International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut ero labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco.

GUIDE FOR AUTHORS SUBMIT MANUSCRIPT
Vol. 7 No. 4 (2016)
Original Research Article

An Empirical Study of the External Environmental Factors Influencing the Degree of Product Customization

Enrico Sandrin
Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova
Bio

Published 2016-12-30

abstract views: 17 // FULL TEXT ARTICLE (PDF): 0


Keywords

  • Mass customization,
  • Degree of product customization,
  • External environmental factors,
  • Survey research

How to Cite

Sandrin, E. (2016). An Empirical Study of the External Environmental Factors Influencing the Degree of Product Customization. International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 7(4), 135–142. https://doi.org/10.24867/IJIEM-2016-4-116

Abstract

External environmental factors play a fundamental role in the strategic decisions a company intends to make, which in turn influence the organizational design choices. A widely known key strategic decision in the context of mass customization is the degree of product customization a firm provides to its customers. However, the impact of the external environment on the degree of product customization has yet to be empirically investigated. To narrow this research gap, the present paper empirically examines the impacts of three external environmental factors, namely competitive intensity, heterogeneity of customer demands, and dynamism of customer demands, on the degree of product customization, using survey data from 195 manufacturing plants in three industries and eight countries. Among the three examined factors, the paper identifies the dynamism of customer demands as a key factor that pushes firms to increase the degree of product customization they provide to their customers.

 

Article history: Received (01.11.2016); Revised (24.11.2016); Accepted (20.12.2016)  

PlumX Metrics

Dimensions Citation Metrics