Journal of Management Policies and Practices

The Effect of Mass Customization on Competitive Strategy
Abdeta Gutu Wakoya, Yitbarek Takele Bayiley

Abstract
The frequent change of customers’ needs and wants is bringing different challenges for manufacturing firms. As a result, mass customization as a production strategy has drawn attention from scholars in various fields. In an attempt to contribute to the existing stock of knowledge, this study investigated the effect of mass customization strategy on competitive strategy. In view of this four major mass customization strategies were considered: collaborative mass customization, adaptive mass customization, transparent mass customization & cosmetic mass customization to measure the effect of same on competitive strategy. A cross-sectional study with mixed research approach as well as a self-constructed ordered response questionnaire was used to collect data from 127 professional workers of the companies under study. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression model were used to analyze the results. The result showed negative effect of mass customization strategy on competitive strategy except for transparent mass customization which positively affected both cost leadership and differentiation strategies. The positive effect is stronger between transparent mass customization strategy and cost leadership strategy than between transparent mass customization strategy and differentiation strategy.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jmpp.v3n1a5