Rethinking co-creation: the fluid and relational process of value co-creation in public service organizations

This paper develops the ongoing conceptualization of the value co-creation process in public services. The authors draw on a practical experience of a major service re-design to integrate health and social care services. The questions this experience raised about the value process are reported, drawing on the theory of Deleuze and Guattari (1987) in conjunction with existing conceptualizations of value to provide answers and expand the debate. IMPACT Public services are increasingly thought of in terms of the public value they provide. Co-creation is a popular public service management tool to provide services that benefit public value. Both public value and co-creation have been conceptualized in terms of experiences based on a two-way relationship between the service user and provider. The authors expand on this relationship to account for the complexity of public services whereby other, often non-human, factors also play an explicit role in value creation. The paper draws on a particular instance of public service delivery to show this complexity. Four recommendations for practice are provided to ensure that complexity and fluidity are accounted for when undertaking co-creation work.