Modeling Virtual Organization Architecture with the Virtual Organization Breeding Methodology

While Enterprise Architecture Modeling (EAM) methodologies become more and more popular, an EAM methodology tailored to the needs of virtual organizations (VO) is still to be developed. Among the most popular EAM methodologies, TOGAF has been chosen as the basis for a new EAM methodology taking into account characteristics of VOs presented in this paper. In this new methodology, referred as Virtual Organization Breeding Methodology (VOBM), concepts developed within the ECOLEAD project, e.g. the concept of Virtual Breeding Environment (VBE) or the VO creation schema, serve as fundamental elements for development of VOBM. VOBM is a generic methodology that should be adapted to a given VBE. VOBM defines the structure of VBE and VO architectures in a service-oriented environment, as well as an architecture development method for virtual organizations (ADM4VO). Finally, a preliminary set of tools and methods for VOBM is given in this paper.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Agile and Pro-Active Public Administration as a Collaborative Networked Organization

In highly competitive, globalized economies and societies of always-on-line people intensively using the Internet and mobile phones, public administrations have to adapt to new challenges. Enterprises and citizens expect public administrations to be agile and pro-active to foster development. A way to achieve agility and pro-activity is application of a model of Collaborative Network Organizations in its two forms: Virtual Organizations (VO) and Virtual Organization Breeding Environments (VOBE). In the paper, advantages are shown of public administration playing a role of a Virtual Organization customer on the one hand, and a Virtual Organization member on the other hand. It is also shown how public administration playing a role of a Virtual Organization Breeding Environment may improve its agility and promote advanced technologies and management methods among local organizations. It is argued in the paper that public administration should provide a Virtual Organization Breeding Environment as a part of public services.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Management of e-technology in China

"e" technology is bringing about many challenges for companies, in particular for their managers. This concerns a vast range of business processes in many sectors of the economy and in nearly every country of the world. In rapidly industrializing China, companies and other organizations are actively finding their way by adapting, developing and exploiting new e-technologies. The paper's focus is the identification of the management issues in implementing e-technology in China. The paper reports on research into difficulties of establishing and operating e-business in China. In particular, it discusses management related to e-technology sharing and application. A brief review of literature is followed by the analysis of three recent case studies: an international IT services alliance, a financial services provider and an international manufacturing joint venture. All case companies are applying e-technology in China, but the role of e-technology differs in the three cases: adding a service line to the existing business processes; developing a new business process; and increasing efficiency and effectiveness in business processes. The conclusions present the emerging management issues: cooperation is a key asset in networking; the choice of business models plays an important role; adequate management attention for details such as a training program is require

An agent-based framework for selection of partners in dynamic virtual enterprises

Advances in computer networking technology and open system standards have made practically feasible to create and manage virtual enterprises. A virtual enterprise, VE, is usually defined as a temporary alliance of enterprises that come together to share their skills, core competencies, and resources in order to better respond to business opportunities, and whose cooperation is supported by computer networks. The materialization of this paradigm, although enabled by recent advances in communication technologies, computer networks and logistics, requires an appropriate architectural framework and support tools. In this paper we propose an agent-based model of a dynamic VE to support the different selection processes that are used in selecting the partners for a dynamic VE, where the partners of a VE are represented by agents. Such a framework will form the basis for tools that provide automated support for creation, and operation, of dynamic virtual enterprises

From geographical innovation clusters towards virtual innovation clusters: The innovation virtual system

The opportunities of the new economic landscape have determined radical changes in the organizational structures of the firms, till the creation of new virtual clusterization forms, that is distinct systems of suppliers, distributors, service providers and clients that use the 'internetworking technologies' as a principal way for co-operating and competing. These 'virtual clusterization forms' that have been also defined as 'e-business communities' or 'b-web communities' (Tapscott, Lowy & Ticoll, 2000), are here defined as 'virtual clusters'. In a virtual cluster (VC), each enterprise adds one or more distinct aspects of product/service value to the value of the network, by exchanging digital knowledge with other members. Recent studies, focused on VCs, highlight that the VC enabling factors may be identified in ICTs ubiquity (increasingly wireless) and bandwidth robustness, that allow firms to access real-time what they need and to co-ordinate their intra and inter-firm activities, creating value both by offering innovative and personalized products, services and by cutting transaction costs. (Davin and Botkin, 1994) (Rayport and Sviokla, 1995). This paper focuses on these VCs innovation processes, in order to make some comparisons between the traditional geographical innovation clusters and the emerging virtual innovation clusters. To this end, the paper is organized in two logical patterns: Some empirical evidence for describing ad discussing the more important features of the emerging VCs. Specifically, the paper focuses on the following issues: - Some first results on VCs characteristics, regarding four distinctive features of their new world of business: i. Agents: radical increase in the number of agents that form a cluster. ii. Connections: virtually unlimited increase in the number of connections and therefore in the potential size of the cluster. iii. Space: delocalization of transactions which become space independent. iv. Time: information transmission takes place at the speed of electronic communication. - The analysis of the VC basic unit, the Internetworked Enterprise (IE), and of its learning process with customers and trough strategic alliances. A model of the VCs global virtual learning environment, here conceived as a system of innovation, defined as 'Innovation Virtual System' (IVS). IVS is here interpreted as a new way of projecting the traditional systems of innovation into a global scale.

VALIDATING COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS SIMULATION AND REMODELING FOR PUMP COVER DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING IN A VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE

In order to integrate the manufacturing systems in virtual environment some changes must be made in manufacturing systems architecture. To support this environment, the basic infrastructure for the enterprise must to consider two main modules: The Internal Module, that represents the autonomous unit of a particular company and includes the manufacturing system, the complete structure of the company information (databases, information system etc.) and all the decision making processes;virtual enterprise, manufacturing systems, remodeling, simulation, cooperative systems

Value-driven Security Agreements in Extended Enterprises

Today organizations are highly interconnected in business networks called extended enterprises. This is mostly facilitated by outsourcing and by new economic models based on pay-as-you-go billing; all supported by IT-as-a-service. Although outsourcing has been around for some time, what is now new is the fact that organizations are increasingly outsourcing critical business processes, engaging on complex service bundles, and moving infrastructure and their management to the custody of third parties. Although this gives competitive advantage by reducing cost and increasing flexibility, it increases security risks by eroding security perimeters that used to separate insiders with security privileges from outsiders without security privileges. The classical security distinction between insiders and outsiders is supplemented with a third category of threat agents, namely external insiders, who are not subject to the internal control of an organization but yet have some access privileges to its resources that normal outsiders do not have. Protection against external insiders requires security agreements between organizations in an extended enterprise. Currently, there is no practical method that allows security officers to specify such requirements. In this paper we provide a method for modeling an extended enterprise architecture, identifying external insider roles, and for specifying security requirements that mitigate security threats posed by these roles. We illustrate our method with a realistic example

A COLLABORATIVE MODEL FOR VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE

Collaborative process characteristics have three dimensions: actors, activities and action’s logic. The aim of this paper is to present a virtual portal’s model that helps managing consortiums. Our model based on dynamic e-collaboration and it has a modular structure, multilayer approach. System’s functionality of virtual enterprise is collaborative model is concern on users’ login, based on role and access control, searching and providing distributed resources, accessibility, metadata management and improved information’s management. Our proposal for developing solution offers a functional architecture of a virtual enterprise using dynamic e-collaboration and shared space.dynamic e-collaboration, multilayer solution, modular approach

Implementation of virtual manufacturing by a technology licensing company

NoThe paper considers the implementation of a virtual manufacturing system as an alternative to outward technology licensing in a high technology industrial sector. Brief theoretical definition and description of the two strategy options is provided to give background and context. This is followed by empirical material from a longitudinal case study of a company that has developed a virtual manufacturing system in addition to its pre-existing outward technology licensing business stream. A summary account of the company history and development is followed by description of the virtual manufacturing proposal. Analysis of this identified a number of competencies that would be required in order to succeed. The final part of the paper describes the company's response to this analysis and discusses early implementation of the virtual system. It is shown that implementation of the proposal has represented a positive response to the business challenges facing the company