Co-Creation and Learning

This book introduces readers to co-creation --- a complex, value-based, context-driven and collaborative effort to develop new paradigms, products and services to satisfy human wants. Co-creation is built not only around the perceptions of challenges, cause-and-effect relationships and constraints, but also around available alternatives for dealing with or overcoming those challenges. Co-creation is not about transferring or outsourcing activities, and neither is it about the customization of products and services. This book explains the emergence of the co-creation approach. It describes various models of value creation, as well as different stages and the contract process involved in co-creation. It also explores different types of learning and learning techniques, and how co-creation impacts the learning process. The book allows practitioners and policymakers to understand the processes involved in implementing co-creation in any organization, while also presenting case studies to show how to apply the relevant concepts in their day-to-day activities.

K.B. Akhilesh is a Senior Professor of Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior, and Technology Management at the Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) since 1982. Prior to this, he was Chairman of the department from 1993 to 1998. He is also the President of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Rae Bareli, and a Member, Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak. He is also an Honorary Dean at SVYASA (Yoga University) and the co-ordinator for M.Tech program for Technology Management at the Defense Institute of Advanced Technology. Professor Akhilesh completed his Ph.D. from IISc with a gold medal. He has published over 140 papers in Indian as well as international journals and has authored 12 books. His recent book titled 'R&D Management' was published by Springer. He has guided over 30 doctoral students and his specific research interests include collective intelligence at the team level, family business performance, expertise transfer, organizational development and change management.Professor Akhilesh has served as an external Ph.D. examiner in India, South Africa and USA. He has been a visiting faculty at many universities and organizations, worldwide, including USA, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Portugal, Belgium and Sweden. He was an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University (Fairfax, VA) and a Visiting Professor at University of Hamburg's School of Information (Germany). He was also invited as a Visiting Researcher by Japan Institute of Labor, Tokyo.
As a consultant and a trainer, he has interacted with Daimler Chrysler, Airbus Industries, Pratt and Whitney USA, Lapp India, International Labor Organization, Volkswagen, Vee Tech, Honeywell, BSNL, 5th Central Pay Commission, Central Silk Board, DRDL (DRDO), LRDE, CPRI, Karnataka Power Corporation, KSRTC, KSFC, Kudremukh, Axes technologies, Quest-Global, Central Power Research Institute, Siemens, ABB, HMT, BEL, HAL, ITI, BEML, WIPRO, TITAN, Philips Software, ACE Designers, Union Bank of India, World Bank, Azim Premji Foundation, Coffee Board, Rubber Board and others. As a corporate management trainer and facilitator, he has participated in over 1,000 Management Development Programs. 
He is a member of the Academy of Management, USA, National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM), India, National HRD Network among others. He is also a member of National Board of Accreditation, AICTE, and has been honoured for his lifetime contributions to HR by NIPM.