Abstract English Abstract From small hospitals to large medical centers, the Taiwan healthcare organizations today are unable to significantly increase investments or generate more revenue due to the strict regulations of current National Health Insurance and Global Budget policies. This predicament is further complicated by the healthcare system¡¦s inability to change from its traditional mass production architecture and mentality. Mass customization (MC) and focused factories (FF) are being applied across many industries with great success ¡V achieving quality at low cost. These are new concepts that can bring significant customer value, allowing organizations¡¦ quality and profitability to improve from increasingly commoditized businesses. This consumer-centric transformation can be one way for Taiwan¡¦s healthcare organizations to get closer to patients¡¦ needs and step out of the traditional confines of the NHI and healthcare delivery. These novel ideas are so akin to the healthcare ideal, yet the traditional healthcare design and Taiwan¡¦s anti-market healthcare policies effectively impedes changes and progress in this direction. This paper intends to assert that MC and FF can be one effective solution to the problems in Taiwan¡¦s healthcare organizations ¡V specifically for the specialty community hospitals. In this way, these small hospitals can capture the value premiums of this new consumerism trend and transform itself into a competitive business, creating higher values for life and health for its customers. This paper will begin with an in-depth background and SWOT analysis of the Taiwan healthcare system and its participants. After an understanding of this industry, a pertinent literature review of the MC and FF concepts and mechanics will be done. A case comparison study of three specialty healthcare organizations will be done to evaluate their differences in competitive strategy, marketing orientation, operational effectiveness, human resources advantage, and organizational performance. The three organizations include a traditional specialty hospital (Gee-Tien Ear Nose & Throat Hospital), a single procedure-based focus factory (Shouldice Hospital), and a disease management focus factory (MedCath Corporation). Finally, a full discussion will ensue to assess the applicability of FF and MC concepts for specialty community hospitals in the Taiwan healthcare market. Keywords: Specialty Hospitals, Mass Customization, Focused Factory, Taiwan Healthcare

Relationship marking, which focuses on ways to build, develop, and maintain successful relational exchanges, is an important way to sustain loyal customer. Previous studies that note the types of bonds that enhance commitment suggest that customer commitment can be built through the application of financial, social, and structural bonds. Although empirical research that focuses on the application of relational bonds in a virtual environment is relatively sparse. The purpose of this study is to explore that different bonds(financial bonds, social bonds, and structural bonds) can enhance what kinds of consumer commitment(continuance commitment, affective commitment, and normative commitment). This study also attempt to explain the relationships between types of bonds and consumer commitment in different degree of customization and consumer relationship proneness. This study takes the consumer who in hair beauty and gas station for example. A total of 291 questionnaires were recovered, and after deducting the 71 invalid responses, the effective questionnaire sample contains 220 copies. The data gleaned from the questionnaire was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis, SEM, 1-Way MANCOVA and regression analysis in order to prove the hypothesis proposed in the theoretical structure of this research.The findings of this study are fivefold. 1.Almost all respondents confused social bonds with structural bonds. In this study, we combine social bonds with structural bonds, and named it core bonds. 2.The results suggest that financial bonds have positive impacts on normative commitment and continuance commitment. 3.The results suggest that core bonds have positive impacts on normative commitment, continuance commitment and affective commitment. 4.The different degree of customization influences relationship between bonds and commitment. 5.The people who has high relationship proneness will have high commitment.

This year (2002), Taiwan participates in WTO under the worldwide economic depression. Besides facing the worldly market competition, Taiwan competes with the cheap labor force pressure from mainland China. In the meanwhile, Taiwan is at the transitional point of economic organization. K company is an over thirty-year overseas branch of an international Japanese Industry. How should it work out new management strategies for liquid crystal industry to promote its competition at this moment? Liquid crystal industry has developed for ten years. It has had one Crystal Cycle every three year. Under the economic depression, the demands of the worldwide PC market and information products have been decreasing. The price of panels has been going down. Factories have suffered heavy loss. Thus, how to work out management strategies for products to avoid virulent competition and to promote profitable competence is the most important issue for the managers of economic industry. This report research on K company¡¦s creative management strategies for liquid crystal. They include (1) Core Strategy (2) Strategic Resources (3) Customer Interface (4) Value Network (5) Customerization Goods Strategy. By industrial analysis and by management strategic analysis of Taiwan crystal industry, the report applies the organization analysis and research on business model, and then synthesizes K company¡¦s whole creative management strategies for liquid crystal industry. Key Words: liquid crystal, market competition, management strategy, customization goods

Embedded microcomputer controller application coverage is widespread, for example: Defense industry, aerospace industry, industrial automation, domestic electric appliances, vehicle with electronic, consumption electronic products and so on, embedded microcomputer relative and general computer difference, is essential and each different profession application unifies, must have the specialized ability, is more than outside the general computer's knowledge, researches and develops the personnel often is each application domain expert, also in accordance to uses the domain the difference, this industry fills is competing, the opportunity and the innovation, also belongs to a dispersion industry, even if has the mainstream architecture, but is in no way by the minority company or the product can corner the market. Taiwan electron industry's on middle and lower reaches supplies the chain to be complete, compares in the overseas manufacturer has the relative superiority, the prospects for development favors as before, in the terminal product system construction, the embedded microcomputer controller belongs to the spare part, the system assembles the entrepreneur extremely little to ford into the design and the manufacture, also, because its application stratification plane is broad, product and technical high dispersion, and few diverse and the guest makes the characteristic, suits the small scale highly specialized technology corporate growth. Because this industry has the quantity body to subscribe makes, diverse and so on characteristics few, regards as throughout in the electronic related industry the high value added the tally company market, in recent years the applied technology universalized gradually, the market joined in the numerous competitors competes the influence, the manufacturer faced with the impact and the growth pressure, in the past concentrated only ¡§the technology¡¨ and ¡§the quality¡¨ the maintenance, has been unable to satisfy multiplex the market demand; The management essence lies in the activity and the layout, how does the thorough analysis market understand the customer demand, utilizes the limited enterprise resources and the energy, the strengthened enterprise competitive power, the fixed industry trend of development, unifies the research and development, the manufacture closely and sells this tripartite core competence , draws up the best whole management strategy, is the operator urgently must understanding the answer. Goal of this research, in discussion case AWTech Corporation locates in the industry, its characteristic, present situation, the tendency and have the core competencies; After the analysis understood market, product and customer, induces case AWTech Corporation the resources and ability which has in this industry, the enterprise external environment opportunity and the threat with the enterprise interior superior inferiority, innovates and the unique way, draws up the effective feasible whole management development strategy, achieves the internationalization goal in the competitive market. The research the main conclusion is as follows: 1. The undertaking stage's success cannot guarantee that the future management can also succeed continually, essential consideration factors and so on environmental factor, market demand, product localization, customer behavior pattern, at the right moment revise transport business strategy and the development direction. 2. The strengthened company's core competencies, the centralized resources choose the realistic product and the market are the development direction, makes the most effective use the resources, and will complete the duty carries out accurately, gains the biggest benefit. 3. The internationalization operation viewpoint consideration, draws up the management development strategy, expands steady the enterprise domain.

Eine zunehmende Individualisierung der Gesellschaft und die daraus resultierende Veränderung der Kundenansprüche wirken sich zwangsläufig auch auf die Produktion und die Vermarktung von Unternehmen aus. Die Autorin setzt sich mit einer besonderen Strategie auseinander, mit der Unternehmen versuchen, der zunehmenden Individualisierung von Kundenwünschen gerecht zu werden: mit der Mass Customization. Inwieweit sich die Mass Customization tatsächlich dazu eignet, individuelle Kundenwünsche zu befriedigen und in welchem Maße sie von Kunden akzeptiert wird, untersucht die Autorin am Beispiel kundenindividueller Turnschuhe.

Mass customization (MC) constitutes a promising strategy for companies which aim to provide products which are better adapted to individual customers' aesthetic and functional preferences. Drawing on commodity theory, we argue that the perceived uniqueness of a self-designed product is a second driver of utility in MC. We find that in addition to the significant effect of aesthetic and functional fit, the perceived uniqueness of a self-designed product (1) contributes independently to the utility a customer experiences, and (2) that this effect is moderated by the consumer's need for uniqueness. In product categories which can serve this counterconformity motive for onsumers, this suggests that MC toolkits should be constructed with the objective of facilitating the creation of unique products as well as providing affirmative feedback that this uniqueness has been achieved. (authors' abstract)

This study examines brand customization in advergames and its effects on brand memory, game enjoyment, and attitudes gamers form toward the embedded brand. This study also tests for interactions between individuals’ locus of control and brand customization on the measured variables. A 2(customization) x 2(locus of control) experimental design was used. Subjects (N=60) were invited to a laboratory and the car racing game Gran Turismo 3™ was used as the advergame. Participants completed a questionnaire before and after treatment exposure, t-tests were calculated to test the hypotheses, and ANOVAs were run to examine all research questions. Findings suggest that individuals who customize the brand during gameplay recall the brand almost four times as much as individuals who don’t customize the brand. Results also reveal that subjects under the no customization condition negatively described the brand twice as much as subjects under the customization condition. Furthermore, a significant interaction between individuals’ locus of control and brand customization on brand recall was detected. There were no significant differences in attitude toward the brand and game enjoyment due to brand customization. Finally, the data didn’t demonstrate significant interactions between individuals’ locus of control and brand customization for game enjoyment and brand attitude. / text

Mass customization is becoming a competitive strategy for companies offering individualized products. Product configurators provide a platform for companies to do interactive product configuration which is essential for mass customization. Companies need to realize the degree of customization appreciated by the customers and the extent of customization that can be offered competitively. This research is an effort to develop an approach to ascertain the product configurator requirements to achieve mass customization. The frameworks developed for this research are validated with a case study.

Minicell-based manufacturing system is used in identifying best minicell designs. The existing method of minicell design generates best minicell designs by designing and scheduling minicells simultaneously. While in this research designing of minicells and scheduling of jobs in minicells is done separately. This research evaluates the effectiveness of hierarchical approach and compares with simultaneous method. Minicell designs with respect to average flow times and machine capacities and both are identified in a multi-stage flow shop environment. Rules for the extraction of good minicell designs in mass customization manufacturing systems are also established.

Minicells are small manufacturing cells dedicated to an option family and organized in a multi-stage configuration for mass customization manufacturing. Product variants, depending on the customization requirements of each customer, are routed through the minicells as necessary. For successful mass customization, customized products must be manufactured at low cost and with short turn around time. Effective scheduling of jobs to be processed in minicells is essential to quickly deliver customized products. In this research, a genetic algorithm based approach is developed to schedule jobs in a minicell configuration by considering it as a multi-stage flow shop. A new crossover strategy is used in the genetic algorithm to obtain a minimum flow time schedule.