A proposal for a business model to integrate mass customization and sustainability

ABSTRACT This thesis aims at providing a business model able to integrate sustainability and mass customization concepts in order to give to the companies a guideline to a successful implementation of this paradigm which will lead them to develop the necessary competitive advantages for face the current business environment. In consequence, this document presents the development of a business model following this rationale: At the very beginning a literature review was performed taking into account the three pillars of the research: mass customization, sustainability and business models. For the first element, different definitions were analyzed coming up with a new definition which states that Mass customization is a company´s capability based on satisfy the individual customer needs through flexible and integrated processes which can have as an outcome a wide range variety and customized products. Then the different success factors required for a mass customization implementation were studied, as the enablers, the levels the required capabilities, the possible configurations and the possible critical issues and benefits as well. Regarding the second element (sustainability), after a deep analysis of the different definitions, it was stated that a sustainable company has to continuously grow and create value by delivering products that satisfy the current and future needs; in consequence, companies have to be aware of the resource consumption and waste in order to guarantee a future source of resources. Then, different topics related with sustainability were illustrated as its characteristics, its relationship with culture, technology or resilience; its relevance in the business environment, its barriers for implementation and a possible way to assess the topic. Finally sustainability was broken down in a hierarchical structure composed by systems, subsystems, approaches and principles that are aimed to better understand the term and its dimensions (environmental, societal and economic). The third element (business models) was defined as A set of strategic choices that describes how the company creates , markets, delivers and capture economic , social and other forms of value an at appropriate cost through the exploitation of business opportunities including a proper information flow along the supply chain. Therefore, aspects like the business model planning process and the components were taken into account. Regarding the components, a deeper analysis was performed in order to identify the most suitable model to be applied to the mass customization and sustainability paradigm. With the literature review already analyzed, the next step was to define a reference framework to establish the methodology required for develop a business model that integrates mass customization and sustainability; for this specific case, the selected model (Osterwalder & Pigneur; 2009) was adapted to the research requirements and a categorization method was defined in order to deploy the different characteristics in each building block; subsequently, a scale to evaluate each characteristic was developed in order to identify the criticality and the influence of each feature in both, MC and sustainability. Next, an analysis of the relationships inter- and intra-building blocks was performed as a way to link the different characteristics deployed in the model. Finally, using the “canvas” (tool proposed by Osterwalder and Pigneur for developing business models) a summary of the characteristics of the mass customized and sustainable business model was made. After setting the methodology, the business model was developed taking into account the analysis done in the literature review in order to justify and support each characteristic and its respective categorization and evaluation. The final step was to evaluate the theoretical model using a study case for which a company partner in the S-MC-S European project was chosen; the study case was aimed to assess the extent in which the model is applicable in real environments also to understand how to proceed in the implementation of the mass customization and sustainability business model. As it was described in this abstract, the research followed a logical and structured process which allowed to have a broad overview of the topic of analysis and also to understand which were the criticalities and the possible solutions that leaded to the final outcome: a proposal for a business model to integrate mass customization and sustainability.