Purpose.\ud The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of actors that allow them to relate to others actors in the system through shared intentionality (orientation) and the nature of the A4A relationship and the results that such interactions bring to the emergent system based on this shared purpose (finality).\ud \ud Design/methodology/approach.\ud The topic is approached by theoretical analysis and conceptual development of three integrative frameworks: the sociological perspective, service-dominant logic and a particular perspective of system thinking: the viable system approach (vSa).\ud \ud Findings.\ud The A4A relationships involve value co-creation based on actors integrating their resources and acting with intentionality to obtain value by providing benefits to other parties and by belonging to the emergent viable system; actor acts for other actors directly involved in the relationship generating positive effects for the whole system in which it is contextualized.\ud \ud Research limitations/implications.\ud Future empirical research might better support findings.\ud \ud Social implications.\ud Many social implications deriving from an augmented role of actors engaged within social relationships in co-creation exchanges. From the title of the paper A4A over on the manuscript describes numerous social inferences of actors in co-creation.\ud \ud Originality/value.\ud A4A is a relationship formed by actors that interact for the benefit of the whole system in which are involved. They find own benefit from the benefit created for the system in which they live and act. In A4A relationships the value of the single actor comes from the participation to the viability of the whole system

In the last few years, service science has opened a debate on the need to adopt new approaches to better understand emerging social and economic dynamics. Different research pathways are now considering the management of complex service systems (CSSs). In this paper, the authors focus attention on the phenomenon of "smart cities" as an example of CSSs with the aim of investigating which ways actor perceptions affect opportunities and willingness for value cocreation and collaborative action. Using a survey of a random sample of 374 providers and users of city service platform in the city of Brno, Czech Republic, actor perceptions were analyzed, and through structural equation modelling, the relationships between actor perceptions and willingness to build value cocreation and collaborative paths were tested.

Sustainability seems to be a hot topic today upon which a paradigmatic transformation is going on; this affects many fields and sectors by revealing the significant implications for actors’ participation, such as in healthcare. Today, healthcare calls for renewing and increasing its own main processes of hospitalization, as inspired by the current new light of sustainability; hospitalization at home (HaH) practices allow for new forms of hospitalizations, which are much more adherent to the real needs of patients and caregivers. Studies in service dominant logic (S-D logic) on service ecosystems help us in understanding which are the dynamics that are shaping actual conditions in healthcare. With the aim of contributing to the challenging debate about the role of “sustainability for healthcare”, this manuscript proposes a conceptual framework for investigating healthcare domains through the interpretative lens provided by the service ecosystems view. Previous managerial contributions are analyzed in an attempt to emphasize the contact points between studies about service ecosystem and sustainability so as to outline the possible roadmaps for sustainability in the healthcare domain. The three dimensions of HaH—efficiency of healthcare service, effectiveness in resource usage, and patients’ satisfaction—have been identified as possible levers on which promoting healthcare processes inspired by sustainability principles and their relations with the three pillars of sustainability science—the economy, society, and environment—have been analyzed. The reflections herein are finally discussed for proposing possible future directions for research interested in promoting a sustainability-based healthcare management.

Purpose.\ud The purpose of this paper is to show the relevance of the interest in sharing the common purpose and in searching for a common survival of emerging eco-system (ES) as an entity that “is not” but emerges by the viable actors interaction.\ud \ud Design/methodology/approach.\ud This conceptual paper contributes to the research by defining the ES building on the contributions of SD logic and viable systems approach (VSA), with a particular focus on the VSA perspective.\ud \ud Findings.\ud An ES emerges as a viable “system of systems” by an observer’s interpretation of the simultaneous interactions between different viable actors/systems that are sharing a common purpose (the survival of the ES), exchanging resources following a viable value co-creation model. Each actor/system could represent a level of quality of belonging to the ES looking for the opportunity to be resonant with the ES.\ud \ud Research limitations/implications.\ud The ES features and the role of each actor inside could be deepened through different theoretical perspectives and the same VSA to the ES could be reached with empirical explorations.\ud \ud Practical implications.\ud Understanding the nature of the ES, the practitioners are able to explain better their position in relation to partners and competitors. It is possible to be a part of several emerging ESs looking for the will to contribute to the ES’ survival and to the sharing of the purpose of the interactive systems/actors. In a medium and long run, the measure of the resonance is useful to understand the quality in interaction.\ud \ud Originality/value.\ud The work provides a definition of the ES and the actors inside focusing on the perspective of VSA, by integrating the concept of viable value co-creation and solidarity-based logic; in particular, the concept of Centro Commerciale Naturale is used to show the emergence of the ES in a relational context generated by the interaction between city, service and retailers in a city center

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon strategic marketing in emerging economies (EEs). It tries to answer the research question: what new business models are enabled by the Viable Systems Approach (VSA) and Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) perspectives? Design/methodology/approach – The paper is developed by integrating two well-established perspectives – VSA and SDL – and applying them to inclusive businesses. Findings – The integration of these perspectives allows the authors to recognize a convergence toward business models that seem to be consistent with the principles of inclusive capitalism. The authors claim that by shifting between a reductionist/static and a holistic/dynamic view, these perspectives can be integrated, thus revealing an interesting contribution to the understanding of inclusive business. Specifically, they contribute by highlighting how the economic and social dimensions are intertwined and by highlighting that the management-thinking perspective, which has dominated in recent decades, should shift toward a more inclusive vision. Research limitations/implications – The paper represents an attempt to address an inclusive capitalism perspective in the context of marketing. Nevertheless, the conceptual reasoning developed in the paper should be further supported by empirical research carried out in the context of EEs. Practical implications – The paper has relevant managerial implications that suggest a rethinking of the business model to market with EEs. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the research on inclusive capitalism by linking it to well-grounded conceptual approaches to business that recapture a harmonious relationship between the economy and society.

While companies are investing increasingly in sustainability measures, the effects of firms' sustainability actions on consumer perceptions should not be taken for granted and deserve to be investigated. By adopting the interpretative lens of consumer culture theory, this paper defines a set of cognitive dimensions which can describe consumer perceptions of sustainability actions and the behaviors of small-medium enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of identifying the relationships between firms' sustainability actions and the economic performance of SMEs. To this extent, the cognitive dimensions proposed by Green & Petre (1996) are re-elaborated to define a set of customer cognitive dimensions in the sustainability domain (resilience, wholeness, mapping, coding, and engagement). Thus, the relationships between SMEs' sustainability actions and behaviors, the defined cognitive influencers and SME performance is empirically tested. In particular, a survey of a sample of 1137 customers of 175 Italian SMEs is analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings show that the adoption of certain sustainability actions influences consumer perceptions, which in turn impacts the economic performance of SMEs.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the strategic management of a technology-enabled shift from a product-centric to a service-centric logic and to identify the sociotechnical dynamics underlying this transition. The study focuses on how manufacturers manage to create value in industrial markets through digital servitization. Design/methodology/approach An abductive research approach is used to investigate two manufacturing firms, and an interpretive framework is used as an analytical template. A cross-case analysis is conducted. Findings The case companies strategically managed sociotechnical processes of digitization to co-create value. Their service orientation delineates dissimilarity in terms of digital servitization. It reflects a viable ecosystem that moves toward datatization through adaptation in one case and a viable ecosystem that moves toward digitization through reconfiguration in the other case. Practical implications A theoretically grounded, empirically informed framework is proposed to detect transformational mechanisms to manage value co-creation in digitally servitized contexts, thus contributing to ecosystem viability. Originality/value This is the first study to adopt a system perspective such as the viable system approach combined with service-dominant logic to reconceptualize the overall sociotechnical processes and the underlying mechanisms leading to digitized value creation. In line with a systems view and a systematic process based on a transformative attitude toward digital servitization, the empirically informed framework identifies specific co-creation activities and recursive feedback loops.

This paper introduces a conceptual framework aiming to broaden the discussion on resilience for the design of public services. From a theoretical point of view, the paper explores service design with a Systems Thinking lens. A multi-contextual perspective aiming to analyze, decompose, and design smart cities services where resilience is an input at the service design level is described and the four diamondsof-context model for service design (4DocMod) is introduced. This service model accommodates various actors' contexts in public service design and consists of four design artefacts, the diamonds (See, Recognize, Organize, Do). From a practical point of view, guidelines for the application of the 4DocMod service model extension for resilience are described along with two case studies addressing the recent COVID-19 pandemic that illustrates a clear situation of resilience with insights in multiple contexts. According to the findings of this paper, it is obvious that resilience is not "just" a request. Instead, it plays a higher role within the service system. It is not "just" another Context, either. Instead, it goes through many contexts with different circumstances. In this manner, it is possible to address the qualities through which actors can become resilient, at the service design stage, to ensure continuity of the public services in times of emergency. As our approach using the 4DocMod is proposing, resilience may be is achieved when specific properties are provisioned at information service design level.