Impacts of supply chain integration on product- and service-oriented mass customisation capability: the role of customer need

Purpose This study aimed to investigate how different supply chain integrations (SCIs) (i.e. information integration and organisational integration) would impact product- and service-oriented mass customisation capability (MCC) differently and the moderating role of characteristics of customer needs (i.e. customer need tacitness and diversity). Design/methodology/approach From the perspective of information processing theory (IPT), the authors tested the hypotheses using survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturers. Findings The findings indicate that both information and operational integration contribute to product- and service-oriented MCCs. Operational integration promotes product-oriented MCC more, whereas information integration has a greater impact on service-oriented MCC. In addition, customer need tacitness negatively moderates the impact of operational integration on both product- and service-oriented MCC. Customer need diversity negatively moderates only the impact of operational integration on service-oriented MCC. Practical implications Managers should focus on not only the position (internal or external) but also the function of SCI when making decisions towards enhancing MCC. Diverse abilities to integrate with different functions are associated with different MCCs. Originality/value This study distinguishes between product- and service-oriented MCCs and provides novel insights for understanding how to enhance MCC from a SCI perspective.