| dc.description.abstract | Design R&D considerations are not only technical issues, but also issues regarding systems, organizations and management, which can be completely solved by comprehensive considerations. The study intends to explore how to cooperate with company’s management strategies to review and adjust design quality management mechanisms for fan cooler products, so that customers will feel that the products or services have “extra value”, and hence the synergy of “value creation” will be exerted. Aiming at the characteristics of the fan cooler industry in Taiwan, the study wants to explore how to use the perspective of Contingency Theory to choose a suitable design quality management mechanism to exert the greatest synergy and satisfy every market’s need for fan cooler design quality and services. Also, the study makes assessments and suggestions based on the real operations of D Company, to explore what management mechanism should be added, and what management mechanism is easiest to use and most suitable for fan cooler vendors in Taiwan.
The study conducts qualitative research through of literature search and analyses and in-depth interviews. A case study was made of D Company, which has earned customer satisfaction and recognition for its innovation, quality and fast service for many years— also the main reasons D Company has had continuous growth in its market share and operations. D Company is the leading vendor of fan coolers in the world. Its design quality control mechanism deserves Taiwan’s fan cooler manufacturers’ interest and study; therefore, it is worthy of being investigated. The study first adopts Porter’s (1980) External Environment Analysis Tool to conduct an analysis of the fan cooler industry. Then, an internal environment analysis and a SWOT analysis of D Company is performed. Second, referring to Kotler & Keller’s (2006) concept of “mass customization”, the study explores the case company’s design quality control mechanism for fan coolers in the application domain of the PC market. Finally, the study induces the key factors in the success of D Company.
The study results have found: the leadership styles of D Company’s high-level supervisors and management show similarities with the Contingency Theory proposed by Fiedler (1967). D Company’s operational model for design quality control mechanism of mass customization is similar to the main perspective of Partanen & Haapasalo’s approach to mass customization. Concretely speaking, the following four points are the key factors in the success of D Company’s operational model: Insistence on customer-oriented design quality; exertion of synergistic operations through project teamwork; high-level supervisors’ emphasis and active participation; and perfect level and scope of information technology applications.
To sum up, this study has found: no matter whether in design quality management or marketing, customer-oriented concepts and operational models are very important. D Company is effective; however, mass customization will be the mainstream in future developments. In the future, the development of the fan cooler will be as keen and fierce as other electronic industries, and profit margins will be thinner. Future developments will still be customer-oriented to satisfy customer needs.
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