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Leading the transformation to co‐creation of value
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2009
Year
Customer SatisfactionDigital MarketingValue TheorySustainable Value CreationCustomer CommunityNew MindsetManagementCo-creationBrand BuildingNew Product DevelopmentCustomer InvolvementValue CreationOrganizational SystemsUser ExperienceBrand DevelopmentCustomer ParticipationValue Co-creationStrategic ManagementMarketingOrganizational CommunicationInteractive MarketingBusinessBusiness StrategyEngagement ExperiencesSocial InnovationMarketing Insights
Co‑creation requires active participation from all employees, from frontline staff to executives, to engage customers effectively. The study investigates how businesses can use individual and community engagement experiences as the foundation for creating customer value. The authors propose that established firms adopt a new mindset to initiate and implement a co‑creation model. The research shows that when leaders view interactions among all individuals in the system as the core of value creation, organizations must be redesigned around these interactions, with value emerging from experiences beyond the product—illustrated by Intuit’s direct customer‑engineer community platform.
Purpose Leading businesses are learning how to use the engagement experiences of individuals and communities as the new basis of their value creation for customers. This paper aims to look at this issue. Design/methodology/approach To initiate and implement this co‐creation model, especially in established organizations, the paper proposes adopting a new mindset. Findings The paper finds that once leaders recognize the “interactions among individuals everywhere in the system” as the new locus of value creation, it stands to reason that organizations must be designed to function around them. Practical implications In the co‐creation paradigm, value is a function of experiences other than the product itself, such as web platforms and environments for consumer interactions with the product and with a community of other users. Intuit's www.intuitlabs.com is another good illustration; there, Intuit's internal engineers get a fast, direct connection to customers, and the community of customers connects to the “makers” of Intuits offerings. Originality/value Becoming a co‐creative organization is impossible without the active involvement of managers at all levels and every employee who interacts with customers – from the call center operator to the service mechanic, from the sales representative to the logistics manager, from the software engineer to the product developer.