Characterization of cross-functional integration level: A multi case study in Agribusiness Organizations

Abstract

A point that has generated discussion in the literature is the level of integration required for the coordination of activities between areas. However, there is a lack of theoretical definitions and field studies that explain this phenomenon in depth. Thus, this study aims to characterize the level of crossintegration, the factors that generate it and the impacts on organizational performance. For this, interviews with managers of Operations, R&D and Marketing/Commercial areas, from two multinational companies based in Minas Gerais were performed. The results indicate that the level of integration can be analyzed as a combination of three factors: 1) absence of overlapping of perceptions about integration factors over the processes, balance between formality and informality, and absence of manifest conflicts of interest. This is a setting that provides a deeper definition than those obtained in the studied literature, which basically present integration mechanisms, without detailing how these should be applied in order to generate higher levels of integration.

Antecedents of cross-functional integration level and their organizational impact

“…Low awareness of integration is associated with the heterogeneity of perception, among functions, about the existence of cross-functional integration factors (Ferreira et al , 2015) – that is, some employees perceive the existence of integration factors, while others do not. When the perception of integration factors throughout the stages of a given process is not homogeneous, there is an overlap of perceptions within the company.…”

“…The prior research presents a few studies that have identified integration factors in situations of high, medium or low integration (Basnet, 2013; Bellmunt and Torres, 2013; Świerczek, 2014). However, these studies fail to explore the correlation between the wide range of antecedents that impact cross-functional integration, such as conflicts, formality and informality, as well as their impacts on the level of integration within the organizations (Ferreira et al , 2015; Pimenta et al , 2016). This set of constructs could give support to a wider and more practical conceptualization of the level of integration.…”

Integração interfuncional no contexto de desenvolvimento de produtos: revisão da literatura e agenda de pesquisa

“…Diversos artigos da área de DNP tratam da integração interfuncional (Song, Neeley, & Zhao, 1996;Nihtila, 1999;Maltz, Souder & Kumar, 2001;Sanzo, 2012;Felekoglu, Maier, & Moultrie, 2013). Esses estudos vêm sendo realizados há bastante tempo, sempre buscando respostas de como melhorar esse processo, tanto em rapidez como em qualidade (Moenaert & Souder, 1990;Calantone, Dröge & Vickery, 2002;Jugend, Da Silva, Magnanini Almeida & Gobbo Junior, 2013;Ferreira, Pimenta & Bertan, 2015;Neirotti et al, 2018). Kirca & Yaprac (2010) mencionam que quando um campo de estudo começa a crescer, ao longo de várias décadas, tende-se a surgir grandes quantidades de trabalhos similares, trabalhos que não se encaixam muito bem nas vertentes conhecidas e, também, trabalhos com resultados contraditórios.…”

Synergies and conflicts between marketing and supply chain management key performance indicators

“…Some jobs bring empirical evidence of the integration between marketing and SCM processes (Alvarado and Kotzab, 2001;Svensson, 2002;Lambert et al, 2008). Other authors, such as Ferreira et al (2015), mention the existence of barriers and elements of conflict to integrate such processes. According to Kahn (1996) and Ellinger et al (2000), performance indicators (KPIskey performance indicators) and functional objectives should be aligned to control potential conflicts of interest between internal areas.…”

“…According to Jüttner et al (2007), some approaches address the synergies between marketing and SCM and even deal with their integration, proposing a single perspective. However, only a few studies address the potential conflict between these areas (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967;Ferreira et al, 2015). Moses and Åhlström (2008) point out that, in the functional integration framework, conflicts may occur due to differences between the KPIs of the organisation and their relationship with functional KPIs.…”