IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v135y2012i2p850-859.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Product configurator impact on product quality

Author

Listed:
  • Trentin, Alessio
  • Perin, Elisa
  • Forza, Cipriano

Abstract

More and more firms today rely on product configurators to more efficiently and effectively meet increasingly diverse customers’ needs. In literature, however, the discussion of the performance outcomes of product configurator use is limited and largely based on anecdotal evidence. Our paper contributes to fill this gap by developing and empirically testing hypotheses about the relationship between product configurator use and product quality. We find empirical support for the hypotheses that product configurator use improves product quality and that this relationship is negatively moderated by the difficulty for a company to determine the needs of its target market. We conclude by discussing implications of our findings for both research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Trentin, Alessio & Perin, Elisa & Forza, Cipriano, 2012. "Product configurator impact on product quality," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 850-859.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:135:y:2012:i:2:p:850-859
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2011.10.023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527311004531
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2011.10.023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hélène Giroux, 2006. "‘It Was Such a Handy Term’: Management Fashions and Pragmatic Ambiguity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(6), pages 1227-1260, September.
    2. L. Zhang & C.K.M. Lee & Q. Xu, 2010. "Towards product customization: An integrated order fulfillment system," Post-Print hal-00798983, HAL.
    3. Forza, Cipriano & Filippini, Roberto, 1998. "TQM impact on quality conformance and customer satisfaction: A causal model," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Salvador, F. & Forza, C., 2004. "Configuring products to address the customization-responsiveness squeeze: A survey of management issues and opportunities," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(3), pages 273-291, October.
    5. Fogliatto, Flavio S. & da Silveira, Giovani J.C., 2008. "Mass customization: A method for market segmentation and choice menu design," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 606-622, February.
    6. Richard Alm & W. Michael Cox, 1998. "The right stuff: America's move to mass customization," Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, pages 3-26.
    7. Da Silveira, Giovani & Borenstein, Denis & Fogliatto, Flavio S., 2001. "Mass customization: Literature review and research directions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 1-13, June.
    8. Charles H. Fine, 1986. "Quality Improvement and Learning in Productive Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(10), pages 1301-1315, October.
    9. Barry L. Bayus & William P. Putsis, Jr., 1999. "Product Proliferation: An Empirical Analysis of Product Line Determinants and Market Outcomes," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 137-153.
    10. Forza, Cipriano & Salvador, Fabrizio, 2002. "Managing for variety in the order acquisition and fulfilment process: The contribution of product configuration systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 87-98, March.
    11. Erens, F. J. & Hegge, H. M. H., 1994. "Manufacturing and sales co-ordination for product variety," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 83-99, November.
    12. Martinez-Costa, Micaela & Martinez-Lorente, Angel R. & Choi, Thomas Y., 2008. "Simultaneous consideration of TQM and ISO 9000 on performance and motivation: An empirical study of Spanish companies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 23-39, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tookanlou, Parisa Bagheri & Wong, Hartanto, 2020. "Determining the optimal customization levels, lead times, and inventory positioning in vertical product differentiation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    2. Sara Shafiee & Linda L. Zhang & Kourosh Marjani Rasmussen, 2024. "Improving Financial Literacy and Supporting Financial Decisions: Developing a Personalized Configurator," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 14256-14285, September.
    3. Nurmala Nurmala, 2018. "Building Competitive Advantage for Economic Performance: A Study of the Palm Plantation Company in West Kalimantan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(5), pages 172-183.
    4. Zhang, Linda L. & Shafiee, Sara, 2022. "Developing separate or integrated configurators? A longitudinal case study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    5. Zhang, Linda L. & Lee, Carman K.M. & Akhtar, Pervaiz, 2020. "Towards customization: Evaluation of integrated sales, product, and production configuration," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    6. Linda Zhang & Carman K.M. Lee & Pervaiz Akhtar, 2020. "Towards customization: Evaluation of integrated sales, product, and production configuration," Post-Print hal-03276827, HAL.
    7. Dominik Jung & Verena Dorner & Christof Weinhardt & Hakan Pusmaz, 2018. "Designing a robo-advisor for risk-averse, low-budget consumers," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 28(3), pages 367-380, August.
    8. Garrido-Vega, Pedro & Ortega Jimenez, Cesar H. & de los Ríos, José Luis Díez Pérez & Morita, Michiya, 2015. "Implementation of technology and production strategy practices: Relationship levels in different industries," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 201-216.
    9. Linda Zhang & Sara Shafiee, 2022. "Developing separate or integrated configurators? A longitudinal case study," Post-Print hal-03707380, HAL.
    10. Roselia Servín-Juárez & Carlos J. O. Trejo-Pech & Alma Yanet Pérez-Vásquez & Álvaro Reyes-Duarte, 2021. "Specialty Coffee Shops in Mexico: Factors Influencing the Likelihood of Purchasing High-Quality Coffee," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, March.
    11. repec:tkp:ijsrsy:v:2:y:2012:i:2:p:109-130 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Pierre-Antoine Arrighi & Céline Mougenot, 2019. "Towards user empowerment in product design: a mixed reality tool for interactive virtual prototyping," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 743-754, February.
    13. Nikolaus Kangas & Hanna Kropsu-Vehkapera & Harri Haapasalo & Tuomo Kinnunen, 2013. "Empirical Aspects on Defining Product Data for Rapid Productisation," International Journal of Synergy and Research, ToKnowPress, vol. 2(2), pages 109-130.
    14. Pai Zheng & Xun Xu & Chun-Hsien Chen, 2020. "A data-driven cyber-physical approach for personalised smart, connected product co-development in a cloud-based environment," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 3-18, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Linda Zhang & Sara Shafiee, 2022. "Developing separate or integrated configurators? A longitudinal case study," Post-Print hal-03707380, HAL.
    2. Linda Zhang & Carman K.M. Lee & Pervaiz Akhtar, 2020. "Towards customization: Evaluation of integrated sales, product, and production configuration," Post-Print hal-03276827, HAL.
    3. Zhang, Linda L. & Lee, Carman K.M. & Akhtar, Pervaiz, 2020. "Towards customization: Evaluation of integrated sales, product, and production configuration," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    4. Zhang, Linda L. & Shafiee, Sara, 2022. "Developing separate or integrated configurators? A longitudinal case study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    5. Fogliatto, Flavio S. & da Silveira, Giovani J.C. & Borenstein, Denis, 2012. "The mass customization decade: An updated review of the literature," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(1), pages 14-25.
    6. Lyons, Andrew Charles & Um, Juneho & Sharifi, Hossein, 2020. "Product variety, customisation and business process performance: A mixed-methods approach to understanding their relationships," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    7. Guodong (Gordon) Gao & Lorin M. Hitt, 2012. "Information Technology and Trademarks: Implications for Product Variety," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1211-1226, June.
    8. Ye Yan & Suraksha Gupta & Klaus Schoefer & Tana Licsandru, 2020. "A Review of E-mass Customization as a Branding Strategy," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(3), pages 215-223, August.
    9. Cynthia dos Santos Hentschke & Carlos Torres Formoso & Marcia Elisa Echeveste, 2020. "A Customer Integration Framework for the Development of Mass Customised Housing Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-26, October.
    10. Anzanello, Michel J. & Fogliatto, Flavio S., 2011. "Selecting the best clustering variables for grouping mass-customized products involving workers' learning," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 268-276, April.
    11. Brabazon, Philip G. & MacCarthy, Bart, 2006. "Fundamental behaviour of virtual-build-to-order systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 514-524, December.
    12. Vladimir Modrak & Zuzana Soltysova, 2020. "Management of Product Configuration Conflicts to Increase the Sustainability of Mass Customization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-14, April.
    13. Sylwester Bejger, 2016. "The specifics of supply chain of medical kits product group in the context of using Enterprise Resource Planning class systems," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 15(4), pages 419-438, December.
    14. Uskonen, Jukka & Tenhiälä, Antti, 2012. "The price of responsiveness: Cost analysis of change orders in make-to-order manufacturing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 420-429.
    15. Ng, Irene & Scharf, Kimberley & Pogrebna, Ganna & Maull, Roger, 2015. "Contextual variety, Internet-of-Things and the choice of tailoring over platform: Mass customisation strategy in supply chain management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 76-87.
    16. Cynthia S. Hentschke & Carlos T. Formoso & Cecília G. Rocha & Marcia E. S. Echeveste, 2014. "A Method for Proposing Valued-Adding Attributes in Customized Housing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-24, December.
    17. Chen, Songlin & Tseng, Mitchell M., 2010. "A Negotiation-Credit-Auction mechanism for procuring customized products," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 203-210, September.
    18. Li, Xiaohong & Yang, Dong & Hu, Mengqi, 2018. "A scenario-based stochastic programming approach for the product configuration problem under uncertainties and carbon emission regulations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 126-146.
    19. Songtao He & Yifan Tang, 2024. "Effects of Personalized Demands on the Digital Diffusion of Enterprises: A Complex Network Evolution Game Model-Based Study," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 12854-12880, September.
    20. Yao, Jianming & Liu, Liwen, 2009. "Optimization analysis of supply chain scheduling in mass customization," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 197-211, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:135:y:2012:i:2:p:850-859. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.