The task of linking systems of any company with truly global reach is difficult enough to begin with, says Lindsey Kathmann, supply chain analyst at TE Connectivity, but complexity is heightened when the enterprise is structured into separate business units, some with their own spinoffs.

Merging two companies is seldom easy, but it's even more difficult when their supply chains are highly dissimilar, says Jim Calarese, director of supply chain systems at Sanofi Genzyme.

While for years Google was the number-one online destination for shoppers searching for products across desktop, mobile and tablet, it has recently lost its top ranking as a product search starting place to Amazon.

Mondelez International Inc., trying to adapt as more shoppers buy food outside of traditional grocery stores, is diving deeper into online retail with a holiday-season website that is selling tins of Oreos directly to consumers.