Mass Customization in Flat Organization: The Mediating Role of Supply Chain Planning and Corporation Coordination

 

Yinan, Qi¹, Mincong Tang*² and Min Zhang³

 

¹ School of Business, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, PR. China.

² International Center for Informatics Research, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, PR. China. *mincong@bjtu.edu.cn

³ Norwich Business School University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK.

 

ABSTRACT

Based on the information processing theory, this study proposes that organizational flatness is an antecedence to the mass customization capability and the supply chain planning and corporation coordination mediates the relationship between organizational flatness and mass customization capability. Data from plants located in multiple countries across three different industry groups is analyzed to test the research hypotheses. The results show that the effect of organizational flatness on MCC is mediated by the coordination practices. It is the supply chain planning and corporate coordination that directly improve the MCC. Our results emphasize the importance of centralized management of value chain decisions and sharing of knowledge for MCC.

 

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