Value Co-Creation in Firm Sponsored Online Communities of Interest: Enablers, Constraints, and Shaper
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2019
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Recent studies in information systems and organization science have shown that online communities are devoid of a traditional structure mechanism. The lack of authority of the sponsoring firm in online communities raises questions about how to orchestrate all members of an online community. The firm is assumed to have the responsibility to coordinate value co-creation which is then called orchestration. Considering the importance of value co-creation in online communities in the information systems field, and considering that our understanding of the orchestration of value co-creation in online communities is underdeveloped, this study aims to examine firm sponsored online communities to understand what shapes, enables, and constrains value co-creation. Among different types of online communities, this study focuses on communities of interest.
From a theoretical point of view, this thesis uses service dominant logic (SDL), particularly the service ecosystem and sociomateriality as well as a critical realist approach, to investigate two case studies in Indonesia. First, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of the existing literature. Next, this study uses a multiple case study approach to collect and examine empirical evidence from two similar online communities.
The key findings are: i) the study has revealed four types of firm sponsored online communities which differ in the level of the members’ self-organization and the output of the community for the sponsoring firm: Open Source Communities, Commercial Communities, Communities of Interest, and Crowdsourcing; ii) a set of enablers and constraints in online communities is uncovered and outlined; iii) value co-creation is shaped through the firm roles as a facilitator and co-creator and through the fluidity of the online community which are represented by three responses (Consensus Making, Consensus Settlement, and Changing Boundaries).
The research makes several significant contributions to theoretical knowledge, methodology and practice. First, it proposes a new way to view types of firm sponsored online communities and offers a novel model that elaborates the dynamic nature of the co-creation ecosystem in firm sponsored online communities. Second, it contributes to SDL theory by bridging the abstract level explanation of SDL into empirical and observable levels. Third, it develops a further understanding of sociomateriality in fluid organizations. Fourth, it demonstrates how to conduct multiple critical realist case studies. Last, this study offers important practical implications for designing co-creation strategies and for improving co-creation practices, by delineating the resources that can influence value co-creation in online communities.
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