Editor’s letter

Citation

Randall, R.M. and Leavy, B. (2014), "Editor’s letter", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 42 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/SL-10-2013-0079

Editor’s letter

Article Type: Editor’s letter From: Strategy & Leadership, Volume 42, Issue 1

This special issue of Strategy & Leadership is the second in a series on continuous innovation through co-creating unique value with stakeholders – a cornerstone of the creative economy. To reap value from their interactions with stakeholders, leading companies now compete to: co-create personalized value with, and for, each of their customers, open their companies to solutions from throughout the firm and from all over the world, collaborate with the best partners, invest in building ecosystems of committed stakeholders and network with passionate communities of stakeholders. To be successful in the creative economy requires new capabilities, leadership skills and sensibilities to engage customers and other stakeholders in the enriching experience of developing and using better products and services. For example, managing dynamic interactions on engagement platforms – intranets, live meetings, public web sites, physical stores with meeting spaces, social media apps on mobile devices, call centers and private or public community spaces, for customers or and other stakeholders – requires a new mindset based on three insights:

• The shift from firm-controlled value creation to experience- and knowledge-based networks.

• The view of customer and stakeholder experience, talent and knowledge as vital sources of value creation and innovation.

• Seeing engagement platforms as an opportunity to connect with global resources and experiences.

This value revolution started some 10 years ago when the late C.K. Prahalad and his co-author Venkat Ramaswamy introduced readers to the “co-creation of value with customers” paradigm in The Future of Competition. They identified the essential features of any effective engagement platform as Dialogue, Accessibility, Risk and Transparency (DART). These criteria assess how well a platform facilitates dialogue; how accessible it is to consumers or key stakeholders; how does it manage the risks of openness; how transparent are the interactions? If managed well a platform builds trust and stimulates the energy to attract even more participants and in the process it promotes innovation and learning, thus enhancing the value of the platform. As one observer brilliantly advised companies embarking on stakeholder engagement platform projects, “Don’t think ‘build it and they will come,’ instead ‘build it with them’ and they’ll already be there.”

And so, keeping in mind his many foundational insights like DART, we dedicate this special issue to “CK,” a friend, a faithful supporter of S&L and a long-time member of our Editorial Advisory Board. A highlight of the issue is an interview by Brian Leavy with “CK’s” co-author, Prof. Ramaswamy, who describes some of “CK’s” last projects and powerful ideas in “Venkat Ramaswamy – how value co-creation with stakeholders is transformative for producers, consumers and society.” Prof. Leavy is the co-editor of this special issue.

Its other highlights include:

• “The race to implement co-creation of value with stakeholders: five approaches to competitive advantage” by Francis J. Gouillart.

• “Recognizing the ecosystem phase-change: a guide to four types” by Haydn Shaughnessy.

• “A leader’s guide to innovation in the experience economy” by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore.

• “Aligning the co-creation project portfolio with company strategy” by Robert DeFillippi and Thorsten Roser.

• “Leading in the connected era” by Saul Berman and Peter Korsten.

Good reading!

Robert M. Randall
Editor

Brian Leavy
Co-editor