Coordination involves organizing group efforts to ensure unified actions toward common goals. It requires consciously balancing, timing, and integrating activities. Coordination can be internal between departments and employees, external with customers and suppliers, vertical within a management chain, and horizontal between departments. It establishes formal relationships and procedures as well as the informal cooperation needed to harmonize efforts. Coordination is essential for management to provide direction, motivate personnel, efficiently use resources, quickly achieve objectives, and improve organizational performance and goodwill.