Dynamic capabilities and their impact on a firm’s performance are both topics that are gaining increasing attention in business literature and in practice. The concept of dynamic capabilities refers to organizational features or practices that a firm has developed to cope with a changing and uncertain market environment in a better way than its competitors and consequently sustain its competitive advantage. This book contributes to theory and practice in several domains. Drawing on the literature about customer value, service-dominant logic and dynamic capabilities, it investigates how the absorptive capacity approach can be used to (co-)create customer value in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in a service-dominant environment. The book provides guidance to practitioners by building up a framework that reflects how absorptive capacity can be used to co-create value in a B2B relationship. The case of the fictional company TurboIT, an SAP service and solution provider, illustrates the practical application of this concept.
Table of Contents
1. Competitive advantage through dynamic capabilities
2. The concepts of customer value and service-dominant logic
2.1 Literature review: customer value
2.1.1 A short history of value
2.1.2 The concept of value
2.2 The concept of service-dominant logic
2.2.1 Overview of service-dominant logic
2.2.2 Value in use, exchange value and value co-creation
2.2.3 Frameworks for co-creation of value
2.2.4 Value co-creation in a B2B context
3. Strategic thinking and dynamic capabilities
3.1 The evolution of strategic thinking
3.2 The resource-based view
3.3 The concept of dynamic capabilities
3.4 Dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage
3.5 The concept of absorptive capacity
4. Strategy in action: increasing absorptive capacity to support co-creation of value at TurboIT
Objectives & Themes
This work investigates how the concept of absorptive capacity can be leveraged as a dynamic capability to facilitate customer value co-creation, ultimately enabling sustainable competitive advantage within service-dominant B2B environments. Through the analysis of the fictional IT service provider TurboIT, the study aims to establish a framework for aligning internal organizational routines with external knowledge acquisition to optimize service delivery and value outcomes.
- Theoretical foundation of service-dominant logic and customer value co-creation.
- Strategic evolution from resource-based views to dynamic capabilities.
- In-depth analysis of absorptive capacity as a driver for organizational learning.
- Practical implementation of routines for knowledge management in B2B service relationships.
Excerpt from the Book
The concept of service-dominant logic
In an award-winning paper, marketing researchers Stephen L. Vargo and Robert F. Lusch present a new marketing perspective they term "the service-dominant logic of marketing" (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). In this novel view, the authors present marketing in a manner whereby goods and services are no longer regarded in the same conventional sense. They define service as "the application of specialized competences (knowledge and skills) through deeds, processes, and performances for the benefit of another entity or the entity itself" (2004: 2). Along with this new definition, the authors argue that every enterprise is in the business of providing services and that those that produce goods only do so as a means of transmitting their services to the customer. In terms of service-dominant logic, all products, be they goods or services, actually provide a service (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). Hence, what is a B2B good and a B2B service is a matter of the degree of service provision through services and goods. Service-dominant logic effectively reverses the prominence of the roles of service and goods.
Summary of Chapters
1. Competitive advantage through dynamic capabilities: Introduces the strategic importance of dynamic capabilities in sustaining long-term competitive advantage within global, high-velocity markets.
2. The concepts of customer value and service-dominant logic: Explores the shift from goods-dominant to service-dominant logic, emphasizing the customer's role as a co-creator of value.
3. Strategic thinking and dynamic capabilities: Examines the evolution of strategic frameworks, focusing on how organizations reconfigure resources through dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacity.
4. Strategy in action: increasing absorptive capacity to support co-creation of value at TurboIT: Applies theoretical constructs to the practical context of an SAP service provider, detailing specific routines for improving value co-creation.
Keywords
Service-dominant logic, Customer value, Co-creation, Dynamic capabilities, Absorptive capacity, Competitive advantage, B2B marketing, Strategic management, Organizational routines, Knowledge management, IT service provider, TurboIT, Resource-based view, Innovation, Value-in-use
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research explores how companies can achieve sustainable competitive advantage in a service-dominant environment by integrating the concept of absorptive capacity into their value co-creation processes.
What are the primary theoretical themes covered?
Key themes include service-dominant logic, the evolution of strategic thinking, the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, and the process-oriented model of absorptive capacity.
What is the main objective of the proposed framework?
The objective is to provide practitioners with actionable routines to better capture, assimilate, transform, and exploit external knowledge to co-create superior value with customers.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The work utilizes a combination of literature review, theoretical synthesis of dynamic capability models, and a practical application case study of a fictional IT company, TurboIT.
What does the main body of the work address?
The main body bridges theory and practice by analyzing how firms can transition from static resource management to a dynamic capability approach to remain competitive in changing markets.
How would you describe the essential keywords of this study?
The study is characterized by concepts related to knowledge-based competitiveness, specifically focusing on service-dominant logic, value co-creation, and the management of organizational capabilities.
How does TurboIT benefit from the proposed approach?
TurboIT benefits by implementing systematic routines (such as the customer jour fixe and new-ideas forums) that allow the firm to turn tacit knowledge into organizational resources, improving its B2B solution development.
Why is absorptive capacity crucial for IT service providers?
In the knowledge-intensive IT sector, the ability to rapidly scan, assimilate, and apply external technological and customer-driven information is essential for maintaining a competitive edge and responding to market turbulence.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Thilo Kiefer (Autor:in), 2010, Creating customer value in a service-dominant environment, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/213808
