Management Papers
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of this Version
1995
Publication Source
Redesigning the Firm
Start Page
116
Last Page
154
Abstract
Driven by the market's "pull" fir increasingly differentiated products and by manufacturers' "push" to seek finely targeted niche segments, the variety of products offered in most industries has increased steadily over the last several decades. The "pull" comes from customers who seem to reward companies that can offer high variety while matching the price and quality of competitors with narrower product lines. Modern marketing methods accelerate this trend by identifying once-obscure specifics of consumer preferences. As more companies compete internationally, product markets become more crowded and product differentiation more important, both to make a product stand out in a popular product category and to help tailor a product to niche markets. The "push" comes from new firm capabilities as the increased sophistication and declining price of flexible, programmable automation bring the opportunity for greater product variety within the grasp of many more companies.
Copyright/Permission Statement
Fisher, M., Jain, A. & MacDuffie, J.P. (1995). Strategies for Product Variety: Lessons From the Auto Industry. In E.H Bowman & B.M. Kogut (Eds.), Redisigning the Firm (pp. 116-154). New York: Oxford University Press, is reproduced with the permission of Oxford University Press [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/redesigning-the-firm-9780195087109?cc=us&lang=en&]
Recommended Citation
Fisher, M., Jain, A. & MacDuffie, J.P. (1995). Strategies for Product Variety: Lessons From the Auto Industry. In E.H Bowman & B.M. Kogut (Eds.), Redisigning the Firm (pp. 116-154). New York: Oxford University Press.
Date Posted: 19 February 2018
This document has been peer reviewed.