Mass customization (MC), an organization's ability to provide customized products and services that fulfil each customer's idiosyncratic needs without considerable trade-offs in cost, delivery and ...quality, is gaining importance among companies. To help practitioners on the complex path towards MC, academic research has provided some guidelines for MC implementation. Recent reviews in this research sub-stream underlined the lack of MC implementation guidelines (MC-IGs) specifically developed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and also indicated the opportunity to use the design science research (DSR) strategy to develop new MC-IGs. The present research answers call for new MC-IGs by developing maturity grid-based MC implementation guidelines for SMEs that comply with the MC-IG building blocks and the MC-IG properties indicated by Suzić, Forza, et al.. The development of such guidelines followed a DSR strategy that included short- and long-term observational evaluations in two SMEs over three years.
This study focuses on the four human-resource-management (HRM) practices that characterize high involvement (HI), the most advanced approach to employee involvement. These practices push power, ...information, rewards, and knowledge down to the lowest level of an organization. The impact of these practices on a manufacturing firm's mass-customization capability (MCC) is examined, along with the way this impact is influenced by the degree of product customization (DPC) that the firm provides to its customers. Based on survey data from 195 manufacturing plants in three industries and eight countries, the study finds empirical evidence that these practices improve MCC when they are adopted jointly and, at the same time, DPC surpasses a certain threshold value. The same practices, when implemented independent of one another, do not have statistically significant effects on MCC. Furthermore, as DPC drops below the threshold, the effect of this configuration of practices becomes non-significant at conventional p levels and gradually decreases until it turns into a negative effect, which comes closer to statistical significance when the DPC reaches its minimum. This study is the first to examine the effects of HRM practices on MCC by taking full advantage of the contingent configurational perspective that is strongly advocated in the strategic HRM literature. The results of this study extend the debate on the organizational enablers of MCC and, at the same time, add to the well-established discussion on the performance outcomes of HRM practices in general and HI practices in particular.
•Focuses on high involvement (HI), the most advanced approach to employee involvement.•Empirically examines the impact of HI practices on mass-customization capability (MCC).•Studies the moderation effect of the degree of product customization (DPC) on this impact.•Finds that HI practices improve MCC when they are adopted jointly and DPC surpasses a minimum.•Alerts practitioners that HI does not fit all types of mass-customization strategy.
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the use of the knowledge management (KM) perspective for configuration projects. Configuration projects implement configurators as information technology systems ...that help companies manage the specification process of customised products. An effective method of retrieving and formalising knowledge for configurators is essential, because it can reduce the risk of unsuccessful implementation and the time and effort required for development. Unfortunately, no standard KM frameworks are available specifically for configuration projects. This study identifies the knowledge necessary for different phases of a configuration project (which knowledge, for what purpose and from what sources), examines how it is transformed during a configuration project (what KM activities and tools are used) and establishes how the knowledge can be documented for future maintenance and updates.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a four-step framework for making the KM process more efficient in configuration projects. The framework is based on the literature, developed in collaboration with industrial partners and tested on four configuration projects in two engineering companies. The framework is a structured KM approach designed to save time for both domain experts and the configuration team. The authors have used a qualitative exploratory design based on multiple data sources: documentation, workshops and participant observation.
Findings
The proposed framework comprises four steps: determination of the system’s scope, to establish the project’s goal based on stakeholders’ requirements and prioritise the required products and processes; knowledge acquisition, to classify the knowledge according to the desired output and identify different knowledge sources; modelling and knowledge validation; and documentation and maintenance, to ensure that the KM system can be maintained and updated in the future.
Research limitations/implications
Because the framework is tested on a limited number of cases, its generalisability may be limited. However, focusing on a few case applications allows us to assess the effectiveness of the framework in detail and in depth to identify the practical challenges of applying it. The results of the tests support the framework’s validity. Although the framework is designed mainly for engineering companies, other industries could benefit from using it as well.
Practical implications
The individual steps of the framework create a structured approach for the KM process. Thus, the approach can save both time and resources for companies, without the need for additional investment.
Originality/value
A standard framework is lacking in the literature on KM for configuration projects. This study fills that gap by developing a KM framework for configuration projects, based on KM frameworks developed for IT projects, and KM tools.
PurposeThe operational capability of mass customization (MC) allows consumers to obtain products tailored to their idiosyncratic needs. This study aims to provide insights into the potential of this ...capability for countering a product's liability of foreignness – the negative effect of the out-group status of a product's country of origin (COO) on consumers' evaluations of the product.Design/methodology/approachBased on the social identity approach, it is hypothesized that this liability is reduced when a consumer product is mass-customized rather than standardized as per a mass-production strategy. This hypothesis is tested using a mixed between- and within-subject experiment.FindingsWhen evaluating mass-produced sneakers, native German-speaking (Italian-speaking) South Tyrolean consumers rated the quality of Italian (German) sneakers significantly lower than that of German (Italian) sneakers. However, when the sneakers were mass-customized, this difference in perceived product quality was non-significant for both groups of consumers, supporting the research hypothesis.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could replicate this study in other samples, with other product types, COOs and countries of destination, as well as at different degrees of product customization.Practical implicationsBusiness-to-consumer firms contemplating the development of their MC capability are made aware that the benefits of this operational capability might go beyond the typical advantages highlighted by the existing literature.Originality/valueThis paper joins the discussion on MC value by offering a theoretical explanation and empirical support for another mechanism through which the operational capability of MC can create value, at least in business-to-consumer industries: by countering a product's possible liability of foreignness and thus increasing perceived product quality in export markets.
A 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.
•Explores the interconnectedness of mass customization (MC) and green management (GM).•Reports the results of a longitudinal case study in a machinery manufacturing firm.•Some pairs of one MC capability and one GM capability mutually reinforce each other.•Some GM capabilities are less costly/more beneficial if a certain MC capability is built first.•Supports managerial decisions on improvement sequences within green MC strategies.
•“Unplanned” internationalization does not necessarily involve non-logic decisions.•The adoption of effectual logic can help in accelerating the internationalization process.•The switching from ...causal to effectual logic may assist in overcoming liabilities of outsidership.
International entrepreneurship literature has indicated that entrepreneurs often increase international activities along unexpected lines of reasoning without having a precise goal, resulting in “unplanned” internationalization. We argue that “unplanned” internationalization does not necessarily involve non-logical decisions; but, entrepreneurs can follow an effectual rather than causal logic and may base their decisions on the affordable loss principle rather than on the maximization of expected returns. Based on five case-studies, we discuss the implication of effectual decision-making on the internationalization process. We find that switching from causal to effectual logic allows firms to rapidly increase the level of commitment in the foreign market and could assist in overcoming liabilities of outsidership and, therefore, successfully increase the level of commitment in the foreign market.
This paper provides guidelines for the design and execution of survey research in operations management (OM). The specific requirements of survey research aimed at gathering and analysing data for ...theory testing are contrasted with other types of survey research. The focus is motivated by the need to tackle the various issues which arise in the process of survey research. The paper does not intend to be exhaustive: its aim is to guide the researcher, presenting a systematic picture which synthesises suitable survey practices for research in an OM context. The fundamental aim is to contribute to an increase in the quality of OM research and, as a consequence, to the status of the OM discipline among the scientific community.
Complexity management is an increasing challenge for industrial companies. To address this issue, this paper develops a procedure to reduce the complexity of products and processes. This procedure ...includes five steps: (1) definition of the scope of the products and processes to be included in the analysis, (2) grouping of products into A,B, and C categories, (3) identification and quantification of the most important complexity cost factors, (4) identification of initiatives for the possible reduction of complexity costs and the quantification of possible cost savings, and (5) evaluation and prioritisation of initiatives. To test the usefulness of the suggested procedure, it was applied at a globally leading manufacturer of mechanical consumer products. The case study demonstrated the usefulness of the proposed procedure in (1) supporting the allocation of complexity costs in relation to individual product variants, (2) achieving a better understanding of the cost structure of product assortment and business processes, and (3) providing a basis for generating and evaluating initiatives aimed at reducing the complexity of products and processes. The case study also showed that the use of the procedure can produce considerable financial benefits.
Product configurator impact on product quality Trentin, Alessio; Perin, Elisa; Forza, Cipriano
International journal of production economics,
02/2012, Volume:
135, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
More and more firms today rely on product configurators to more efficiently and effectively meet increasingly diverse customers’ needs. In literature, however, the discussion of the performance ...outcomes of product configurator use is limited and largely based on anecdotal evidence. Our paper contributes to fill this gap by developing and empirically testing hypotheses about the relationship between product configurator use and product quality. We find empirical support for the hypotheses that product configurator use improves product quality and that this relationship is negatively moderated by the difficulty for a company to determine the needs of its target market. We conclude by discussing implications of our findings for both research and practice.
Purpose
The development of mass-customization capability (MCC) is crucial for a growing number of manufacturing firms nowadays and presents great challenges, especially in the area of operations ...management. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into which individual competencies (ICs) of an operations manager (OM) are important to the MCC of the manufacturing organization the OM works for.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple-case study was designed, involving eight machinery manufacturers in one European country, to collect data on their MCC and on the ICs of their OMs. Empirical case data were triangulated with analytical conceptual arguments grounded in the existing literature.
Findings
The study provides empirical evidence of, and logical explanations for, the fact that OMs working in high-MCC manufacturing organizations use the ICs of negotiation, information seeking, efficiency orientation, analytical thinking and pattern recognition significantly more often than OMs employed by low-MCC organizations.
Research limitations/implications
Future research could replicate this study in other industries and countries, as well as for other managerial roles.
Practical implications
The study provides indications for OM selection and training in companies that are pursuing a mass-customization strategy.
Originality/value
While the literature on technological and organization-level enablers of MCC has grown considerably, the understanding of its individual-level enablers is still limited and concerns mostly the workforce. This is the first study that relies not on practitioners’ opinions, but on data regarding manufacturers’ MCC and their managers’ ICs to shed light on which managerial competencies are important to a manufacturer’s MCC.
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