27,946 research outputs found
CrossFlow: Integrating Workflow Management and Electronic Commerce
The CrossFlow1 architecture provides support for cross-organisational workflow management in dynamically established virtual enterprises. The creation of a business relationship between a service provider organisation performing a service on behalf of a consumer organisation can be made dynamic when augmented by virtual market technology, the dynamic configuration of the contract enactment infrastructures, and the provision of fine grained service monitoring and control. Standard ways of describing services and contracts can be combined with matchmaking technology to create a virtual market for such service provision and consumption. A provider can then advertise its services in the market and consumers can search for a compatible business partner. This provides choice in selecting a partner and allows the deferment of the decision to a point in time where it can be made on the most up-to-date requirements of the consumer and service offers in the market. The penalty for deferred decision making is the time to set up the infrastructure in each organisation for the dynamically established contract. Thus, a further aspect of CrossFlow was to exploit the contract in the dynamic and automatic configuration of the contract enactment and supervision infrastructures of the respective organisations and in linking them in a dynamic fashion. The electronic contract, which results from the agreement between the newly established business partners, completely specifies the intended collaboration between them. Given the importance of the business process enacted by the provider, this includes fine-grained monitoring and control to allow tight co-operation between the organisations
A front-end system to support cloud-based manufacturing of customised products
In todayâs global market, customized products are amongst an important means to address diverse customer demand and in achieving a unique competitive advantage. Key enablers of this approach are existing product configuration and supporting IT-based manufacturing systems. As a proposed advancement, it considered that the development of a front-end system with a next level of integration to a cloud-based manufacturing infrastructure is able to better support the specification and on-demand manufacture of customized products. In this paper, a new paradigm of Manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS) environment is introduced and highlights the current research challenges in the configuration of customizable products. Furthermore, the latest development of the front-end system is reported with a view towards further work in the research
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
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
Moebius strip enterprises and expertise in the creative industries: new challenges for lifelong learning?
The paper argues that the emergence of a new mode of production â co-configuration is generating new modes of expertise that EU policies for lifelong learning are not designed to support professionals to develop. It maintains that this change can be seen most clearly when we analyse Small and Medium Size (SMEs) enterprises in the creative industries. Drawing on concepts from Political Economy - âMoebius strip enterprise/expertiseâ and Cultural Historical Activity Theory - project-objectâ and the âspace of reasonsâ, the paper highlights conceptually and through a case study of an SME in the creative industries what is distinctive about the new modes of expertise, before moving on to reconceptualise expertise and learning and to consider the implications of this reconceptualisation for EU policies for lifelong learning. The paper concludes that the new challenge for LLL is to support the development of new forms expertise that are difficult to credentialise, yet, are central to the wider European goal of realising a knowledge economy
Redesigning work organizations and technologies: experiences from European projects
Currently distributed business process (re) design (resulting in components of business networks) basically relies on technical criteria. And that are the main purposes of most research projects supported by EC. Through the process of building a European Research Area, this means a strong influence in the national research programmes. However it is generally accepted that it should also take into account social criteria and aspects such as the quality of working life, or participation in decision processes. Those were some of the objectives of projects in de 80s decade, and framed some of the main concepts and scientific approaches to work organisation. The democratic participation of network and organisations members in the design process is a critical success factor. This is not accepted by everyone, but is based in sufficient case studies. Nevertheless, in order to achieve an optimization that can satisfying the requirements of agility of a network of enterprises, more complex design methods must be developed. Thus, the support to the collaborative design of distributed work in a network of enterprises, through a concurrent approaching business processes, work organisation and task content is a key factor to achieve such purposes. Increasing needs in terms of amounts of information, agility, and support for collaboration without time and space constrains, imposes the use of a computer-based model.business process; networks; decision processes; collaborative design;
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