Operations managers’ individual competencies for mass customization

Abstract

To compete successfully in today s business environment, which is fraught with very heterogeneous and uncertain customer demands, manufacturing organizations are increasingly aiming to develop their mass customization capability (MCC), defined as the ability to fulfill each customer s idiosyncratic needs without considerable trade-offs in cost, delivery, and quality. \nThe literature has overlooked the role of individual competencies (ICs) in the development of MCC, even though companies are paying growing attention to the challenge of developing their employees competencies. \nThe present study was aimed at narrowing this gap by using a well-established method for conducting IC assessments - namely, the behavioral event interview - to investigate the ICs of an operations manager (OM), which is among the professional roles most affected by product customization, that enhance the MCC of the manufacturing organization for which the OM works. \nA multiple-case study was designed involving eight cases chosen according to literal and theoretical replication logic among the machinery manufacturers of one European country. From this sample, I collected multilevel data on the MCC of each organization and on the OMs ICs. \nFive OM ICs - negotiation, information seeking, efficiency orientation, analytical/systems thinking, and pattern recognition - emerged from this study, and this thesis provides empirical evidence and logical explanations for the positive effects of these ICs on a manufacturing organization s MCC. \nThis PhD thesis is the first research on MCC-enabling managerial competencies that relies on multilevel data, considering both an organization s MCC and its managers ICs, rather than on practitioners experiences and opinions. This study also has managerial implications, providing guidance for the human resources management practices of companies pursuing a mass customization strategy. \nThis study could be replicated for other managerial roles as well as in other industries and countries.