Value Co-creation in Stakeholder Relationships: A Case Study

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to deepen our understanding of co-creation of value in stakeholder relationships. The authors present a case study on the process of strategic transformation in a medium-sized company providing industrial services. The purpose of the study is to analyze how different stakeholder perspectives join in determining what is perceived as valuable in business operations. Stakeholder relationships are studied during a three-year period when the company transformed from a division of a large industrial corporation into an independent service company. The data was collected through personal interviews and from Intranet documents, and analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Management, personnel, customers and owners are the key stakeholders in transformation of value creation. Based on the study, five elements of stakeholder relationships were identified as important in transformation of value creation: (1) History of the relationship, (2) Stakeholder’s objectives, (3) Interaction in the relationship, (4) Learning and information sharing and (5) Trust. The study contributes to literature on value creation by highlighting the complexity of stakeholder relationships and by showing that the salience of stakeholder relationships varies during the transformation.