Product Adaptability: Assessment and Strategy

Market dynamics are generating rapid product change and increasing the uncertainties of product management. As a result, the need for product adaptability has never been greater. Yet marketing managers lack a framework for evaluating product adaptability. Examines product adaptability in terms of two underlying dimensions: product domain (single versus multiple product) and performance criteria (internal versus external). This results in a framework that includes four basic types of product flexibility: acceptability (single‐product flexibility based on external criteria, e.g. customer acceptance); modifiability (single‐product flexibility based on internal criteria, e.g. production efficiency); leveragability (multiple‐product flexibility based on external criteria); and compatability (multiple‐product flexibility based on internal criteria). Using this framework, identifies specific factors that lead to product adaptability and proposes a method for product assessment.