Aligning the co-creation project portfolio with company strategy

Abstract

Purpose

An important task for all strategy leaders contemplating the use of co-creation is to determine how well the numerous co-creation project-design choices available to them align with their strategic priorities.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to implement co-creation, firms need to assess how their projects or initiatives support their strategic commitments and priorities. To this end, the authors offer managers a practical, easy-to-use assessment framework.

Findings

Executives should consider their approach to co-creation in terms of crafting and managing a portfolio of initiatives to be categorized and managed differently according to their strategic significance – high, medium or low.

Practical implications

A six-question assessment framework was inductively derived from an extensive literature review (113 articles) focusing on practices associated with co-creation and stakeholder involvement. Though they do not represent an exhaustive list of categories for assessment, they do, however, identify strategically important choices involved in designing co-creation ventures.

Originality/value

The six-question assessment framework is applied to the case of the Xerox-P&G co-innovation partnership, which illustrates how such significant co-creation initiatives might be profiled, and their main design choices analyzed.

Citation

DeFillippi, R. and Roser, T. (2014), "Aligning the co-creation project portfolio with company strategy", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 30-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/SL-10-2013-0075