SYNERGISING CUSTOMER-PRODUCT CENTRIC BUSINESS PARADIGMS TO LEVERAGE SUPERIOR MARKET PERFORMANCE OF THE SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

Abstract

Using confirmatory factor analysis, this research examined the null hypothesis that a process synchronising customer- product centric approaches would certainly leverage the superior market performance of the small and medium size manufacturing enterprises. Findings revealed the integration of customer-centric ideologies in product-centric business approach to enhance innovation of ideas that subsequently match or even exceed customer expectations to turn into successful business concepts. Even though customer-centricity appears to play a central role throughout the process of a product development and marketing, linkage of product-centricity with customer-centric approach was still found to enhance strategic sensing and creative, imaginative and innovative thinking that enable product developers to develop new products or modify the existing products with limited inputs from customer-points-of-view. Although, all these may leverage a manufacturing enterprise’s superior market performance, a major paradox was still found to arise from lack of a suitable business model that would aid the manufacturing executives’ synergistic applications of customer- product-centric paradigms to achieve the desired business outcomes. Against this backdrop, the study proposed an integrated customer-product centric business model that can be emulated by the contemporary manufacturing executives.

Keywords: Customer-driven business, Product- centric business, Small and medium size manufacturing enterprises, Superior market performance.