Customer-service representatives at Bell Mobility, the wireless unit of Bell Canada, can make instant offers based on a customer's calling patterns, his age and the way similar customers have reacted to such offers.

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But if the firm is still imprisoned in the assumptions of shareholder capitalism, then the sales unit focused on noble customer purpose will be operating like an oasis in an unfriendly desert.

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Viacom 's (nyse: VIAb - news - people ) Infinity unit is the next-biggest customer, accounting for 10% of revenue.

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The project accelerated late last year after Gordon Shank, then president of Levi's Americas unit and now Levi's chief marketing officer, visited a customer-service center and heard the frustration firsthand.

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