The effects of internal versus external integration practices on time‐based performance and overall firm performance

Abstract This paper examines the effects of integration practices on time‐based performance and on overall firm performance (financial and market share). Integration practices are grouped into two categories: (1) external strategic design integration, which reaches across firm boundaries to involve suppliers and customers and (2) internal design‐process integration, which comprises more tactically oriented, integration practices that match design requirements and process capabilities. First, regression results show that both internal and external integration are related to time‐based performance, which in turn is related to firm performance. Thus, two indirect routes to firm performance are identified. Second,…