Management literature has suggested that the advent of mass customisation marks the end for trade‐offs between customisation and other competitive priorities (Pine et al. 1993; Westbrook and Williamson 1993; Tu et al. 2001). However, evidence supporting this proposition is anecdotal. This paper examines the impact of product customisation on four competitive priorities, drawing upon the results of a recent survey of 102 U.K. manufacturing firms from eight industry sectors. The study indicates significant compatibility between customisation and quality, volume flexibility, delivery reliability and non‐manufacturing costs. On the other hand, trade‐offs remain between customisation and manufacturing costs and delivery lead times. The results contradict the initial proposition that customisation can be “free,” and have important implications for firms embarking upon a mass customisation strategy.
AhlstromP.WestbrookR.. 1999. Implications of mass customisation for operations management. International Journal of Operations and Production Management3262–274.
2.
BermanB.2002. Should your firm adopt a mass customization strategy?Business Horizons45(4) 51–60.
3.
BhattG. D.EmdadA. F.. 2001. An analysis of the virtual value chain in electronic commerce. Logistics Information Management1478–84.
4.
BoyerK. K.LewisM. W.. 2002. Competitive priorities: Investigating the need for trade‐offs in operations strategy. Production and Operations Management11(1) 9–20.
5.
BoyerK. K.LeongG. K.WardP. T., et al.1997. Unlocking the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies. Journal of Operations Management15331–347.
6.
BoyerK. K.WardP. T.LeongG. K.. 1996. Approaches to the factory of the future. An empirical taxonomy. Journal of Operations Management14(4) 297–313.
7.
BrownS.2000. Manufacturing the future—Strategic resonance for enlightened manufacturing. Financial Times, London.
8.
CollinsR. S.CordonC.JulienD.. 1998. An empirical test of the rigid flexibility model. Journal of Operations Management16133–146.
9.
CollinsR. S.SchmennerR.. 1993. Achieving rigid flexibility: Factory focus for the 1990s. European Management Journal11(4) 443–447.
10.
ConnorR. A.DavidsonJ. P.. 1985. Marketing our consulting and professional services. Wiley and Sons, New York, New York.
11.
DaSilveiraG.BorensteinD.FogliattoF. S.. 2001. Mass customization: Literature review and research directions. International Journal of Production Economics721–13.
12.
DaSilveiraG.SlackN.. 2001. Exploring the trade‐off concept. International Journal of Operations and Production Management21(7) 949–964.
DurayR.2002. Mass customisation origins: mass or custom manufacturing?International Journal of Operations and Production Management22(3) 314–328.
15.
DurayR.WardP. T.MilliganG. W., et al.2000. Approaches to mass customisation: Configurations and empirical validation. Journal of Operations Management18605–625.
16.
EastwoodM. A.1996. Implementing mass customization. Computers in Industry30171–174.
17.
FerdowsK.DeMeyerA.. 1990. Lasting improvements in manufacturing performance. Journal of Operations Management9168–184.
18.
FilippiniR.ForzaC.VinelliA.. 1998. Trade‐off and compatibility between performance: Definitions and empirical evidence. International Journal of Production Research36(12) 3379–3406.
19.
FineC. H.HaxA. C.. 1985. Manufacturing strategy: A methodology and an illustration. Interfaces15(6) 28–46.
20.
FiratA. F.SchultzC. J.II. 1997. From segmentation to fragmentation: markets and marketing strategy in the postmodern era. European Journal of Marketing31(3/4) 183–207.
21.
FlynnB. B.SchroederR. G.FlynnE. J.. 1999. World class manufacturing: an investigation of Hayes and Wheelwright's foundation. Journal of Operations Management17249–269.
22.
ForzaC.2002. Survey research in operations management: A process‐based perspective. International Journal of Operations and Production Management22(2) 152–194.
23.
FralixM.2001. From mass production to mass customisation. Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management1(2) 1–7.
24.
GilmoreJ. H.PineB. J.. 2000. Markets of one: Creating customer‐unique value through mass customisation. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts.
25.
HartC.1995. Mass customization: Conceptual underpinnings, opportunities and limits. International Journal of Service Industry Management6(2) 36–45.
26.
HayesR. H.PisanoG.. 1996. Manufacturing strategy: At the intersection of two paradigm shifts. Production and Operations Management5(1) 25–41.
27.
HayesR. H.WheelwrightS.. 1984. Restoring our competitive edge: Competing through manufacturing. Wiley, New York, New York.
28.
HayesR. H.WheelwrightS.. 1979. Link manufacturing process and product life cycles. Harvard Business Review57(1) 133–140.
29.
HillT.2000. Manufacturing strategy: Text and cases(2nd edition). Palgrave, Basingstoke, United Kingdom.
30.
KaraA.KaynakE.. 1997. Markets of a single customer: Exploiting conceptual developments in market segmentation. European Journal of Marketing31(11/12) 873–895.
31.
KothaS.1995. Mass customization: Implementing the emerging paradigm for competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal1621–42.
32.
KothaS.1996. From mass production to mass customisation: The case of the National Industrial Bicycle Company of Japan. European Management Journal14442–450.
33.
KotlerP.1989. From mass marketing to mass customization. Planning Review17(5) 10–13.
34.
LauS. R. M.1995. Mass customisation: The next industrial revolution. Industrial Management37(5) 18–19.
35.
LeeS. C. H.BaruaA.WhinstonA. B.. 2000. The complementarity of mass customisation and electronic commerce. Economics of Innovation & New Technology981–109.
36.
MapesJ.NewC.SzwejczewskiM.. 1997. Performance trade‐offs in manufacturing plants. International Journal of Operations and Production Management171020–1033.
37.
MazumdarT.1993. A value‐based orientation to new product planning. Journal of Consumer Marketing10(1) 28–41.
38.
MeredithJ.McCutcheonD.HartleyJ.. 1994. Enhancing competitiveness through the new market value equation. International Journal of Operations and Production Management14(11) 7–22.
39.
Mueller‐HeumannG.1992. Market and technology shifts in the 1990s: Market fragmentation and mass customization. Journal of Marketing Management8303–314.
40.
NewC.1992. World class manufacturing versus strategic tradeoffs. International Journal of Operations and Production Management116–22.
41.
PineB. J.1993. Mass customisation: The new frontier in business competition. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Massachusetts.
42.
PineB. J.VictorB.BoyntonA. C.. 1993. Making mass customisation work. Harvard Business Review71(5) 108–119.
43.
PorterM. E.1980. Competitive strategy. The Free Press, New York, New York.
44.
RosenzweigE. D.RothA. V.. 2004. Towards a theory of competitive progression: Evidence from high‐tech manufacturing. Production and Operations Management13(4) 354–368.
45.
RothA. V.MillerJ. G.. 1992. Success factors in manufacturing. Business Horizons35(4) 73–81.
46.
SafizadehM. H.RitzmanL. P.MallickD.. 2000. Revisiting alternative theoretical paradigms in manufacturing strategy. Production and Operations Management9(2) 111–127.
47.
SalvadorF.ForzaC.RungtusanathamM.. 2002. Modularity, product variety, production volume, and component sourcing: Theorizing beyond generic prescriptions. Journal of Operations Management20549–575.
48.
SchonbergerR.1986. World Class Manufacturing. Free Press, New York, New York.
49.
SkinnerW.1969. Manufacturing‐missing link in corporate strategy. Harvard Business Review47(3) 136–145.
50.
SkinnerW.1974. The focused factory. Harvard Business Review52(3) 113–122.
51.
SkinnerW.1996. Manufacturing strategy on the “S” curve. Production and Operations Management5(1) 3–14.
52.
SlackN.1991. The manufacturing advantage. Mercury Books, London.
53.
SquireB.ReadmanJ.BrownS., et al.2004. Mass customization: The key to customer value?Production Planning & Control15(4) 459–471.
54.
SwaminathanJ. M.2001. Enabling customization using standardized operations. California Management Review43(3) 125–135.
55.
TofflerA.1981. The third wave. Pan Books Ltd., London.
56.
TsikriktsisN.LanzollaG.FrohlichM.. 2004. Adoption of e‐Processes by service firms: An empirical study of antecedents. Production and Operations Management13(3) 216–229.
57.
TuQ.VonderembseM.Ragu‐NathanT. S.. 2001. The impact of time‐based manufacturing practices on mass customization and value to customer. Journal of Operations Management19201–217.
58.
VickeryS.DroögeC.GermainR.. 1999. The relationship between product customisation and organizational structure. Journal of Operations Management17377–391.
59.
VokurkaR. J.FliednerG.. 1998. The journey towards agility. Industrial Management & Data Systems98(4) 165–171.
60.
WardP. T.DurayR.. 2000. Manufacturing strategy in context: Environment, competitive strategy and manufacturing strategy. Journal of Operations Management18(2) 123–138.
61.
WestbrookR.WilliamsonP.. 1993. Mass customization: Japan's new frontier. European Management Journal11(1) 38–45.
62.
WhiteG. P.1996. A meta‐analysis model of manufacturing capabilities. Journal of Operations Management14315–331.
63.
YusufY. Y.AdeleyeE. O.. 2002. A comparative study of lean and agile manufacturing with a related survey of current practices in the U. K. International Journal of Production Research40(17) 4545–4562.
64.
ZeithamlV. A.1988. Consumer perceptions of price, quality and value: A means‐end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing52(3) 2–22.
