Gouvernance interorganisationnelle imbriquée et stratégie orientée client

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study on the governance to adopt in implementing a customer-oriented strategy. Our case study of a company in the aeronautics industry highlights the specific features of «embedded governance» designed to structure long-term relationships with suppliers. Such inter-organizational governance is grounded first in a hierarchical structure in which purchasing managers holding positions at middle-management level play a pivotal role. Second, it requires that suppliers' control devices be adapted to each stage of the relationship. Finally, even though embedded governance meets the needs of a customer-oriented strategy, our study also suggests that its virtuous effects can only be sustained if strong inter-organizational trust builds between exchange partners at every level.