Introduction
Introduction
Different companies value Customization according to their needs and target markets and the nature of the business that they engage. Target markets are also an important variable to consider before an organization decides whether to customize or not. Regardless, product customization holds huge potential benefits for any company that applies it to its operations. For instance, think of the edge that it gives to a firm over its competitors. The product will have distinct features which set it apart from the other options available in the market. Research has also proved that customers get more satisfaction from using customized products than from using non-customized ones. That translates into greater utility and consequently an increase in a company's market share.
Customization holds deep underlying qualities which translate into the outwardly visible increased profit margins. Take the case of its potential to convince customers to invest their funds in premium products, which always cost more than the standard ones. That is just the beginning after that come repeat business, customer loyalty and best of all, the recommendation to potential customers. Customization gives companies a comparative advantage in the market. It is, therefore, important to understand the uniqueness of this concept if people wish to get its maximum benefits.
How does customization work? That is a problem that every person who intends to get an advantage in the market needs to solve. A good place to start would be considering which environment is best suited for one to customize their product. A market with sure and stable prevailing conditions is a far more viable environment for customization then a shaky economy. Depending on the situation at hand, a company will decide whether to standardize its commodities or to invest in customization. Two features of the environment to consider would be the level of competition and the availability of customers who will pick the customized product over the standard one. Culture is also a key feature of the environment to be considered. The technology industry has already taken advantage of customization to overcome the challenges that come with cultural differences. Take the case of the computer market; leading producers customize keyboards with unique letter representation for their customers living in different regions of the globe.
The purpose of this study is to provide a clear understanding and the implications of product customization by a company. It is important for any person who intends to customize their brand to know that there is a chance of failing to achieve what they wish.
For example, Hong Kong's Disneyland tried to impose English on everybody, and it ended up badly for them. That was an indication that they analyzed their environment incorrectly before deciding on which features to apply during customization. To avoid failure such as the one suffered by Disney, a company needs to create a standard overview of how its intended market looks and operates.
For the framework, the firm could get information about how the foreign market operates and then analyze how the characteristics of their product fit into the setup. In general, this research analyzes specific variables whose cumulative impact brings out the results of customization. It shows that customization is not an individual concept but is instead one which demands the presence of other entities for support. If the variables above do not respond positively to customization, the process fails. Customization without sufficient information may end up in failure or very rare circumstances success.
However, if competition isn't as fierce, a firm does not have to customize the product since it will still sell the expected units. How effectively is the export market developing? New markets are usually uncertain. Rapidly developing markets require high levels of customization to fit the market's needs. What is the psychic distance in the new market? That help the firm to plan its operations regarding the diversity of the new market. The management characteristic requires a firm to ask the questions: How much international experience does the firm have? How large are the firm and its market share? How centralized are their operations? How committed is their management? How well has the firm covered the foreign market? How well did the firm do the previous year? Analysis of the product characteristic demands the questions; what type of product does the firm deal? How well does it perform internationally and strategy wise?
