For many years, automobile companies were highly decentralized in terms of functions. The most obvious effect of this heavy decentralization of function was apparent when all the groups needed to work together to accomplish a goal. The highest order of integration occurs in the design of a new automobile. Reflecting the functional decentralization of automobile manufacturers, the traditional approach to automobile design was for the marketing group to identify a concept. The design group then created an automobile that reflected the marketing group’s idea but incorporated engineering requirements and aesthetics identified by the design group. The purchasing group then identified the parts required by the design and made further modifications to it to incorporate parts that could be made or purchased. Finally, the manufacturing group modified the design to reflect the nature and capabilities of the production process. This process took up to four years and usually resulted in a vehicle that was far removed from the initial design. What was wrong here? How could the process be improved?