Investigating social factors and their impact on value co-creation in supply chain ecosystems

Abstract

Purpose As coopetition often characterizes relationships in ecosystems, social factors are particularly important to ensure resilient and reliable relationships, therefore efficient collaboration, and a corresponding outcome. Social factors have so far only been considered as peripheral factors in the ecosystem literature. Thus, this study aims to analyse the current state of literature to provide initial insights into the impact of social factors on value co-creation in supply chain ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach A structured literature review was conducted. Eleven articles were identified which explicitly examined social factors in the context of supply chain ecosystems. Findings The findings showed that in current research contributions, especially three social factors are considered crucial for value co-creation within supply chain ecosystems: trust, commitment and mindset. Moreover, researchers focus so far only on positive-affected social factors. Research limitations/implications The findings enable ecosystem orchestrators as well as actors to strengthen social factors in supply chain ecosystems. The cultivation and proactive consideration of social factors is crucial for efficient and effective collaboration and has a corollary effect on supply chain ecosystems value co-creation. Originality/value This paper extends the limited literature on social factors within supply chain ecosystems, notably from a strategic management perspective. The findings help scholars to understand why social factors do play a crucial role regarding the value co-creation in supply chain ecosystem and how specific social factors influence the overall business outcome. By raising awareness of the importance of social factors for all ecosystem actors, complementary cooperation in the ecosystem improves, which in turn has a positive impact on value co-creation.

Inter-functional value co-creation as an antecedent of supply chain performance: a study based on the coordination theory

“…Previous literature highlights the relevance of VCC (Huang et al , 2020; García-Magro et al , 2022; Kehinde et al , 2022; Goetz et al , 2022) and its respective influences on supply chain management (Tarifa Fernández, 2022; Agyei-Owusu et al , 2022; Gupta et al , 2022). The model proposed by this paper considers the underpinnings of the coordination theory (Malone and Crowston, 1994) to deepen the knowledge on this area.…”

“…VCC is a phenomenon discussed in the current literature (Galdolage, 2022; García-Magro et al , 2022; Gremyr et al , 2022). This debate is addressed in several contexts, in terms of drivers for co-creation, such as information technologies (Barile et al , 2021; Sakaya, 2022; García-Magro et al , 2022); social issues (Galdolage, 2022; Goetz, 2022); co-creation ecosystems (Huang et al , 2020; García-Magro et al , 2022; Kehinde et al , 2022; Goetz et al , 2022); buyer and supplier relationships (Tarifa Fernández, 2022; Agyei-Owusu et al , 2022; Gupta et al , 2022); and quality management (Gremyr et al , 2022).…”

Supply Chain Management: A Structured Narrative Review of Current Challenges and Recommendations for Action

“…Firms in business ecosystems gain critical knowledge through coopetition, which positively impacts absorptive capacity and, in turn, is related to improved SC agility and firm performance [167]. Three social factors-trust, commitment, and mindset-are crucial for value co-creation within SC ecosystems [168]. When analyzing, developing, and cooperating in ecosystems, key issues are connections to the end customers [169] and intermediaries appearing and disappearing [170,171].…”

Understanding the Efforts of Cross-Border Search and Knowledge Co-Creation on Manufacturing Enterprises’ Service Innovation Performance

“…Knowledge co-creation subjects include participants in the product manufacturing process and stakeholders such as suppliers and users of product raw materials [38]. Enterprises built a close connection with these external innovation subjects, such as forming a knowledge alliance [11] by which the heterogeneous knowledge transferred and interacted with each other [39].…”