Industrial filtration : value co-creation in industrial markets

Abstract

This thesis investigates value co-creation and related elements in relationship, marketing and value creation domains from a new perspective by applying the theory to the industrial filtration market environment. The prime objective is to identify the key contributing to value co-creation concepts and their relationships between each other, as well as analyse causation-effect side.

Value co-creation is a process of creating value by utilizing shared resources from both party – solution providers and customers, also known as beneficiaries. This approach differs from arguably simple provision of goods, as it based on the service-dominant logic and, as seen in some research papers, even on the customer-dominant logic. This study however focuses on the first one justified by the complexity of B2B environments and challenges to consider each individual stakeholder as an instance.

This work employs qualitative research method and is a case study of one of the filter equipment providers. The scope is limited to the after-market services within B2B context. The thesis consists of literature review to identify and familiarize oneself with value co-creation research streams, and of three semi-structured interviews with existing customers as a mechanism to apply the theory to real life examples, thus confirming or corroborating previous findings. The results of the work present the opportunities and areas of improvement for the studied case company. From the theoretical perspective, certain research gaps are identified. Furthermore, the study provides implications of value co-creation and supporting it concepts within the industrial filtration after-market domain.