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Fabrizio Salvador, Pablo Martin de Holanand Frank Piller
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THE CONCEPT OF mass customizationmakes sense. Why wouldn’t peoplewant to be treated as individual customers,with products tailored to theirspecific needs? But mass customizationhas been trickier to implement than firstanticipated, and many companies souredon the approach after a number of highprofileflops, including Levi Strauss &Co.’s failed attempt at manufacturingcustom jeans. Now, executives tend tothink of mass customization as a fascinatingbut impractical idea, the preserveof a small number of extreme cases, suchas Dell Inc. in the PC market.Our research suggests otherwise. Over
the past decade, we have studied mass customizationat a number of differentorganizations, including a survey of morethan 200 manufacturing plants in eightcountries. (See “About the Research,”p. 72.) From that investigation, we foundthat mass customization is not some exoticapproach with limited application.Instead, it is a strategic mechanism that isapplicable to most businesses, providedthat it is appropriately understood and deployed. The key is to view it basically as a process for aligningan organization with its customers’ needs. That is, mass customization is not about achievingsome idealized state in which a company knows exactly what each customer wants and can manufacturespecific, individualized goods to satisfy those demands — all at mass-production costs.Rather, it is about moving toward these goals by developing a set of organizational capabilities1 thatwill, over time, supplement and enrich an existing business.
That set of fundamental capabilities is threefold: (1) the ability to identify the product attributesalong which customer needs diverge, (2) the ability to reuse or recombine existing organizationaland value-chain resources and (3) the ability to help customers identify or build solutions to their
MARKETING
Cracking the Code of
Mass Customization
Most companies can benefit from mass customization, yet few do. The key is to think of itas a process for aligning a business with its customers’ needs.
BY FABRIZIO SALVADOR, PABLO MARTIN DE HOLAN AND FRANK PILLER
THE LEADING
QUESTION
How can companies benefit from mass customization?
FINDINGS
Managers musttailor the process toan existingbusiness — ratherthan vice versa.Three capabilitiesare required:
(1) identifyingthe product attributesalong whichcustomer needsdiverge, (2) reusingor recombiningexisting resourcesand (3) helpingcustomers determineor build theirown solutions.
72 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW SPRING 2009 WWW.SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU
own needs. Admittedly, the development of these capabilitiesrequires changes that are often difficult
because of powerful inertial forces in an organization,but that makes the argument more compelling:
Those companies that are able to develop the capabilitieswill be able to enjoy long-lasting competitiveadvantages. In addition, we believe that many obstaclescan be overcome by using a variety of approaches,and that even small improvements can reap substantialbenefits. The trick is to remember that there is no
one best way to mass customize: Managers need totailor the approach in ways that make the most sensefor their specific businesses.U本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。