Students as Value Co-Creators in the Business Education Ecosystem

Abstract

Departing from the dyadic paradigm of students versus business schools in marketing and business education, this article utilizes a pluralistic perspective to account for and investigate various stakeholder groups’ value expectations and roles as we develop and examine a value co-creation ecosystem framework for marketing and business education. Service-Dominant Logic and Authority Theory are used as theoretical lenses along with a mixed-method approach to conduct three studies: (a) a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), (b) a qualitative conceptual mapping content analysis, and (c) a three-round quantitative Delphi study. The results provide insights into the differing elements of value and level of authority expected by various stakeholders in marketing education. This research significantly contributes to the pluralist perspective, gaining ground in business education research by extending previous work. In addition, the article contributes to the Service-Dominant Logic and Authority Theory literature by integrating the two to improve the explanatory power of value co-creation ecosystems to an expertise-led service such as marketing education. Theoretically, integrating Service-Dominant Logic and Authority Theory generates fruitful avenues to uncover what matters to business school education stakeholders.