SAFEGUARDING FOR INNOVATING: INVESTIGATING CHAMPIONING AND STEWARDSHIP BEHAVIOURS AS FACILITATORS OF BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS VALUE CO-CREATION

Business-to-business value co-creation entails resource integration among partnering entities and delivers value through proactive engagement. Although the prospects and benefits of business-to-business co-creation are appreciated in literature, understanding on how behavioural roles support value co-creation in business-to-business settings remains underdeveloped and is a current subject of interest for scholars. This paper intends to investigate how championing and stewardship as facilitative behaviours relate to innovation and network capabilities in business-to-business co-creation context. The research applies structural equation modelling to assess survey responses from 209 technology managers and specialists within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The survey finds that the network capabilities of firms benefit more from stewardship while innovations capabilities benefit more from championing, adding to understanding on the nature of connections between facilitative behaviours and co-creation capabilities. Theoretically, the research advances a stewardship theory of value co-creation capabilities and a behaviour–capability–value nexus for co-creation using a business-to-business context. Managerially, the research promotes cultures that support championing initiatives and devoted stewardship practices for business-to-business co-creation networks.