You have recently, together with Jakob Trischler, published a study that introduces a framework focusing on public services. Could you briefly tell us about the study and its findings?
鈥 The study builds on my previous research on services as value-creating practices. Simply put, it aims to create a reference framework to understand that services consist of concrete value-creating activities in which people actively participate. An example could be a restaurant visit, where value-creating practices include welcoming guests, presenting the menu, serving the food, eating the meal, and paying for it. The new aspect of this article is that we not only focus on how value is created for individuals, i.e., private value, but also on how value is created for society as a whole, which in English is referred to as public value.
You mention that value can both be 鈥渃o-created鈥 and 鈥渃o-destroyed鈥. What does this mean in practice?
鈥 We draw on practice theory and argue that value-creating practices consist of templates for how we should act, as well as the actual performance of these actions. These templates are always designed to create value, as it would be illogical to design a service with the intent of destroying value. However, in the execution of these value-creating practices, value can both be co-created, such as when a taxi driver takes us from point A to point B, and co-destroyed, for example, if we are involved in a car accident. We also highlight that societal and individual value can be co-created and co-destroyed simultaneously. A prison sentence for a dangerous individual, for instance, can be beneficial for society but detrimental to the person receiving it.
How can this research be applied?
鈥 We believe that our research can be used to design new services and to understand the unintended consequences of services in terms of value co-destruction. It can also help to enhance the understanding of what public services entail, how individual and societal value are interconnected, and provide public sector leaders with tools to better manage the activities they are involved in. Most importantly, we hope that other researchers will use and further develop our ideas through empirical studies.
Link to the article:
