Value Co-Creation in Industrial Buyer-Seller Partnerships ... - Doria

dependence. If managers were not able to see that it was precisely the dependence factor -which they are most afraid of - that might be the key to value co-creation potential, therewould be no way to realize that potential in the first place. Thus, my mission became to findarguments to demonstrate that both dependence and interdependence are inherent parts ofthe underlying logic of buyer-seller partnerships.My intention became to explore value co-creation – how both companies could achievesomething by working together in a partnership. I started reading about dependence andinterdependence and realized that dependence actually deals with power and limitedalternatives, which was not my focus, while interdependence deals with a situation wherethe activities of two parties are causally related to each other. This was the variable I waslooking for and therefore I chose to use the concept of interdependence as the dynamicvariable in my function on value co-creation potential. By including interdependence Idemonstrate that interdependence is a prerequisite for value co-creation potential. If there ismore interdependence, there is more potential, and vice versa.Interdependence provides a chance for value co-creation if it is managed and exploitedin a fruitful manner. Companies seek to manage interdependence with different governancemechanisms, such as different types of formal and informal agreements. The case of thefocal partnership is an example of a situation where interdependence is managed through acooperation agreement. Instead of avoiding being interdependent, the parties strive to usethe potential inherent in interdependence in order to co-create value. Being able to exploitthe potential that lies in a relationship with a partner requires that the parties get closelyinvolved. A prerequisite for involvement is intense interpersonal interaction andcoordination of activities as well as mutual adaptations. These all entail costs for theinvolved companies, which is why I would like to stress that a high-involvement approachis not always the most feasible one, and should not be regarded as the best relationshipstrategy per se. The assessment of the benefits and sacrifices of involvement should bemade separately for each specific case.The decision to pursue a partnership believing that there are things to be achieved bycooperating and being involved does not tell anything about what actually is achievedtogether. This is what I now turn to discuss, i.e. how the potential for value co-creation isrealized through processes of value co-creation.155