Exploring the phenomenon of innovating value co-creation mechanisms : an empirical study in the electrical power sector

Recently, the creation of value - one of the most fundamental aspects of economic actors - has begun to undergo a fundamental shift toward a heavily interdependent endeavor. The profound ramifications of digitalization and societal trends have formed a plethora of interdependent value creation formats such as networks, platforms, and (eco)systems. Subsequently, firms and other economic actors are confronted with new logics of creating value. This is no less true for the electrical power sector where "value cocreation prosumer" has been a familiar term already since the 1980s. As an emerging field of research, many questions remain to be explored and theoretical foundations to be determined, specifically regarding how firms can manage value cocreation. Against this backdrop, this dissertation empirically addresses the questions of how to purposefully use the perspective of interrelated value creation and capture in segmenting industries, how to manage resources across firm boundaries for value cocreation, and how to adapt processes of value cocreation for varying contexts. Overall, this thesis provides new, in-depth insights into an increasingly relevant field of innovation and strategic management research. It is among the first to empirically study the mechanisms of value cocreation while building on the most recent conceptional developments in that field. It provides tools and guidance for management practice in the electrical power sector and beyond as well as advances the field of value cocreation research. Furthermore, it gives rich insights into future directions in an evolving research field.