Processes of value co-creation in networks: An empirical study of local business networks in Denmark

Abstract
Purpose: The details of how networks participation becomes valuable over time is an issue that not settled within the network stream of literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying dynamics that form and support the process of value creation in networks.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws together symbolic interactionism and organizational ethnography to outline an approach, grasping how participation in inter-organizational networks becomes valuable for participants. The empirical data is collected through nearly two years of observations and interviews in two local business networks in Denmark.
Findings: The study illuminates how the participants struggle to make participation valuable. The paper argues that we could think of Networks as value co-creators. This way of thinking of networking activities has the potential of engaging participants in unique interactions and opening new perspectives for participants. It is a way to focus toward how participants in the networks intersubjectively ascribe value to participation in the network, and how meaning emerges and changes as participants engage in social interactions
Originality/value: The paper builds up a creative analytical framework based on symbolic interactionism in order to make an important contribution to the area of inter-organizational networks.