Functional Integration

Integrating Functional Systems to Achieve Greater Benefits

Ronald Gilbert

Walden University

Integrating Functional Systems to Achieve Greater Benefits

Management needs timely and current data on all functional units in the business. Data is collected in many areas, but it is commonly not considered with that of another area. We may say that “the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing” about this business. But, if the data sources were integrated into a common information system, reports could be generated that would enable management to make good decisions and realize better outcomes.

Challenges with Nonintegrated Functional Systems

The biggest problem corporations have is how to find out what is going on quick enough to do something about it before it affects their profitability. Data is collected in separate business units that are not central to the organization. This information will have to be combined manually by staff to get a global view of the aspect of the business being examined. This leads to problems such as duplication of entries, missing data entries, and similar data points that do not get combined. Because of a typing error the same customer may appear as two different people and the company will report an inaccurate result. (Turban, Volonimo, & Wood, 2013, pg 270)

Another example would be matching customer demand with appropriate staffing levels. One system tracks what the level of volume is being experienced and another system is monitoring current staffing levels. The problem is that the managers will not know that there is an excess level of staffing in time to make a schedule change for those employees before it impacts the budget.

Managing Major Impediments to Integration

Integration of different systems across an organization will require the purchase of IT services, consultation fees, and a new information system. Network infrastructure will also need to be evaluated to support the...