More often, appropriating returns from channel functions means directing the performance of channel flows for the purpose of improving sales and margins obtained at the integrator’s level of the channel. The retailer integrating upstream is more interested in improving returns from retailing than in running a profitable production operation in and of itself. The manufacturer integrating downstream is more interested in using the channel to improve production results than in running a profitable marketing channel operation in and of itself. In other words, the integrator is prepared to sacrifice returns one level of the value chain to improve returns at another level. In theory, the integrated entity is better off financially, weighing total returns against total assets employed, adjusting for the risk assumed. All too often, this scenario fails to materialize. The integrator underestimates the difficulty of assuming the new function and overestimates the benefits of control. See Sidebar 9.1 for examples.