Co-creating value in post-communists contexts : capability perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test what kind of value co-creation-related organizational capabilities may be applied in the specific context of the post-communist business-to-customer service industry in Poland and how these capabilities translate into service innovation success. Design/methodology/approach: The research model with control variables was hypothesized in regard to the customer co-creation and specific institutional setting in post-communist Poland. The model was tested using survey data from Polish companies in the service sector. The variable indicators for customer co-creation capability were developed through a series of in-depth interviews with managers. Findings: First, a service company’s organizational processes that leverage customer communication and enable this communication to be transformed as input into service innovations are distinct components that build complex customer co-creation dynamic capability. Second, customer co-creation capability by service firms positively and strongly influences firms’ innovation success, whereas this link is stronger in the cases of larger service companies. Originality/value: This paper introduces the concept of “customer co-creation capability” and evaluates its implications in the specific context of Poland, a Central European market that transformed from a closed communist economy to an open, market-driven economy. A rich but dramatically changing history and culture present a unique opportunity to observe the changes in customer behavior, evaluated from the organizational point of view. For example, it presents how these unique customer features may be used by services companies to leverage their innovations.