Integration of Product, Process and Functional Orientations: Principles and a Case Study

Companies are traditionally divided in specialised areas in a hierarchical organisation, usually referred to as functions. On the other hand, during the last decale companies have realised the importance of their processes. When they change towards a “process orientation” they must overcome some organisational problems to integrate the new process orientation into the already existing functional organisation. Besides, more and more importance is given to the specific characteristics of products, leading to product-driven manufacturing eg. focussing on the product life cycles. Thus, one may find companies dealing with three different ways of working at the same time: product orientation, function orientation and process orientation.