Understanding the importance of internal integration and its implications for intercultural business communication

The extent to which relationships in organizations are co-operative depends on the level of internal integration between functional and departmental groups. These relationships become even more critical in international businesses as well as in geographically dislocated subsidiaries. Cultural characteristics and different factors which managr, facilitatr and/or hinder internal integration present the basis for studying internal integration of different functions. Therefore, the following paper discusses various theories of internal integration and its role in organizations. More specifically, it focuses on logistics and marketing functions and explores studies that have investigated and examined the levels of internal integration of logistics and marketing functions. With the objective to identify potential implications, high/low levels of internal integration may have on intercultural communication which occurs in international business practices, the most prominent cultural frameworks are presented to identify implications different levels of internal integration may have for intercultural communication, in particular between Slovenian companies and their foreign subsidiaries.