Fostering sustainability by linking co-creation and relationship management concepts

Sustainability addresses the companies' activities to implement sustainable requirements across the whole value chain. In theory, relationship management and co-creation processes face this challenge. Relationship management emphasizes the on-going relationship between the company and selective stakeholders to enduring entrepreneurial success. Co-creation means including well-selected stakeholders, e.g. customers or suppliers, in the innovation process on a targeted basis. Co-creation processes are predominantly separated from relationship and sustainability innovation management processes in practice. The article intends to contribute theoretically and empirically to this area of research addressing the following research question: How do companies combine co-creation and relationship management approaches with respect to sustainability? An exploratory multiple case study design was used in order to meet this background. In the period of March 2006 until December 2011 nine mainly German-based companies were analyzed for their co-creation and relationship management processes using different tools like innovation workshops or idea competitions. In addition, several company representatives were interviewed. Content analysis and action research, including observation, were used. This study highlights the lack in integrating sustainability co-creation and relationship management. Co-creation processes are not yet focused on the whole value chain, and thus, mostly do not integrate different stakeholders in order to minimize negative social and ecological impacts. Sustainability relationship management has to be anchored in a specific department. Sustainability innovation management should consider that the used tools and the way of interacting with stakeholders have an influence on the process' outcome and the sustainability impact. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.