Chain Integration

This week, chapter 14 continues to focus on the supply chain within a business. The chapter goes on to focus on specific types of integration a business can be involved in; the chapter speaks of six:

1. Relationship Integration: the ability of two or more companies to develop social connections that serve to guide their interactions when working together.
2. Measurement Integration: the idea that performance assessments should be transparent and measurable across the borders of different business units and firms.
3. Technology and Planning Integration: the creating and maintenance of information technology systems that connect managers across and through the firms int he supply chain.
4. Material and Service Supplier Integration: requires firms to link seamlessly to those outsiders that provide goods and serves to them so that they can streamline work processes and thereby provide smooth, high quality customer service.
5. Internal Operations Integration: the result if capabilities development toward the goal of linking internally performed work into a seamless process that stretches across departmental and/or functional boundaries with the goal of satisfying customer requirements.
6. Customer Integration: a competency that enables firms to offer long-lasting, distinctive, value-ass]dded offerings to those customers who represent the greatest value to the firm or supply chain.

Out of all six of the business integrations a company can partake in, do you think there is one they should require more focus, or should they all be treated equally? Would you focus on one over the other as a business executive, why or why not?