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Mass customization in schools: strategies Dutch secondary schools pursue to cope with the diversity–efficiency dilemma

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 22; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02680930701390503

1464-5106

Sietske Waslander,

Business Strategy and Innovation

Abstract Faced with the diversity–efficiency dilemma, private companies apply ‘mass customization’ strategies to add diversity without adding costs. As schools are urged to become more ‘customer oriented’ they also face a diversity–efficiency dilemma. This article asks how Dutch secondary schools cope with this dilemma and to what extent they apply ‘mass customization’ strategies. A careful selection procedure aimed at a maximum variety of school practices resulted in seventeen schools for which case studies were conducted. Data collection included written material, observations and interviews. Analysis of the combined data indicated six dimensions along which schools differentiate their educational offerings. On the basis of emerging patterns of differentiation, four categories of schools were distinguished. These categories appear to be closely linked to organizational strategies pursued by schools. The article concludes that practices adopted by schools to cope with the diversity–efficiency dilemma strongly resemble mass customization strategies applied by companies producing tangible goods. In the final section, the risks and inherent contradictions of these strategies are pointed out. For while government policies and schools seek to put the needs of individual students at the centre, the inevitable diversity–efficiency dilemma may cause many schools to adopt practices students never asked for. Acknowledgements The case studies were enabled by Citogroup. Participating schools, Jan Wiegers, Peter Hermans, Julet Harms and Kirsten van Ingen of Citogroup, as well as Maartje van der Weide, Arie Glebbeek and Rie Bosman, all contributed in various yet important ways to the project. Notes 1. Not everybody is convinced by research outcomes that suggest that customer preferences may differ less then expected. Most often, maximizing consumer satisfaction is considered the ‘ultimate expression of being customer‐driven’ (Bardakci & Whitelock, Citation2004, p. 1397). Nonetheless, consumers tend to be satisfied when their expectations are met. This is problematic, as expectations may already be contaminated by what suppliers can and cannot offer. Another criterion has therefore been introduced—the ‘sacrifice gap’, referring to the gap between what a company has to offer and what each customer ‘truly desires’ (Hart, Citation1995). 2. More attempts were made in comparable directions, without explicit references to the mass‐customization framework (e.g. Ausburn, Citation2002; Prince, Citation2002). 3. The concept of mass‐customized education seems to have taken some root in Australia. In an action plan intended to stimulate initiatives for learning in the knowledge society, the Vocational Education and Training sector is called upon to ‘use the tools of the new economy’ and ‘to move away from the old industrial mass‐production approaches to teaching and learning, to offer convenient and customized products and services to an expanded national and international customer base’ (Australian National Training Authority, Citation2000). The paper foresees ‘fast changing work practices and preferences’, such that skills must be developed on a ‘just‐in‐time’ and ‘just‐for‐me basis’. Also from Australia is UniSAnet, the computer network of the University of South Australia, of which ‘one of the guiding principles … is the idea of “mass customization”’ (Weight et al., Citation2001). 4. These tracks, from low to high, are: VMBO (preparatory middle vocational education)–basic vocational (4 years); VMBO–staff vocational (4 years); VMBO–mixed (4 years); VMBO–theoretical (4 years); HAVO (higher general education)–general (5 years); VWO (preparatory university education) (6 years), sometimes divided into an Atheneum track–without classical languages, and a Gymnasium track–with these languages. 5. These experts were members of advisory committees, educational agencies, consultants, or researchers, and all were familiar with various secondary schools. 6. As school attendance rather than schooling is compulsory, no records are available concerning the number of home‐schooled students in the Netherlands. The number is currently estimated at a few hundred at most (Blok, Citation2002). For legal reasons, this number is unlikely to rise in the near future.