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The rhetoric of the consumer and customer control in China

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  • Jos Gamble

    (Royal Holloway, University of London)

Abstract

This article explores the extent to which the rhetoric of the sovereign consumer and the use of the customer as a device of managerial control have been transferred to the subsidiaries of multinational retail firms operating in China. Based upon data drawn from over 200 interviews conducted at UK and Japanese multi-nationals' stores, in this rapidly internationalizing context it was evident that the notion of the sovereign consumer was ubiquitous and procedures designed to inculcate management by customers or consumer control had been implemented. However, it was equally apparent that the rhetoric of the consumer not only served managerial ends, but also provided a rich and fertile resource for shopfloor workers. Meaningful, socially embedded relationships could also play a crucial role in transactions. Moreover, with respect to discipline and control, employees were fully aware that power lay with their managers, rather than disembodied consumers or even actual customers.

Suggested Citation

  • Jos Gamble, 2007. "The rhetoric of the consumer and customer control in China," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(1), pages 7-25, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:21:y:2007:i:1:p:7-25
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017007073609
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marek Korczynski & Ursula Ott, 2004. "When Production and Consumption Meet: Cultural Contradictions and the Enchanting Myth of Customer Sovereignty," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 575-599, June.
    2. Andrew Sturdy, 2001. "The Global Diffusion of Customer Service - A Critique of Cultural and Institutional Perspectives," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 75-89, March.
    3. George Callaghan & Paul Thompson, 2002. "‘We Recruit Attitude’: The Selection and Shaping of Routine Call Centre Labour," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 233-254, March.
    4. Gamble, Jos, 2006. "Introducing Western-style HRM practices to China: Shopfloor perceptions in a British multinational," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 328-343, December.
    5. Patrice Rosenthal, 2004. "Management Control as an Employee Resource: The Case of Front‐line Service Workers," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 601-622, June.
    6. Jos Gamble, 2006. "Multinational Retailers in China: Proliferating ‘McJobs’ or Developing Skills?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7), pages 1463-1490, November.
    7. Paul Thompson & George Callaghan & Diane Broek, 2004. "Keeping Up Appearances: Recruitment, Skills and Normative Control in Call Centres," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stephen Deery & Nicholas Kinnie (ed.), Call Centres and Human Resource Management, chapter 6, pages 129-152, Palgrave Macmillan.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jos Gamble, 2010. "Transferring Organizational Practices and the Dynamics of Hybridization: Japanese Retail Multinationals in China," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 705-732, June.

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