Abstract
In an era where digital platform-based engagement is seen as the key to value creation, and high technology or Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have been shown to improve several industrial business processes, such as increasing commercialization, interaction, and automation transformation for the manufacturing industry. However, in fact, a staggering 65% of companies report being unsuccessful in achieving their value creation goals through digital transformation. A fundamental reason for this struggle probably lies in an outdated conception of what engagement platforms (EPs) are and what they can do. There are two fundamental divergent perspectives of EPs that created a conceptual gap, which has become the focus of this study. On one hand, EPs are considered as a passive conduit that merely facilitates as an intermediary engager. On the other hand, there is the reality of modern AI-embedded EPs that have reshaped it into dynamic participative infrastructures. In addition to exploring the capability of contemporary EPs to act as mediators, this study also focuses on the EP’s features that lead to successful or unsuccessful value co-creation in B2B collaboration. Therefore, this study aims to provide insight into how current advanced technologies enable EPs to support stakeholders in co-creating value, especially in business-to-business (B2B) collaboration. The two research questions that this study tries to answer are (1) What is the current role of EPs in supporting stakeholders’ value creation? and (2) How can companies utilize EPs to create more value?
To answer the research questions, a qualitative study was conducted. A total of 43 participants were included in this qualitative study as a sample, with 46 semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted in total. Participants with B2B collaboration experience were recruited using a purposive sampling method and grouped into seventeen case studies, including both triadic and dyadic cases. These case studies and thematic analysis were the basis of doing the next analysis using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Then, with fsQCA, a configurational approach was conducted to examine the features of digital EPs as the causal conditions that lead to the successful co-creation of value, as its outcomes.
This research revealed three distinct typologies of the role of EPs in supporting B2B collaboration: facilitative, participative, and agentic EPs, reframing EP roles in B2B value co-creation, as an answer for the first research question. Furthermore, to answer the second research question, ultimately, this study suggests different configurations that convey equifinality in the successful co-creation of value. Specifically, a core success condition configuration focuses on some core conditions, either the presence of an active enabler system or integration-transparency accessibility, or the absence of interactive communication, which is basically combined with business process optimization. Additionally, this research showed that the absence of an active enabler system and the presence of heavy interactive communication conditions occurred the failure of value co-creation in the digital EPs context. Despite those findings, observing actions over a longer, longitudinal study is suggested for future research, rather than using a single snapshot or participants' memory recollections, which can introduce bias.