A macro-perspective on co-creation processes on the Internet

Companies increasingly use open innovation and co-creation processes on the Internet. Despite this rising trend in management, the different forms of open innovation on the Internet have only scarcely been investigated from a macroperspective that systematically categorizes customer-supplier interactions based on a conceptual framework. Using a cross-case study design, we characterize and differentiate six types of customer-supplier processes on the Internet regarding underlying value propositions, value network configurations, and modes of interaction. These co-creation processes can be categorized according to their value propositions that follow different stages of the consumption circle. Each value proposition, as a cohesive element, determines a different value network configuration. We examine how network leaders create different modes of interactions in these value networks that we analyze regarding power, relationship, and coordination mechanisms. Across cases, open innovation on the Internet changes the architecture of the value chain from a single-directed stream to a loop of knowledge exchange that includes almost every vertical stage. Companies therefore cannot assign customer input to a certain functionality but rather must decipher it through interdisciplinary approaches that involve the cooperation of multiple areas. The macro-perspective framework can help companies to identify in which areas they can use open innovation and how to establish co-creation processes in the newly evolving value networks.