Are clients 'business ketchup' ? The role of clients in companies

• Jean-Philippe NEUVILLE
  Senior Lecturer, INSA Lyon
  Research associate, Centre de Sociologie des Organisations (Centre for the sociology of organisations) (CNRS)
  
• Franck COCHOY
  Professor of Sociology, CERTOP (Centre d'études et de recherche : techniques, oragnisations, pouvoirs : Research centre for technology, organisations and authorities) -CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : National Centre for Scientific Research) / Toulouse II University
  

Summary

The all-mighty customer, at first praised by the marketing people trying to enlarge and diversify the outlets of mass production, has invaded both business and public services. The customer has been granted with every power, in particular that of increasing the efficiency of any trade exchange. But is that image of the customer, always referred to, representing reality, or is it only a rhetorical figure ? According to Jean-Philippe Neuville, people in office often turns it to their advantage. Frank Cochoy shows that, particularly with the expansion of the traceability, the customer indeed gets into business organisation and even manages to control it.

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Élisabeth BOURGUINAT.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference VA051199).

The entire article appears in French in the Journal de l'École de Paris du management N° 24.