Akaka, Melissa A.2011-07-212011-07-212007-05http://hdl.handle.net/10125/20348Thesis (M.B.A)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007.Conventional models of economic exchange limit the understanding of value-creation to a firm's output and the price a person is willing to pay, value-in-exchange. The present research addresses the inadequacies of such models through the synthesis of two growing streams of marketing thought, service-dominant logic and network theory. At this crossroad, a framework for value co-creation is presented, which suggests that service is the underlying basis of all exchange and that the service recipient (e.g., customer) ultimately derives and determines value, through value-in-use. The proposed model unites value-in-exchange and value-in-use under one process of value co-creation, which is composed of three elements, the accessibility, adaptability and integratability of operant resources (e.g., knowledge and skills), within a system of service-for-service exchange. Seven research propositions are presented based on the notions that value derived through co-creation is heterogeneous for each actor and influenced by the configuration and quality of its surrounding network.ix, 94 leavesAll UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.Thesis