Developing Mass Customization Capability through Supply Chain Integration

Based on data collected from 292 manufacturing firms located in different countries, our results show that both internal and customer integration contribute positively to MCC. Positive interaction effects are also found between internal and customer integration, and between internal and supplier integration, on MCC. The results suggest that supplier integration play only a complementary role, supporting internal integration in the development of MCC. Overall, the findings demonstrate the pivotal role of internal integration in SCI. Whereas current research into SCI tends to view it as mainly “outward-facing” integration, our results strongly suggest that manufacturing firms should pursue internal integration as the foundation for successful SCI