Finnish-French Fundamental Cultural Antagonisms in Organising

Seeking to challenge the belief that within-West cultural differences should be seen as insignificant in organisations, this paper seeks to demonstrate how two given Western European ‘organising cultures’ (i.e. Finnish culture and French culture, as they are expressed in the process of organising) can contrast, if not conflict, with each other. Further, it aims to help the reader realise what kinds of fundamental ‘cultural antagonisms’ these contrasting organising behaviours may come from, to help her/him understand ‘the other culture’ better, and thus allow for a first step towards an improvement of Finnish-French intercultural interactions in organisational contexts. After shortly introducing what should be understood here as ‘cultural antagonisms’, the paper addresses four fundamental Finnish-French antagonisms, regarding the vision of the organisation (‘functionalist vs. personalist’), the relative importance of ‘consensus vs. dissensus’, the typical trade-off between reliability and flexibility, and the striking differences in communication, respectively. These four fundamental antagonisms are found to be closely interrelated and integrated, serving as explanation, justification and legitimisation for each other. That does not mean, however, that differences, however striking they may be, should merely be a threat to co-operation: some implications introduced at the end of the paper suggest that, provided people are aware of them, cultural antagonisms can also be seen as opportunities for a more fruitful work interaction.

Towards Service Logic: The Unique Contribution of Value Co-Creation

The underpinning logic of value co-creation in service logic is analysed. It is observed that three of the ten foundational premises of the so-called service-dominant logic are problematic and do not support an understanding of value-co-creation and creation that is meaningful for theoretical development and decision making in business and marketing practice. Without a thorough understanding of the interaction concept, the locus and nature of value co-creation cannot be identified. Based on the analysis in the present article it is observed that a unique contribution of a service perspective on business (service logic) is not that customers always are co-creators of value, but that under certain circumstances the service provider gets opportunities to co-create value together with its customers. Finally, the three problematic premises are reformulated accordingly.

Marketing and the Logic of Service: Value Facilitation, Value Creation and Co-creation, and Their Marketing Implications

The discussion of a service-dominant logic has made the findings of decades of service marketing research a topic of interest for marketing at large. Some fundamental aspects of the logic such as value creation and its marketing implications are more complex than they have been treated as so far and need to be further developed to serve marketing theory and practice well. Following the analysis in the present article it is argued that although customers are co-producers in service processes, according to the value-in-use notion adopted in the contemporary marketing and management literature they are fundamentally the creators of value for themselves. Furthermore, it is concluded that although by providing goods and services as input resources into customers’ consumption and value-generating processes firms are fundamentally value facilitators, interactions with customers that exist or can be created enable firms to engage themselves with their customers’ processes and thereby they become co-creators of value with their customers. As marketing implications it is observed that 1) the goal of marketing is to support customers’ value creation, 2) following a service logic and due to the existence of interactions where the firm’s and the customer’s processes merge into an integrated joint value creation process, the firm is not restricted to making value propositions only, but can directly and actively influence the customer’s value fulfilment as well and extend its marketing process to include activities during customer-firm interactions, and 3) although all goods and services are consumed as service, customers’ purchasing decisions can be expected to be dependant of whether they have the skills and interest to use a resource, such as a good, as service or want to buy extended market offerings including process-related elements. Finally, the analysis concludes with five service logic theses.

Towards Service Logic: The Unique Contribution of Value Co-Creation

The underpinning logic of value co-creation in service logic is analysed. It is observed that three of the ten foundational premises of the so-called service-dominant logic are problematic and do not support an understanding of value-co-creation and creation that is meaningful for theoretical development and decision making in business and marketing practice. Without a thorough understanding of the interaction concept, the locus and nature of value co-creation cannot be identified. Based on the analysis in the present article it is observed that a unique contribution of a service perspective on business (service logic) is not that customers always are co-creators of value, but that under certain circumstances the service provider gets opportunities to co-create value together with its customers. Finally, the three problematic premises are reformulated accordingly.

The function of NR3B and NR4A orphan nuclear receptors in osteoblasts

Nuclear receptors (NRs) comprise a large family of proteins that mediate the effects of small lipophilic molecules such as steroid hormones. In addition, there are a group of NRs which lack identified natural ligands and are referred as orphan NRs. In this thesis, the function of two such orphan NR families, the NR3B (ERRα, ERRβ and ERRγ) and the NR4A family (NGFI-B, Nurr1 and Nor1), was studied. NR3B and NR4A receptors regulate many biological processes such as energy metabolism and carcinogenesis. In addition, NR3B and NR4A receptors are expressed in bone. Therefore, the signaling and function of NR3B and NR4A orphan nuclear receptors was studied specifically in osteoblasts. NR4A receptors were found to be regulated by NR3B receptors and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway as ERRα, ERRγ and β-catenin repressed the transcriptional activity of NR4A receptors in U2-OS cells. NGFI-B was found to repress the transcriptional activity of ERRγ in HeLa cells. The phytoestrogen equol was identified as a new agonist for ERRγ and ERRβ in PC-3, U2-OS, and SaOS-2 cells. Equol increased the transcriptional activity of ERRγ by increasing ERRγ co-activator binding and by inducing a conformational change in the ligand binding pocket of ERRγ. The growth inhibitory effect of equol on PC-3 prostate cancer cells was decreased by blocking ERRγ expression by siRNA. Therefore, ERRγ could mediate some of the beneficial health effects of equol. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is important for the differentiation and function of osteoblasts. NR3B and NR4A receptors were found to repress the transcriptional activity mediated by β-catenin in U2-OS cells. The mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from ERRα knockout (KO) mice showed diminished proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation compared to the wild-type cells. The overexpression of ERRα in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cell line increased their mineralization. Bone sialoprotein (BSP) was shown to be a direct target gene for ERRα and ERRγ as the BSP promoter was activated by ERRα or ERRγ and PGC-1α in HeLa cells. The adipogenic differentiation of ERRα KO MSCs was also decreased and they expressed less adipogenic marker genes. In conclusion, the studies described in this thesis demonstrated that the transcriptional activity of NR3B and NR4A receptors can be regulated by other orphan NRs and signaling pathways in osteoblasts. NR3B receptors can also be regulated by ligands and a new agonist, equol, was identified for ERRβ and ERRγ. New roles for NR3B and NR4A were also identified as they were shown to converge with the Wnt signaling pathway in osteoblasts, ERRγ was shown to mediate the growth inhibitory effect of equol in prostate cancer cells, and ERRα was shown to regulate positively MSC proliferation, osteoblastic differentiation and adipogenesis.

Identification and Epidemiological Typing of Campylobacter strains isolated from Patients in Finland

C. jejuni constitutes the majority of Campylobacter strains isolated from patients in Finland, and C. coli strains are also reported. To improve the species identification, a combination of phenotype- and genotype-based methods was applied. Standardising the cell suspension turbidity in the hippurate hydrolysis test enabled the reliable identification of hippurate-positive Campylobacter strains as C. jejuni. The detection of species-specific genes by PCR showed that about 30% of the hippurate-negative strains were C. jejuni. Three typing methods, serotyping, PCR-RFLP analysis of LOS biosynthesis genes and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were evaluated as epidemiological typing tools for C. jejuni. The high number of non-typeable strains lowered the discriminatory ability of serotyping. PCR-RFLP typing offered high discrimination for both serotypeable and non-typeable strains, but the correlation between serotypes and RFLP-types was not high enough to enable its use for molecular serotyping of non-typeable strains. PFGE was a highly discriminative typing method. Although the use of two restriction enzymes generally increases the discriminatory ability, KpnI alone offered almost as high discrimination as the use of SmaI and KpnI. The characteristic seasonal distribution of Campylobacter infections with a peak in summer and low incidence in winter was mainly due to domestically acquired infections. Of the C. jejuni strains, 41% were of domestic origin compared to only 17% of the C. coli strains. Serotypes Pen 12, Pen 6,7 and Pen 27 were significantly associated with domestic C. jejuni infections, Pen 1,44, Pen 3 and Pen 37 with travel-related infections. Pen 2 and Pen 4-complex were common both in domestic and travel-related infections. Serotype Pen 2 was less common among patients 60 years or older than in younger patients, more prevalent in Western Finland than in other parts of the country and more prevalent than other serotypes in winter. The source of Pen 2 infections may be related to cattle, since Pen 2 is the most common serotype in isolates from Finnish cattle. PFGE subtypes among isolates from patients and chickens during the summer 2003 and from cattle during the whole year were compared. The analysis of indistinguishable SmaI/KpnI subtypes suggested that up to 31% of the human infections may have been mediated by chickens and 19% by cattle. Human strains isolated during two one-year sampling periods were studied by PFGE. Of the domestic strains, 69% belonged to SmaI subtypes found during both sampling periods. Four SmaI subtypes accounted for 45% of the domestic strains, further typing of these subtypes by KpnI revealed six temporally persistent SmaI/KpnI subtypes. They were only occasionally identified in travel-related strains, and therefore, can be considered to be national subtypes. Each subtype was associated with a serotype: Pen 2, Pen 12, Pen 27, Pen 4-complex, Pen 41, and Pen 57. Five of these subtypes were identified in cattle (S5/K27, S7/K1, S7/K2, S7/K5 and S64/K19), and two in chickens (S7/K1 and S64/K19) with a temporal association with human infections in 2003. Cattle are more likely potential sources of these persistent subtypes, since long-term excretion of Campylobacter strains by cattle has been reported.

The challenge of LC/MS/MS multi-mycotoxin analysis - Heracles battling the Hydra?

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of filamentous fungi. They pose a health risk to humans and animals due to their harmful biological properties and common occurrence in food and feed. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) has gained popularity in the trace analysis of food contaminants. In this study, the applicability of the technique was evaluated in multi-residue methods of mycotoxins aiming at simultaneous detection of chemically diverse compounds. Methods were developed for rapid determination of toxins produced by fungal genera of Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium and Claviceps from cheese, cereal based agar matrices and grains. Analytes were extracted from these matrices with organic solvents. Minimal sample clean-up was carried out before the analysis of the mycotoxins with reversed phase LC coupled to tandem MS (MS/MS). The methods were validated and applied for investigating mycotoxins in cheese and ergot alkaloid occurrence in Finnish grains. Additionally, the toxin production of two Fusarium species predominant in northern Europe was studied. Nine mycotoxins could be determined from cheese with the method developed. The limits of quantification (LOQ) allowed the quantification at concentrations varying from 0.6 to 5.0 µg/kg. The recoveries ranged between 96 and 143 %, and the within-day repeatability (as relative standard deviation, RSDr) between 2.3 and 12.1 %. Roquefortine C and mycophenolic acid could be detected at levels of 300 up to 12000 µg/kg in the mould cheese samples analysed. A total of 29 or 31 toxins could be analysed with the method developed for agar matrices and grains, with the LOQs ranging overall from 0.1 to 1250 µg/kg. The recoveries ranged generally between 44 and 139 %, and the RSDr between 2.0 and 38 %. Type-A trichothecenes and beauvericin were determined from the cereal based agar and grain cultures of F. sporotrichioides and F. langsethiae. T-2 toxin was the main metabolite, the average levels reaching 22000 µg/kg in the grain cultures after 28 days of incubation. The method developed for ten ergot alkaloids from grains allowed their quantification at levels varying from 0.01 to 10 µg/kg. The recoveries ranged from 51 to 139 %, and the RSDr from 0.6 to 13.9 %. Ergot alkaloids were measured in barley and rye at average levels of 59 and 720 µg/kg, respectively. The two most prevalent alkaloids were ergocornine and ergocristine. The LC/MS methods developed enabled rapid detection of mycotoxins in such applications where several toxins co-occurred. Generally, the performance of the methods was good, allowing reliable analysis of the mycotoxins of interest with sufficiently low quantification limits. However, the variation in validation results highlighted the challenges related to optimising this type of multi-residue methods. New data was obtained about the occurrence of mycotoxins in mould cheeses and of ergot alkaloids in Finnish grains. In addition, the study revealed the high mycotoxin-producing potential of two common fungi in Finnish crops. The information can be useful when risks related to fungal and mycotoxin contamination will be assessed.

Development of radiosynthesis methods for 18F-labelled radiopharmaceuticals : General considerations and production of a dopamine transporter radioligand

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a molecular imaging technique that utilises radiopharmaceuticals (radiotracers) labelled with a positron-emitting radionuclide, such as fluorine-18 (18F). Development of a new radiotracer requires an appropriate radiosynthesis method: the most common of which with 18F is nucleophilic substitution with [18F]fluoride ion. The success of the labelling reaction is dependent on various factors such as the reactivity of [18F]fluoride, the structure of the target compound in addition to the chosen solvent. The overall radiosynthesis procedure must be optimised in terms of radiochemical yield and quality of the final product. Therefore, both quantitative and qualitative radioanalytical methods are essential in developing radiosynthesis methods. Furthermore, biological properties of the tracer candidate need to be evaluated by various pre-clinical studies in animal models. In this work, the feasibility of various nucleophilic 18F-fluorination strategies were studied and a labelling method for a novel radiotracer, N-3-[18F]fluoropropyl-2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-4-fluorophenyl)nortropane ([18F]beta-CFT-FP), was optimised. The effect of solvent was studied by labelling a series of model compounds, 4-(R1-methyl)benzyl R2-benzoates. 18F-Fluorination reactions were carried out both in polar aprotic and protic solvents (tertiary alcohols). Assessment of the 18F-fluorinated products was studied by mass spectrometry (MS) in addition to conventional radiochromatographic methods, using radiosynthesis of 4-[18F]fluoro-N-[2-[1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl-N-2-pyridinyl-benzamide (p-[18F]MPPF) as a model reaction. Labelling of [18F]beta-CFT-FP was studied using two 18F-fluoroalkylation reagents, [18F]fluoropropyl bromide and [18F]fluoropropyl tosylate, as well as by direct 18F-fluorination of sulfonate ester precursor. Subsequently, the suitability of [18F]beta-CFT-FP for imaging dopamine transporter (DAT) was evaluated by determining its biodistribution in rats. The results showed that protic solvents can be useful co-solvents in aliphatic 18F-fluorinations, especially in the labelling of sulfonate esters. Aromatic 18F-fluorination was not promoted in tert-alcohols. Sensitivity of the ion trap MS was sufficient for the qualitative analysis of the 18F-labelled products; p-[18F]MPPF was identified from the isolated product fraction with a mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio of 435 (i.e. protonated molecule [M+H]+). [18F]beta-CFT-FP was produced most efficiently via [18F]fluoropropyl tosylate, leading to sufficient radiochemical yield and specific radioactivity for PET studies. The ex vivo studies in rats showed fast kinetics as well as the specific uptake of [18F]beta-CFT-FP to the DAT rich brain regions. Thus, it was concluded that [18F]beta-CFT-FP has potential as a radiotracer for imaging DAT by PET.

Temperature-Sensitive Src-Transformed Mdck Cells nn 3d Cultures as a Model of Malignant Transformation of Epithelial Cells

The equilibrium between cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis is crucial for maintaining homeostasis in epithelial tissues. In order for the epithelium to function properly, individual cells must gain normal structural and functional polarity. The junctional proteins have an important role both in binding the cells together and in taking part in cell signaling. Cadherins form adherens junctions. Cadherins initiate the polarization process by first recognizing and binding the neighboring cells together, and then guiding the formation of tight junctions. Tight junctions form a barrier in dividing the plasma membranes to apical and basolateral membrane domains. In glandular tissues, single layered and polarized epithelium is folded into tubes or spheres, in which the basal side of the epithelial layer faces the outer basal membrane, and the apical side the lumen. In carcinogenesis, the differentiated architecture of an epithelial layer is disrupted. Filling of the luminal space is a hallmark of early epithelial tumors in tubular and glandular structures. In order for the transformed tumor cells to populate the lumen, enhanced proliferation as well as inhibition of apoptosis is required. Most advances in cancer biology have been achieved by using two-dimensional (2D) cell culture models, in which the cells are cultured on flat surfaces as monolayers. However, the 2D cultures are limited in their capacity to recapitulate the structural and functional features of tubular structures and to represent cell growth and differentiation in vivo. The development of three-dimensional (3D) cell culture methods enables the cells to grow and to be studied in a more natural environment. Despite the wide use of 2D cell culture models and the development of novel 3D culture methods, it is not clear how the change of the dimensionality of culture conditions alters the polarization and transformation process and the molecular mechanisms behind them. Src is a well-known oncogene. It is found in focal and adherens junctions of cultured cells. Active src disrupts cell-cell junctions and interferes with cell-matrix binding. It promotes cell motility and survival. Src transformation in 2D disrupts adherens junctions and the fibroblastic phenotype of the cells. In 3D, the adherens junctions are weakened, and in glandular structures, the lumen is filled with nonpolarized vital cells. Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells are an epithelial cell type commonly used as a model for cell polarization. Its-src-transformed variants are useful model systems for analyzing the changes in cell morphology, and they play a role in src-induced malignant transformation. This study investigates src-transformed cells in 3D cell cultures as a model for malignant transformation. The following questions were posed. Firstly: What is the role of the composition and stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) on the polarization and transformation of ts v-src MDCK cells in 3D cell cultures? Secondly: How do the culture conditions affect gene expression? What is the effect of v-src transformation in 2D and in 3D cell models? How does the shift from 2D to 3D affect cell polarity and gene expression? Thirdly: What is the role of survivin and its regulator phosphatase and tensin homolog protein (PTEN) in cell polarization and transformation, and in determining cell fate? How does their expression correlate with impaired mitochondrial function in transformed cells? In order to answer the above questions, novel methods of culturing and monitoring cells had to be created: novel 3D methods of culturing epithelial cells were engineered, enabling real time monitoring of a polarization and transformation process, and functional testing of 3D cell cultures. Novel 3D cell culture models and imaging techniques were created for the study. Attention was focused especially on confocal microscopy and live-cell imaging. Src-transformation disturbed the polarization of the epithelium by disrupting cell adhesion, and sensitized the cells to their environment. With active src, the morphology of the cell cluster depended on the composition and stiffness of the matrix. Gene expression studies revealed a broader impact of src transformation than mere continuous activity of src-kinase. In 2D cultures, src transformation altered the expression of immunological, actin cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix (ECM). In 3D, the genes regulating cell division, inhibition of apoptosis, cell metabolism, mitochondrial function, actin cytoskeleton and mechano-sensing proteins were altered. Surprisingly, changing the culture conditions from 2D to 3D affected also gene expression considerably. The microarray hit survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis, played a crucial role in the survival and proliferation of src-transformed cells.

Suolistopatogeenisten Escherichia coli -bakteerien esiintyvyys ripulipotilailla ja raa’oissa lihatuotteissa Burkina Fasossa sekä enterohemorraagisten E. coli -kantojen karakterisointi

Suolistopatogeeniset Escherichia coli -bakteerit eli ripulikolit aiheuttavat ihmisellä suolistoinfektioita. Kuten normaalimikrobiston E. coli -bakteerit, ne esiintyvät ihmisen lisäksi muiden nisäkkäiden, etenkin märehtijöiden, ja lintujen suolistossa. Lisäksi ne voivat esiintyä maaperässä ja vesistöissä. Ihminen voi saada tartunnan eläinperäisten elintarvikkeiden välityksellä tai juomalla eläinten tai ihmisen ulosteilla saastunutta vettä. Ripulikolit voidaan jakaa ainakin viiteen ryhmään perustuen niiden erilaisiin virulenssiominaisuuksiin: enteropatogeeninen E. coli (EPEC), enterotoksigeeninen E. coli (ETEC), enterohemorraaginen E. coli (EHEC), enteroinvasiivinen E. coli (EIEC) ja enteroaggregatiivinen E. coli (EAEC). EPEC aiheuttaa etenkin kehitysmaissa pikkulapsille ripulia. ETEC aiheuttaa turistiripulia ja vastasyntyneiden ripulia kehitysmaissa. EHEC aiheuttaa ripulia tai veriripulia, joka voi varsinkin pienillä lapsilla johtaa hemolyyttis-ureemiseen oireyhtymään (HUS) ja munuaisten vaurioitumiseen. EIEC aiheuttaa Shigellan kaltaista ripulia, joka voi olla veristä. EAEC on yhdistetty lähinnä pitkittyneisiin ripuleihin. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin suolistopatogeenisten E. coli -bakteerien esiintyvyyttä Burkina Fasossa, josta ei ole saatavilla aikaisempaa tietoa ripulikolien esiintymisestä ihmisissä ja elintarvikkeissa. Ulostenäytteitä otettiin ripulia sairastavilta alle viisivuotiailta lapsilta maaseudulta kahdesta kylästä, Boromosta ja Gourcysta, ja maan pääkaupungista Ouagadougousta (110 näytettä). Lihanäytteitä (kanaa, nautaa, lammasta ja naudan suolta, jota käytetään ihmisravinnoksi) otettiin Ouagadougoun toreilla myytävistä kypsentämättömistä lihoista (120 näytettä). Näytteistä saadut bakteerisekaviljelmät tutkittiin monialukkeisella PCR-menetelmällä, joka tunnistaa viiden ripulikoliryhmän virulenssigeenejä. Lisäksi lihanäytteistä eristettiin 20 EHEC-kantaa shigatoksiinin stx-geenin havaitsemiseen perustuvalla pesäkehybridisaatiolla ja PCR-seulonnalla, ja karakterisoitiin mahdollisten virulenssiominaisuuksien selvittämiseksi. Tutkimus osoitti, että ripulikolien aiheuttamat suolistoinfektiot ovat yleisiä ripulia sairastavilla pikkulapsilla Burkina Fasossa. Ulostenäytteistä 59 % oli positiivisia. Useimmiten lapsilla esiintyi EAEC- (32 %) ETEC- (31 %) ja EPEC-patoryhmiä (20 %). EIEC- (2 %) ja EHEC-patoryhmiä (1 %) esiintyi vähän. Myös useamman patoryhmän sekainfektiot olivat yleisiä (24 %). Eri paikkakuntien välillä oli tilastollisesti merkitseviä eroja ripulikolien esiintymisessä. Gourcyssa ripulikoleja esiintyi useammin kuin Ouagadougoussa ja Boromossa. Tutkimuksessa kävi ilmi, että Ouagadougoun toreilla myytävissä lihoissa on paljon ripulikoleja. Lihanäytteistä 43 % oli positiivisia. Yleisimmin lihoissa esiintyi EHEC (28 %), EPEC (20 %), ETEC (8 %) ja EAEC (5 %). EIEC-ryhmää ei havaittu lihoissa. Myös useamman patoryhmän sekakontaminaatioita löytyi (17 %) lihoista. Ripulikolien esiintyvyydessä eri lihojen välillä ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitseviä eroja, kun tarkasteltiin kaikkia patoryhmiä yhdessä. Eri patoryhmien esiintyvyyttä tarkasteltaessa EHEC-patoryhmää ei esiintynyt ollenkaan kanassa ja ero oli tilastollisesti merkitsevä muihin lihoihin verrattuna. Lihoista eristetyt 20 EHEC-kantaa kuuluivat 14 eri serotyyppiin, joista osa on aikaisemmin eristetty suolistoinfektioihin ja HUSoireyhtymään sairastuneilta ihmisiltä. Kaikki kannat olivat stx1-positiivisia ja puolella oli lisäksi stx2-geeni, jota pidetään shigatoksiinin virulentimpana muotona. Kahdelta EHEC-kannalta löytyi myös ETECpatoryhmän lämpöstabiilin enterotoksiini Ia:n geeni eli kannat olivat kahden patoryhmän välimuotoa ja osoitus geenien siirtymisestä eri patoryhmien välillä. Vaikka nuorimmat näytteen antaneet lapsipotilaat tuskin söivät lihaa, sen voidaan ajatella silti olevan edustava näyte lasten elinympäristöstä, sillä lasten ruoka valmistetaan usein samoissa oloissa, joissa raakaa lihaa käsitellään. Saastunut liha voi siten olla pikkulasten ripulikoli-infektioiden aiheuttaja.

Making Sense of Value and Value Co-Creation in Service Logic

In order to further develop the logic of service, value creation, value co-creation and value have to be formally and rigorously defined, so that the nature, content and locus of value and the roles of service providers and customers in value creation can be unambiguously assessed. In the present article, following the underpinning logic of value-in-use, it is demonstrated that in order to achieve this, value creation is best defined as the customer’s creation of value-in-use. The analysis shows that the firm’s and customer’s processes and activities can be divided into a provider sphere, closed for the customer, and a customer sphere, closed for the firm. Value creation occurs in the customer sphere, whereas firms in the provider sphere facilitate value creation by producing resources and processes which represent potential value or expected value-in use for their customers. By getting access to the closed customer sphere, firms can create a joint value sphere and engage in customers’ value creation as co-creators of value with them. This approach establishes a theoretically sound foundation for understanding value creation in service logic, and enables meaningful managerial implications, for example as to what is required for co-creation of value, and also further theoretical elaborations.