by Kah-Peng Aw., Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2001., Includes bibliographical references (leaf 55).

This dissertation analyzes the strategic implications of customization policies available to companies that must simultaneously provide service and learn about their customers through automated interfaces. The first part of the dissertation lays out the theoretical framework within which the analysis…

The thesis explores a puzzle in technological capability development: many firms in China follow the "normal" way of technological capability development suggested by the existing literature but have not made much progress, while some firms that deviate from the "normal"…