Application Concept – Horizontal and Vertical Integration

SUMMARY Important elements in the curriculum at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Linköping are vertical integration, i.e. integration between the clinical and basic science sections of the curriculum, and horizontal integration between different subject areas. Integration throughout the whole curriculum is time-consuming for both teachers and students and hard work is required for planning, organization and execution. The aim was to assess the importance of vertical and horizontal integration in an undergraduate medical curriculum, according to opinions among students and teachers. In a questionnaire 102 faculty teachers and 106 students were asked about the importance of 14 different components of the undergraduate medical curriculum including vertical and horizontal integration. They were asked to assign between one and six points to each component (6 points = extremely important for the quality of the curriculum; 1 point = unimportant). Students as well as teachers appreciated highly both forms of integration. Students scored horizontal integration slightly but significantly higher than the teachers (median 6 vs 5 points; p=0.009, Mann-Whitney U-test), whereas teachers scored vertical integration higher than students (6 vs 5; p=0.019, Mann-Whitney U-test). Both students and teachers considered horizontal and vertical integration to be highly important components of the undergraduate medical programme. We believe both kinds of integration support problem-based learning and stimulate deep and lifelong learning and suggest that integration should always be considered deeply when a new curriculum is planned for undergraduate medical education.

In the domain of manufacturing, the pursuit of process optimization has undergone a notable transition towards a data-driven approach. However, it must be noted that the quantity of available data is often inadequate for generating precise predictions regarding the outcomes of manufacturing processes. Consequently, this paper presents an empirical investigation of how horizontal and vertical data integration, as part of a proposed conceptual optimization workflow, influence the predictive readiness of multi-stage regression models intended for downstream surrogate-based optimization in manufacturing. While data integration has been widely discussed as a means to overcome limited data availability, quantitative evidence on its effects within multi-stage regression settings remains scarce. To address this gap, a case study based on a publicly available multi-stage continuous-manufacturing dataset is conducted to quantify the impact of varying degrees of horizontal integration across similar machines and vertical integration across consecutive process stages. The results show that (i) horizontal data integration can improve model robustness to data drift by expanding the attribute value range, (ii) vertical integration of cross-stage process data has the potential to enhance prediction accuracy compared to siloed modeling, and (iii) more general models trained on heterogeneous environments do not necessarily yield better performance for environment-specific prediction tasks. Full physical validation of the proposed optimization workflow and real-world deployment are outside scope due to dataset limitations. The findings provide practical and scientific insights on when and how data integration supports data-driven manufacturing optimization.

PurposeDesign, implementation, and evaluation are all important for integrated care. However, they miss one critical factor: education. The authors define “integrated care education” as meaningful learning that purposefully supports collaboration and the development of adaptive expertise in integrated care. The ECHO (Extensions for Community Health Outcomes) model is a novel digital health solution that uses technology-enabled learning (TEL) to facilitate, support, and model integrated care education. Using ECHO Concussion as a case study, the authors describe the effects of technology-enabled integrated care education on the micro-, meso-, and macro-dimensions of integrated care.Design/methodology/approachThis case study was constructed using data extracted from ECHO Concussion from video-archived sessions, participant observation, and internal program evaluation memos. The research team met regularly to discuss the development of relevant themes to the dimensions of integrated care.FindingsOn the micro-level, clinical integration occurs through case-based learning and the development of adaptive expertise. On the meso-level, professional integration is achieved through the development of the “specialist generalist,” professional networks and empathy. Finally, on the macro-level, ECHO Concussion and the ECHO model achieve vertical and horizontal system integration in the delivery of integrated care. Vertical integration is achieved through ECHO by educating and connecting providers across sectors from primary to quaternary levels of care. Horizontal integration is achieved through the establishment of lateral peer-based networks across sectors as a result of participation in ECHO sessions with a focus on population-level health.Originality/valueThis case study examines the role of education in the delivery of integrated care through one program, ECHO Concussion. Using the three dimensions of integrated care on the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, this case study is the first explicit operationalization of ECHO as a means of delivering integrated care education and supporting integrated care delivery.

Vertical Integration, Competition, and Financial Exchanges: Is There Grain in the Silo?

Vertical vs. horizontal integration: Game analysis for the rare earth industrial integration in China

Reducing the manufacturing and marketing time of products by means of integrated simulation-based design and development of the material, product, and the associated manufacturing processes is the need of the hour for industry. This requires the design of materials to targeted performance goals through bottom-up and top-down modeling and simulation practices that enables handshakes between modelers and designers along the entire product realization process. Manufacturing a product involves a host of unit operations and the final properties of the manufactured product depends on the processing steps carried out at each of these unit operations. In order to effectively couple the material processing-structure-property-performance spaces, there needs to be an interplay of the systems-based design of materials with enhancement of models of various unit operations through multiscale modeling methodologies and integration of these models at different length scales (vertical integration). This ensures the flow of information from one unit operation to another thereby establishing the integration of manufacturing processes (horizontal integration). Together these types of integration will support the decision-based design of the manufacturing process chain so as to realize the end product. In this paper, we present a goal-oriented, inverse decision-based design method to achieve the vertical and horizontal integration of models for the hot rolling and cooling stages of the steel manufacturing process chain for the production of a rod with defined properties. The primary mathematical construct used for the method presented is the compromise Decision Support Problem (cDSP) supported by the proposed Concept Exploration Framework (CEF) to generate satisficing solutions under uncertainty. The efficacy of the method is illustrated by exploring the design space for the microstructure after cooling that satisfies the requirements identified by the end mechanical properties of the product. The design decisions made are then communicated in an inverse manner to carry out the design exploration of the cooling stage to identify the design set points for cooling that satisfies the new target microstructure requirements identified. Specific requirements such as managing the banded microstructure to minimize distortion in forged gear blanks are considered in the problem. The proposed method is generic and we plan to extend the work by carrying out the integrated decision-based design exploration of rolling and reheating stages that precede to realize the end product.

The problem of interdisciplinary educational integration reflects the realities of the modern world. Rapidly changing technologies set new requirements for the training of specialists capable of innovation. The study of the vertical and horizontal interdisciplinary integration resources for the disciplines of the humanities and management cycle is the purpose of this work. The structure of the article includes a theoretical and methodological analysis and an empirical part, represented by two stages of research (for socio-humanitarian and management disciplines). The article presents the results of modern views on the problem of interdisciplinary integration in higher education. The results of the theoretical analysis showed a mismatch between the depth of the theoretical study of the problem and the success of their practical implementation in the conditions of modern higher professional education. The complexity of the implementation is due to the changed psychological and socio-psychological characteristics of Generation Z students. Based on the theoretical analysis, a typology of interdisciplinary competencies was proposed. The aim of the empirical part of the study was to study the resources of vertical and horizontal integration at a technical university. Based on the empirical research, the possibilities of vertical and horizontal integration of the disciplines of the socio-humanitarian and management cycle were identified. An integrative matrix is presented. A promising direction for this topic is the development of an integrative module “Management workshop”.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge of the use of performance measurement systems (PMS) in situations where the benefits of both vertical and horizontal integration strategies are sought simultaneously.Design/methodology/approachThis is a single case study, the purpose of which is to build a contextual theory.FindingsThe main results highlight three competing and partly contradictory tendencies in the development and use of PMS in organizational integration. In addition, the authors have identified features of PMS that may benefit or hinder integration. Grounded on empirical findings the paper presents a more complete theoretical framework of PMS for integration.Research limitations/implicationsThe propositions of the framework need to be tested in different contexts with case and field studies or a large sample of data using statistical techniques to improve external validity. The causal relationships explored in this study may be further developed using longitudinal studies.Practical implicationsIn acquisition situations there exists the need for vertical integration to control the growing complexity but at the same time for horizontal control to advance customer-centred production. Performance measurement is the key issue to examine the execution and results of such integrations.Originality/valueCase study findings are used to develop a more comprehensive theory of PMS design and use in situations where both vertical and horizontal integration are sought. Contrary to current understandings, the central statement of this study is that horizontal organization is not an alternative to vertical organizational structure but they can be effectively coupled.

BackgroundStudies on multiple modalities of omics data such as transcriptomics, genomics and proteomics are growing in popularity, since they allow us to investigate complex mechanisms across molecular layers. It is widely recognized that integrative omics analysis holds the promise to unlock novel and actionable biological insights into health and disease. Integration of multi-omics data remains challenging, however, and requires combination of several software tools and extensive technical expertise to account for the properties of heterogeneous data.ResultsThis paper presents the miodin R package, which provides a streamlined workflow-based syntax for multi-omics data analysis. The package allows users to perform analysis of omics data either across experiments on the same samples (vertical integration), or across studies on the same variables (horizontal integration). Workflows have been designed to promote transparent data analysis and reduce the technical expertise required to perform low-level data import and processing.ConclusionsThe miodin package is implemented in R and is freely available for use and extension under the GPL-3 license. Package source, reference documentation and user manual are available at https://gitlab.com/algoromics/miodin.

With its remarkable growth, the cable TV industry has witnessed increasing business integration continuously. This study categorizes technology-based operators into 3 groups on the basis of business integration—vertically integrated, horizontally integrated, and isolated system operators-and estimates the efficiency of each group. In addition, metafrontier analysis is employed to compare the efficiencies of the groups. The results suggest that vertically and horizontally integrated system operators can improve technical efficiency by accomplishing economies of scope and scale, respectively.

Role of supply chain integration in the product innovation capability of servitized manufacturing companies

PurposeIdentifying and prioritizing the Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) critical success factors (CSFs), based on the supplier integration and process integration factors in the supply chain of the home appliance industry.Design/methodology/approachThe literature has been reviewed and the viewpoints of 20 experts in the relevant industry have been studied. The Pareto principle has also been used to select the most important factors obtained. Finally, to prioritize the most important selected factors of DFSS, a model has been developed with a two-stage Fuzzy House of Quality (FHoQ). To perform this research and consider that Polar Heating and Cooling Manufacturing Company (PHCMC) is one of the pioneers of the home appliance industry in recent decades in Iran, the supply chain of its chimneyless gas heater product has been considered as the case study.FindingsFindings indicated that the priorities of the CSFs of DFSS based on the definite weights obtained from the results of the research model are linking Six Sigma to suppliers, project management, linking Six Sigma to business strategy, linking to organizational learning, considering customer needs and management commitment, respectively. Also, the priorities of supplier integration factors based on the definite weights obtained from the model are suppliers’ partnership, information sharing, top management commitment and support, supplier strategic integration, cost, and supplier evaluation and selection, respectively.Practical implicationsAccording to the findings, it is recommended that the design, research and development unit focus more on the processes and opinions of suppliers and with the special use of data categorization software such as MATLAB, it is also possible to improve the processes and optimize them in further integration of the supply chain. It is also possible to improve the suppliers’ integration in the supply chain with the help of correction analysis and improvement tools in the field of quality management.Originality/valueSupplier integration, process integration and DFSS are three strategic areas in supply chain management that have been addressed in this research, simultaneously. The use of two-stage FHoQ, in obtaining the priority design for the CSFs of DFSS, is one of the significant innovations of this study, which can be used for greater supplier integration and also to improve supply chain integration.

The sectoral structural model of adjacent markets of the wine industry is considered. System imbalance was detected at all levels of vertical integration. It is proved that the regulatory influence on the development of viticulture and winemaking should be focused on the conditions and behavior of the industry and directly or indirectly affect the efficiency of their business processes. It is important to consider integration processes that reflect the levels and the nature of the interaction of market mechanisms of self-regulation and regulatory influences on the part of the state. The main tendencies and problems of development of domestic viticulture and winemaking are highlighted. Trends in winemaking are the reduction of the vineyard area, the imbalance in the varietal composition of the vineyards, which significantly reduces the production potential of domestic winemaking and reflects on the quality and competitiveness of domestic winemaking products. The promotion of winemaking products in the domestic market is slow. Attempts to enter the domestic wine on the foreign market are more spontaneous than a meaningful planned character. The solution of these problems lies within two interconnected areas: on the one hand, the improvement of product quality by the introduction of innovative technologies under continuous scientific support, and, on the other hand, the adaptation of the scientific and experimental process to the needs of a market economy by the transition to an innovative development model. The importance of formation of the market of wine-making products, its balancing with the market of viticulture with the use of marketing tools for managing the effective development of enterprises of the wine-making industry is proved. The essence and possible directions of implementation of the integrated marketing management as the latest holistic conception for activation of innovative development of winemaking enterprises of Ukraine are substantiated. Integrated marketing management (implementation of planned, regulated, coordinated impact on the consumer) is the basis for balancing demand-supply, regulation of export-import activity, innovation development of the industry. Such an approach enables to reconcile long-term industrial goals of development, to determine the current tasks, to make informed management decisions. The concept of holistic marketing focuses on ensuring a balance of interests of all market participants, increasing the competitiveness of the food sector of the economy, developing its resource and investment opportunities, and also provides the necessary feedback to consumers in the regional food market. Taking into account the vertically integrated interaction of adjacent markets in the field of viticulture and winemaking, the holistic concept should include blocks, according to the levels of marketing management, taking into account both horizontal and vertical (raw) integration: international, macromarketing (state / regional), mesomarketing (sectoral - integration of adjacent markets), micro-marketing.

With the competitive environment accelerating in healthcare industry, the hospital network system is considered as one of the strategies for clinical and managerial efficiency. This study was intended to offer a theoretical view on the hospital network system and to analyze the current network status of hospitals in Korea. Specifically, network types were classified based on the criteria modified from previous studies, and were used to describe and compare the scope and intensity of associated activities. The questionnaire survey was conducted with 237 hospitals during the period of December 27 2005 to January 25 2006. Above 90% of tertiary and secondary care hospitals were under the network system, while only 20% of primary care clinics were affiliated. In general, the scope and intensity of network activities was limited. Vertical and/or clinical integration was more common than horizontal and/or managerial integration. Three most frequent types of hospital network systems were clinical-vertical integration (Type A), clinical/managerial-vertical integration(Type B), and clinical/managerial-horizontal /vertical integration (Type C). Such network types differentiated significantly different features of affiliated hospitals and network systems. The affiliation duration to the network system was the only significant factor influencing on the network type. The strategic approach to the network system was emphasized for hospitals to increase the potential advantage of hospital network systems.

A methodology is outlined for the evaluation of horizontal and vertical integration in socialist agriculture in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in terms of a comparison between the volume of production attained after the integration process was carried out and that which would have been attained without further integration. The procedure proposed is based on exponential smoothing forecasting to which adjustments are made for changes in factor inputs via a micro-economic production function. A practical application for Bulgaria is reported. The results of the exponential smoothing plus production function analysis accord with those obtained by traditional evaluation procedures.