Conductors to Strategic and Functional Integration and the Impact over Performance: Study in Firms Configured into Supply Chain
Margareth Rodrigues de Carvalho Borella, Antônio Domingos Padula

Abstract
The aim of this article is to verify the relation between two kinds of intrafirm integration conductors and the business performance. The first kind is the strategic, and the second one is the functional. The study has been conducted through a survey in firms, which are supply chain members of the metal-mechanical sector of Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil. The sample data of 170 companies, with at least 10 employees each one, have been analysed using multivariate statistical: correlation analysis; factor analysis; multiple linear regression; and the clusters analysis. The analysis revealed the presence of two firms groups on the sample: one emphasizes as much the Strategic Integration as the Functional Integration in its internal environment and the other emphasizes only the Strategic Integration. The multiple linear regression analysis also revealed that only in medium and large firms there is a tendency of a better performance through a higher Functional Integration, but not from a higher Strategic Integration.

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