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Markets of One: Creating Customer-Unique Value through Mass Customization

Average customer rating:

A Great Read for Today's Entrepreneur
Timeless yet generally fresh, worth the re-read
Mass Customization: A Paradigm of Paradox
Repeated ideas, though good
From mass customization to versioning...

Markets of One: Creating Customer-Unique Value through Mass Customization

Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Making Mass Customization Work

ASIN: 1578512387

Book Description

What does it mean "to dell?" This newly coined business verb means to mass-customize, making products only in response to actual demand. This allows a product to "go direct" to a customer, and it's what Dell Computer does instead of forcing mass-produced computers on its customers. And Dell's not alone.

As Editors Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine point out in their introduction to Markets of One, mass customization is a trend that has caught on among consumer and business-to-business companies alike - think of Levi's jeans, Aramark's hospital services, Select Comfort mattresses, and Peapod or Streamline grocery delivery, to name a few. Companies customize their offerings to meet the unique needs of individual customers so that nearly everyone can obtain exactly what they want at a reasonable price. It's a paradigm shift away from the one-size-fits-all way managers have thought about markets over the past century- today, every individual customer is a market of one.

This collection of ten Harvard Business Review articles chronicles the evolution of business competition from mass markets to markets of one-in other words, from creating standardized value through mass production to creating customer-unique value through mass customization. The book examines many of the resulting changes in approach to strategy and operations-for example, moving from pushing products to fulfilling individual needs, from focusing solely on market share to measuring customer share, and from marketing to the masses to cultivating learning relationships with each customer. Markets of One offers the best of the leading thinkers on the topic, exploring both the promise and pitfalls of mass customization. Practical applications are presented with examples of leading companies who successfully mass customize for markets of one. A Harvard Business Review Book

Customer Reviews:

A Great Read for Today's Entrepreneur.......2005-07-30

The dilemma: technology has created a scenario in which virtually infinite supply and variety are possible. When supply is infinite, opportunities for profit disappear. How then, can companies make money?

This book addresses this fundamental issue, and shows how companies can create and market viable business models in today's business environment. Internet entrepreneurs who feel like they have a great idea but are unsure of the specifics as to how it should be constructed will find this to be a very valuable book. You may not find all of it to be worthwhile, but the ideas you do grab will be immensely useful.

Timeless yet generally fresh, worth the re-read.......2002-06-11

Have read most of the authors in this volume, but still refer back to my yellow hi-liting and post-it tabs. Tempting to read only executive summaries, but these fail to capture the needed depth provided in the chapters. One of the better compilations I've come across in some time. Probably only thing that's missing is "how to." I suspect that requires more than just deep thinking, but a cross-disciplinary team.

Mass Customization: A Paradigm of Paradox.......2000-11-04

Gilmore and Pine co-authored The Experience Economy, a book I consider one of the most important business books written in recent years. In this volume, they anthologize ten essays which -- together -- answer questions such as these:

1. What is "the emerging theory of manufacturing"? (Peter Drucker)

2. How to market in "the age of diversity"? (Regis McKenna)

3. How to manage in "an age of modularity"?

4. Do you want to keep your customers forever? (Pine, Don Peppers, and Martha Rogers)

5. Is your company ready for one-to-one marketing? (Peppers, Rogers, and Bob Dorf)

6. What are the correlations between "breaking compromises" and "breakaway growth"? (George Stalk, Jr., David K. Pecault, and Benjamin Burnett)

7. What are the "four faces" of mass customization"? (Gilmore and Pine)

8. What is "versioning"? Why is it the smart way to sell information? (Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian)

9. How to make mass customization work? (Pine, Bart Victor, and Andrew C. Boynton)

10. What does "managing by wire" involve? (Stephan H. Haeckel and Richard L. Nolan)

At the conclusion of their book, the authors also provide immensely helpful "Executive Summaries" of key points made in each of the various essays, and, brief but informative comments about those who wrote them. If you are looking for the single best source of information and about mass customization, look no further.

Repeated ideas, though good.......2000-03-04

Good book but too much repeated from "Mass Customization"...the author's excellent preceding title.

From mass customization to versioning..........2000-03-01

This book is a winner! I've relied on mass customization strategies in my consulting practice for the past 5 years. These strategies allow consultants to win the speed-to-market wars while still providing high quality deliverables. Also, the chapter on "versioning" is a mind blower, and is definitely relevant to e-publishers everywhere. You can't go wrong with this contemporary business text.

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