On customer value : a study of the IT supplier Atea and three of its customers

Abstract: At the turn of the twenty-first century, the PC company Dell was known for its "famous direct method" (Afuah and Tucci, 2003), which alludes to the direct business model. Dell created a tightly aligned business model that enabled it to manage away the need for its component inventories (Jonathan Bymes, 2003). In order to do that, the company eliminated retailers, wholesalers and distributors in its supply chain (Chopra and Meindl, 2004). Rapid deliveries of tailor-made computers and competitive price were the result of an efficient build-to-order strategy that outdid many IT competitors.(First paragraph of the introduction. No abstract available)