Effective configurations of value creation and capture capabilities: extending Treacy and Wiersema’s value disciplines

This article theoretically elaborates and empirically investigates the alignment of the value creation and capture capabilities of Treacy and Wiersema’s (1993, 1995) typology of three strategies for superior customer value (product leadership, operational excellence, and customer intimacy). Drawing on configuration theory, the current study develops three propositions that predict how each strategy in Treacy and Wiersema’s typology corresponds to a particular mix of value creation and capture capabilities, which lead to competitive advantage and success in the marketplace. Using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, data from a multi-industry sample of 110 R&D managers and 242 customers serve to empirically identify the operating models of the three conceptually derived strategies and their customer value performance. The results confirm the anticipated three strategies and indicate that each exhibits a unique combination of value creation capabilities and carefully aligned set of value capture capabilities. Although the three strategies demand clear trade-offs in the value creation domain, for value capture such trade-offs do not exist.