Venkat Ramaswamy – how value co-creation with stakeholders is transformative for producers, consumers and society

Purpose – This second part of Strategy & Leadership 's interview with Prof. Venkat Ramaswamy, one of the early proponents of co-creating value with stakeholders, asks him about the progress of the “co-creation transformation” of markets on its tenth anniversary and its wider implications for firm strategists and public policy makers. The interview concludes with a remembrance of the late C.K. Prahalad, a co-developer of the theory, and reviews his many contributions to the advancement of strategic management. Design/methodology/approach – This interview considers how the co-creation view starts with interactions as the locus of value and platforms of engagements with individuals as the locus of value creation. Findings – The co-creation paradigm is a dynamic perspective that sees the interaction of customers, employees and other stakeholders as forums for learning and ever-expanding capability building. Practical implications – Strategy as “stretch and leverage” in the world of co-creation becomes about joint aspirations>joint resources. Originality/value – Corporate managers need to understand that leading companies that have successfully adopted the co-creation model follow a simple principle – they focus their entire organization on the engagements with individuals.