Management research has long been emphasizing the fundamental contribution of individual competencies to the development of company competences, which thus affect organizational success or failure. To date, the debate over critical individual competences has almost been ignored in research on mass customization. As a consequence, we know a lot about the possible methods and organizational arrangements supporting mass customization, but we know very little as how the human variable enters the puzzle. Given this fact, the present paper explores which roles are mostly affected by mass customization within the company, as well as what fundamental requirements mass customization poses to the manufacturing firm in terms of individual competences. We address these questions by means of a qualitative interview-based study involving 46 experts across 5 European countries. Our findings indicate that (1) R&D operative roles play a central role in the achievement of a mass customization capability and suffer from a serious gap of customization-related competencies; (2) individual attitudes, almost neglected in extant research on mass customization, are essential in determining the individual's capability to perform customization-related tasks and, finally, (3) methods knowledge is perceived by respondents as not so critical as individual attitudes and context knowledge.

Understanding the role of individual's competences in building a company-wide mass customization capability: criticalities and opportunities

FORZA, CIPRIANO;
2005

Abstract

Management research has long been emphasizing the fundamental contribution of individual competencies to the development of company competences, which thus affect organizational success or failure. To date, the debate over critical individual competences has almost been ignored in research on mass customization. As a consequence, we know a lot about the possible methods and organizational arrangements supporting mass customization, but we know very little as how the human variable enters the puzzle. Given this fact, the present paper explores which roles are mostly affected by mass customization within the company, as well as what fundamental requirements mass customization poses to the manufacturing firm in terms of individual competences. We address these questions by means of a qualitative interview-based study involving 46 experts across 5 European countries. Our findings indicate that (1) R&D operative roles play a central role in the achievement of a mass customization capability and suffer from a serious gap of customization-related competencies; (2) individual attitudes, almost neglected in extant research on mass customization, are essential in determining the individual's capability to perform customization-related tasks and, finally, (3) methods knowledge is perceived by respondents as not so critical as individual attitudes and context knowledge.
2005
Proceedings of the International Mass Customization Meeting 2005. Mass Customization. Concepts - Tools - Realization
9783936771466
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11577/1468445
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