decoupling occurs at the level of the customer’s value chain, not at the product level. I define “customer value chain” (CVC) as the series of activities that customers perform in order to fulfill their needs and wants. These activities include searching for, evaluating, purchasing, using, and disposing of products. The customer value chain is analogous to Michael Porter’s value chain (the series of activities such as operations, logistics, and marketing that companies execute in order to create value for themselves), but it reflects the customer’s vantage point, rather than the company’s.
