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2. Research method
Design Science Research (DSR) was the methodological approach adopted in this investigation.
According to Lukka [20], DSR involves the development of innovative constructions (or artefacts)
intended to solve classes problems faced in the real world, and simultaneously provides a theoretical
contribution to a specific field of knowledge. In this research, the proposed artefact is a set of guidelines
for the development of a CM, considering the overall customisation process, from the definition of the
product alternatives until its offer for customers.
This research started by obtaining an understanding of the problem from a practical and
theoretical perspective. The practical problem was assessed in a research collaboration with a company
with 20 years of experience that develops and builds residential projects mostly for the upper middle
and middle‐class, based in Porto Alegre, South of Brazil. Its product development is focused on
different market segments with different levels of customisation. This study is centered around the
lower level – middle‐class, due to the more limited range of customisation options, being closer to the
mass customisation approach. The company has a department exclusively dedicated to the
customisation of residential units, which works as a business unit. The aim of this department is to
increase the sale value of residential projects and at the same time to get customers’ loyalty by
increasing the level of satisfaction with the final product.
The research process was divided in learning cycles. Each cycle was marked by an event organized
by the company where product options for a specific project are offered to the customers during a visit
to the construction site and, sometimes, to a product prototype. The set of guidelines were proposed
and refined at the end of each cycle. The cycles of development, testing and refining of the solution
have been carried out until a suitable version of the artefact is produced. The first learning cycle
occurred in a residential project with 98 apartments (Event A), while the second one occurred in another
project with 115 units (Event B).
Multiple sources of evidence have been used in this investigation, namely: (i) seven meetings with
different company’s departments, conducting open or semi‐structured interviews; (ii) participant
observation and open interviews in two events; and (iii) analysis of more than 40 documents related to
the customisation process from the company.
3. Preliminary results
As the empirical study is still going on, this section presents the preliminary results of this
investigation. These results are divided into three sub‐sections: (i) a service analysis based on Service
Blueprint tool, (ii) definition of the solution space, and (iii) customer integration opportunities.
3.1. Customisation Process analysis based on Service Blueprint theory
The customisation process is schematically represented in Figure 1, based on the Service blueprint
(SBP) tool, a modeling technique proposed by Shostack [21]. SBP is a customer‐focused approach for
service innovation and improvement with a flexible approach that helps managers with the service
process design and analysis, depicting a service at multiple levels of analysis [22]. It creates a visual
overview of the entire service process, allowing companies to visualize the service processes, points of
customer contact, and the physical evidences associated with their services from the customers’
perspective [22]. Bitner et al. [22] argue that SBP suggests avenues for cross‐disciplinary research within
academics and in academic‐business partnerships. SBP has five components: customer actions, onstage/
visible contact employee actions, backstage/invisible contact employee actions, support processes, and
physical evidence. “Time” is included chronologically across the top of the blueprint. Some activities
are decision points, shown highlighted as important steps in this process. Figure 1 is in fact a
simplification of the model, in order to fit the size of this paper.
Developing a Choice Menu: an Investigation on the Definition and Offer of Customisation Units
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