Towards a stakeholder-based corporate innovation strategy for value co-creation

Abstract

This study has sought to gain insight into the issue of value co-creation with stakeholders in the context of investment in innovation within multinationals. In this qualitative study, we use an inductive approach to identify and analyse stakeholders relationships with commercially oriented corporate R&D organisations and their value perceptions with respect to the corporate innovation strategy for value co-creation. The work draws from stakeholder theory, value assessment, strategy and innovation management literature. Two case studies were developed in the telecommunications service industry in Europe. First, our findings show that a decision to address specific value perceptions of each stakeholder group based on their specific relationships with corporate R&D increased their engagement in the process of co-creating value. Second, differentiated mechanisms for value co-creation appeared to be effective, balancing diverse interests of stakeholder groups in the innovation process. Finally, the findings provide evidence of the need for firms to adopt a stakeholder-based corporate innovation strategy for value co-creation.