ABSTRACT
To appreciate bow business strategy drives design, consider two different personal computer manufactures. The marketing strategy of company "A" is to sell several different product models, differentiated on the basis of cost and performance, through large retail outlet chains and other mass retailers. To support this marketing strategy, a manufacturing strategy is developed in which all models are mass produced on one assembly line and delivered in scheduled shipments to retail outlets using an optimized distribution system. With the marketing and manufacturing strategies thus determined, the design strategy becomes obvious: design the product so that all models can be mass produced interchangeably on one line and packaged such that specified quantities of each model can be easily sorted and palletized for scheduled shipment to specific retailers.
