A Service-Dominant Logic Perspective on Information Systems Development as Service Ecosystems of Value Co-creation

Abstract

Information Systems Development (ISD) is at the heart of the diffusion of information technologies. It is constantly reshaped by new developments and changing environments. The appearance of extra-organizational platform capabilities and the emerging shift in business and society from a goods-dominant to service-dominant logic (SDL) represent such a development. SDL offers a holistic perspective with an emphasis on value co-creation in service ecosystems that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of organizations. In this capacity, it lends itself to a study of ISD as service ecosystems of value co-creation in such an environment. On this background, we investigate the following research questions: How is value co-creation in ISD projects that transcend traditional organizational settings managed and performed, and how does SDL provide plausible explanations to understand such contemporary ISD? For this purpose, we present a case of ISD in the context of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which engaged various groups of actors including Pacific Islander youth in the development of a digital game to raise attention about climate change and use the foundational concepts of SDL to demonstrate how value is co-created by a diverse group of actors in such a setting.