Coordinating divisional activities For many years, automobile companies have been highly decentralized in terms of functions. The most obvious effect of this heavy decentralization of function is apparent when all the groups must work together to accomplish a goal. The highest order of integration oc¬ curs in the design of a new automobile.

Reflecting the functional decentralization of automobile manufacturers, the traditional approach to automobile design is for the marketing group to identify a concept. The design group then creates an automobile that reflects the marketing group's idea, but incorporates engineering requirements and aesthetics identified by the design group. The purchasing group then identifies the parts required by the design and makes further modifications to it to incor¬ porate parts that can be made or purchased. Finally, the manufacturing group modifies the design to reflect the nature and capabilities of the production process. This process takes up to four years and usually results in a vehicle that is far removed from the initial design.

What went wrong here? How might this process be improved?

(LO 1)