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Difference Between Functional and Business Process

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he Difference Between a Functional Vs. a Business Process Orientation by Bert Markgraf, Demand Media Google
A functional business orientation organizes a company along functional lines, such as sales and production. A process orientation means that the company focuses on business processes, such as order processing or strategic planning. In each case, the companies optimize their activities, either within the functional units or for each process. The main difference is that optimizing one functional unit may harm another function, but optimizing the business processes across organizational lines helps the whole company.

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Organization
Functionally oriented businesses organize in hierarchies, with organizational units responsible for particular functions. Integration of these functions takes place one-level higher in the organization, away from the work that is being done. This leads to good performance on a functional level but poor integration between functions. Companies that are business-process oriented organize differently. They favor structures that allow interaction between functions, such as in matrix organizations. Since the focus is on activities making up a particular process, such companies perform well in achieving targets based on work done.

Coordination
Coordination between departments of a functionally oriented company is difficult because each function includes many activities. The management of each department must coordinate the output of each activity with the required input in other departments. There is no direct organizational path for such coordination in these companies. Business process-oriented companies have a different approach that encourages direct interaction between departments through

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