The Complementarity Of Mass Customization And Electronic Commerce

C.-H. Sophie Lee, Anttesh Barua and Andrew Whinston

Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 2000, vol. 9, issue 2, 81-110

Abstract: In this technology-intensive business world, it is important to note that technology does not work alone; it only works when all other supporting elements work in concert. Two 'things', or business strategies, are complementary when the marginal contribution of one increases with the value of the other, and vice versa This paper models two business strategies, electronic commerce and mass customization, in a profit maximization model and shows that these two strategies as complementary under certain assumptions. In doing so, this paper sheds light on why many mass customization attempts failed and why electronic commerce does not bring in as high a return as expected. This paper includes three sub-models and shows the optimal price movements under each scenario.

Keywords: complementarity; electronic commerce; mass customization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1080/10438590000000005

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