Pimenta 2016

International Journal of Logistics Management, The
Characteristics of cross-functional integration processes: evidence from Brazilian organizations

Marcio Lopes Pimenta Andrea Lago da Silva Wendy L Tate
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Marcio Lopes Pimenta Andrea Lago da Silva Wendy L Tate , (2016),"Characteristics of cross-functional integration
processes: evidence from Brazilian organizations", International Journal of Logistics Management, The, Vol. 27 Iss 2 pp. -
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Characteristics of Cross-functional Integration Processes: Evidence from Brazilian
Organizations
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to characterize the cross-functional integration

processes between Marketing and Logistics, while considering five basic elements: Boundary
Spanning Activities, Integration Factors, Level of Integration, Formality/Informality and
Impacts of Integration.
Design/methodology/approach: After an extensive literature review, five case studies were
performed and in-depth interviews conducted. Both within-case and cross-case analysis was
performed to better understand the cross-functional integration processes between Marketing
and Logistics.
Findings: A characterization of cross-functional integration in the form of a managerial

framework was proposed. This framework presents the elements in a process view, instead of
disconnected parts of the integration processes. The framework and process perspective helps
to explain the integration process, the roles and impacts of integration within organizations,
while considering cultural formality and informality.
Research limitations/implications: Qualitative data collection and analysis methods can not
achieve amplitude with respect to sampling nor generalize results. In spite of this, the
implications revealed by the propositions may be applied not only to Brazilian companies, but
organizations in other countries as well, due to the high level of heterogeneity of the sample,
and the fact that they represent multinational organizations. Therefore, further research using
broad based survey data could test the correlations between the elements of cross-functional
integration processes.
Practical implications: The identification of the cross-functional integration processes within
organizations can help managers to facilitate the efforts of integration between Marketing and
Logistics, reducing conflicts and improving business performance.
Originality/value: Case studies focusing specifically on five Brazilian organizations help
provide evidence for an initial definition of cross-functional integration processes by
analyzing five key elements according to their characteristics and respective roles. This
research provides a strong foundation for future broad-based survey research.
Keywords: Cross-functional integration, Processes, Marketing, Logistics.

Category: Research Paper
Introduction and objectives
In emerging countries like Brazil, the economy and market scenario has changed
substantially over the past twenty years presenting new challenges to companies. Formerly
recognized as primarily an agricultural and raw material supplier, Brazil is now much more
economically diversified therefore attracting investors from many different industries and
countries according to Forbes, in its report “Best Countries For Business (2013)”. The growth
and economic changes have influenced consumer habits, driven extreme growth in industrial
and service sectors, created recent and ongoing improvements of infrastructure and changes in
regulatory policies.
According to the report “Emerging markets at the intersection of technology and the
middle class”, from Nielsen, Brazilian consumers have become extremely savvy in their
demands increasing the need for high technology and innovative products in the region. The
changing consumer demands, improved infrastructures, and more-diversified economies have
business leaders, in Brazil as well as other locations, looking for ways to improve
performance while meeting customer demand and delivering value. The context of Brazil
provides evidence for business practices that improve operations in a relatively complex and
rapidly growing environment.
One such practice is establishing cross-functionally integrated teams that focus on
developing and implementing a consistent strategic vision. Organizational members are
learning to “march to the beat of the same drummer” which is helping to meet the ever-
changing demands. Cross-functional integration is essential for providing and processing
quality information and developing effective decision-making processes in the relationship
with different agents along the supply chain (Mollenkopf et al., 2000; Alam et al., 2014).
Increased cross-functional integration can help with the implementation of innovative
strategies and organizational change (Turkulainen and Ketokivi, 2012).

Marketing and Logistics are responsible for critical roles in value creation and
interaction with consumers, demanding joint collaboration internally and across the supply
chain (Ellinger et al., 2000; Daugherty et al., 2009). The integration between these functions
can help maintain an efficient balance between demand and supply and enhance supply chain
performance (Esper et al., 2010). Without effective integration, Marketing managers can lose
credibility with customers due to poorly performed Logistics tasks, such as late deliveries,
delivery errors and losses (Stank et al., 1999). Alternatively, logisticians often protest about
the lack of integration, and insist that the Marketing function devotes little attention to issues
related to other functions (Swink and Song, 2007). The lack of integration between these two
functions creates internal conflict primarily because of the incongruity of goals and
misperceptions of responsibility.
Existing literature indicates that there are specific activities that generate integration,
and correlates the resulting integration with improved functional and organizational
performance (Kahn, 1996; Stank et al., 1999; Ellinger, 2000; Chimhanzi, 2004; Schramm-
Klein and Morschett, 2006, Daugherty et al., 2009; Foerstl et al., 2013; Fain and Wagner,
2014). However, the existing literature does not characterize how integration processes
generate these positive impacts. "Research on organizational design needs to be conducted at
a more detailed level – such as the project level – to fully understand the related managerial
challenges" (Turkulainen et al., 2012 p.9). There is a theoretical and managerial gap in
understanding the integration processes, the key elements that integrate functions and the
roles that characterize effective cross-functional integration.
The idea of how the process of cross-functional integration occurs represents a
theoretical gap, with limited research on the inner-workings of the actual integration process.
This gap includes the fundamental elements involved in this cross-functional process. The
over-arching purpose of this paper is to better understand the cross-functional integration

processes involved with the Marketing and Logistics functions. The question driving this
research is how can the processes of cross-functional integration between Marketing and
Logistics be better characterized? The ultimate goal of this research is to characterize the
cross-functional integration processes between Marketing and Logistics, considering five
basic tenets: Boundary Spanning Activities, Integration Factors, Level of Integration,
Formality/Informality and Impacts of Integration. Following this characterization, a
managerial framework that classifies the five tenets into a process-oriented model is
developed. Using data from in-depth case studies of five Brazilian companies, an illustration
of the framework is then provided.
An in-depth literature review follows and helps to set the stage and uncover the key
elements involved in cross-functional integration. This review is followed by a discussion of
the methodology used to illustrate and develop the managerial framework. The paper ends
with a discussion of the results, managerial and theoretical implications.
Literature review
Integration can be defined as "the quality of the state of collaboration that exists
among departments, which is necessary to work together and meet the demands of the
environment" (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967, p.11). Initially the theory of organizations
showed functional structures organized by tasks (Galpin et al., 2007). This characteristic of
functional segmentation ultimately encourages individualistic behavior (Lawrence and
Lorsch, 1967). Such individualistic behavior is inherent to the complexity and specificity of
the problems that concern individual departments (Shapiro, 1977).
Boundary Spanning Activities
Employees within different functions have different behavior guidelines, or are also
influenced by values and objectives relevant to their function (Swink and Song, 2007).
Therefore, the existence of activities that need to be accomplished through the participation of
more than one function (boundary spanning activities) represents a challenge that managers
must face in order to synchronize actions and objectives between functions. Several authors
have identified boundary spanning activities between Marketing and Logistics:
• management of customer service (Rinehart et al., 1989);

• definition of physical attributes to products (Coyle et al., 2003);
• new product development (Flint et al., 2008);
• delivery planning (Flint and Mentzer, 2000; Daugherty et al., 2009).
Integration Factors, Formality, and Integration Level

Another element, mentioned in the literature, refers to the integration factors. Several
authors mentioned the integration factors as mechanisms used to generate integration within
the various boundary spanning activities (Dawes and Massey, 2001; van Hoek et al., 2008;
Daugherty et al., 2009). Table 1 highlights several integration factors found in the literature
and responsible authors.
[insert table 1 about here]
Integration factors are primarily formal or informal. Several authors share this view
(Ruekert and Walker, 1987; Kahn, 1996; Gimenez and Ventura, 2005, Daugherty et al.,
2009). Kahn's (1996) model separates the integration processes into collaboration and
interaction. Collaboration consists of integrative and informal work processes involving
departments, sharing visions, goals and resources (Kahn, 1996; Kahn and Mentzer, 1998).
Interaction involves the structural issues of relations between the organization's functions, i.e.,
activities and hierarchies that are formally coordinated (Kahn, 1996; Kahn and Mentzer,
1998).
Integration level refers to the intensity of the integration between functions. The
intensity is indicated by the presence or absence of certain integration factors that provide the
capability to carry out tasks, which require integration. The level of internal integration is
related to the presence of factors such as joint planning, process problem solving, goal setting
and teamwork to avoid conflicts (Gimenez, 2006; Ellegaard and Koch, 2014). Higher levels
of integration between Marketing and Logistics depend on factors such as: top management
support, information sharing, group spirit and establishment of goals common to functions
(Murphy and Poist, 1994). The level of internal integration between Marketing and Logistics
also depends on the quality of the employee's personal relationships (Topolšek and Čurin,
2012).
Organizational Impacts of Integration
The integration initiatives are motivated by the achievement of desired impacts related
to organizational performance and to its role on external integration with other companies in
the supply chain (Moorman and Rust, 1999; Krohmer et al., 2002; Flint et al., 2008;
Daugherty et al., 2009; Horn et al., 2014). When integrated, internal functions can quickly
reach a better understanding of technical and market issues as well as customer needs
(Johnson and Fillipini, 2013). Moreover, there is a synergistic effect, which facilitates the
ability to achieve enhanced supply chain productivity (Alam et al., 2014).
The integration between Marketing and Logistics positively impacts the organization
as a whole: alignment between demand and supply (Esper et al. 2010), firm wide integration
(Daugherty et al., 2009), market orientation (Whybark, 1994) and external integration
reaching all of the supply chain (Gimenez, 2006; Horn et al., 2014). Some authors mention
impacts of integration on Logistics: adjusting the customer service to the customer
characteristics (Lambert and Cook, 1990), avoiding delivery delays (Zacharia and Mentzer,
2007) and reducing trade-offs (Morash et al., 1996). Finally, there are impacts on Marketing:
increasing customer satisfaction level (Stank et al., 1999), increasing market share (Mentzer et
al., 2008), improving new product development performance (Fain and Wagner, 2014) and
increasing responsiveness to the market (Esper et al., 2010).

Summary and Interaction of the Five Tenets of Integration
Cross-functional integration can be studied through a process in which five tenets
interact: boundary spanning activities, integration factors, formality/informality, level of
integration, and impacts of integration. When boundary spanning activities between at least
two functions exist, it provides a lens to better characterize the activities and processes that
ensure effective managerial integration efforts. Boundary spanning activities are defined as
points of contact in which internal functions relate to each other in fulfilling business
processes, i.e. require the participation, information or at least the opinion of other functions
to achieve adequate efficiency in organizational objectives. These types of activities demand
the application of integration factors, as they are necessary mechanisms to generate
integration between functions, e.g., cross-functional teams or non-conflicting objectives.
Formality/informality characterizes the way the integration factor is applied, i.e.
implemented by managers or spontaneously developed, usually at lower levels of the
organization. Formality and informality are present because of the organizational culture.
Some companies may have far more formal processes and interactions due to the high
intensity of managerial efforts required for effective integration. Alternatively, other
organizations may have more informal integration, due to some cultural characteristics related
to group spirit and mutual understanding of people about each other's activities.
The Integration level corresponds to the intensity of the cross-functional relationship
and appears as a consequence of the effectiveness of the integration factors. The application
of integration factors within boundary spanning activities, and the formality or informality of
cross-functional efforts influences the level of integration. The impacts of integration
represent the benefits and outcomes obtained by departments and by the firm as a whole, as
consequences of the existence of integration. An example of this might be to reduce the costs
for inventory storage and help facilitate a company wide vision that establishes levels of
inventory and availability of products.
The above section conceptualized the cross-functional integration processes
represented in the literature. This effort enabled the identification of these five primary tenets
of the integration process. The next section presents the methodology used to characterize
these elements in five companies located in the rapidly developing country of Brazil.
Methodology
To characterize the cross-functional integration between Marketing and Logistics, a
systematic literature review based on peer review journals, conferences, theses, dissertations
and books was performed. Five in-depth case studies of Brazilian organizations were then
completed and managers interviewed about the integration process between Marketing and
Logistics.
Glaser and Strauss (1967) noted that the researcher, instead of seeking homogeneous
cases may instead try to maximize the differences among the cases. The researcher is then
more likely to find different elements/categories and also various semantic definitions for
these. For this reason, the Brazilian companies in five different industries were purposefully
selected. The selection of cases considered other criteria as listed in Table 2.
Table 3 summarizes the main features of the five organizations covered by this
research. Information about the, sector to which the organization belongs, annual revenue,
number of employees, people interviewed and headquarter location is presented.
In-depth, open ended interviews lasting approximately one hour were conducted with
38 people in the five Brazilian companies. The interviewer followed a protocol, through with
the five primary tenets of cross-functional integration discovered in the literature review were
explored. Open-ended questions were used to get information about boundary spanning
activities, integration, formality, integration level, and impacts of integration.
For accessing the interviewee's perception about integration factors and
formality/informality, all integration factors found in the literature were assessed using a 5-
point scale, where respondents were instructed to choose from (1) never occurs to (5)
frequently occurs. After each selection, they were asked to briefly illustrate an example in
their organization. The interviews were conducted and analyzed in Portuguese and then
translated into English. The interviewees’ quotes were then submitted for validation in terms
of meaning. After the first translation into English, some sentences were difficult to
understand and required rewording. The authors returned in the original transcription to check
the meaning of each sentence, one author is a native English speaker, and helped to validate
the reworded content.
Semi-structured questionnaires were used to frame the assessment. However, the
rich, in-depth data was used to illustrate the framework, determine how these elements
interact, and the relationship of the elements to one another. Characteristics of the
interviewees are detailed in Table 4.
The interviews were recorded in audio and transcribed and subjected to content
analysis, thus allowing the researchers to compare, observe differences and categorize factors
in the text (Bauer and Gaskell, 2002). Coding was performed by the primary author but then
validated by a second author. Any differences in the coding were discussed until there was
agreement. First the authors looked at those items that were most frequently mentioned.
These items were considered in terms of how they helped to define the framework. The
coding for these is summarized in Appendix 1. This first step was followed by a review of
the data around these factors to better understand the context of how the information was
presented. The goal was to better understand the importance of these elements to both the
organization and the interviewee. Based on the recommendations of Lindgreen (2001), Bauer
and Gaskell (2002) and Bardin (2008), the steps used to perform the content analysis are
outlined in Table 5.
After the analysis of each individual case, an in-depth within case descriptive
document was created enabling a cross-case pattern analysis. This cross-case analysis helped
the researchers to look for patterns or heterogeneity between the elements. After the coding
of the elements found in the content analysis, they were characterized semantically
considering the context. The cross-case analysis was based on comparing and contrasting
(Yin, 2005; Barratt et al., 2011) the types and meanings of the codes found in each
organization.
Case overview
The key elements obtained in the case studies as well as their respective categories and
impact on respondents' answers was documented in Appendix I. However, a brief summary
of each organization is presented and the different tenets of integration present in each
organization are provided.
Organization 1
Respondents mentioned that the cross-functional integration between Marketing and
Logistics is mainly necessary because of the existence of the boundary spanning activities:
development of new products, delivery to the customer, customer service planning and
demand planning. These activities are mainly integrated through informally operated
integration factors: trust, working together to resolve conflicts and group spirit.
Its level of integration is considered average, because there is trust and teamwork to
solve problems. However, there are also conflicting cross-functional objectives and a lack of
mutual understanding of activities between people of the two functions. According to the
respondents, generating integration in these specific boundary spanning tasks may produce
these impacts: image improvement of the product in the market through avoiding delivery
delay and sales above the logistical capacity.

Organization 2
The respondents mentioned that cross-functional integration between Marketing and
Logistics is necessary due to the boundary spanning activities: demand planning and delivery
to the customer. Within these activities, three integration factors are operationalized: a cross-
functional team named MPS (Monthly Production Schedule), adequate communication and
longevity of relationships. The MPS characterizes the formality of integration in this
organization and influences other informal factors which also uphold the integration.
The level of integration is considered average, since the MPS helps in the integration
effort and in general there is strong mutual trust across functions. However, there are
conflicting goals and delays due to cross-functional problems. Respondents understand that
the existence of integration on the mentioned boundary spanning activities can generate
positive impacts such as reduced storage costs and freight and minimization of lost sales.
Organization 3
The boundary spanning activities most mentioned are: demand planning, launching of
new products and delivery to the customer. Within these activities, a cross-functional team
called Integrated Planning (IP) acts as the main integration factor, followed by mutual
understanding of activities between the people of the two functions and proper
communication. The IP characterizes formality as the predominant form of integration, and
also influences the existence of other factors informally operated, such as teamwork to resolve
conflicts.
In this company, the level of integration is considered high, due to the actions of the IP
group and the support of senior management, which stimulate integration. There are
integration problems, but they are solved in a timely manner by management. Respondents
consider that when the integration is reached in the mentioned boundary spanning activities, it
may generate impacts such as avoiding the disruption of product supply, reducing storage and
shipping costs and preventing loss of promotion investment.
Organization 4
There is a perception at this organization that the main boundary spanning activities
between Marketing and Logistics are: delivery to the customer, development and launching of
new products and the marketing of supplies. Within these activities, there is predominance of
formal integration processes through cross-functional meetings of directing committees,
which allow the deployment of strategic planning at functional levels. Besides this integration
factor, there is adequate communication and a system of assessment and mutual rewards.
The level of integration at this organization was characterized as low, in which there is
minimal integration to maintain efficiency in short-term tasks that require contact between
Marketing and Logistics. Respondents perceive that there is no team spirit and that functions
seem to be closed 'boxes'. The respondents however indicated that with integration efforts
they perceived the potential of important organizational impacts such as increased market
share, avoidance of late delivery charges, and reduced cost of storage and shipping.
Organization 5
The primary boundary spanning activities between Marketing and Logistics in this
organization are: promotion, demand planning, development and launching of new products.
Marketing and Logistics are integrated through cross-functional departments: Demand
Planning and a Project Management Office or PMO. The integration is operated by the figure
of the 'Demander', whose function is to adjust the forecast in the short run and coordinate the
demand chain, providing guidelines for Marketing, Sales, Production and Logistics. For new
product projects, integration is also performed through the PMO, which is a function
responsible for project management. Between Demander and Marketing, the integration is
predominantly formal, through planning meetings, S&OP and product development. Logistics
does not participate in these meetings.
The integration of Demander and Logistics is characterized by informal and short-term
actions, related to meeting demand, based on appropriate communication and personal
willingness to resolve conflicts. For interviewees in Organization 5, to apply integration in the
mentioned boundary spanning activities generates impacts such as: avoid disruption of
product supply, achieve awards and organizational indicators and avoid loss of market share.
The above case descriptions summarize the characteristics of cross-functional
integration within each organization. A cross-case analysis was performed to better define
differences and similarities among the cases. Based on the information obtained from the case
participants and the literature review, the next section defines and describes the proposed
managerial framework and primary results of the research.
Results: Proposed Managerial Framework
That incidences and the content of the qualitative interviews were used to explain how
integration occurs in the studied cases. The framework exposed in the Figure 1 synthesizes
the main characteristics used to describe the integration process between Marketing and
Logistics. Each element of the framework and the relationships between elements is explained
with a respective set of propositions that originated from qualitative data analysis. This
research considers existing theory on inter-functional integration along with empirical, case
study research to develop a process model that incorporates boundary spanning activities,
integration factors, formality /informality, level of integration and its impacts.

What impacts may be achieved?
Impacts on Logistics
Which activities require - Reduce costs for storage and shipping

How can these activities be integrated?
integration? - Avoid disruption of product supply
- Avoid delivery delays
Demand Planning - Avoid sales above Logistics capacity
Deliveries Planning - Prevent loss/damage of goods
Product Development - Reduce inventories
Promotion Integration Factors - Adjust level of service according to the
Customer service - Adequate Communication the characteristics of the customers
- Work together as a team - Reduce delivery time
Definition of product - Trust
characteristics - Consideration to informal groups
Inventory Management Formal - Cross-functional meetings Impacts on Marketing
and - Support from senior management High
Transfers between Level
Informal - Information Sharing - Increase level of customer
distribution centers - Joint Planning
Influence satisfaction
Identification of Boundary - Mutual understanding of each other - Increase Market Share
market opportunities Spanning - Longevity of relationships Average - Reduce Marketing cost / Improve
Marketing and Activities - Non-conflicting objectives Level Marketing ROI
- Recognition of interdependence - Increase responsiveness to market
sales planning
- Cross-functional training - Reduce prices to market level
Organizational image - Mutual rewards system Low
- To increase visibility of the products
management Formal - Cross-functional teams Level
Influence - Congruence between functional
Marketing of Supplies
objectives and firm strategy
Trade Marketing - Proximity of workplaces Impacts on firm
Portfolio Management Informal - Group Spirit - Avoid sale loss

Price definition Influence - Avoid employee psychological strain
- Achieve awards and cross-functional indicators
Market Penetration - Improve the image of the organization
Strategies - Provide for people to have group vision
Marketing Events - Improve organizational results
- Accelerate changes and problem solving
- Slow processes due to bureaucracy
- Avoid contract fines with clients
- Improve the accuracy of demand forecasting
- Avoid rework
How is the intensity

of integration
defined?
Figure 1 - Process of cross-functional integration

Boundary Spanning Activities
Boundary Spanning Activities represent those activities that require integration, i.e.
the locus where the other four elements of the framework act and react in order to provide
integration and respective impacts. These are the points of contact in which internal functions
interact to fulfill business processes. The interviewees expressed their opinion about the three
most cited Boundary Spanning Activities.
Demand planning: "Integration helps translate the Marketing and Demand forecasts
to define the transportation and storage capacity" (LC5);
Delivery Planning: "They must work together in order to understand the types of
vehicles needed to meet the needs of each client." (MT1); "Marketing cannot promise
something that Logistics can´t accomplish" (HTA4);
New product development: "New products need simulation of processes and
information from Logistics like transportation and packaging tests" (ELC5).
Several Boundary Spanning Activities between Marketing and Logistics were found in
the studied literature: management of customer service (Rinehart et al., 1989); definition of
physical attributes to products (Coyle et al., 2003); new product development that requires
changes in the distribution network (Flint et al., 2008); and deliveries adequate to the client
expectation (Flint and Mentzer, 2000, Daugherty et al., 2009). However, the interviewees
suggested other boundary spanning activities and highlighted the connection with the other
four tenets of cross-functional integration processes between Marketing and Logistics.
Integration Factors
Integration factors are management tools or states of interpersonal collaboration that
stimulate the existence of integration. These factors effectively generate integration within the
boundary spanning activities. Appendix I shows the integration factors mentioned by the
interviewees. The next section presents these factors sorted by the formality or informality of
application.
Formality and Informality of Integration
The case studies demonstrate that integration factors can be applied both formally and
informally, but some of them only presented formal implementation, others, only informal.
These three situations were characterized according to the interviewees' perception in Table 6.
The following quotes from interviewees provide practical examples about three types
of integration factors according to the formality and informality of application. For example,
Adequate Communication as an integration factor can be applied both formally: "There is an
adequate communication infrastructure: ERP, intranet, instant messenger" (LM2) and
informally: "People are available to talk directly, you don't need to schedule, it facilitates
problem solving" (LM1). Cross Functional Teams are applied only formally: "The conflicts
between areas are solved by formal actions of the IP (cross-functional team) that promotes a
common perspective" (CONTM3). Alternatively, Group Spirit takes place only informally:
Employees are personally concerned about good functioning of the

organization (MM1). People know themselves very well and have
willingness to help each other due to their easy relationship (IM1). It is
like brothers, you may fight, but when another person starts to hurt him,
you help your brother against the other (PMO5).
The characteristics of this particular tenet helped to develop Proposition 1:
P1. Some factors provide integration only through formal processes, others only
through informal processes, but most can be applied both formally and informally.
The integration factors, as well as its relationship with formality and informality, were
mentioned in prior research, but not explored using deep qualitative insights while
considering executives sharing of experiences, as presented by this research (Kahn, 1996;

Daugherty et al., 2009). Ellinger et al., (2006) explained these two elements through a
practical and qualitative perspective. Interviewees also mentioned the formal/informal
relationship with respect to the application of cross-functional teams: "The IP group
generates common understanding of each other's tasks and problems, it facilitates a group
vision" (LM3). Proposition 2 is relevant to this idea:
P2. Integration factors formally applied influence the existence of informal

integration.
This research provided an in-depth characterization of these elements and also

provided some support for the idea that the integration process is influenced by the level of
formality/informality. In addition, the collected data supported the practical characteristics of
application for a large number of the integration factors found in earlier literature. The
processes are applied in the emerging business community but there are cultural differences
inherent in the application. It appears that there is more informal application and inter-
personal trust inherent in the surveyed organizations considering existing literature and data
from the cases. Characterization of the integration factors has helped to evidence a possible
relationship between the mutual existence of formality and informality and the achievement
of high levels of effective integration.
Integration Level
The application of integration factors within boundary spanning activities, as well as
their level of formality or informality influences the level of integration. This particular tenet
corresponds to the engagement intensity of one function with another function. According to
the case study data, the level of the integration is determined by the presence or absence of
certain integration factors that provide the ability to carry out the tasks requiring integration.
Three levels of integration were defined according to their intensity characteristics based on
the literature and the case data. These levels helped to define Proposition 3a, Proposition 3b
and Proposition 3c in the paragraphs below.
The interviewees from companies 3 and 5, noted that a high level of integration
corresponds to an organizational environment with the presence of integration factors
formally established by senior management, together with team spirit, trust and other informal
elements that contribute to the integration of functions and are an apparent cultural nuance in
these organizations.
The interaction of people from IP (cross-functional team) increases

integration because people stop to seek particular advantages to align
themselves to the operational capacity of the other area (SPM3). Now we
have common goals, before the goals were very different and now goals
are more aligned (RM5). Integration is high, I think it is because of trust
that the areas have among each other (DM5).
Proposition 3a is based on these statements:
P3a. A high level of integration is characterized by the presence of integration

factors formally established by senior management, together with team spirit, trust
and other informal elements that contribute to the integration of functions.
In Company 1 and 2, the respondents define that an average level of integration
corresponds to an organizational environment where people are very willing to help other
functions in solving conflicts and problems of conflicting objectives, but do not have large
formal efforts of senior management to maintain integration.
(The level of integration) is average, the sales objective is generally

higher than the Logistics capacity. It is necessary for formal actions to
promote mutual knowledge between people of each function to increase
integration (MM1).
The inverse of this situation may also exist where efforts are formalized by
management for cross-functional integration, but the willingness to interact and cooperate
between functions is reflected in the low confidence among the people who make up the
integrated functions. Proposition 3b is based on these statements:

P3b. An average level of integration is characterized by an organizational
environment where people are willing to help other functions in solving conflicts
and problems of conflicting objectives, but do not have large formal efforts of senior
management to maintain integration.
Interviewees from Company 4 perceive a low level of integration, because there are
integration factors formally established by senior management, such as cross-functional
meetings and committees, but these do not follow the authority balanced between the
functions, generating an isolation of interests in the decision making process. Respondents
also perceive a lack of both trust and group spirit, stating that the contact between the people
from the two functions is primarily transactional and occurs to solve short-term operational
issues.
There is no need for integration, Logistics only has to deliver what I plan
to sell (MC4). Each person stays inside your own 'little box' (SOC4).
There are formal initiatives toward integration, but the departments seem
like distinct and locked 'boxes' (LA4). I do not perceive high levels of
confidence (LC4).
There may be integration factors formally established by senior management, such as
cross-functional meetings and committees, but these do not follow the authority balanced
between the functions, generating an isolation of interests in the decision making process.
There is perceived isolation among employees who work within the department and contact
between people of the two functions occurs mainly for the solving of short-term operational
issues. These explanations contributed to Proposition 3c:
P3c. A low level of integration is related to insufficient integration factors

formalized by management and unwillingness among people to yield to cross-
functional negotiations.
Companies 3 and 5 presented high levels of integration and their respondents perceive
mutual existence formal and informal occurrences of integration factors. Otherwise, in
Company 4, there is a perception of a low level of integration due to the absence of informal
factors, such as trust and group spirit. Therefore, cross-functional integration levels may
increase when both formal and informal integration factors are present. Another important
finding from cross-case analysis lies upon a possible relationship between cross-functional
teams and high levels of integration.
Prior research defined that the integration level can be influenced by the presence of
certain integration factors (Murphy and Poist, 1994; Gimenez, 2006; Topolšek and Čurin,
2012). This paper advanced this issue as it provides a form of characterization with three
integration levels: high, medium and low. These variations of intensity are characterized
according to: 1) the presence or lack of certain integration factors and 2) the mutual existence
of formal and informal practices of the integration factors.
Integration Impacts
Cross-functional integration facilitates positive impacts and motivates people to work
together as a team when the points of contact require multiple functional perspectives. The
Integration Impacts may emerge as the results of the cross-functional integration process.
From that perspective, the other four elements of the proposed framework are considered
antecedents, and the impacts are the consequences as shown in Figure 1.
The interviewees from the five case studies were asked to answer freely about the
primary consequences of the integration between Marketing and Logistics in the mentioned
Boundary Spanning Activities. As mentioned in previous literature (Pagell, 2004; Daugherty
et al., 2009), this research confirmed the following proposition:
P4. A high level of effective cross-functional integration, including formal

mechanisms and informal initiatives, is related to achieving positive impacts from
the integration.
Although this proposition was partially mentioned in the literature, several impacts,
over different functions, were identified through the interviewing process. The participants
identified eight different impacts on Logistics, six on Marketing and eleven related to the
organization as a whole, as shown in the right side of Figure 1. The following quotation
demonstrates examples about impacts generated by integration.
Through joint demand planning it is possible to adjust minimal

inventories, avoid unnecessary transportation (LC5). With joint planning
you avoid sending a product to a warehouse and bringing it back to send
to another place (ELC5).
Personal motivations of employees with regard to their functional groups showed that
integration could generate a feeling of well-being among people and prevent psychological
distress:
With integration, we can avoid an internal war to find guilty people

(HTA4). We could improve little things in our routine if people could
understand each other, and so, everybody could perceive that month end
closing will be difficult but it mustn´t be chaotic (PMO5).
Another insight, derived from the cross-case analysis, is related to the impacts of using
cross-functional teams. The interviewees MO5, DM5, MM3 and LM3 mentioned that
Companies 3 and 5, have a high level of integration and adopt cross-functional teams with the
purpose of answering demand. Alternatively, in Company 2, where the integration level is
average, this same factor is applied, but here aiming for cost reduction and short term
planning of operational tasks, as cited by LM2 and MM2.
The comparison among Companies 2, 3 and 5 denote conditions in which the presence
of integration factors may influence the integration level, and the desired impact for its
application. These differences could be the reason for the existence of conflicting goals and
lack of mutual understanding between functions in Company 2. The analysis of these three
cases indicates that the mere use of cross-functional teams does not ensure a high integration
level, as previously mentioned by Turkulainen and Ketokivi (2012). Additionally, the
examples from field data contributed to develop the Proposition 5:
P5. In the context of demand management, the use of cross-functional teams, aiming
to improve demand fulfillment tends to increase the level of integration.
There are some influences of integration impacts over the mutual existence of
formality and informality. Companies 1 and 4 do not use cross-functional teams and their
characteristics are contrasting in terms of formality and informality. In spite of this, they have
a common characteristic: their main Integration Impacts seem to be more related to functional
indicators than to organizational indicators, which evaluate the company as a whole.
Company 4's primary aimed Impacts are increasing sales and market share. "Integration may
help increase sales by improving deliveries in the supermarkets" (MA4). According the
interviewees SOC4, LA4 and LC4, Company 4 has a lack of informal factors, such as trust
among people and group spirit.
Company 1 is characterized as primarily informal and all of their interviewees agree
that informal occurrences are key elements involved in the integration of Marketing and
Logistics. However, the interviewees PE1, SO1, LM1, MT1 and MM1 agree that there is a
lack of formal mechanisms aimed at increasing mutual understanding of each other's
activities. The primary mentioned impact in Company 1 is characterized as an organizational
goal: improving the company image. Notwithstanding, the LM1, PE1 and MT1 perceives that
Impact as an effect of reaching the functional goals: avoiding delivery delays and sales above
Logistics capacity.
These Companies' main desired impacts are related to functional goals. They neither
have high levels of integration nor present mutual existence of formal and informal
occurrences of integration factors. These examples helped to develop the final proposition:
P6. A holistic strategic approach to integration (in which impacts on the company as
a whole are perceived as more important than functional impacts) increases the level
of integration and improves integration impacts.
In order to summarize the content of this topic, Figure 2 demonstrates the relationships
presented by the set of propositions, including tenets, originated from literature (white), and
practical issues emerged from the field data analysis (gray). Considering that Figure 2 brings
about several different elements and respective relationships, a summary of the propositions is
presented below that aligns with the Figure thereby facilitating comprehension of the inter-
relationships.
• P1: Integration factors can be applied formally and informally;

• P2: Formal initiatives generate Informal integration factors;
• P3: Mutual existence of formal and informal factors increases integration level;
• P4. Higher integration levels improve performance;
• P5: Managing the boundary spanning activity "Demand Planning" with the
Factor "Cross-functional teams" increases integration level;
• P6. Holistic strategic thinking increases the level of integration and improves
results.
Holistic
Strategic
P6.
Approach
High levels P4.
of Impacts
Cross- P5.
integration
Demand +
functional
(objeto ex teams P3a., P3b.,
planning and P3c.
Formality Performance
Boundary Integration P1. Mutual existence Improvement
Spanning factors P2. of formality and
Activities informality
Informality
Figure 2 - Propositions and respective connection with theoretical and empirical issues
Implications
Managerial Implications
The propositions 1, 2 and 3 bring about the primary managerial contribution of this
paper that is the detailed characterization of the role of Formality and Informality in the
implementation of cross-functional integration. The case studies showed that companies with
a high level of integration seem to have a mutual existence of these two modes. For example,
a company with low integration between Marketing and Logistics may present an absence of
factors applied informally, such as trust and group spirit. This may happen because these
factors provide an internal atmosphere, necessary to generate mutual understanding and

motivation to work together as a team. Alternatively, when integration occurs informally, the
manager may face the existence of conflict of objectives and a lack of understanding among
functions. In this case formal actions, as indicated by Proposition 2, like cross-functional
teams and meetings, could help to improve trust and group spirit. Consequently, integration
level tends to increase, providing a more aligned vision toward the company's organizational
indicators, according to Proposition 4.
A second implication is that this research helps managers identify the necessary
integration factors to enable a common perspective and understanding of objectives and
processes between functions. One single example that was observed in the cases 2 and 5 is the
improvement of Demand Planning with the use of Cross-functional teams, as indicated in
Proposition 5. Based on the corporate culture and individual characteristics, it is possible to
identify which of the integration factors might be better employed within their organization.
Using case study data, one implication of this research was to understand how integration
worked in other organizations in the presence of different factors.
In addition, the research helps managers understand which impacts can be produced
through the application of these factors. The cases studied evidenced that, in the most
integrated organizations, the primary integration factor was cross-functional teams. The
primary impact related to these teams was the alignment of demand and supply rather than
increasing sales, reducing costs or reaching functional level results. Therefore, integration
factors should be implemented with the primary intent of generating impacts on the
organization as a whole, in order to avoid conflicts of goals and lack of mutual understanding
among functions. Proposition 6 highlights this idea.
As integration efforts improve business results, an improved decision making process
should occur. Integration facilitates a shared interpretation of goals and it contributes to
improve service quality with regard to balancing availability with customer needs, improve
service levels and decrease costs. These improvements may positively impact the financial
results.
Theoretical Implications
A number of theoretical implications were previously discussed in the results section,
as an extension of existing literature. However, the most important theoretical contribution of
this paper is the framework developed to characterize the cross-functional integration

processes between Marketing and Logistics. The characterization of the five tenets of the
framework can help to explain the processes, roles and impacts within organizations. This
framework makes it viable to analyze the integration phenomenon, considering a large range
of possibilities in terms of characteristics of the process elements. In addition, the framework
presents these elements in a complete process view, instead of only disconnected elements or
parts of such process. This perspective may be useful for further research that aims to validate
or redesign the characteristics of the processes' elements and their inter-relationships.
Literature and case studies oriented and contributed to a better understanding about how
companies cope with the phenomena in different sectors.
Moreover, the extant literature surrounding integration provides an expanded view of
many integration factors with many not included in the four elements of the proposed
framework. The extensive review of the literature helped to identify those elements that were
seemingly more important and then the use of the case studies helped to exemplify them. Also
a number of boundary spanning activities specific to the surveyed organizations were
identified by the participants, and are presented in Appendix 1.
Brazil was the specific context of this research, but it brings managerial and
theoretical implications that cross several organizations and geographies, due to the
connection between the constructs and current international literature. Such implication may
also be reinforced by the high level of heterogeneity of the sample, and because they are
multinational companies.
Conclusions and Future Research
Cross-functional integration between Marketing and Logistics consists of an
organizational phenomenon that can be characterized by a process among boundary spanning
activities, integration factors, formality or informality of the integration, level of integration
and integration impacts. This research characterizes these five elements and emphasizes the
way they interact in the processes of integration. Through the analysis of literature and the
cases, a definition of cross-functional integration was established by the unprecedented
grouping of the major elements related to this issue.
Among the six propositions, mentioned in the results, P2, P4, and P6 should be
specifically highlighted due to the capacity to illustrate relationships among several tenets of
the proposed framework. The analysis of Companies 3 and 5 denotes that cross-functional
integration levels may increase when both formal and informal integration factors are present
which showed strong support for Proposition 4. Another idea that emerged from these
companies' interviews is that cross-functional teams are formal initiatives that generate
informal factors, balancing formality and informality of the integration, and consequently,
increasing the level of integration. This idea supported Proposition 2, where the use of cross-
functional teams only increases integration levels when the application of this factor is
intended to impact the organization as a whole. The analysis of Companies 1, 2 and 4
highlight that when functional impacts are perceived as more important than impacts on the
organization as a whole, a lack of mutual existence of formal and informal efforts may exist,
reducing the level of integration, supporting Proposition 6.
These proposed relationships are in an exploratory stage. Future research might aim at
validating them through quantitative methods, for example a large-scale survey of

organizations from different countries. This future work may use the elements of cross-
functional integration processes, here defined as variables, in order to test correlations
between classified variables based on their five elements.
This research was descriptive and used the classical content analysis technique in the
interviews to identify and characterize elements of integration. Although it is the basis for
several other techniques of qualitative analysis, the classical content analysis technique is
limited to identifying elements, their meaning and their categories, without a critical or
explanatory perspective. Therefore, different qualitative techniques, like discourse analysis
and argument analysis, could be applied in future research in order to generate more
structured and critical perspectives to the results.
The research results denote that the degree of formality/informality may play a
specific role in Brazilian culture that surrounds studied organizations. However, the data that
is collected does not allow for a specific comparison of this issue with other geographies.
Future research could use theory from Culture or Sociology fields in order to observe
relationships between culture characteristics and cross-functional integration behavior,
considering the elements suggested here.
Acknowledgments:
The authors are grateful for the financial support granted by FAPESP (São Paulo Research
Foundation) through the processes n°2009/05160-0 and n°2011/06008-8.
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Biographical Details:
Márcio Lopes Pimenta, Ph.D. is Professor at Management and Business College, Federal
University of Uberlândia, Brazil. He got his Phd in Production Engineering at Federal
University of São Carlos and his Msc in Business Administration at Federal University of
Uberlândia. Dr. Pimenta has published articles in The International Journal of Productivity
and Performance Management, Brazilian Business Review and Revista de Administração
Pública. His main research topics are: cross-functional integration between Marketing and
other internal functions and the influence of human values on consumer behavior.
Andrea Lago da Silva, Ph.D is Associate Professor at Department of Production Engineering,

Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil since 1994. She got her PhD in Business
Administration in 1999 from University of São Paulo and her Msc in Production Engineering
in 1993 from Federal University of Santa Catarina. She teaches Marketing and Services
Operation Management and Research Methodology. Dr. Da Silva’s primary areas of research
are in Supply Chain Management, Marketing Channels and Services Operations. Her
research has been published in a number of Brazilian outlets including RAE/FGV, RAUSP
and Revista Gestão e Produção and also in Book Chapters. She has been also Scientific
Journal Referee for many Brazilian journals. She was Visiting Scholar abroad twice: at
ESSEC BUSINESS SCHOOL (France) between 1997-1998 and also at Department of
Marketing and Logistics of University of Tennessee at Knoxville during 2009-2010 academic
years.
Wendy L. Tate, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee in the Department
of Marketing and Supply Chain Management. Dr. Tate¹s research and teaching interests
include offshoring and outsourcing, services purchasing, the services supply chain, and
environmental supply chain management. Dr.Tate has published articles in California
Management Review, Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Supply Chain Management,
International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Journal of Operations
Management, and others. She routinely presents at a variety of managerial and academic
forums including the North American Association for Research and Teaching Symposium,
the Institute for Supply Management (ISM),
Decision Sciences, and Frontiers in Services. Dr. Tate earned her Bachelors, Masters in
Business Administration, and Ph.D. from Arizona State University.
Appendix 1
Elements characterizing cross-functional integration in the organizations surveyed
Category Element Organization Number of
1 2 3 4 5 interviewees
mentioning it
Demand planning 2 6 7 2 5 22
Delivery / shipping for the customer 4 5 5 4 3 21
New products development and launching 5 - 6 3 3 17
Promotion 1 1 4 2 6 14
Customer service planning 2 - 1 1 2 6
Definition of Product Characteristics 1 1 1 - 2 5
Boundary Storage / inventory management 1 1 1 - 2 5
Spanning Transfers between distribution centers - 1 - - 3 4
Activities Identification of competitive advantages and market 1 - - 2 - 3
opportunities
(Qt.17) Marketing and Sales Planning 1 1 - 1 - 3
Management of the organization's image and product in the 2 - - 1 - 3

market
Marketing of Supplies - - - 3 - 3
Marketing Actions at the point of sale (Trade Marketing) - - - 1 1 2
Product portfolio management - - - - 2 2
Price definition 1 - - - - 1
Strategies for Market Penetration - - - 1 - 1
Marketing Events and Conventions - - - 1 - 1
Adequate communication 5 7 8 9 7 36
Work together as a team to solve conflicts 7 5 8 6 7 33
Trust 7 6 7 6 6 32
Consideration of the informal work groups 6 5 7 7 6 31
Cross-functional meetings 3 7 6 7 5 28
Support from senior management 6 5 7 4 6 28
Mutual evaluation and rewards system 4 6 5 8 4 27
Integration Group spirit 7 5 6 3 6 27
factors Information Sharing 6 4 6 4 5 25
Cross-functional teams 1 4 6 5 6 22
(Qt.18) Joint planning 4 4 6 3 5 22
Mutual understanding of each other's activities 4 4 8 3 3 22
Longevity of relationships 4 6 5 3 3 21
Non-conflicting objectives between the functions 5 3 4 4 4 20
Congruence between functional objectives with 5 3 3 3 5 19
organizational strategy
Recognition of functional interdependence 4 5 4 3 3 19
Physical proximity of workplaces 4 5 1 4 1 15
Cross-functional training 2 - 5 1 2 10
Integration Average 4 2 4 3 4 17
level
(Qt.3) High 2 3 4 - 2 11
Low 1 2 - 6 1 10
Formality/ Prevalence of Formal Integration - 4 8 5 1 18

informality
Prevalence of Informal Integration 7 - - 2 2 11
(Qt.3)
Formal and Informal - 3 - 2 4 9
Category Element Organization Number of
1 2 3 4 5 interviewees
mentioning it
Impacts on Logistics
Reduce costs for storage and shipping 1 6 4 2 2 15
Avoid disruption of product supply - 3 4 1 4 12
Avoid delivery delays 3 3 2 2 - 10
Avoid sales above Logistics capacity 3 - 1 1 1 6
Prevent loss / damage of goods 1 1 1 1 2 6
Reduce inventories - 2 - - 2 4
Adjust customer service according to the characteristics of - 1 1 - 1 3
the customers
Reduce delivery time - 1 - 1 - 2
Integration Impacts on Marketing
impacts Increase / maintain level of customer satisfaction 1 1 2 2 2 8
Increase / avoid loss of Market Share - - - 3 3 6
(Qt.25) Reduce Marketing cost / Improve Marketing ROI 1 4 1 6
Increase responsiveness to market 1 - - 1 - 2

Reduce prices to market level - - - 2 - 2
To increase visibility of the products - - 1 - - 1
Impacts on organization as a whole
Avoid sale loss 2 4 2 1 1 10
Avoid employee psychological strain 2 3 1 2 2 10
Achieve awards and cross-functional indicators 2 2 1 - 3 8
Improve the image of the organization / product / brand in 4 - 1 1 1 7
the market
Provide for people to have group vision 1 - 1 2 - 4
Improve results of the organization as a whole 1 - - 1 2 4
Accelerate changes and problem solving 1 - - 2 - 3
Slow processes due to bureaucracy 1 - - - 1 2
Avoid contract fines with clients 1 - - - - 1
Improve the accuracy of demand forecasting 1 - - - - 1
Avoid rework 1 - - - - 1
Appendix 1 - Continued
Integration factor Authors
Joint planning Murphy and Poist (1994); Chernatony and Cottam (2009)
Mutual understanding of each other's activities
Stank et al.(1999); Ellinger et al.(2006); Chen et al.(2007)
Longevity of relationships Ellinger et al.(2006)
Cross-functional meetings Lambert and Cook (1990); Flynn et al.(2010)
Information Sharing Kahn (1996); Daugherty et al.(2009); Feger, (2014)
Mutual evaluation and reward system Lambert and Cook (1990); Chernatony and Cottam (2009); Feger,
(2014)
Support from senior management Pagell (2004); Van Hoek et al.(2008); Feger, (2014)
Consideration of the informal work groups Kahn,(1996); Ellinger et al. (2000)
Trust Ellinger et al.(2006); Juan Ding et al., (2014)
Hierarchical dependence among functions Gimenez and Ventura (2005); Jüttner et al.(2007)
Cross-functional training and education Ellinger et al.(2006); Swink and Song (2007)
Adequate communication Pagell (2004); Feger, (2014); Juan Ding et al., (2014)
Cross-functional teams Lambert and Cook (1990); Flint et al. (2008); Feger, (2014)
Willingness and teamwork to resolve conflicts Jüttner et al.(2007); Swink and Song (2007)
Physical proximity of workplaces Dawes and Massey (2001); Pagell (2004)
Job rotation Dawes and Massey (2001); Pagell (2004)
Group spirit Ellinger (2000); Meunier-FitzHugh and Piercy (2007)
Non-conflicting objectives among functions Kahn (1996); Ellinger et al.(2000); Horn et al., (2014)
Congruence between functional goals and Shapiro (1977); St John and Hall (1991); Feger, (2014)
organizational strategy
Recognition of functional interdependence Lynch and Whicker (2008); Daugherty et al. (2009)
Table 1 - Integration factors and their authors
Criterion Definition
Medium or large companies The larger the organization, the more complex the cross-functional
actions tend to be, involving a larger amount of resources spent on
integration due to physical dispersion of activities (Dawes and Massey,
2001; Paiva, 2010).
Functions of Marketing and Logistics in Considered the need to collect information through different agents to
distinct departments cross reference each other to obtain reliable information.
Existence of points of contact and Identified through exploratory interviews with people in senior
integration factors between the management or persons that could indicate potential interviewees and
functions of Marketing and Logistics authorize the research.
Work with critical products and Extremely competitive markets require interfaces between Logistics and
processes in turbulent environments Marketing for the storage, handling and transporting, that are essential
tasks for adding value to the final product (Lynch and Whicker, 2008;
Hilletofh, et al., 2009).
Located 500 km up to a maximum of As a matter of time limit and budget. Therefore, it became feasible to
the research center (São Carlos-SP) carry out multiple visits within a time period limited to them.
Table 2 - Criteria for selection of participating organizations
Denomination Sector Annual Number of People Headquarters State
Revenue employees Interviewed
Organization 1 Chassis and Wheels R$ 1,2 billion 6.000 7 São Paulo
Organization 2 Agrochemicals R$ 300 million 200 7 Minas Gerais
Organization 3 Beverages R$ 890 million 2.500 8 São Paulo
Organization 4 Soybean oil and derivatives R$ 1,4 billion 400 9 Minas Gerais
Organization 5 Toiletries and beauty R$ 22,8 billion Not identified 7 São Paulo
Table 3 - Characteristics of the surveyed companies
Company Marketing Logistics Interviewees Support Areas Interviewees
Interviewees (n.10) (n.18)
(n.10)
1 Marketing Manager-MM1, Logistics Manager-LM1, Product Engineer-PE1,
Marketing Technician-MT1 Logistics Technician-LT1 International Sales Officer-SO1,
Investment Analysis Manager-IM1
2 Marketing Manager-MM2, Logistics Manager-LM2, Planning and Control Manager-PM2,
Commercial and Marketing Logistics Supervisor-LS2 Human Resources Supervisor-HRS2,
Analyst-CMA2 Technical Sales Representative-TSR2
3 Marketing Manager-MM3, Logistics Manager-LM3, Sales Manager-SM3,
Marketing Coordinator-MC3 Logistics Coordinator-LC3 Strategic Planning Manager-SPM3,
Human Resources Manager-HRM3,
Control Manager-CONTM3
4 Marketing Coordinator-MC4, Logistics Coordinator-LC4, Education Consultant-EC4, Planning
Marketing Analyst-MA4 Logistics Analyst-LA4 Analyst-PA4, Human Talents Analyst-
HTA4, Soybean Origination Coordinator-
SOC4, Procurement Analyst-PA4
5 Marketing Officer-MO5, Logistics Coordinator-LC5, Demander-DM5,

Export Logistics and Project Management Officer-PMO5,
Head of Regional Marketing- Distribution Center Wholesale Sales Manager-WSM5
RM5 Coordinator-ELC5
Table 4 - Interviewees and respective codes
Procedures Description
Transcript of in-depth interviews Interviews were transcribed to facilitate textual analysis and use essential parts
recorded in audio of speech in the written analysis.
Pre-analysis of transcripts Quick reading, early identification of possible categories based on the theory
observed in the reference.
In-depth analysis Systematic reading of the transcripts oriented by the separation of phrases in the
text and relating of these phrases with record units, defined by their semantic
representation.
Description of record units After locating the record units, the particular meaning of each of these elements
was arranged in tables, considering the answers of each respondent and then
characterized them in depth.
Categorization The record units were grouped into five predefined categories of integration
processes, related to the points of contact between functions in the process,
integration level, integration factors, formality and impacts generated by
integration.
Quantification of record units In a general table, and several individual tables for each organization, each code
and its frequency were classified in their respective categories of analysis. Thus,
each record unit was quantified in relation to how many times it was mentioned
in interviews and this provided the perceived popularity of the concept among
respondents. For process safety and to keep such records in the research corpus,
we entered and added the units of analysis into a spreadsheet.
Table 5 - Stages of content analysis conducted in the research
Integration Factors Formal Application Informal Application
Adequate communication Adequate infrastructure of communication Personal willingness for communication as part
of organizational culture
Work together as a team to Functions work through formal joint Personal willingness for giving up of
solve conflicts planning and cross-functional teams functional interests to reach global results
Trust Politics of turn-over reduction improve People have trust and share information in a
mutual understanding and trust non formalized way, speeding up processes
Consideration of the Managerial incentives for people to have Spontaneous and collective behavior toward
informal work groups openness to contribute to the organization organizational positive impacts
success
Cross-functional meetings Formal and regular meetings with members Informal and quick meetings to tune short term
from different functions to deal with long processes with long term planning
and medium term issues
Support from senior Managerial adoption of joint planning and Managerial recognition to the spontaneous
management delegation of authority facilitate to solve efforts from informal groups toward
conflicts and avoid stress among people integration
Mutual evaluation and Functional yield indicators based or linked to -
rewards system collective goals

Group spirit High engagement level of people with
- organization issues. Rivalry does not overrides
vision of team
Information Sharing Information sharing technologies e.g. ERP, Personal willingness to share information
CRM, memorandum, email
Cross-functional teams Groups composed by members from
different functions aimed to support -
processes that require integration
Joint planning Established through cross-functional meeting Daily adjustment between long term planning
or cross-functional teams and short term tasks through personal deals
Mutual understanding of Reduced hierarchy levels facilitate access Personal willingness to understand objectives
each other's activities and mutual understanding among people and responsibilities from other functions
Longevity of relationships Politics of turn-over reduction consist in an People know themselves very well apart from
attempt to the existence of this factor firm familiarity. It helps to understand values,
attitudes and generates trust.
Non-conflicting objectives Common or non-conflicting goals might Group spirit and working together as a team
between the functions avoid sales over the Logistics capacity and are factors that generate willingness to perform
reducing deviations between forecast and extra efforts demanded by forecast deviations,
effective sales but the generation of stress among employees
Congruence between Establishment of functional objectives linked
functional objectives with to global economic indicators may reduce -
organizational strategy inter-functional conflicts
Recognition of functional Formal training with subject aimed to People naturally perceive the interdependence
interdependence develop interdependence perception of the functions to perform their activities
Physical proximity of Related to the infrastructure of the buildings -
workplaces that facilitates the contact between areas
Cross-functional training Formal training with subject aimed to Inter-functional knowledge is spread during
develop inter-functional competences coffee-breaks and informal conversation,
disregarding the content of the training
Table 6 - Formal and informal applications of the integration Factors

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International Journal of Logistics Management, The

Characteristics of cross-functional integration processes: evidence from Brazilian organizations

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to characterize the cross-functional integration

Findings: A characterization of cross-functional integration in the form of a managerial

Keywords: Cross-functional integration, Processes, Marketing, Logistics.

changing consumer demands, improved infrastructures, and more-diversified economies have

rapidly growing environment.

One such practice is establishing cross-functionally integrated teams that focus on

developing and implementing a consistent strategic vision. Organizational members are

changing demands. Cross-functional integration is essential for providing and processing

quality information and developing effective decision-making processes in the relationship

Increased cross-functional integration can help with the implementation of innovative

strategies and organizational change (Turkulainen and Ketokivi, 2012).

generate these positive impacts. "Research on organizational design needs to be conducted at

roles that characterize effective cross-functional integration.

The idea of how the process of cross-functional integration occurs represents a

over-arching purpose of this paper is to better understand the cross-functional integration

cross-functional integration processes between Marketing and Logistics, considering five

basic tenets: Boundary Spanning Activities, Integration Factors, Level of Integration,

Formality/Informality and Impacts of Integration. Following this characterization, a

of the framework is then provided.

elements involved in cross-functional integration. This review is followed by a discussion of

with a discussion of the results, managerial and theoretical implications.

functional segmentation ultimately encourages individualistic behavior (Lawrence and

the problems that concern individual departments (Shapiro, 1977).

Boundary Spanning Activities

have identified boundary spanning activities between Marketing and Logistics:

• management of customer service (Rinehart et al., 1989);

Integration Factors, Formality, and Integration Level

and responsible authors.

[insert table 1 about here]

interaction. Collaboration consists of integrative and informal work processes involving

Organizational Impacts of Integration

ability to achieve enhanced supply chain productivity (Alam et al., 2014).

impacts of integration on Logistics: adjusting the customer service to the customer

increasing responsiveness to the market (Esper et al., 2010).

Cross-functional integration can be studied through a process in which five tenets

interact: boundary spanning activities, integration factors, formality/informality, level of

to achieve adequate efficiency in organizational objectives. These types of activities demand

the application of integration factors, as they are necessary mechanisms to generate

integration between functions, e.g., cross-functional teams or non-conflicting objectives.

Formality/informality characterizes the way the integration factor is applied, i.e.

implemented by managers or spontaneously developed, usually at lower levels of the

intensity of managerial efforts required for effective integration. Alternatively, other

The Integration level corresponds to the intensity of the cross-functional relationship

cross-functional efforts influences the level of integration. The impacts of integration

inventory and availability of products.

The above section conceptualized the cross-functional integration processes

To characterize the cross-functional integration between Marketing and Logistics, a

selected. The selection of cases considered other criteria as listed in Table 2.

[insert table 2 about here]

number of employees, people interviewed and headquarter location is presented.

[insert table 3 about here]

activities, integration, formality, integration level, and impacts of integration.

For accessing the interviewee's perception about integration factors and

the reworded content.

Semi-structured questionnaires were used to frame the assessment. However, the

interviewees are detailed in Table 4.

[insert table 4 about here]

[insert table 5 about here]

impact on respondents' answers was documented in Appendix I. However, a brief summary

organization are provided.

Respondents mentioned that the cross-functional integration between Marketing and