The discipline of marketing is evolving from a product centric paradigm where all value is invested in the product by the supplier and it is exchanged for a market determined price by means of an arm’s length transaction, to a service centric paradigm where value is co-created by customer and supplier through complex relationships in which the rewards are determined through negotiation. This study recognizes that in practice a supplier will and ought to continue to have some customer relationships that are transactional and others that involve higher levels of value co-creation. A five point continuum of relationships from transactional to strategic alliance is defined. Dyadic data in which customer and supplier are asked to evaluate the same relationship from their respective points of view are analyzed resulting in a portfolio of a supplier’s relationships that include each of the five levels. Three structured equation models are validated: first, the customer’s assessment of the level of relationship as a function of new, behaviorally anchored measures; second, the supplier’s assessment as a function of new, behaviorally anchored measures of investment; third, the differences between customer and supplier assessments as a function of differences in ratings of new, behaviorally anchored measures. Additionally, segmentation of the customer base is identified based on the level of assessment of the current and desired future level of relationship. Servicing processes are defined to enable the supplier to match the right offerings to each level of customer thereby optimizing their investment in their customer portfolio.

Att realisera en film är ett unikt och kreativt projekt där olika aktörer med olika yrkesroller samarbetar. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva hur en manusförfattare använder sitt kontaktnätverk inom den svenska filmbranschen för att realisera en film. Studien redogör för vilka upplevda värden, i form av förmåner, som aktörer samskapar med manusförfattaren och hur det föranleder andra aktörer att vilja delta i filmprojektet. Studien har genomförts genom intervjuer med etablerade aktörer inom filmbranschen. Erhållen data analyseras utifrån tjänsteekosystemets ansats, enligt vilken en aktörs resurs, i form av kompetens, måste göras tillgänglig, anpassas och integreras med andra aktörers resurser för att samskapa värden. Resultatet av studien visar att manusförfattaren har tillgång till andra aktörer via sitt kontaktnätverk samt anpassar sitt manus och sociala beteende efter olika aktörernas upplevda värden. Filmskaparna som studerats upplever värden i ett kreativt och kommersiellt manus, men även i andra filmskapares erfarenheter. / The making of a film is a unique and creative project where various individual actors with different professions co-operate. The aim of this study is to describe how a screenwriter uses his or her relations in the Swedish film industry in order to create a film. The study aims to describe which benefits, defined as perceived values, different actors co-create with the screenwriter which stimulate other individual actors’ desire to participate in the film project. The study has been conducted through interviews with established actors in the film industry. Acquired data is analysed with regards to the theory of service ecosystems, according to which an actor’s resource, defined as competence, has to be made available and adjusted to the resources of various other actors in order to co-create value. The result of this study shows that the screenwriter aquires availability to other actors through networks of actors and adjusts the script and social behaviour to the other actors’ perceived values. The studied filmmakers perceive values in a creative and commercial script as well as in the merits of other filmmakers.

Titel: DART- en modell för värdesamskapande - En studie i hur fastighetsmäklare och kunder samskapar värde Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Lizbet Brittsten och Sanna Pickelner Handledare: Jens Eklinder - Frick och Jonas Molin Datum: 2015 – Maj Syfte: Att kunder intresserar sig för ett värdeskapande tillsammans med företagen och vill delta allt mer i affärsprocesser, framför allt i tjänstesektorn, ligger i tiden. Då vi båda kommer arbeta i en tjänstebransch där det krävs samarbete med kunder, väcktes vårt intresse att fördjupa oss i ämnet. Syftet med den här studien är att utifrån ett företags- och kundperspektiv öka förståelsen för hur delarna dialog, access, riskbedömning och transparens påverkar värdesamskapandet i en säljprocess mellan tjänsteföretag och kunder. Metod: I studien har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod. Underlaget till studien samlades in genom semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med både fastighetsmäklare och kunder (säljare). Från intervjuerna har vi tagit ut nyckeltermer och presenterat dem i empirikapitlet. Utifrån ett deduktiv angreppssätt har det empiriska underlaget analyserats mot teorin och respondenternas svar har även jämförts sinsemellan.   Resultat & slutsats: Av de faktorer vi undersökte visade sig dialog och transparens ha ett starkare samband och vara mer framträdande vid värdesamskapande än access. Dessutom låg riskbedömning snarare till grund för de tre andra faktorerna vilket vi anser borde revideras och tydliggöras i modellen. Ett annat resultat från vår studie är att ett värdesamskapande snabbt kan övergå till ett värdeförstörande om det inte hanteras på rätt sätt igenom hela affärsprocessen.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det vore intressant att prova våra två omarbetade DART-modeller i en studie med fler respondenter då vårt urval varit begränsat i storlek. Vi finner det också intressant att se om den befintliga DART-modellen är applicerbar i en studie där  utgångspunkten är en annan tjänstebransch där risktagandet inte är av samma betydelse. Vi föreslår även att utföra studier på området med ett induktivt angreppssätt, då vår studie varit begränsad till en befintlig teoretisk modell.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Ett teoretiskt bidrag från vår studie är att DART-modellen borde omformas. Den visade sig inte applicerbar fullt ut i vår studie. Vi har därför vidareutvecklat två modeller baserat på ursprungsmodellen. Dialog och transparens visade sig vara starkt sammankopplade och viktiga verktyg för mäklarna för att få kundernas förtroende. Det ser vi som ett praktiskt bidrag då vi anser att kombinationen av dialog och transparens är central och kan vara kopplad till förtroendeskapande även i andra tjänstebranscher. Kunders helhetsupplevelse, såväl monetärt som relationsmässigt, har i vår studie visat sig vara avgörande för det upplevda värdet.

Considering social media’s widespread marketing possibilities this study aims at investigating consumer engagement across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and how luxury fashion brands can produce such activities on their corporate social media pages. Through applying a mixed method combining both social media data collection together with conducting a content analysis, both quantitative and qualitative measurements were attained. This to provide a deeper understanding when analyzing actual consumer engagement efforts and what role brands’ content strategies play in encouraging these activities. The results confirmed some expectations of the heterogeneous nature of social media as the level of consumer engagement showed to vary notably between both platforms and brands. More so, the results in the current study were not able to confirm any great effects of firm engagement having a direct effect on consumer engagement, instead response and interaction seems to be strictly related to content and product factors. In turn, these factors in relation to aspects such as the psychological state of mind, social, emotional and behavioral aspects showed to be encouraging added consumer engagement.

With the growth of self-service technologies in retail stores and services, service failure of the technology is seemingly inevitable. This has lead to the question of how these failures influence customers, specifically their satisfaction and loyalty. Customer satisfaction and loyalty drives businesses forward and gives them the competitive advantage. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to explore if joint recovery has outcomes in customer satsifaction and loyalty in retail self service technologies. Service recovery is an important factor when discussing self-service technology use in buisnesses and therefore this research aims to help further the knowledge and insights on this. The research questions therefore revolve around different aspects that affect customer satifaction and loyalty during service failure with SSTs (self-service technology). In order to fulfil the purpose and aim of this study, there has been a specific methodology chosen and explained that has been taken from the different theories chosen and prior peer-reviewed literature. The methodology revolves around the survey methodology and involves different research approaches and methods. The results of the study demonstrate that joint recovery has benefits in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, the study shows that organizations use of procedural justice will have an impact on customer satisfaction after service failure in retail self service technologies. Results also show that influencing factors for customers to participate in recovery are money and to improve the situation. New findings show that normal attribution behavior switches in retail self-service due to reccuring failure. These are the basis of the conclusions drawn from the research.

Plataformas de mídia social têm possibilitado que indivíduos produzam, compartilhem e distribuam seu conteúdo, facilmente, pela Internet – interagindo com outros indivíduos e firmas. Atualmente, qualquer pessoa pode ter seu próprio jornal (blog), rádio (podcast) ou canal de TV (YouTube) e construir uma audiência. Redes sociais, como Facebook e Twitter, permitem que as pessoas espalhem o boca-a-boca ainda mais. Neste novo ambiente social, consumidores tornaram-se ativos produtores – influenciando seus pares, criticando produtos/serviços, co-desenvolvendo suas próprias soluções, etc. Finalmente, as firmas se deram conta de que deviam aprender como fazer uso de mídia social para participar das conversas, acessar conhecimentos externos e tentar co-criar algum valor. Mas como o uso destas plataformas de mídia social pela firma para co-criação com consumidores pode influenciar seus processos de negócio? Para responder a essa questão, este estudo utilizou dois métodos de pesquisa qualitativos interpretativos – netnografia e grounded theory – para explorar dados públicos disponíveis em plataformas de mídia social. A pesquisa empírica investigou um ecossistema de mídia social no setor de transporte aéreo. Como resultados, este estudo apresenta: um conjunto de categorias inter-relacionadas que emergiram dos dados empíricos; descrições de campo; e hipóteses teóricas propostas a respeito deste processo de co-criação no setor de transporte aéreo e suas implicações. Resultados indicam que três tipos de co-criação em plataformas de mídia social (co-criação de experiências online, de marca em tempo real e de conhecimento sobre produtos/serviços) influenciam positivamente a integração de capacidades/conhecimentos dos consumidores aos processos de negócio da empresa (como relacionamento com clientes, suporte, relações públicas, propaganda e desenvolvimento de produtos/serviços), enquanto a falta destes tipos de co-criação pode influenciar negativamente a efetividade destes processos de negócio. / Social media platforms have enabled individuals to easily produce, share and distribute their own content over the Intenet – interacting with other individuals and firms. Currently, anyone may have his own newspaper (blog), radio (podcast) or TV channel (YouTube) and build an audience. Social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, allow people to spread the word of mouth even further. In this new social environment, consumers became active producers - influencing their peers, criticizing bad products/services, codeveloping their own solutions, etc. Eventually, firms found out that they must learn how to use social media to become part of the conversation, access external knowledge and try to cocreate some value. But how could firm’s usage of social media platforms to co-create with consumers influence its business processes? In order to answer to that question, this study used two qualitative interpretive research methods – netnography and grounded theory – to explore public data available on social media platforms. The empirical research investigated a social media ecosystem of the air travel industry. As results, this study presents: a set of interrelated categories that emerged from empirical data; field descriptions; and the theoretical hypothesis regarding the co-creation process in air travel industry and its implications. Results show that three types of co-creation using social media platforms (online experiences cocreation, brand real-time co-creation and products/services knowledge co-creation) positively influence customers’ capabilities/knowledge integration to firms’ business processes (such as customers relationship, support, public relations, advertising, products/services development) - while the lack of those types of co-creation may negatively influence those business processes effectivity.

As cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar tornaram-se formas alternativas de produção, comercialização e consumo de alimentos, redefiniram as relações e as interações com os espaços sociais e com o ambiente institucional, criando novas ligações entre os produtores e os consumidores. Também permitiram ao consumidor fazer novos juízos de valor com base no seu próprio conhecimento e experiência, fazendo com que, além das diferenças intrínsecas e funcionais do alimento, como sabor, nutrição e saúde, as características externas como a saúde pública, meio ambiente, ética e justiça social se tornassem critérios de avaliação, competição e características de qualidade. Em breve pesquisa bibliométrica, observou-se que os estudos sobre as cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar abrangeram uma variedade de temas, como por exemplo, desenvolvimento rural, geografia econômica, sustentabilidade e segurança alimentar, além de temas mais atuais, como agricultura urbana e comportamento do consumidor. Ou seja, observou-se uma mudança no foco analítico visto que os estudos passam a considerar as práticas de consumo alimentar como pontos centrais de análise. No entanto, considerando o aumento das preocupações com a natureza da colaboração e do conflito entre os atores envolvidos, esta tese buscou na abordagem da cocriação de valor uma forma de estudar e analisar essas relações nos três tipos de cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar. Abordando uma realidade na qual o consumidor deixou de ser um ator passivo e passou a ter papel de fundamental importância no mercado, a cocriação de valor tem ganhado um espaço cada vez maior na literatura empresarial, porém, como esta tese irá demonstrar, ainda não foi aplicada em cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar, revelando o caráter inédito deste estudo e uma oportunidade de pesquisa valiosa. Baseando-se nos estudos de Prahalad e Ramaswamy e Vargo e Lusch, assume-se que a cocriação de valor ocorre no mercado e no momento de uso de um produto ou serviço, pressupondo a existência de um novo contexto, no qual o valor está na experiência e não mais no produto em si, ou seja, ela ocorre quando o consumidor e a empresa estão intimamente envolvidos em, conjuntamente, criar o valor, que é único para o consumidor individual e para a sustentabilidade da empresa. Sendo assim, partindo dessas premissas e baseando-se nos elementos descritos pelos autores como fundamentais para se caracterizar uma relação cogeradora de valor − diálogo, acesso, risco e transparência (DART) − esta tese procura responder à seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: Existe cocriação de valor nos diferentes tipos de cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar? Para tanto, realizou-se 04 estudos de caso em diferentes regiões do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, abrangendo a tipificação de cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar descrita por Renting et al. (2003). Revisão integrativa de literatura, entrevistas on-line e pessoais, assim como observação direta foram as ferramentas escolhidas para o levantamento dos dados secundários. Os resultados revelaram que não há evidências de cocriação de valor em todas as cadeias curtas de abastecimento alimentar estudadas, ressaltando que as mesmas possuem especificidades importantes que precisam ser consideradas quando se analisam as relações entre os atores envolvidos. / Short food supply chains have become an alternative way of producing, selling, and consuming food, and redefined relations and interactions with social spaces and with the institutional environment, creating new connections between producers and consumers. They have also allowed the consumer to have new value judgements based on their own knowledge and experience, allowing, besides the intrinsic and functional differences of the food, such as flavor, nutrients and health, external characteristics, such as public health, environment, ethics, and social justice to become criteria for evaluation, competition and characteristics of quality. Through a brief bibliometric research, it was observed that studies about short food supply chains have covered a broad range of topics such as rural development, economic geography, sustainability, and food safety, and more current topics such as urban agriculture and consumer behavior. That is, there was a change in the analytical focus, and studies began considering food consumption practices as central points for analysis. However, considering the increase in the worries about the nature of the collaboration, and the conflict between the parts involved, this thesis tried, through the co-creation of value approach, a way to study and analyze these relations in the three kinds of short food supply chain. Approaching a reality in which the consumer went from a passive role to playing a fundamental part in the market, co-creation of value has been gaining more space in the business literature, but, as this thesis will show, still has not been applied to short food supply chains, then revealing the unprecedented character of this study, and a valuable research opportunity. Based on Prahalad and Ramaswamy and Vargo and Lusch, it is assumed that co-creation of value occurs in the market and in the moment the product or service is being used, presupposing the existence of a new context in which the value is in the experience, and not anymore in the product itself, which means it occurs when the consumer and the company are intimately involved in, together, creating a value that is unique for the individual consumer and for the sustainability of the company. So, starting from these premises and based on the elements described by the authors as fundamental to characterize a relation that co-generates value – the dialogue, access, risk and transparency (DART) – this thesis tries to answer the following research question: is there co-creation of value in the different kinds of short food supply chains? For that, four case studies were made in different regions of the Rio Grande do Sul state, covering the classification of short food supply chains described by Renting et al. (2003). Integrative review of the literature, online and personal interviews, as well as direct observation, were the tools chosen for secondary data collection. The results showed that there is no evidence of value creation in all the short supply chains studied, emphasizing that they have important specificities that should be considered when analyzing the relationships among the actors involved.

Plataformas de mídia social têm possibilitado que indivíduos produzam, compartilhem e distribuam seu conteúdo, facilmente, pela Internet – interagindo com outros indivíduos e firmas. Atualmente, qualquer pessoa pode ter seu próprio jornal (blog), rádio (podcast) ou canal de TV (YouTube) e construir uma audiência. Redes sociais, como Facebook e Twitter, permitem que as pessoas espalhem o boca-a-boca ainda mais. Neste novo ambiente social, consumidores tornaram-se ativos produtores – influenciando seus pares, criticando produtos/serviços, co-desenvolvendo suas próprias soluções, etc. Finalmente, as firmas se deram conta de que deviam aprender como fazer uso de mídia social para participar das conversas, acessar conhecimentos externos e tentar co-criar algum valor. Mas como o uso destas plataformas de mídia social pela firma para co-criação com consumidores pode influenciar seus processos de negócio? Para responder a essa questão, este estudo utilizou dois métodos de pesquisa qualitativos interpretativos – netnografia e grounded theory – para explorar dados públicos disponíveis em plataformas de mídia social. A pesquisa empírica investigou um ecossistema de mídia social no setor de transporte aéreo. Como resultados, este estudo apresenta: um conjunto de categorias inter-relacionadas que emergiram dos dados empíricos; descrições de campo; e hipóteses teóricas propostas a respeito deste processo de co-criação no setor de transporte aéreo e suas implicações. Resultados indicam que três tipos de co-criação em plataformas de mídia social (co-criação de experiências online, de marca em tempo real e de conhecimento sobre produtos/serviços) influenciam positivamente a integração de capacidades/conhecimentos dos consumidores aos processos de negócio da empresa (como relacionamento com clientes, suporte, relações públicas, propaganda e desenvolvimento de produtos/serviços), enquanto a falta destes tipos de co-criação pode influenciar negativamente a efetividade destes processos de negócio. / Social media platforms have enabled individuals to easily produce, share and distribute their own content over the Intenet – interacting with other individuals and firms. Currently, anyone may have his own newspaper (blog), radio (podcast) or TV channel (YouTube) and build an audience. Social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, allow people to spread the word of mouth even further. In this new social environment, consumers became active producers - influencing their peers, criticizing bad products/services, codeveloping their own solutions, etc. Eventually, firms found out that they must learn how to use social media to become part of the conversation, access external knowledge and try to cocreate some value. But how could firm’s usage of social media platforms to co-create with consumers influence its business processes? In order to answer to that question, this study used two qualitative interpretive research methods – netnography and grounded theory – to explore public data available on social media platforms. The empirical research investigated a social media ecosystem of the air travel industry. As results, this study presents: a set of interrelated categories that emerged from empirical data; field descriptions; and the theoretical hypothesis regarding the co-creation process in air travel industry and its implications. Results show that three types of co-creation using social media platforms (online experiences cocreation, brand real-time co-creation and products/services knowledge co-creation) positively influence customers’ capabilities/knowledge integration to firms’ business processes (such as customers relationship, support, public relations, advertising, products/services development) - while the lack of those types of co-creation may negatively influence those business processes effectivity.

In order for firms to be able to compete on the market, it is of importance for them to create value for their customers. Value is not only the outcome from providing the customer with a product of high quality, since value co-creation can occur when firms interact with their customers and create strong relationships with them. Therefore, relationship quality is of interest for any firm that want to succeed with their sales proposals. However, although firms work with value creation for their customers, there is always a risk for the defection of customers. Firms need to gain knowledge about the reasons why customers decide to switch to another supplier. The aim of this study is to investigate why Swedish firms that operate in the industrial business-to-business (B2B) sector’s customers switch to another supplier, despite the supplying firms’ efforts in working with value creation. This is a qualitative study, where in-depth interviews have been conducted with employees at two different industrial, manufacturing companies. It was found that the aspects that have been stated as valuable for customers in business relationships; product quality, delivery, service, price, communication and distance, are also reasons why customers decide to leave a cooperation. Meaning that these aspects can create value for customers, however, when it is not managed properly there is a high risk that customers will switch suppliers since the value the firm created for the customer is not enough. In addition to this, factors that can be hard for firms to control, such as distance, time differences and language can have a great impact on customer value and retention.

This research paper explores the value co-creating activities from a micro-level healthcare perspective by investigating value co-creation in dental clinics. Previous research on the subject of co-creation of value has directed its focus to higher-level healthcare with advanced illnesses, chronic diseases and complicated processes with many interactions. This research paper expands the theoretical research and provides valuable practical insight for dental clinics by adding a perspective where there is a low level of interaction. Through interviews with dentists and a focus group discussion with patients it is concluded that the co-creating activities of: cooperating, colearning, collating information, integrating networks, providing options, and designing environments, are present on the micro-level healthcare. Furthermore, contrary to existing literature, it is concluded that the co-creation is commonly instigated by the dentist rather than the patient, and that the value co-creation can also be active on a psychological level, and not solely through physical interactions and activities.