Start Date
10-12-2017 12:00 AM
Description
Information Technology is a key enabler of mass personalization, but there is a lack of research on the precise nature of its role in facilitating the process, particularly from a networked perspective. Toward addressing this knowledge gap, we ask the research question: How does IT enable mass personalization within a business network? Based on our preliminary findings from a case study of KD.com (a pseudonym), a digital platform that organizes one of the most commercially successful retail networks of personalized (i.e., individually designed) jewelry and gifts in China, this research-in-progress paper presents a model that depicts IT-enabled mass personalization at the network level as a process that consists of three phases: Structuring, Sensing and Responding. In addition, these phases are facilitated by a number of enabling mechanisms that are underpinned by IT. These enabling mechanisms include Platform Configuration, Information Transparency, Customer Proximity, Value Co-Creation, Network Management and Product Modularity.
Recommended Citation
NG, Yat Sze Evelyn; Tan, Barney; Sun, Yuan; and Tan, Felix Ter Chian, "Giving Customers Exactly What They Want: A Networked Perspective of IT-Enabled Mass Personalization" (2017). ICIS 2017 Proceedings. 9.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/ServiceScience/Presentations/9
Giving Customers Exactly What They Want: A Networked Perspective of IT-Enabled Mass Personalization
Information Technology is a key enabler of mass personalization, but there is a lack of research on the precise nature of its role in facilitating the process, particularly from a networked perspective. Toward addressing this knowledge gap, we ask the research question: How does IT enable mass personalization within a business network? Based on our preliminary findings from a case study of KD.com (a pseudonym), a digital platform that organizes one of the most commercially successful retail networks of personalized (i.e., individually designed) jewelry and gifts in China, this research-in-progress paper presents a model that depicts IT-enabled mass personalization at the network level as a process that consists of three phases: Structuring, Sensing and Responding. In addition, these phases are facilitated by a number of enabling mechanisms that are underpinned by IT. These enabling mechanisms include Platform Configuration, Information Transparency, Customer Proximity, Value Co-Creation, Network Management and Product Modularity.