Finance terms: Integrations

Vertical Integration
When a company expands its business into areas that are at different points of the same production path.
Example:
A car company that expands into tire manufacturing would be an example of vertical integration. A company such as this is often referred to as vertically integrated.


Horizontal Integration
When a company expands its business into different products that are similar to current lines.
Example:
A hot dog vendor expanding into selling hamburgers would be an an example of horizontal integration. Compare this to vertical integration.


Backward Integration
A form of vertical integration that involves the purchase of suppliers in order to reduce dependency.
A good example would be if a bakery business bought a wheat farm in order to reduce the risk associated with the dependency on flour.


Forward Integration
A business strategy that involves a form of vertical integration whereby activities are expanded to include control of the direct distribution of its products.
A good example of forward integration is when a farmer sells his/her crops at the local market rather than to a distribution center.

Looking For Your Face

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it
...
Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for

Today I have found you
and those who laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you
with a hundred eyes

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadowa

My soul is screaming in ecstasy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
for me
the earth and sky

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer