, there are two new sources of value creation in e-business, which are the value of information and digital ecosystem. The new findings in this research could be due to the focus of Amit and Zott (2001) on B-to-C customers and the absence of fully-fledged digital ecosystem seen in today’s digital platforms.

Cultural Resource Damage Assessment

ABSTRACT Unauthorized cultural resource alterations range from looting and grave robbing to contract violations and wildland fires. Such alterations degrade cultural resources’ spiritual, communal, ecological, economic, and scientific values. Alterations often violate communal senses of place, security, and belonging. Alterations complicate jurisdiction-specific management, which is premised on up-to-date information on resource sizes, conditions, and significance. Cultural resource damage assessment protocols based on proven forensic practices distil to eight fieldwork steps: verify the alteration, assemble the team, survey the scene, document the evidence, gather the evidence, assess the archaeological value and the cost of repair and restoration, prescribe emergency remediation, and confirm evidence documentation and custody. The eight steps give special consideration to local communities and Indigenous Territories, where unauthorized alterations are as common as they are elsewhere, whereas impacts to spiritual and cultural values are generally greater. Adapted to jurisdiction- and incident-specific circumstances, the steps will guide responses to alterations by community leaders, land managers, regulators, law enforcement agents, and archaeologists, including preparation of excellent damage assessment reports. Damage assessment practitioners and land managers should refine these practices to deter alterations, engage Tribes and other affected communities, halt postalteration degradation, ensure accountability, and enable jurisdiction-scale curation of cultural resources and their unique value constellations.

Unpacking value destruction at the intersection between public and private value

AbstractPublic services do not always create value. Rather, when poorly organized and/or delivered, they can destroy value and make service users' lives worse. However, such “value destruction” is presently weakly conceptualized in public management theory. Consequently, this paper is devoted to the empirical examination of value destruction and hence its conceptualization. At the heart of the paper, we recognize the multiplicity of public value and private value objectives in complex public service environments and the dyadic tension between these two value constellations. Drawing upon qualitative data derived from public carbon reduction projects, we establish a conceptual framework. This framework accounts both for the types of value destruction and for the tension between public and private value. Subsequently, the framework disentangles the value destruction concept into four categories: value ignorance, value disproportion, value backlash, and value exploitation. Finally, the implications of this new conceptual framework for public management theory and practice are explored.

Collaboration in Value Constellations for Sustainable Production: The Perspective of Small Technology Solution Providers

The rapid ongoing digital transformation creates new opportunities to generate value but also challenges companies in the manufacturing industry to adapt to the recent changes. Moreover, committing to sustainability is essential to maintain competitive advantages, build a more resilient company, and manage increasing societal demands and regulations. Referred to as a “twin transition”, the digital transformation can positively impact firms’ commitments to environmental sustainability. This paper explores challenges that small technology solution providers face on their path toward developing sustainable production solutions for their manufacturing customers. An empirical study was conducted in an industrial cluster of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) providing innovative, tailor-made production technology solutions to manufacturing companies. As a result, a collaborative process model was suggested for such SMEs to overcome internal and external barriers to obtaining sustainability, thus better supporting the manufacturing companies, i.e., their customers, to strive towards more sustainable production.

DIGITAL DISRUPTION AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: A STRATEGIC INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK

Digital disruptions are substantially impacting businesses and reshaping our economy worldwide, attracting increasing attention in research and practice. However, research lacks theoretical framing and understanding of the emergence, development, and impact of digital disruption. This study analyses and structures the fragmented knowledge on digital disruption by means of a systematic literature review, identifying five relevant key dimensions, i.e., disruption characteristics, market factors, organisational factors, value constellation, and impact/outcomes. Based on this analysis and classic disruption theory, we develop a theory-informed integrative framework, proposing nine relevant layers of digital disruption and deriving corresponding theoretical propositions for future research. The study makes an initial contribution towards theory development and a comprehensive understanding of the digital disruption concept. It may serve as the starting point for further theory development and a guiding scheme for managers on how to create or deal with digital disruption.

Agile and generic work values of British vs Indian IT workers: a culture-clash case

PurposeAfter deciding to become agile, many information technology (IT) units struggle; they underestimate the needed managerial expertise to alter their current culture toward an agile one, particularly when cross-cultural (f)actors are involved. Given that work values are the key to an organizational culture, the study derived a set of agile work values of culturally diverse IT professionals together with a set of well-known generic work values. Consequently, the authors illustrate that managers in charge of the transition to an effective agile culture must pay serious attention to the specific value constellations of its often highly diverse workforce.Design/methodology/approachA literature review resulted in an initial list of agile work values. Then, mainly through a Delphi round, 12 agile-specific work values were established. These were survey rated, along with the validated set of 18 generic work values, by 102 British and Indian IT professionals in a digital service and consulting firm that was requested by its client to become agile. The observations made in 14 feedback group-interview-type dialogs enriched the surveyed data further.FindingsIn the current exploratory study, four generic value dimensions were complemented by two agile-specific ones: team communication and shared responsibility. Among the British and Indian (on-site and offshore) workers, only 2 of the 30 current work values were shared while 7 significant value differences were found, explaining the noted employee bitterness, productivity losses and client disengagement. This situation was reflected in the many discrepancies between the professionals' ideal agile way of working and how their unit was currently functioning.Originality/valueThe multi-method study shows an over-optimistic approach to becoming agile in a common cross-cultural context; insights are gained on how to optimize agile ways of organizing IT work when British IT workers collaborate with Indian IT workers. It may benefit many agile practitioners and managers working with(in) cross-culturally mixed and partly remote teams.

Applying Values-Led Communication Design to Engage Stakeholders in Developing Dementia-Friendly Visitor Destinations

Developing dementia-friendly visitor destinations (DFVDs) has been acknowledged as essential for maintaining quality of life for people with dementia (PwD) and carers. While research has identified the lack of sufficient information as one of the major barriers in DFVD development, this study argues that the underlying problem comes from poor communication promoting this social vision. Values have a significant impact on stakeholders’ communication. By working with values, the stakeholders may uncover latent issues through an authentic dialog, helping them shape meaningful design directions and find ways of working together. Accordingly, this study proposes a 3 × 3 matrix of values-led communication design and presents an action research. The results suggest that the vertical axis, negotiation for values, can act as agonistic space for stakeholders to uncover values and make appropriate decisions. The horizontal axis is constituted by a systematic communication process of design for value proposition, design for value-in-context, and design for value constellation to facilitate stakeholders in integrating their core competences and construct the value creation system for DFVD development. Through these two axes of values-led communication design, the stakeholders can transfer their knowledge and assets into new social practice, usage, and dissemination, thereby increasing societies’ ability to act.

Exploring digital innovation in the production process: A suggested framework for automation technology solution providers

The advances in digital technologies enable organisations to develop new digital products and services, new business processes, and novel business models. Innovative digital solutions and business concepts are changing the environment of traditional production management systems. This paper aims to explore value constellations where small automation solution providers contribute to improving their customers’ production systems. An empirical study is conducted to outline the digital transformation value constellation and possible created values for both automation technology solution providers and manufacturing industries. The paper presents different approaches to how automation solution providers contribute to innovative customised digital transformation in manufacturing firms.

Value-Constellation Innovation by Firms Participating in Government-funded Technology Development

ABSTRACT This study examined service firms participating in technology development programs sponsored by the government. Our objective was to identify means by which these firms can enhance service value, with particular focus on value constellations. We used a qualitative approach to investigate four case studies of firms in Taiwan. We found that value-constellation innovation combines multiple types of value creation (i.e., value chains, value shops, and value networks) through application of information-and-communication technology. Analysis from the perspective of service-dominant logic promotes understanding of the development of network relationships among firms in the relevant value constellations and government agencies which are investing in information-and-communication technology. We also highlight three areas that deserve further attention: reconfiguring value systems, leveraging technology, and redefining government roles in value constellations.

Theoretical basis of the research of the problem of forming the value attitude in specialized institutions

It is important to determine what opportunities exist in the processes of acquisition, preservation and realization of value constellations, relative to another person in the boarding school environment compared to other educational institutions regarding the use of the most important existential of practical life. Teachers pay attention to a number of factors that prevent the effective education of value attitude towards the person. There are crime, anger, sense of permissibility, low level of personal communication, irresponsible, life pessimism and etc. among them. Analysis of theoretical works and synthesis of scientific provisions suggest that value attitude towards another person is an integrated neoplasm, which is determined by humanistic ethics and morality and is based on moral values such as respect, dignity, equality, benevolence, balance, self-sufficiency, readiness for constructive dialogue. Therefore, the formation of the value of another person is a specially organized educational process, which defines the attitude towards another person, as the highest value of the subject of life, aimed at combining knowledge about such moral values as respect for dignity, equality, benevolence, balance, self-sufficiency, readiness for constructive dialogue, ideas about the ways of their manifestation and ability to guide them in their own activities. Thus, philosophical, psychological and pedagogical studies show that the value attitude towards another person is an important characteristic of the moral sphere of the individual and is most confirmed by humanistic ethics and morality and is the basis of domestic and international legislation, which needs the close attention and development of optimal pedagogical conditions for the formation of a value attitude towards another person in pupils of boarding schools, as the most impressionable category of children with a view to their socialization and full integration into society.

Dimensions and triggers of memorable tourism experiences: evidence from Italian social enterprises

PurposeThis paper explores the dimensions and triggers of memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) from the service provider perspective. Specifically, it focuses on MTEs offered by tourism social enterprises (TSEs) in Italian tourist destinations that are growing in popularity.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a qualitative approach using Gioia methodology. After a preliminary email survey, data were collected from Italian TSEs using semi-structured interviews.FindingsMTE dimensions include hedonism, novelty, refreshment, local culture, meaningfulness, knowledge, involvement, surprise and servicescape, while its triggers relate to TSE characteristics – value proposition (authenticity and unconventionality), value constellation (relationships with local communities and public and private institutions) and social and economic profit (generation of revenue, strengthening of business and new employment opportunities). Using these results, this study proposes a model for TSEs to create MTEs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study advances the MTE research in relation to TSEs, a specific category of tourism company that plays an essential role in contemporary tourism.Practical implicationsThis study makes recommendations to TSE managers on how to create and effectively manage MTEs to ensure survival and competition in the global market.Social implicationsThis analysis highlights that TSEs contribute to improving the social conditions of little-known areas through the development of inclusive social projects and the creation of new job opportunities.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine MTEs from the TSE service provider perspective.

Islamic Social Banking Platform (Case of Resalat Islamic Bank)

In this paper, we examined an effective business for the ecosystem of FinTech for Resalat Bank. The article discussed three phases of Resalat Bank development as a Platform in formulating social business models that require new value propositions, value constellations, and profit equations, and as such, resembles business innovation. The result of the qualitative method for comparing Resalat Bank and Grameen Bank indicated that the business of Resalat Bank is more efficient than Grameen Bank. We also discussed the challenges of transformation from the current banking business model to Islamic banking as a platform and proposes a framework for Islamic bank as a platform at the macro and micro levels.

The Trajectory Touchpoint Technique: A Deep Dive Methodology for Service Innovation

This article introduces the trajectory touchpoint technique (TTT), a service design methodology that harnesses customer experiences for enriched understanding of value throughout multilevel service components to ultimately increase innovativeness. We detail the design and development of the TTT using design science research, a goal-oriented methodology that produces robust and practical solutions to organizational problems. We demonstrate the TTT’s practical utility through collaborations with different organizations (n = 9) and diverse service users (n = 240). We show how the TTT is an easy to use methodology that enhances understanding of value creation and illustrate its benefits with concrete examples of innovations to service encounters, the service system, and the value constellation. We reveal how a service design methodology can be the bridge between the theoretical standpoint of S-D logic’s perspective on value cocreation and the practical tools and techniques required to operationalize it.

Applying Value-based design to lead technology innovation towards PSS development

Product-Service System (PSS) design has become an emergent paradigm in technology innovation. However, little research addresses the two major issues in PSS development: 1) how to identify the value propositions, and 2) how to construct value constellations. Design-Driven Innovation (DDI) is an approach to lead to new meaning for technology. Based on DDI, this study constructs a concept of value-based design for technology innovation towards PSS development and conducts a case study of the FamiCare innovation project to explore the insights. Firstly, to identify the value propositions for PSS, it is critical to uncover the core functions of the technology, and interpret new meanings through collecting critiques from stakeholders. Secondly, co-creation workshops and visualized tools are able to facilitate the construction of PSS value constellations. Thirdly, both emotional and functional value should be considered during the PSS development. Finally, this study highlights the main challenges and outlines a methodological framework.

Design Innovation for creative growth: Modelling relational exchange to support and evaluate creative enterprise in the Scottish Highlands and Islands

Abstract This article examines the development and delivery of a Creative Growth Model as part of a programme of Design Innovation activities with creative micro-enterprises and support organizations in the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland. There is a growing body of critique for how creative enterprise is framed, supported and evaluated in relation to economic notions of value and growth that struggle to incorporate the sociocultural interests and activities of sole traders and micro-enterprises. This article presents a Design Innovation approach for identifying situated conceptions of value, modelled as emergent value constellations, based on the diverse interactions and relational exchanges prevalent within the creative enterprise. This research draws predominantly on the work of Design Innovation for New Growth (DING), a two-year AHRC follow-on funded project between 2017 and 2019, which engaged with existing creative expertise in the Highlands and Northern Isles of Scotland to mobilize local practitioners as central drivers of innovation. The article aims to contribute to co-design literature seeking to develop ‘design practices that understand how value is co-produced, […] understood, generated, and employed’ (Whitham et al. 2019: 2) in conjunction with creative enterprises.

Towards Financial Semiology

This paper offers a new avenue in contemplating semiology beyond linguistics: it introduces accounting as ‘Financial Semiology’. The paper discusses the implications of a semiological theorisation of accounting, particularly in problematising the conventional assumptions underlying two important accounting issues: recognition and measurement of the firm's assets, specifically with respect to the notion of alleged 'representation' of assets and their seemingly 'intrinsic value'. Through two core pillars in Saussure's semiology, re-titled here as 'reciprocal articulation' and 'value constellation', the paper offers an alternative theorisation of such accounting procedures. The paper also shows the implications of such Financial Semiology for the general theory of semiology, and distils its core characteristics as a framework for explicating the non-substantive operation of social sign systems.

Conceptual framework for spatio-temporal analysis of territorial projects

System innovation for sustainability requires a systemic and interdisciplinary approach. To support these complex and long-term transitions, decision support tools are required but nowadays, assessment tools are disciplinary and consider mainly material flows with environmental or economical perspectives. These tools provide helpful quantitative information for system (re)-design but often miss the temporal or spatial dimensions of a project and do not sufficiently consider the value creation system they propose to evaluate. This communication presents a conceptual framework for territorial project analysis. It enables the spatio-temporal analysis of stakeholder networks during a project. This framework considers tangible and intangible resources flows between the project's stakeholders and their territory to examine how an initiative can emerge , mobilise territorial assets and create sustainable values in return. This process takes place at the meso level (territory) and create dynamic interactions with the micro-level (organisations and individuals) and the macro-level (regulations and institutions). This analytical framework aims at supporting decision thanks to a comprehensive vision of the value constellation implied in a territorial project. It was developed on a theoretical basis and partially tested on various projects (territorial bioraffinery, PSS, territorial repair network) that were presented in previous communications. Future work will integrate sustainability principles to this framework to assist both economic, political and civic actors in taking decisions whom contribute to system transition to sustainability during their territorial projects.

Framework of emergence: from chain of value to value constellation

ABSTRACTFor academic design programmes and research councils, finding mechanisms to measure impact and valuate co-design research projects is very difficult. The metric parameters – number of attendees, volume, shape, length – have shown to be insufficient. The subject matter, the subjects and matters, do not easily fit within these parameters, which fail to translate the value of a ‘constellation of affections’ that emerge throughout co-design processes. Emphasis on quantifiable impact derives from particular ways of understanding production, reproduction, and dissemination of knowledge. This paper understands academic design programmes as a technology to discuss axiology in co-design practices. This paper re-configures a techno-logic of value; from chain of value to value constellation, intersecting a co-design case study with readings of Simondon’s philosophy of technology and Barad’s agential realism. Ageing Playfully was a knowledge exchange project from The Creative Exchange programme, that involved people living with dementia and their caregivers co-designing interventions to boost mobility and well-being. At the core, this paper, explores an axiological move that informs a framework of emergence, a way of thinking in methods to account for the value of co-design as site of emergence.

Framing transformation dynamics towards service-orientation: alternative trajectories of B2B relations

This article examines dynamics of complex transformation in value creation logics in business-to-business (B2B) relationships. Based on the literature of servitisation, relationship marketing, and particularly the service-dominant (S-D) logic approach, an integrative conceptual framework for structuring provider-customer interaction is built. The framework combines strategic and operational aspects and the perspectives of both parties. It is applied empirically in a multiple case study covering different industries. The results reveal the alternative and parallel trajectories in the B2B relations of the companies, instead of the previous unidirectional transition approach of servitisation. Furthermore, relating to the topical S-D logic debate, the results indicate that the transformation from goods-dominant logic towards service-dominant logic has been built in as different trajectories. The conceptual framework explicates transformation dynamics in terms of value creation logic and mutual dependence between parties. It facilitates particularly SMEs considering relationship-specific evaluation and development, as well as strategic re-positioning and value constellations.

The Application of a Service Ecosystems Lens to Public Policy Analysis and Design: Exploring the Frontiers

The relevance of marketing for public policy has been questioned because its focus on dyadic exchanges does not consider the dynamism and complexity of public problems. Public service-dominant logic, as a new lens for public policy and management, does not address this limitation, because its focus remains on delivering services to the end user. Integrating recent developments in service-dominant logic and related research, this article proposes applying a service ecosystems lens to public policy. Five propositions guide the application of this lens to public policy analysis and design. Public policy is conceptualized as a means to enable service by coordinating multiple actors’ value cocreation activities to address public problems. Inherent in this conceptualization is the multilevel nature of policy analysis, which includes the users’ value creation process (micro level), the context (meso level), and the broader value constellation (macro level). Policy design, in turn, includes the identification and support of emergent solutions driven by different actors. Policy makers therefore need to consider problem–conditions–solution combinations across the value constellation and the effect of public interventions on these constellations. The article concludes by presenting policy makers with marketing and design practices that can assist in the analysis of service ecosystems and engage relevant stakeholders in change initiatives.