A2A Relations in Service Context

Purpose - Purpose of this contribution is to develop the notion of A2A relationships in service contexts (Gummesson, 2008; Gummesson and Polese, 2009; Vargo and Lusch, 2011) valorizing systems theories contributions. Recent service research advances highlight how much value co-creation processes are crucial in every service context. Both service science (SS) and Service Dominant (S-D) logic analyze the important role of numerous actors involved in service exchanges for the resources they release and the contribute they can perform. Systems theories, and specifically the Viable System Approach (vSa) (Golinelli, 2000; Barile, 2008) enables an holistic perspective capable of interpreting the mechanism characterizing value co-creation. Methodology/approach - A Conceptual analysis based on suggestions from vSa, SS and S-D logic whose scientific proposal will be declined and critically analyzed to verify the coherence of their proposition in terms of A2A relationships in value co-creation. Findings - The relational perspective within Service Ecosystems shows a networked open vision respecting economic and social actors, in which every organization can be considered as an Actor, operating actively for value co-creation development, overcoming the difference between user, producer, enabler. Business to business (B2B) literature has been challenged through the novel notion of A2A interactions in service context for the indistinct role of actors involved in value co-creation. Originality/value -The paper proposal is an integrative interpretation of several emerging paradigms (vSa, SS and S-D logic) looking for a deepening of A2A relations in service contexts