Customer value propositions as interorganizational management accounting to support customer collaboration

• This research conceptualizes customer value propositions as an innovative form of interorganizational management accounting.
• Customer value propositions can aid the interaction between developers, working at new technology-based firms, and customers.
• We present evidence from case studies of tech start-ups, using customer value propositions for technology commercialization.
• This research offers six steps for understanding customer value, improving products and communicating value to customers.

New technology-based firms aim to create commercially successful products and services based on new technology. For example a startup company may be founded to commercialize a particular technology developed by a university. One of the key challenges is to identify which products and services are valuable for customers. However, the relevant knowledge is typically dispersed across the technology firm and potential customers. This study explores how, in this context, interorganizational management accounting may support companies to collaborate and integrate knowledge. First, drawing on business marketing literature, a customer value proposition is conceptualized as a form of interorganizational management accounting. Second, several case studies demonstrate how calculations of customer value were made by new technology-based firms, and they show that these firms had implemented particular offering changes that were informed by specific insights obtained from their calculations of customer value. Third, the study offers a theoretical lens for understanding the potential role of customer value propositions as integrating devices for managing knowledge across boundaries.