Who Is the Customer? On Multiple-Customer Representation in Supply Chains

Benedikte Borgström (), Luis Araujo and Susanne Hertz
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Benedikte Borgström: Department of Urban Studies, Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University, 21119 Malmö, Sweden
Luis Araujo: Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Susanne Hertz: Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, 55318 Jönköping, Sweden

Logistics, 2025, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: Background : Customer orders are key in developing logistics processes and in strategic developments of customer orientation. This paper investigates the notion of customer orientation. In the literature, the concept of customer is underdeveloped in that it is seen as a single object rather than how it is enacted in multiple ways. The study examines a customer-oriented production process managed in the supply chain of an automotive manufacturer. Methods : Based on a longitudinal study we explain what constitutes customer knowledge and what processes are involved in constructing this knowledge. Results : The study shows that in a supply chain, multiple versions of customers coexist and overlap that have implications on how multiple-customer orientation is performed and aligned in the supply chain. Conclusions : We find that customer representations proliferate as a result of multiple objectives; we demonstrate what objects and assemblages bring particular customer representation to life and show that these are used to shape customer orientation.

Keywords: customer orientation; management object; multiplicity; case study; performative representation; the customer multiple (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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