The Role of ICT in the Value Co-Creation Process

Value co-creation and the tools facilitating value co-creation activities have gained increasing interest from both information systems (IS) scholars and business practitioners. Based on extensive literature review and empirical research, this study investigates the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in value co-creation process. This study aims to answer the main research question – "how does ICT affect the value co-creation process", by addressing three topical issues: (1) type of information and communication technologies and their impact within co-creation activities; (2) co-creation approach and tools used for implementation of these activities within organizations; (3) ICTs usage for supporting outcomes of co-creation activities. These issues are examined in four separate essays included in this dissertation. First, the study draws a broad picture of co-creation and its tools, highlighting its benefits for the stakeholders. Second, exploring product development processes and various viewpoints of social media experts, this study describes the practices used in companies to adjust its organizational structure for implementing co-creation activities through social media. Finally, this research discusses the design of co-creation tools for their users to support the outcomes of value co-creation by collecting and analysing previous findings with meta-analytical structural equation modelling and case study analysis.This study makes several contributions to theory and practice. Overall, it adds to the understanding of how IS is used, designed and implemented in the value co-creation process to achieve various benefits. Also, based on the analysis, this study showcases that ICT used in co-creation works strengthens the processes, support individuals' creativity and affect products adoption.