Horizontal Integration
Categories: Company Management
Horizontal integration is the acquisition of additional business units that are at the same level of the value chain in similar (or different) industries.
This can be achieved by internal re-organization, or via external expansion through a merger or acquisitions. Since the different firms integrating are involved in the same stage of production, horizontal integration allows for economy of scale. Efficiencies are often found in “reduncies,” eliminating duplicate jobs.