New Method for Modeling and Operating of the Virtual Enterprises

Much research has been conducted to define what a virtual enterprise (VE) actually is and how it should work. This paper addresses the more specific question, how a virtual enterprise can be designed to be agile and to so best support short-term business opportunities. The cases on virtual enterprises studied in this research suggest that in order to adequately respond to a temporary window of opportunity in the market, engineering and implementation competencies cannot be created for the occasion but need to be preinstalled and on standby. Thus, each research study conducted in this sense has tried to ascertain a set of methods and tools to select partners, reengineer business and logistic processes and to set up an information and communication platform for the virtual enterprise.