Purpose – Conventional wisdom has it that cross‐functional integration is a “must”. The purpose of this paper is to take an information‐processing approach to integration and elaborate the conventional wisdom by theoretical examination of both the concept of integration as well as...

The special issue emerges at a time of intense debate concerning the role of manufacturing in the developed world. A general consensus that manufacturing strengthens the economy in which it is carried out and that innovation follows manufacturing combines with a recognition that manufacturing...