1,720,969 research outputs found
Complementarities between mass customization capabilities and green management capabilities: a longitudinal case study
Full text linkNowadays more and more companies pursuit mass customization (MC)–the provision of high product variety and customization with operational performance levels that are comparable to those of a mass producer–in combination with green management (GM)–the integration of environmental sustainability principles into the business. Both the pursuit of MC and that of GM cost companies a great deal of effort and, when MC and GM have to be combined, this represents a considerable challenge for the organization.
However, literature still lacks studies that suggest how to reduce the costs of dealing with such a combined challenge. To narrow this research gap, the present dissertation investigates whether complementarities between organizational capabilities supporting MC and organizational capabilities supporting GM exist and why. To that purpose, a longitudinal case study has been conducted in a manufacturing organization that succeeded in developing both capabilities for MC and capabilities for GM. The findings of this study indicate that complementarities between those capabilities exist and result in sub-additive costs for the organization. Some of these complementarities are symmetric, since the capabilities involved in the relationship equally complement each other. Other complementarities are asymmetric, as the development of certain capabilities for MC alleviates the cost of developing certain capabilities for GM but not vice versa. Collectively, these results improve our understanding of the interrelationships between the economic sustainability, achieved through MC, and the environmental sustainability, achieved through GM, of businesses operating in highly competitive industries whose customers ask for high product customization. Moreover, the finding of asymmetric complementarities suggests that, in such contexts, companies should first focus on developing certain capabilities for MC before embarking in the pursuit of GM
Unfolding the linkages between green management capabilities and mass customization capabilities: an exploratory study
No full textThe need to bridge mass customization (MC) with green management (GM) is starting to be recognized in literature. To date, this emerging discussion has been almost exclusively conceptual or simulation-based. To contribute to the empirical grounding of this discussion, we present the preliminary results of a longitudinal case study in a company faced with the twofold challenge of MC and GM. We identify the key organizational capabilities associated with these two strategies in the company. Then, we discuss some positive linkages between MC capabilities and GM capabilities that emerged from a preliminary analysis of the empirical evidence
Sales configurator capabilities to avoid the product variety paradox: construct development and validation
No full textSales configurators are applications designed to support potential customers in choosing, within a company's product offer, the product solution that best fits their needs. These applications can help firms avoid the risk that offering more product variety and customization in an attempt to increase sales, paradoxically results in a loss of sales. Relatively few studies, however, have focused on the characteristics sales configurators should have so as to avoid this paradox. Furthermore, empirical investigation on the effectiveness of the recommendations made by these studies has been hindered by the lack of psychometrically sound measurement items and scales. This paper conceptualizes, develops and validates five capabilities that sales configurators should deploy in order to avoid the product variety paradox: namely, focused navigation, flexible navigation, easy comparison, benefit-cost communication, and user-friendly product-space description capabilities. It is hoped that this study will provide a parsimonious measurement instrument to advance theory testing in the field. Moreover, this instrument may be a useful diagnostic and benchmarking tool for companies seeking to assess and/or improve sales configurators they use or develop
Organisational antecedents of mass customization capability
No full textThe need to transform the organisation for mass customisation has long been recognized in literature, but the discussion has largely relied on anecdotal evidence or case studies and has limitedly taken advantage of insights from organisation theory. We draw on organisational information-processing theory to relate mass customisation capability (MCC) to four organisation-design strategies aimed at either increasing the organisation’s information-processing capacity or decreasing its information-processing need. We test the hypothesized relationships using a sample of 238 manufacturing plants from three industries and eight countries and find that MCC is positively related to task self-containment, environmental management, and lateral relations use
Increasing the consumer-perceived benefits of a mass-customization experience through sales-configurator capabilities
No full textThe consumer's experience of self-customizing a product with a sales configurator can be a source of experience-related benefits for the consumer, above and beyond the traditionally considered utility of possessing a product that better fits his/her idiosyncratic needs. Although such experience-related benefits have been found by previous studies as increasing consumers??? willingness to pay for mass-customized products, research on what characteristics sales configurators should have to increase such benefits is still in its infancy. In this paper, we argue that two such benefits (i.e., hedonic and creative-achievement benefits) increase as a sales configurator deploys, to a greater extent, the following capabilities: focused navigation, flexible navigation, user-friendly product space description, easy comparison and benefit-cost communication. Subsequently, by analyzing 675 self-customization experiences made by 75 engineering students on 30 real Web-based configurators of consumer goods, we find empirical support for all the hypothesized relationships. We conclude discussing the contribution of the study to relevant debates, its managerial implications as well as its limitations and the related opportunities for further research
Embeddedness and path dependence of organizational capabilities for mass customization and green management: A longitudinal case study in the machinery industry
Full text linkA growing number of firms today have to cope with the twofold challenge of mass customization (i.e., combining high performance in product customization with high performance in cost, delivery and quality) and green management (i.e., integrating environmental-sustainability principles into businesses). Research on this joint challenge, however, is still limited in the literature. To narrow this gap, we empirically investigate the interconnectedness of mass customization and green management on the level of their enabling capabilities. Through a single longitudinal case study in a machinery manufacturing organization that, during the period of observation, succeeded in developing both mass-customization capabilities and green-management capabilities, we find overlaps and path dependences between such capabilities. Pragmatically, these findings indicate synergies that firms pursuing a green mass customization strategy may leverage in order to alleviate the difficulty of implementing that strategy. From an academic standpoint, these findings contribute to the debate on the relationship between the environmental pillar of sustainability and its economic pillar and, at the same time, add both to the body of the literature on mass customization and to the one on green management. Limitations of the present study and the related opportunities for future research are, finally, discussed
Avoiding the variety paradox through product configurators
No full textProduct configurators can help firms avoid the risk that offering more product variety in an attempt to increase sales, paradoxically results in a loss of sales. Few studies, however, have focused on the characteristics configurators should have so as to avoid this paradox. Furthermore, empirical investigation on the effectiveness of the recommendations made by these studies has been hindered by the lack of psychometrically sound measures. This paper conceptualizes, develops and validates five capabilities that product configurators should deploy to avoid the variety paradox: namely, focused navigation, flexible navigation, easy comparison, benefit-cost communication, user-friendly product-space description capabilities
The effect of sales configurator capabilities on the value perceived by the customer through the customization process
No full textLiterature has recently conceptualized five capabilities that a sales configurator should deploy in order to help avoid the product variety paradox, namely the risk that offering more product variety and customization, in an attempt to increase sales, paradoxically results in a loss of sales. However, no studies have investigated the effect of such capabilities on the value that users may derive from the experience of customizing their own products. To help narrow this research gap, in the present work we develop a number of hypotheses about the positive impact of such capabilities on the hedonic and creative value obtained by potential customers through the customization experience. We then test the hypothesized relationships and find empirical support for all of them
Sales configurator capabilities to prevent product variety from backfiring
No full textFirms offering high product variety and customization can paradoxically experience a loss of sales because customers feel overwhelmed by the number of product configurations offered. Sales configurators may be a solution for avoiding this paradox, but relatively few studies have focused on the characteristics they should have in order to overcome this problem. Furthermore, empirical investigation on the effectiveness of the recommendations made by these studies has been hindered by the lack of psychometrically sound measurement items and scales. This paper conceptualizes, develops and validates five capabilities that sales configurators should deploy in order to avoid the product variety paradox: namely, focused navigation, flexible navigation, easy comparison, benefit-cost communication, and user-friendly product-space description capabilities. The measurement instrument is hoped to support advancements in both research and practice
Complementary capabilities for green mass customization
No full textMore and more firms today have to cope with the challenge of combining mass customization and green management, but research on green mass customization is still limited. To narrow this gap, we empirically investigate whether complementarities between organizational capabilities supporting mass customization (MCCs) and organizational capabilities supporting green management (GMCs) exist and why. Based on an in-depth longitudinal case study, we posit four either symmetric or asymmetric complementarities between specific pairs of MCCs and GMCs. These findings suggest synergies that companies faced with the twofold challenge of MC and GM may leverage to reduce the costs of that challenge
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