Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss two subfields of marketing, namely digital transformation and co-creation, that share common characteristics and possess key differences. The initial focus is on the digital transformation subfield, in terms of the definition, phases, strategies, business models and resource integration, and finally, the new technologies and platforms. Subsequently, the chapter provides in-depth information on the value co-creation subfield focusing on value definition, innovation and co-creation, and the service-dominant logic. Value co-creation and digital transformation have emerged because academics in both subfields have been discussing new questions raised by the advent of new technologies on how value from delivering new products and services can be captured. This chapter argues that these two subfields are converging to enable resource integration through similar sources such as platforms created through digital ecosystems. Working together, the two fields can improve their potential to find better solutions to improve the transformation process.
TopDigital economy has been described as an era in which intelligent machines and people were connected through technology and it ‘emerges through countless, diverse, dispersed and uneven processes of digital transformation, which consist in changing how the consumers, employees, markets, enterprises, and other organization’s function’ (Śledziewska & Włoch, 2021, p.3). The digital economy builds upon the internet economy, and it takes connectedness into an upper level via digital products that have four main layers as device (hardware), communication (network), service (software) and content (data and information) by extraordinary pace of innovation.
Although digital transformation is a hot topic and there is a plethora of scientific literature on the subject, the topic remains scattered. As Parviainen et al. (2017) argued, the context is limited to specific sectors such as healthcare, transportation, education, retail, manufacturing, smart cities or public services and a significant number of articles focus on digitalization-induced changes that affect business models. Digitalization is not only a hot topic among academia, but also a contemporary issue that needs to be addressed by practitioners, which is also evident in many conferences and white papers. It has been studied through frameworks (Hagberg et al., 2016) and as a journey with learning and challenges (Quinton & Simkin, 2016), but a fundamental shift in focus is needed to study the impact of digital transformation on society in a wider context. Digital transformation changes the ways of working, roles, and the business models and it is analyzed through these domains. Even though it fundamentally changes societal structures, this is the end process and there is little scientific research on the spectrum of changes in the areas of human society (Parviainen et al. 2017).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digital Transformation: The deliberate and ongoing digital evolution of a company business model, idea, process, or methodology, both strategically and tactically.
Co-Creation: Joint creation of value by the company and the customer, an active, creative, and social process, based on collaboration between producers and users that is initiated by the firm to generate value for customers.
Business model: The rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value.
Digitization: Conversion of analog to digital information (from atoms to bits, replacing picture with JPEG images, paper with electronic files, music with MP3).
Servitization: Transformation of manufacturing firms that offer bundles of services together with their products, the increasing use of technologies to connect people, systems and services offers several opportunities for manufacturers.
Digitalization: Transformation of digital information into process improvements that enhance customer experiences that go beyond traditional firm-customer interactions.