#MCPC2011 Program Highlights: Strategic Capabilities for Mass Customization (Showcase Session)

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

Proven by many success stories from all kinds of businesses, Mass Customization is one of the most promising concepts of our time. History shows, though, that a great theory is worth little without practical knowledge. Mass Customization is no different and hence it is of great importance to correctly understand why and, most important, how value can be created by the employment of MC. In this session we will hear about failure and success, core capabilities and different approaches to make the most out of a concept that is easy to comprehend, yet hard to master.

Sessions 7.1 (Nov 19): Strategic Capabilities for Mass Customization

Why MC Organizations Fail

In this session, Dominik Walcher (Salzburg University of Applied Sciences) will explain the development of a classification system for failure reasons of MC organizations based on literature review both form entrepreneurship and Mass Customization research as well as qualitative expert interviews. He will then discuss the exemplary application of this system to the Custom Foot failure case study.

Value Creation by Mass Customization: An Analysis of the Three Core Capabilities of Mass Customization

This part will focus on the key essentials of Mass Customization. Thorsten Harzer and Frank Piller (RWTH Aachen University) and  Fabrizio Salvador (Instituto de Empresa) will give an insight in and discuss the importance of the three core capabilities of Mass Customization.

Comparing Four Personalization Approaches to Understand Value of Personalization

Chenjie Wang (Georgia Tech) and Mitchell Tseng (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) will present the findings of their study regarding sources of distinctive value as being perceived “unique” by individual consumers. Based on the results of their investigative work they will share their conclusion about how different business models and associated design approaches can be developed to augment the value of product design. Presenting four different approaches in personalized products they will discuss different ways of customer engagement with respect to these four values, analyzing how personalization values are addressed and identifying their unique design features, user interactions and other relevant parameters in design ecosystems.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog