The Performativity of Value Propositions in Shaping a Service Ecosystem: The Case of B-corporations

The present chapter builds on performativity research and investigates the performative role of value propositions in shaping a service ecosystem. Performativity is used as a central concept in illustrating how actors influence reality through their representations and their practices. In the investigation, Benefit corporations (hereafter B-corporations) serve as the context for empirical research. The work shows how ideas—the pre-constitute aspects of the ecosystem, such as values, norms and meaning—participate in shaping reality (i.e. the ecosystem) through the translation of such ideas into practice. The performative role of value propositions emerges as a bridge between actors’ values, aims, and practices in shaping a service ecosystem as well as increasing ecosystem viability.