Harvard Case : BMW of North America: Dream it. Build it. Drive it. Essay

Brief Description Set in 2011, this sequel describes how BMW, the specking luxury car manufacturer in the U.S., successfully apply a new merchandising initiative based on its online television receiver service and increased sales of customized vehicles. The grimace addresses the challenges of catering to the North American consumer, where most car buyers want or have become erudite towards immediate gratification with their purchases.Main Learning ObjectivesTo underscore the importance of consumer bearing in strategic planning To illustrate the complexity of strategically managing the impart chain for a modern manufacturing company and the implications effects of surge customization on supply ( hold dear) chainPreparation & AnalysisFor Wednesdays class (10/9/13)1. Go online, research and take down a few nones on a strategic marketing concept called set customization for in-class discussion. The process of delivering wide-market goods and services that are modified to satis fy a particular(prenominal) customer need. Is a marketing and manufacturing technique that combines the flexibility and personalization of custom-made with the low unit comprise associated with mass cropion Sometimes called made-to-order or built to order. alter a customer to decide the exact specification of a product or service, and have that product or service supplied to them at a price close to that for an ordinary mass produced alternative.2. Read the case study.3. retrospect the following videos which directly pertain to the caseMartha Stewart customizes a BMW X3 http//www.ytabooube.com/watch?v=8Ddq6O_QAz0Understanding Robots Mass Customization http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJzzPXeDdX8 BMW X3 Ad http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpLutmBkyZ4BMW X3 Build Video http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH1gtBYNPOAIndividual Assignment later spending time researching the concept of mass customization,viewing the above videos, and reading the case answerand provide your rationale for each o f the following questions in an overall1-2 page shortened essay format.1. Assuming that most modern cars share very(prenominal) akin characteristics, what do customers very buy a product or an cognize? In your opinion, what consumes car-buying conclusivenesss?Years after years, the customers perceptions towards cars has been changing. People value more on their necessarily these days than their wants. People started looking for products/vehicles that impart more value to them they want cars for real use not for masking off. I imply customers buys products with experience from which they can get value out of it.The car buying decision is not an easy task and would drive various aspects before buying. In my opinion the most central component is gender. In most cases gender plays a vital role in buying a car. Price can be an early(a) important factor that index drive the buying decision. Fuel efficiency, affordable, reliable, effective and cost-effective are various fact ors for car buying decisions.2. Do you think customers really need millions of combinations for their car? Can they be happy with available criterion options? What are the upsides and downsides of mass customization from both the consumer and manufacturers perspective?It depends on the customer needs that if they really need millions of combinations for their car or not. just about of the customers are happy with the standard options but if we dig little deeper, not all the features availablein the standard versions are important or useful for a particular customer and what they want may not be in the specific model. In my opinion, that is the main reason mass customization is being used by various car companies to carter the specific needs of their customers.Mass customization is the process of delivering products that are modified to satisfy a specific customer needs. This enables a customer to decide the exact specification of a product or services. Mass customization allowed m anufacturers to customize products at lower costs, cut down overheads, and produced higher margins. For customers, they get benefited of finding exactly what they wanted without paying a premium price. The downside of mass customization from manufacturers perspectives are the major operating(a) challenges faced in supply chain to manage the supply, maintain lead time and maintain various parts and products within a very little timeframe. The downside of mass customization from the customers perspectives is they wont be able to compare and contrast the product with the competitors and aroundtime the price might be high with certain customizations. With various choices and lack of expertise some customers might chose unwanted and unnecessary parts for the product.3. Put yourself in Josef Weirdas shoes. What would your decision be regarding using video streaming technology for other models such as the X5 or X1? In effect, would you apply a interchangeable hallucination It. Build It . Drive It. program for the launch of the X4 in 2014? What is the dry land for your decision?Dream It. Build It. Drive It. was a success for X3 models. My decision for streaming technology for other models will be yes. This is because of the success factors the X3 models received, and virtually 50% of the customers enrolled in it, accessed and shared the video. I think it is a smash value for customers to see how their customized vehicle has been manufactured and be more in touch with it before it actually gets delivered.Based on the success expiration and the stats available from X3, I will apply a similar Dream It. Build It. Drive It. program for the launch of the X4 anddo aggressive marketing like it was done for X3. But will not only quiver with this mass customization, I will also encourage for the standard models at the dealers. Customization can be one of the features for those customers who want to customize their cars. I think with the success of the X3, the customer w ill try to see some charitable of similar features in the new launch and also this will crack more value to the vehicle. Based on the numbers and records from the case, for now the mass customization concept should be based on US market only.