Customers

Customers are vital to all organizations and the ability bith to identify and meet consumer needs is seen as one of the keys to organizational survival and prosperity – a point not overlooked by politicians who are increasingly using business techniques to the attract the support of the electorate. This idea of consumer sovereignty – where resources are allocated to produce output to satisfy customerdemand – is a central tenet os the market economy and is part of an ideology whose influence has become all pervasive in recent years. Understanding the many factors affecting both individual and market demand and the ways in which firms organize themselves to satisfy that demand is a vital component of a business environment that is increasingly market-led.