Revisiting Stakeholder Value Creation: A Systemic Reframing

Over the last decades, there has been growing awareness of the collective impact of human society on the planetary boundaries (Rockström et al., 2009). Consumers become more conscious about and competent in buying environmentally-friendly products (Thogersen & Olander, 2002; Waddock et al., 2002). Subsequently, businesses experience an increasing pressure to become more sustainable (Elkington, 1997; Nidumolu et al., 2009; Waddock et al., 2002). It is therefore not sufficient to study business models from an economic perspective alone, but also from a social and environmental perspective (Boons & Lüdeke-Freund, 2013; Elkington, 1997).The objective of this dissertation is to integrate sustainability considerations into management research on customized and collaborative value creation (CVC). Concepts of CVC, such as mass customization (MC), contrast traditional management views, in which companies are the ones who create value and customers those who consume it (Moeller et al., 2013; Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004). Instead, business models in which customers and other external actors play an active role in the creation of value, in order to improve the satisfaction of customer needs, become widespread (Etgar, 2008; Franke & Piller, 2004; Nenonen & Storbacka, 2010; Payne et al., 2008). In today’s management practice, CVC initiatives are predominantly separated from sustainability management (Arnold, 2017). In this dissertation I use a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods to address the integration of sustainability considerations into CVC in general and MC in particular in a series of four independent research papers. The first paper examines the landscape of research on customized value creation. Applying recent advances in natural language processing, namely the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm for topic modeling, I systematically structure the body of literature that studies the idea of providing customized goods and services according to individual customer needs. I find that 60 topics disclose the field of MC. Using regression analysis, I reveal how each topic has evolved over time. Relying on network analysis, I explore the links between the topics and the role of the various management disciplines in shaping the research field. Based on these generalized findings, I put forward an agenda for future interdisciplinary research on MC. The second paper explores the social, environmental, and economic potentials of an MC business models, which aimed at fostering sustainability in the consumer electronics industry. Using a qualitative case-study approach, I show how modularity enables continuous customization during the usage phase, while enabling longer life times of products through upgradability and reparability. Moreover, I reveal that MC can have positive social effects at the long tail of a market, enhancing access to special applications such as health diagnostics in the specific context of modular and customizable smartphones. In the third paper I shed light on the co-creation phase of MC and its potential to contribute to the promotion of sustainable consumption. I theoretically derive and empirically test a number of opportunities for companies to improve corporate sustainability in a joint effort with consumers. By portraying a simulated online buying process of a customizable TV with a realistic web-based product configurator, I conduct two consumer choice experiments embedded in a large-scale online survey. I find that offering goods with customizable attributes of different sustainability levels gives consumers the opportunity to customize products reflecting their individual sustainability consciousness. Moreover, the results suggest that sustainable default settings can play a significant role in promoting sustainable consumption. The fourth paper conceptually explores how CVC concepts and technologies are assessed from the perspective of the degrowth concept. I argue that CVC might not only be relevant for businesses within economies that are set to grow, but also for none-profit and alternative organizations. In the search for strategies to really manage the pressing transition towards a sustainable society within planetary boundaries, those research lines that demand more radical changes than what is discussed today in business practice receive increasing attention. Paper IV explores how CVC can contribute to research on such alternative concepts. I outline five areas, in which CVC could contribute to the objectives of degrowth. The conceptual analysis reveals that several elements of CVC and its enabling technologies coincide with degrowth objectives but as such do not lead to their attainment. Thereby, a starting point for future (empirical) work in this area is generated.

Purpose This paper introduces the PIVOTAL Framework and the PIVOTAL Infinity Marketing Canvas®, a next-generation strategic model designed to link organizational purpose with innovation, stakeholder value, and long-term relationship building. The aim is to provide leaders with a practical, integrative approach for navigating strategic complexity in a rapidly changing environment. It is particularly relevant in transformation and innovation contexts, multi-stakeholder environments and ecosystem settings where legitimacy, adoption and long-horizon value matter. Design/methodology/approach The paper is conceptual in nature. It synthesizes established perspectives from strategic management, purpose-driven leadership, stakeholder theory, dynamic capabilities, service-dominant logic and relationship marketing to highlight theoretical gaps in existing models. Based on this analysis, it develops a unified framework and visual canvas that support strategic alignment and managerial decision-making. Findings The PIVOTAL Framework reconceptualizes strategy as a continuous, purpose-driven cycle connecting seven elements: Purpose, Innovation, Value, Outreach, Transfer, Advocacy and Lifetime Value. The PIVOTAL Infinity Marketing Canvas® operationalizes this logic by integrating organizational perspectives (purpose, innovation and value creation) with stakeholder perspectives (problems, pains, gains, values, advocacy and Lifetime Value). Illustrative examples demonstrate how organizations can apply the framework to enhance strategic coherence, stakeholder engagement and sustainable value creation. The framework helps leadership teams diagnose common disconnects (e.g., strong purpose but weak transfer; high outreach but unclear value; innovation without advocacy) and align initiatives accordingly. Research limitations/implications As a conceptual and practitioner-oriented paper, the PIVOTAL framework has not yet been empirically validated across contexts. This limitation offers clear avenues for research: future studies can test whether the Canvas improves strategic alignment, innovation focus, adoption (“transfer”), advocacy and long-term value outcomes using multi-case designs, executive surveys or longitudinal data. Comparative research could assess incremental usefulness versus established canvases and strategy tools, and identify boundary conditions (e.g., industry turbulence, regulation, ecosystem dependence, cultural context). Further work can refine measurement approaches for transfer, advocacy and lifetime value in purpose-led transformation initiatives. Practical implications As a conceptual and practitioner-oriented article, the PIVOTAL framework has not yet been empirically tested across settings. Future research could examine how well the Canvas improves strategic alignment, innovation focus, adoption (“transfer”), advocacy and long-term value outcomes, using multi-case studies, executive surveys or longitudinal designs. Studies could also explore boundary conditions (e.g., industry turbulence, regulation, ecosystem dependence, cultural contexts) and compare PIVOTAL with established canvases to assess incremental usefulness. In addition, research could refine measurement approaches for transfer, advocacy and lifetime value in purpose-led transformation initiatives. Social implications The framework encourages organizations to move beyond short-term optimization by embedding purpose, stakeholder value and long-term relationships into strategic decision-making. By strengthening “transfer” from intent to adoption and fostering advocacy, PIVOTAL supports more responsible implementation, trust-building and transparency—especially in contexts where societal legitimacy matters. This can contribute to better stakeholder outcomes such as fairer value creation, more sustainable innovation choices and stronger customer and employee relationships. When applied thoughtfully, the approach can help organizations align growth objectives with broader social value and long-term resilience. Originality/value The paper contributes a holistic strategic model that bridges theory and practice by positioning purpose as the central organizing principle of strategy. It extends existing frameworks by integrating innovation, stakeholder value, relational dynamics and long-term advocacy into a unified strategic logic. The Canvas offers leaders a practical, action-oriented tool for orchestrating strategy, collaboration and organizational alignment across functions. Unlike specialist tools that focus mainly on business model design or value propositions in isolation, PIVOTAL provides an end-to-end leadership architecture linking purpose to execution (“transfer”), advocacy and long-term value outcomes. It is designed to complement rather than replace established canvases by making the missing links between strategic intent and adoption explicit.

This paper examines the rapid adoption of digital technologies by Ukrainian agroholdings, highlighting the transformative potential of agrifood digitainability, where digital innovation and sustainability intersect within agricultural practices through diverse stakeholder collaborations. We introduce a conceptual framework that categorizes firm-stakeholder interactions across two dimensions — primary versus secondary stakeholders and value creation versus legitimacy — capturing the complexity of these engagements. This framework redefines the concept of societal value creation, particularly emphasizing stakeholders traditionally classified as “secondary” within stakeholder theory. Our empirical analysis reveals that collaborations with both primary and secondary stakeholders generate significant social and environmental benefits, repositioning secondary stakeholders as active contributors to firm value creation. We argue that by treating secondary stakeholders as co-creators of societal value, agrifood firms can harness digital technologies to achieve both competitive advantage and enhanced legitimacy within their stakeholder environment.

It is posited that this article is an important theoretical addition in the field of strategic communication as it seeks to eradicate the conceptual tension between the two dominant discourses, namely modernist and postmodernist explanations of how organisations should manage stakeholder relationships. Modernists believe in a single truth, accept metanarratives and believe that grand theory represents knowledge and can explain everything, whilst postmodernists reject the absolute standards and grand theories typical of modernism in favour of awareness and tolerance of differences, ambiguity and conflict. This article links these two perspectives in a new metamodern model for stakeholder relationship management, aimed specifically at the South African non-profit sector. A conceptual theoretical framework was developed and tested by means of exploratory qualitative and interpretative research through interviews with senior management in the non-profit sector. The findings suggest that a metamodern perspective requires constant negotiation between modernism and postmodernism. We also highlight the need for formaltraining in stakeholder relationship management. This entails adopting a micro-perspective by regularly identifying current strategic issues, mapping the stakeholders involved and linking them to these issues, and designing focused communication strategies to manage stakeholder relationships. The main research implications are that stakeholder relationship management is afunction which should not simply be delegated to the communication specialist, and that it should be practised from a metamodern perspective and not a modernistic or postmodern perspective. The originality and value of this research initiative lies in the development of a metamodern model for stakeholder relationship management for the non-profit sector which has been proposed and tested in practice.

The article analyses aspects of the cross-sector partnership of NGO and business actualizing the context of the governance dimension and collaborative value creation. The theoretical part of this article revealed the formal (contractual) and informal (relational) governance mechanisms, which influence the behaviour of partners in the cross-sector partnership. Moreover, the research presented organizational and partnership perspectives of the governance in cross-sector partnerships. The case study strategy was applied to conduct empirical research in Lithuania. It was found out that value creation based on collaboration in cross-sector partnership is influenced by partnership context that consists of macro and mezzo stimulating and limiting factors, characteristics of NGO and business organization, selection of a proper partner as well as formal and informal mechanisms of partnership governance.

A social enterprise may attempt to digitalize its value chain to better fulfil its dual mission; however, the outcomes depend on boundary conditions such as its emphasis on diverse stakeholders, a factor that is rarely examined in the extant literature. Drawing upon stakeholder theory and prior research on digital transformation, this study empirically investigates the strategic fit between stakeholder orientation and value chain digitalization of social enterprises. Using fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and data collected from 103 private museums in China, this study identifies multiple equifinal configurations of stakeholder orientations (including visitor, donor and collaborator orientations) and value chain digitalization for social and economic value creation. This study also proposes a sand cone model for the digital transformation of private museums. It extends the application of stakeholder theory in the social enterprise context by highlighting the heterogeneity in stakeholder orientations and revealing the unique contribution of collaborator orientation to the dual mission. In addition, this study offers practical implications for social entrepreneurs and managers concerning digital transformation and value creation.

In this second of a two-part focused review of the nonprofit business and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature, the authors present the third and fourth components of the collaborative value creation (CVC) framework: the partnering processes that unpack the value creation dynamics and the collaboration outcomes that examine the benefits and costs on multiple levels. The authors suggest that greater value is created at all levels of analysis, micro, meso, and macro, as collaboration moves from sole creation to co-creation of value. The CVC framework assigns equal importance to all forms of value (economic, social, and environmental), types of actors (individuals, organizations, and societies), and time scales (short/long term), providing the analytical paths for assessing value creation holistically. Examining systematically the processes and the outcomes of value co-creation allows for greater specificity, dimensionality, and inclusivity. The article concludes by delineating the contribution of the CVC framework and offering recommendations for future research.

This paper addresses crowd-based dynamics of value creation in participatory culture. Based on a corpus of 114,931 tweets associated with One Direction and similar boy bands, we draw on recent theories of crowd-based organization in digital media as well as classical crowd theory to build a theoretical model of collective value creation. In our model, the achievement of value in the form of trending and individual microcelebrity is based on affectively driven processes of imitation, rather than on rational evaluation and deliberation. We contrast this model with established accounts of microcelebrity and draw out implications for theories of crowd-based organization in digital media and for theories of participatory culture and collaborative value creation in general.

The biological transformation of industry introduces new demands for data management in production systems. Biointelligent value creation (BVC) systems integrate biological, technical, and digital components within decentralized, modular, and adaptive production networks. In these systems, data platforms are essential for enabling integration, coordination, and data-driven control across heterogeneous actors and domains. However, a systematic understanding of which data platforms exist, how they support biointelligent value creation, to what extent they fulfil their requirements, and what is currently lacking. This paper addresses this gap by conducting a systematic literature review of 40 peer-reviewed publications, identifying and categorizing key technological approaches, infrastructure concepts, and application domains. A functional framework is developed to assess platform capabilities across core, additional, and future-oriented requirements—from data integration and automation to semantic processing, predictive modeling, and real-time analytics. The findings show that while current platforms address selected requirements, no existing system fulfils the comprehensive demands of BVC. Major challenges include limited interoperability across biological and technical domains, insufficient support for non-expert users, and the lack of standardized, scalable architectures. The paper concludes with design implications and proposes the vision of a Biointelligence Metaverse – a modular, semantically enriched ecosystem combining data lake architectures, AI-based analytics, and IoT infrastructures to enable sustainable and collaborative value creation.

Value creation (VC) is a dynamic yet elusive organizational phenomenon characterized by its multifaceted nature. This review paper revisits the connection between value creation for multiple stakeholders, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) within an organizational context. Drawing on Open Systems Theory and a systematic review of the literature, the study identifies key themes shaping this relationship, including sustainability, environmental stewardship, governance, and non-financial reporting. These insights inform the development of a novel conceptual model that illustrates value creation as a circular and dynamic process of continuous improvement, with sustainability serving as a mediating factor. This study contributes to the field by introducing the first process-oriented model that integrates CSR and ESG, illustrating how organizations generate value for multiple stakeholders.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the implementation of a defined competitive strategy – differentiation or cost leadership – brings about different value creation levels, where “value” is defined in a twofold perspective as “shareholder value” vs “stakeholder value” and “social capital”.Design/methodology/approach– A sample of 169 European companies is investigated. Simple linear regressions andt-tests for the equality of means are conducted.Findings– While no significant differences are found in the creation of value for the shareholders, firms following differentiation strategies generate considerably higher value for all the stakeholder groups than companies pursing cost leadership strategies. Results also show that size and reputational considerations play a significant role in explaining the different stakeholder value performances.Research limitations/implications– Some data such as off-balance sheet items could have influenced the calculation of the discriminant values for strategy classification.Practical implications– Although the two groups manage to achieve comparable levels of profitability, the differentiators, presumably because of their structural outward-facing orientation, seem to be better positioned to meet the challenges of the next wave of growth, which resides in the substantial interconnection between economic and societal value. Companies need a better understanding of how the stakeholder value theory and social capital can influence value creation and long-term success.Originality/value– In light of the importance of competitive strategy as a value-creation tool, the paper sheds new light on the relationship between competitive strategies and value creation.

For four decades, stakeholder theory has played a key role in many research fields, from strategy to business ethics. More recent developments in the field of behavioral stakeholder theory highlight the importance of individual managers and their mindsets. The role of stakeholder theory mindsets of managers, however, has not been empirically investigated. Despite the prominence of stakeholder theory in management research, no measurement scale exists at the level of individuals that would allow scholars to assess the degree to which a manager agrees with the key assumptions of stakeholder theory. This research develops a scale to measure managers’ stakeholder theory mindsets. To do so, we followed scholarly best practices: First, we generated items based on existing stakeholder theory literature and then had expert stakeholder scholars evaluate them. This step was followed by two independent studies for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and a nomological network study. The actual scale development was complemented by an additional study, which tests the predictive power of the stakeholder theory mindset scale and demonstrates its incremental validity. As a result, we propose a validated measurement scale of stakeholder theory mindsets, consisting of 18 items that load on four factors corresponding to the four main assumptions in stakeholder theory: value creation, the integration thesis, jointness of stakeholder interests, and the responsibility principle. We draw out how future research can be inspired by using this scale, which inter alia allows testing antecedents of stakeholder theory mindsets, as well as consequences for managerial decision-making.

This paper takes value co-creation as the theoretical perspective and “Zibo Barbecue” as the case study to explore the process and strategies of value co-creation in city image communication in the new media environment. The study first reviews relevant literature, then analyzes the stakeholders and their roles in city image communication based on the viral “Zibo Barbecue” case, and discusses the collaborative pathways of various stakeholders at different stages of city image communication. It further analyzes how various stakeholders achieve win-win value creation. Finally, from the perspective of value co-creation, the paper proposes strategic suggestions for value co-creation in city image communication. This research will help enrich the results of studies in the field of city image communication and provide practical guidance for city image communication in various regions.

The value created by public–nonprofit (PNP) alliances often emphasizes public sector service delegation to nonprofits, but public and nonprofit organizations often seek to create shared social value with alliances, particularly in sectors where there is coproduction. To better understand shared social value, we apply the Collaborative Value Creation (CVC) framework to investigate value creation in the Transition Coaching sector—nonprofit organizations that provide support to high school students as they transition to college. We interview public and nonprofit executives and staff and find that nonprofits seek resources to help navigate complex bureaucratic public structures related to private client information and centralizing bureaucratic information. We also find shared public and nonprofit value in improving client navigation, knowledge sharing within public bureaucratic structures, and capacity building. Future scholarship should develop the potential for reduced bureaucratic frictions as a point of shared value in PNP alliances.

Purpose Prior literature proposes that integrated reporting (IR) drives integrated thinking (IT), enabling an organisation to create value for stakeholders in both quantitative (economic performance) and qualitative manners (beyond financially-oriented information). Fraud triangle theory also predicts that earnings manipulation may also affect the creation of value. Thus, this study seeks to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between IT, earnings manipulation and value creation. Design/methodology/approach This data sample comprises of 497 observations from 2014 to 2018 of the top 100 market capitalisation of Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs) in Bursa Malaysia. This study used an index score for IT variable and Beneish’s M-score as a proxy to detect earnings manipulations and to classify the companies into non-manipulators and manipulator companies. Value creation measurements consist of four variables under shareholder's value creation and one variable represents value creation through innovation. Findings The findings show that IT is significantly related to value creation, whereas earnings manipulation had no significant relationship with value creation except for value creation measured using Tobin's Q ratio. The alarming finding is that a fraud predictor, namely earning manipulation, measured by Beneish-M, is not a predictor of whether companies are creating better or less value. Originality/value This study is among the early literature that provides empirical evidence of the relationship between IT and value creation. Furthermore, this paper adds to look at the association of earning manipulation and value creation.