In big companies, management teams focus on achieving the right level of vertical integration. The pendulum has swung from Henry Ford’s buying ships and railroads—and even a rubber plantation in Brazil to ensure his supply of tires—to Boeing’s radical outsourcing of Dreamliner components, and more recently, back to greater ownership of upstream and downstream assets by companies as different as Pepsi and Oracle.
Today’s Best Companies are Horizontally Integrated
Efficient production is now table stakes. What customers care about is the experience.
December 14, 2012
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Customer Focus Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Customer Focus. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to keep your customers—and their most important needs—front and center.