A version of this article appeared in the Autumn 2015 issue of strategy+business. “Owning the value chain” was a favorite strategy in the early part of last century. Companies sought advantage by ...

A vertically integrated business refers to a business that has expanded into different steps along production, manufacturing, and supply. In other words, a vertically integrated business controls some ...

Lincoln Watase, CEO and President of Yum Yum Donut Shops, lists the different ways that vertical integration helps a business maximize their profit opportunities, control the quality of the supplies, ...

When businesses give autonomy and power to each of their divisions and departments, the result is differentiation, in which each section develops its own cultures and methods. When a company brings ...

Firms are taking control of the entire value chain to benefit from scale, reduced costs, agility and greater opportunities for innovation, but robust processes and compliance are crucial to success ...

This writing is in response to the article recently written by SA contributor Ashraf Eassa titled Samsung is Apple's Worst Nightmare. In the article Ashraf argues that Apple (AAPL) should suspend ...

In recent years direct ownership of physician practices by hospitals and health systems (that is, vertical integration) has become a prominent feature of the US health care system. One unexplored ...

Editor’s note: In addition to Shubham Singhal (linked bio above) this post is authored by Rohit Kumar and Jeris Stueland. Rohit Kumar is a consultant in McKinsey’s Chicago office. Jeris Stueland, an ...