Companies of the 21st century are faced with
increasing demands from the market. These demands
are among other things derived from technological
innovations and the corresponding development
towards a global marketplace. Specific advantages
deriving from operating in a global market appear to
be exploitable only by large organizations. Small
and medium size enterprises (SMEs), in particular,
must find organizational solutions that allow them
to cope with global business opportunities without
suffering the effects of their limited resources. In
this context, the notion of the virtual enterprise
(VE) is receiving increasing attention as a business
model addressing these new business challenges. This
book, therefore introduces a methodology for the
development of a VE system through first clarifying
the concept of VE, then presenting an ICT
architecture and structured framework which
illustrates the key phases of system development and
finally providing a set of guidelines which
systematically describes key processes/activities
which should be considered in relation to set up and
operation of VEs.
increasing demands from the market. These demands
are among other things derived from technological
innovations and the corresponding development
towards a global marketplace. Specific advantages
deriving from operating in a global market appear to
be exploitable only by large organizations. Small
and medium size enterprises (SMEs), in particular,
must find organizational solutions that allow them
to cope with global business opportunities without
suffering the effects of their limited resources. In
this context, the notion of the virtual enterprise
(VE) is receiving increasing attention as a business
model addressing these new business challenges. This
book, therefore introduces a methodology for the
development of a VE system through first clarifying
the concept of VE, then presenting an ICT
architecture and structured framework which
illustrates the key phases of system development and
finally providing a set of guidelines which
systematically describes key processes/activities
which should be considered in relation to set up and
operation of VEs.