Resources and capabilities through the lens of value (co-) creation: a literature review

Purpose Involving customers to create value is an important strategy for firms to compete, satisfy customized demands and gain competitive advantage. This potentially important alternate viewpoint for strategic management aims to widen avenues of business opportunities. Design/methodology/approach To date in the strategy discipline, profuse research has been undertaken to identify the typology of resources/capabilities that explain firm’s unique competitiveness and superior performance. However, very little research has been undertaken to explain how firms attempt to create customer value, how resources become valuable for customers maximizing benefits and how investments in dynamic capabilities allow the firm to (co) create value. This paper is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conceptual development of resources and capabilities (RC) through the lens of value co-creation and provides initial guidance for future empirical studies. Findings The authors organize and integrate the diverse body of past literature relating to RC and, in doing so, develop a synthesized conceptual model. A critical interpretation of previous literature relating to RC and co-creation reveals how little attention has been paid to these connections and what exists is only partial. Originality/value The authors develop a first initial constructing of the past theory which is subsequently refined and strengthened into a conceptual model advancing on theoretical development in the field.