Managing the politics of value propositions

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of value co-creation in services as a multidimensional political construct that takes place across different “regimes of value” (Appadurai 1986).
Design/Methodology/Approach: A case study of waste management services in Sweden serves as an illustration of how this construct takes place.
Findings: There is a strategic potential for service providers to engage in a “politics of value” (Appadurai 1986) that makes use of the multidimensionality of the value creation process.
Research implications: Service scholars are encouraged to redirect their efforts from trying to define the essence of value to unfolding the conditions under which value is created.
Practical implications: We invite service providers to engage with the possibilities of developing a politics of value that draws on the co-existence of different regimes of value.
Originality/Value: The argument re-directs the discussion on value creation from the nature of value creation in services to the conditions under which service organizations create value in practice.