Value co-creation and stakeholder complexity: what strategy can learn from churches
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 14 September 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend understandings of the demand-side view of strategy and how organizations co-create value with stakeholders. Through an iterative process of theory development, data collection, data analysis and writing, the authors propose a value co-creation perspective that more fully takes into account stakeholder complexity.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data derives from a wider exploratory study on value creation and competitive advantage in Christian churches in Canada. Here the authors explore one case study from that wider study and analyze interviews with church members and leaders.
Findings
The authors discuss two mutually constitutive processes of value co-creation, building a culture of community and enacting relational and shared leadership.
Research limitations/implications
The authors propose a stakeholder-complex understanding of value creation where stakeholders can enact multiple roles, often simultaneously, in co-creation and where products/services are consumed for their symbolic, rather than material value. Further, co-creation may involve ongoing interactions and value creation can occur in non-monetary transactions.
Originality/value
The authors offer, through an empirical exploration of a religious organization, an illustrative account of how value co-creation might be tied to stakeholder complexity. This study stretches the boundaries of mainstream strategy research by challenging two fundamental assumptions: that stakeholder roles must be distinct and that “value” must be clearly defined and explicitly linked to exchange value.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is funded by a grant provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (No. 410-2009-2283) while the first author was employed at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada. Many thanks to Sharon Mavin (University of Roehampton) and Geoff Moore (Durham University) for their feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript.
Citation
Grandy, G. and Levit, T. (2015), "Value co-creation and stakeholder complexity: what strategy can learn from churches", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 243-273. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-03-2014-1205
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited