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Mass Customization and Environmental Sustainability: A Large-Scale Empirical Study

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Customization 4.0

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics ((SPBE))

Abstract

A growing number of firms nowadays need to combine mass customization (MC) with environmental sustainability management (EM). However, the research on the synergies or trade-offs between MC and EM is still in its infancy. Furthermore, the few findings available in the literature are partly conflicting: some studies suggest that MC and EM may be synergistic, while others raise concerns on the environmental sustainability of MC. This paper contributes to this debate by presenting the results of the first, large-scale, empirical test of some of the synergies suggested by prior research. Our results support the existence of two types of synergies between the MC capability of parts commonalization and the EM capability of product stewardship. One type of synergy is explained by the fact that parts commonalization capability reinforces the positive effect of product stewardship capability on environmental performance (interaction-based synergy). The other type is explained by the fact that both these organization capabilities require the same routines of cross-functional integration (shared routine-based synergy). Besides enriching the debate on the relationships between MC and EM, our results also contribute to the broader discussion on the compatibility between economic and environmental sustainability dimensions.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the financial support of Padova University, project DOR1674244/16 “Mass customization.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy

    Enrico Sandrin, Alessio Trentin & Cipriano Forza

Authors
  1. Enrico Sandrin
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  2. Alessio Trentin
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  3. Cipriano Forza
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Enrico Sandrin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Stephan Hankammer

  2. Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Kjeld Nielsen

  3. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Frank T. Piller

  4. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Günther Schuh

  5. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Ning Wang

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Sandrin, E., Trentin, A., Forza, C. (2018). Mass Customization and Environmental Sustainability: A Large-Scale Empirical Study. In: Hankammer, S., Nielsen, K., Piller, F., Schuh, G., Wang, N. (eds) Customization 4.0. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77556-2_16

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