A new positioning framework for organisational value: juxtaposing organisational value positions with customer centricity

‘Value’ is worthy of study as it determines success for leaders, provides competitive advantage and contributes to economic prosperity. Indeed value may be a super-ordinate concept that has ‘upstaged’ previous research areas such as service quality, service satisfaction and relationship marketing. Many studies use ‘silo-based approaches’ when considering value, for example economic, socio-cultural and environmental value are often studied separately (Smith-Christensen, 2009). This study is inter-disciplinary being located in the overlap between strategic, customer-centric and value-laden disciplines. This paper provides insights by distilling extant ‘value’ themes. First, it critiques the plethora of value-types and complexities germane to value location. Then it holistically reflects on the distinct positions that have occupied value research to-date, namely ‘transactional’, ‘co-creation’ and ‘value-seeking’. There is much research into the first two but less on value-seeking. Furthermore little research exists on evaluating whether more than one organisational value position exists. Hence this paper posits that both distinct and overlapping positions may co-exist in organisations. These distinct and overlapping positions are juxtaposed with customer versus company-centric orientations to produce an original positioning framework that will be useful for practitioners and scholars alike. Finally the framework’s limitations are considered by using exemplars and analogies to promote better understanding.