What Is and What Is Not Value Creation? Clarifying the Conceptual Foundations of Value-dominant Logic

Value creation is widely recognized as a central objective of business activity and value-dominant logic (VDL) is the theoretical perspective that focuses on value creation. The concept of value creation has expanded across disciplines, resulting in diverse definitions that often blur the distinction between value creation and its antecedents, mechanisms, outcomes or value capture. This ambiguity weakens the conceptual clarity of VDL. The purpose of this article is to refine the concept of value creation, including its conceptual boundaries, thus strengthening the foundations of VDL. First, we review the conceptual foundations of VDL. We then conduct a two-part systematic literature review, synthesizing eight systematic literature reviews and thirty-three recent top-tier studies with a sharp focus on value creation to identify conceptual boundaries, persistent conceptual challenges and future research priorities. We develop a framework that distinguishes value creation from its enablers, mechanisms, outcomes and value capture processes. We also present a future research agenda, addressing five issues: value conflicts, value stability across contexts, attribution of value-creating agency, the transition from potential to realized value and evidence of value creation. By clarifying conceptual boundaries and value terminology, this article strengthens VDL and supports its application to sustainability, transformation and society.