Purpose: Over the last 10 years several studies have been conducted about value-in-use and value co-creation. Vargo and Lusch have contributed to put this topic in the actual research agenda by introducing the Service Dominant (S-D) Logic mindset in 2004. Under this new perspective the value is co-created by both the customer and the supplier and is determined by the former. The customer is the one that determines the value-in-use which according to Vargo and Lusch is uniquely and phenomenological determined at the time of consumption (Vargo and Lusch 2007). So, understanding the context in which value is experienced by the customer is paramount for the supplier to be able to adapt its offerings according to customer’s needs, requirements and expectations. With this knowledge the supplier should also look on how it can adjust and integrate its resources, activities and business model in order to support customer’s practices and business outcomes (Grönroos 2008a). In other words, provide service to the customer. Within the value co-creation concept customers, as the value creators, will be able to do so by taking advantage of the resources and processes the suppliers will provide to them. Nevertheless, during the interaction process of the relationship with the customer, the supplier will also be able to jointly co-create value instead of being only a facilitator of value through its service proposition (Grönroos 2008b). From a business point of view it is sometimes evident that logistic companies find some difficulties in initiating new business relationships as they address the market with their business models and correspondent bundle of pre-defined activities. It is the purpose of this study to understand the process a logistic company should follow in order to be able to understand a customer’s needs and expectations and consequently adapt its offerings in order to facilitate the beginning of a business relationship. To get that understanding the following research question came up: How third actor logistics provider contributes to a business relationship initiation? Design/methodology/approach: A literature review has been conducted on research about value co-creation and supply chain to integrate existing knowledge. To support the value-in-use conceptualization a specific case of a food logistic provider and one of its potential customers was analyzed in detail. In this study an explorative, qualitative approach was used by conducting interviews with decision makers of the customer company to understand the end customer’s service experience expectation and be able to conceptualize the value-in-use realized in each specific context. Interviews were also conducted with decision makers of the logistic service provider in order to understand its business model, how it can be shaped to meet the expected value(s)-in-use and build the framework with which the initiation of business relationship can be facilitated and value be co-created by both companies. Findings: In this study, a conceptualization emerged of value-in-use dimensions to support logistic companies in adjusting their value offerings to customers’ expectations of service experiences; secondly, a proposed framework is presented to guide logistic providers in the process of understanding their potential customer’s value-in-use, and how to use this comprehension to adapt their business model in a way that their potential customers can better foresee the advantage of beginning a business relationship with them. Relevance/contribution: The results will contribute, firstly, to increase the knowledge and help to fill in the gap on exploring the creation of logistic value seen under and S-D Logic lens, and additionally increase the research on the logistic and supply chain fields. There are only a few conceptual studies that clearly relate logistic third actor, network effects and business relationships initiation, which is in line with the lack of research on this areas referred by several actors (Yazdanparast et al. 2010); (Ritter 1999); (John and Kenneth 1995). From a managerial point of view, the results presented here will help logistic managers and logistic business developers by allowing them to use a framework as a guide in the process of understanding their potential customers’ needs and requirements and using it as an input for designing their value propositions accordingly. By doing this the logistics firms will be better able to align their organization and processes with those of their potential customers. Consequently, the potential customers targeted will easier foresee the value they can co-create together, hence will be keener to initiate a relationship. References: Grönroos, C. (2008a) "Service logic revisited: who creates value? And who co-creates?", European Business Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 298–314. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/09555340810886585 [Accessed October 26, 2012]. Grönroos, C. (2008b), "Adopting a service business logic in relational business-to-business marketing?: value creation , interaction and joint value co-creation", Proceedings from Otago Forum 2: The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing - From Porpositions to Practice, Vol. 2, pp.268–287. John, T. and Kenneth, B. (1995), "A framework of logistics research", Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp.231–250. Ritter, Thomas (1999), "The Network company. Antecedents for coping with relationships and networks effectively", Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 467-479. Vargo, S.L. and Lusch, R.F. (2007), "Service-dominant logic: continuing the evolution", Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 1–10. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/index/10.1007/s11747-007-0069-6 [Accessed October 4, 2012]. Yazdanparast, A., Manuj, I. and Swartz, S.M. (2010), "Co-creating logistics value: a service-dominant logic perspective", The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 375–403. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/09574091011089808 [Accessed November 9, 2012].

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Managing Inter-firm Relationships in Supply Chains, Service Operations Management