Abstract
Co-creating Solution Value“The only constant in life is change” – Heraclitus. Understanding changes in business is pivotal. How do changes occur and what are the consequences of changes? This thesis takes solution business as an empirical context and specifically inquires into the process of solution value co-creation, i.e. how multiple actors (both companies and individuals) co-create solution value for customers. The thesis investigates how different actors’ goals develop in the process of solution value co-creation and how the development of these goals contributes to the process. In addition, a sub-theme of the thesis is to investigate the effects of solution digitization on the process of solution value co-creation.Based on two longitudinal case studies, the thesis develops the concept of value register as a way of inquiring into the role of actors’ goals in value co-creation. This concept is defined as an actor’s intention in value co-creation to create value in a specific value dimension. Based on the empirical cases, the thesis also develops a conceptual framework concerning how value-register-led individual actors create value in solution value co-creation (the “VRVC” framework). Drawing on this framework, the thesis identifies three patterns of influence between actors in solution value co-creation and proposes a process theory of how the development of actors’ value registers contributes to solution value co-creation. Finally, the thesis identifies five features of digitized solutions and their impacts on solution value co-creation.