Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka faktorer som är viktiga för value co-creation vid företagsrelationer mellan leverantörer och återförsäljare inom bilbranschen. Studien utgår från Grönroos (2006) teorier om value creation i företagsrelationer samt tidigare forskning om B2B-relationer. Underlaget för studien baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer med två representanter för BMW, samt fem av dess svenska återförsäljare. Datan från intervjuerna analyseras utifrån en modell som konstruerats för att belysa den value co-creation som båda parterna i relationen bidrar med. Resultatet av studien finner att de starkast påverkande faktorerna för value co-creation är tillit mellan de respektive företagen samt flexibilitet för motpartens önskemål. Två specifika exempel inom dessa faktorer lyfts fram som viktiga, förbättrad kommunikation mellan företagen och digitalisering, vilka framkommer som resultat av value co-creation mellan företagen.

Consumers have changed their behaviour from passive roles to active ones, demanding their beloved brands to be integrated into long-lasting customer-brand relationships. With this ideology, which is the basis for the S-D logic, there is an on-going scientific debate on the value co-creation phenomenon and its effects on sustaining long-term brand-customer relationships in the context of the fashion industry. These effects are considered to have the potential to sustain a competitive advantage and affect not only the marketing of the fashion brands, but also other facets of such enterprises, including their value and supply chains. Additionally, the world has been experiencing a steep increase in technological innovation under the name of Industry 4.0, where machinery and human labour become integrated into smart systems and consumers have the ability to influence parts of brands which were not available before. Within this context, the interest of this research is to explore the value co-creation phenomenon in relation to the I4.0 dimension in the setting of two generic business models characteristic of the fashion industry (luxury vs. fast-fashion). In exploring the interconnectivity of these two phenomena, this study takes on the digital strategies of Burberry, Louis Vuitton, UNIQLO and Zalando, and assesses their co-creative processes targeted towards their consumers. In doing so, this study is also aiming at identifying the approaches of the chosen brands towards the I4.0 dimension and its relevance towards the process of value co-creation. In order to illuminate the co-creative processes within the digital strategies of the selected brands and to accomplish the research goal, this study takes on a comparative cross-case study methodology synthesising secondary data on both value co-creation and I4.0 as separate phenomena. The secondary data on the digital strategies of the selected brands is used within an existing model called “the Co-creation mix” which assesses the co-creative processes of the brands based on six different criteria: co-creator, purpose, locus, intimacy, time, and incentives. Interpreting the secondary data through such a model resulted in the identification of two different approaches to co-creation and I4.0. The findings indicate that the luxury case companies approach co-creation from a traditional marketing perspective where digital consumer engagement is the main co-creative process, whereas the fast-fashion case companies initiate co-creative processes designed to accomplish goals that are more supply-chain related. This result also brings several intriguing implications. First, the fast-fashion case companies are more technology-driven and are more open towards the implementation of innovative I4.0 technologies within the co-creative processes than the luxury case companies. Second, the consumer role in the co-creation process seems to become less central the more the I4.0 dimension is involved. Third, the model shows that the fast-fashion examples outperform the luxury examples at the dimensions where the latter perform the weakest, such as intimacy and time. And fourth, the study findings confirm the new research opinion that both industry segments have weak areas which can be handled by taking on a mix of the two identified approaches, rather than focus on the traditional one alone. Yet, these findings are not generalizable but only illustrative, meaning that the study provides plausible hypothesis and future research directions concerning value co-creation and I4.0 within the fashion industry context.

There is little in the existing literature that provides practical information on the link between co-creation and the internet as well as guidance on how to facilitate cocreation in the online environment. This study sought to address these gaps and particularly the lack of guidance on the practical act of co-creation and the relationship between co-creation and the online environment. A quantitative research methodology with a descriptive design was followed. The data for the study was collected by way of an internet survey. The population for the research was defined as the users of the online cycling social network, www.thehubsa.co.za. A topic explaining the purpose of the study and inviting users to participate was posted on the website. The study revealed the existence of a new two factor solution related to the separate co-creation and Web 2.0 applications constructs. In this respect the Interact and Use components (co-creation) as well as the Creating and Sharing components (Web 2.0 applications) could provide the foundation for construct validity for more comprehensive scales.The ability of a user to Author content on a website was found to be of particular practical importance in facilitating co-creation. Providing this functionality to a customer may be the key to the missing “how to” element of online co-creation. The ability of a social networking website, such as www.thehubsa.co.za, to encourage general product/service usage appears to be the main attraction to advertisers. Advertisers looking to build their brands may not necessarily obtain the same benefits from the website. Findings regarding impact on usage were inconclusive and further research is suggested. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The environmental sustainability challenges faced by society represent a discontinuity that requires new systemic ways of thinking and approaching problems. For business and consumers this entails finding new ways of creating value. In this respect, this study argues that an important source of value lies in efficient service co-creation between business and consumers in the consumption process. To this end, this study set out to explore the potential of business-to-consumer co-creation to advance solutions to sustainable consumption in the grocery retail setting. Exploratory qualitative research was conducted with grocery retailers and environmentally conscious consumers to gain insights into the types of initiatives that are important with respect to sustainable consumption. The willingness of business and consumers to work together to co-create solutions was gauged, and potential processes and mechanisms for co-creation were explored. The research found that both grocery retailers and consumers recognise sustainability as a systemic issue and welcomed the notion of co-creating solutions. However, the overarching narrative of the research findings with respect to the how of co-creation is that the market may not yet be ready. Retailers are driving sustainability initiatives across the supply chain, with consumers occupying a relatively passive role. This study argues that co-creation represents a fundamentally new paradigm that poses the challenge of a new orientation for the business-to-consumer relationship. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the value co-creation opportunities for an autonomous cleaning robot, in the context of a cleaning service, by using several prototyping methods. Assuming a service perspective, with an exploratory, multi-stakeholder, and collaborative approach, a case study of an autonomous cleaning robot currently in development is conducted. With the methodological approach of sequentially and iteratively going through the phases of Mapping and Ideation, Conceptualization, Prototyping, and Data analysis, a total of 10 co-creative, stakeholder-centric workshops were conducted, using various prototyping methods e.g. Contextual value network mapping and Desktop walkthrough. Findings show that the value that an autonomous cleaning robot can bring different stakeholders in the context of a cleaning service is multi-facetted and can be divided in to eight different Aspects, where each value carries a different implication at the level of the individual and the level of the system. Furthermore, a list of seven different Design parameters and four different Design problems are presented, which should be used as guidelines when further developing a cleaning service that uses an autonomous cleaning robot. Finally, the implications of the findings are put into a broader perspective through discussion, with topics such as the impact of more robots in society.

A strong brand community is characterized by its value co-creation practices and brand community consumer relationships. Although previous brand community literature explains the contribution of brand community entities through these practices and relationships separately, no identified research has focused on how these practices are connected to the consumer relationships. In short, this body of literature has neglected to describe what practice corresponds to which consumer relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this study sought to describe the value co-creation practices within brand communities in relation to its consumer relationships. A comparative multiple case study of two Adidas Runners communities was applied to address this. The findings suggest that the higher level of brand community entity involvement in value-co creation practices, the stronger brand community consumer relationships. Furthermore, the study details the connections between the different value co-creation practices and their corresponding consumer relationships. Specifically, these connections are as follows; social networking and community engagement practices connected to the consumer-other consumers and consumer-marketer relationships, impression management practices connected to the consumer-brand relationship, and brand use practices connected to the consumer-product and consumer-marketer relationships. In addition, the findings suggest the practice of socializing to be added to the set of value cocreation practices.

Northern Sweden is in the middle of a major transition, a green transition. As large industries are being established and companies are accelerating, the supply of skills must be solved. The regional development strategy Norrbotten 2030 was developed in 2019 with the vision of Norrbotten becoming Sweden’s most welcoming and innovative county. To succeed in recruiting is one thing, but if we don’t welcome and include people moving to Luleå into the society, Luleå risk becoming a fly-in-fly-out city. This bachelor’s thesis has been carried out in Industrial Design Engineering at Luleå University of Technology to design a service that will maximize the impact of recruitment in Luleå, making people who move here, want to stay. The project has been carried out in collaboration with Brightnest.  To ensure a continuous focus on the user's experiences and needs a human-centred design process has been followed, with a focus on co-creation together with the users and stakeholders. Through interviews and workshops, the users and stakeholders have been invited to every part of the process. Through creative methods, such as analogies, personas and customer journey maps, the needs and dreams of the users have been translated into design opportunities. Throughout the design-process tests have continuously been carried out with users to ensure that the design choices are prioritizing the needs of the users.  The final design is a movement called Lulity – Luleå Community which consists of three components 1) This is Lulity – the movement, 2) I am Lulity – the ambassadorship and 3) Relocate Luleå. Through these components, social sustainability can be reached both for the users, the stakeholders and the society at large. Through This is Lulity all interested parties can jointly facilitate and ease the relocation process before a person has moved, during the first half-year after the move, and after the first six months. The presentation of the challenge and the design in this text contribute to awareness and a changed mindset among everyone involved. / Norra Sverige är mitt uppe i en stor omställning, en grön omställning. I takt med att stora industrier etableras och företagen accelererar måste kompetensförsörjningen lösas. Den regionala utvecklingsstrategin Norrbotten 2030 togs fram 2019 med visionen att Norrbotten ska bli Sveriges mest välkomnande och innovativa län. Att lyckas med rekryteringen är en sak, men om vi inte välkomnar och inkluderar människor som flyttar till Luleå in i samhället riskerar Luleå att bli en fly-in-fly-out stad. Detta examensarbete har genomförts inom Teknisk Design vid Luleå tekniska universitet för att designa en tjänst som ska maximera effekten av rekryteringen i Luleå och få människor som flyttar hit att vilja stanna. Projektet har genomförts i samarbete med Brightnest. För att säkerställa ett kontinuerligt fokus på användarens upplevelser och behov har en användarcentrerad designprocess följts, med fokus på samskapande tillsammans med användare och intressenter. Genom intervjuer och workshops har användarna och intressenterna bjudits in till varje del av processen. Genom kreativa metoder, såsom analogier, personas och kundresor, har användarnas behov och drömmar omsatts till designmöjligheter. Under hela designprocessen har tester kontinuerligt genomförts med användare för att säkerställa att designvalen prioriterar användarnas behov. Den slutliga designen är konceptet Lulity – Luleå Community som består av tre komponenter 1) This is Lulity – rörelsen, 2) I amLulity – ambassadörskapet och 3) Relocate Luleå. Genom dessa komponenter kan social hållbarhet nås både för användarna, intressenterna och samhället i stort. Genom This is Lulity kan alla intressenter gemensamt underlätta flyttprocessen innan en person har flyttat, under det första halvåret efter flytten och efter det första halvåret. Presentationen av utmaningen och designen i denna text bidrar till medvetenhet och ett förändrat tankesätt hos alla inblandade.

Background: Industrial actors see an increased relevance in adopting and promoting services within their business model in order to differentiate themselves on the market and drive growth. Service design is suggested to aid companies in this endeavor by supporting value co-creation between service provider and customer, however, new interdisciplinary methods are warranted in order to better represent and understand value co-creation in complex organizational systems.  Method: The case study adopted a mixed methods approach which incorporated tools from service design, interaction design and socio-technical systems theory (STS), used together with stakeholders at a business-to-business company. Qualitative and quantitative data was gathered and analyzed in order to assess the usability and managerial implications of implementing a STS framework in a co-creative service design process.  Results: The design process produced five themes representing prerequisites for value co-creation at the company. One of these themes was further assessed in the STS framework, resulting in a design proposition that depicted systemic interrelations between social and technological aspects.  Implications/Conclusion: The STS framework used in the current study enabled investigation of the systemic interrelations of value co-creation. It is proposed that the framework could be used as an explorative measure for developing and understanding service systems. It is not recommended as a prototyping tool for collaboration with stakeholders, as the data suggest that the framework might have a learning curve which is not convergent with the comprehensibility of service design tools. More research is warranted in order to generalize these findings.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of experience staging techniques (personalization through co-creation and multisensory stimuli) on engagement level. This study also explores the possible contribution of experience staging techniques as practical tools that recreation professionals can use to better engage participants in recreation activities and events. A 2-way univariate ANOVA revealed no significant relationship between the use of co-creative and multisensory stimulating techniques and engagement levels in participants (F (3,200) = .263, p = .826, partial η2 = .004). Practical applications for recreation professionals and further research opportunities are discussed.

Cities cover 3% of the world’s surface but they emit 72% of all globally produced greenhouse gas emissions. Cities are therefore an essential part when trying to overcome climate change. To address this crisis Climate-City Contracts [Klimatkontrakt] was adopted in Sweden 2020 by nine Swedish cities, four governmental agencies and Viable Cities. The goal is to form climate neutral cities. To achieve this the cities will start co-creation processes together with its citizens. The processes will aim to find new solutions to combat climate change. This bachelor thesis provides a unique perspective of how that can be achieved in Umeå, which is one of the cities that signed the contract. The research aim is to examine public officials, in Umeå municipality, views of co-creation within the framework of Klimatkontrakt Umeå 2030. Thus creating a greater understanding of how public officials within Umeå perceive the possibilities for citizens to become a co-creating actor. To achieve the research aim interviews were conducted with four public officials in Umeå municipality. The interviews showed that the public officials can see many positive effects as a result of future co-creation processes. Different target groups will also become the focal point when Umeå will co-create with its citizens. The process can also take many forms, such as different kinds of dialogues, which may lead to a reorganization which allows Umeå to better co-create with its citizens.