Value Propositions in Service Systems Enabled by Digital Technology: A Field Based Design Science Approach

In the context of the digitization of business environments, organizations and processes are currently undergoing major changes. Digital transformation offers a high potential to develop new value propositions by using digital technology, but at the same time demands for the implementation of disruptive innovation in complex service systems. Thereby, it is crucial to find out how to make use of technology-enabled potentials and how to find a structured way to develop and design new value propositions, embedded in service systems. To support the development and design of value propositions, this paper designs the VdiP-developer as a framework for the systematic development of digitization-enabled value propositions in service systems. It considers the advancement of existing likewise the development of new value propositions. In particular, the VdiP-developer highlights the roles of digital technology in service systems and establishes a framework to consider both, digital technology and service systems, in the development of value propositions. Using a field-based design-science approach to research, this paper shows how the framework for value proposition building is iteratively developed, applied and evaluated as a joint initiative by researchers and practitioners. The designed artefact, the VdiP-developer, enables organizations to systematically improve and develop value propositions by bringing management perspectives and service design elements together in one compact framework.