CUSTOMIZATION – INNOVATION WHEN OFF-THE-SHELF IS OUT OF THE QUESTION

Abstract

Appointment scheduling applications (ASA) are used by service providers (hair salons, dentists, physicians), i.e. B2B customers, and service consumers (people), i.e. B2C customers. The objective is to investigate if innovation, i.e. customization may be applied to enable the product to support specificities of the Serbian market (SSM). Based on the environmental and competitive (internal and external) analysis and comparison of global vs. customized product (ASA) we recommend the launch of customization and sales departments aiming to place the customized product on the Serbian market. Applied research methodologies include SWOT and PESTEL analysis, strategic group mapping, Porter’s value chain, Boston consulting group matrix, McKinsey’s seven ‘S’ model, COMB analysis, Porter’s five forces, Ansoff’s matrix, stakeholder’s analysis, and the balanced scorecard. The result is a business plan for the market entry of a software producer on the Serbian market. Appropriate combination of strategies – innovation and customization is formulated on the operational level.