| dc.description.abstract | Since the industrial revolution, the developing speed of new technology has steadily in-
creased. In the 21st century it is faster than ever and the pressure on businesses to keep
up in a competitive industry increases together with it. Along with this competitiveness
comes the need for being able to customise and develop products which suit their customer
in a way that it is not commonly available. Still, many companies and products fail to stay
on the market because of this competitiveness, loosing their customers after even a single
purchase. Designing and crafting a superior product is fundamental for success, but it can
be deemed worthless without considering customer need and looking beyond a single pur-
chase. This thesis will consider the topic of value co-creation in a B2B autonomy context.
A theoretical background for the topic will set the foundation for interviews with the young
technology company Hive Autonomy on their approach to harvesting value along with the
customer throughout a long-term customer relationship. The thesis provides a theoretical
structure building on the C-O-T-E framework along with primary practical empirical results,
both contributing to academia and the business world. The results reveal important aspects
such as continuous communication, practising an innovative culture with aligning interests,
collaboration in technological development, and deterring competition through a loyal syn-
ergistic customer relationship. These aspects are adamant for a continued and sustainable
customer relationship, supporting that value can be further created through a symbiosis of
knowledge exchange and resources from both sides. Together with the notion of sustainabil-
ity across the C-O-T-E contexts, this thesis contributes to understand the value co-creation
process in the industry involving cutting-edge technology. | |