Hamideh Afsarmanesh

Collaborative networked organizations - Concepts and practice in manufacturing enterprises

Participation in networks has nowadays become very important for any organization that strives to achieve a differentiated competitive advantage, especially if the company is small or medium sized. Collaboration is a key issue to rapidly answer market demands in a manufacturing company, through sharing competencies and resources. The collaborative networked organizations (CNO) area focuses on this type of organizational models that use ICT for supporting the development of collaborative business opportunities. This paper describes the key concepts related to CNOs, provides a high level classification of collaborative networks, and presents some application cases in the manufacturing industry. Finally a holistic research initiative addressing key challenges in the area is presented and a discussion of the CNO paradigm contribution to the challenges faced by manufacturing systems is made.

Elements of a base VE infrastructure

The availability of a flexible and configurable base infrastructure is one of the main requirements for the practical implantation of agile virtual enterprises (VE). An overview of current approaches and trends towards the establishment of such infrastructures is presented in this paper. Various example architectures from several international research projects are discussed. Also, the aspects of trust building and the formation of breeding environments, as an important basis for practical agile virtual organizations (VO), are introduced. Finally, a list of open challenges in terms of advanced infrastructures is included.

A FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION BREEDING ENVIRONMENTS

Effective creation of dynamic virtual organizations requires a proper breeding environment to increase organizations’ preparedness. After introducing some basic concepts related to collaborative networked organizations, the concept of breeding environment for virtual organizations is discussed and the key elements and requirements for its support management system are presented. The initial modeling needs and the required functionality are identified. Finally some important open challenges are addressed.

Collaborative Networks: Reference Modeling

Overview.- Motivation for a theoretical foundation for collaborative networks.- Related work on reference modeling for collaborative networks.- Towards a CN reference model.- Overview.- Reference modeling: Needs and basic terminology.- Collaboration forms.- The ARCON modeling framework.- ARCON reference models for collaborative networks.- A comprehensive semantic indexing schema for ARCON.- Further steps on CN reference modeling.- Modeling Tools And Approaches.- Overview.- A survey of modeling methods and tools.- A survey of soft modeling approaches for collaborative networks.- Modeling examples.- Overview.- A multi-model approach to analyze inter-organizational trust in VBEs.- Networked partner selection with robust portfolio modeling.- Modeling collaboration preparedness assessment.- A benefit analysis model for collaborative networks.- An approach in value systems modeling.- Selection of a virtual organization coordinator.- Modeling the value of expectations in collaborative networked organizations.- Prospective performance measurement in virtual organizations.- Erratum.

The Virtual Enterprise Concept

Among the multiple definitions for the Virtual Enterprise concept, the significance of two key elements: networking and cooperation, becomes clear. The lack of a unified definition is partially resulted by the large diversity in classes of networked organizations, which calls for the establishment of a taxonomy of virtual enterprises. An attempt to present some current definitions and a taxonomy is made. The first step in the analysis of virtual enterprises requires a careful study of various phases of its life cycle and characterization of the roles of various involved actors.

Collaborative Networked Organizations: A Research Agenda for Emerging Business Models

Foreword. Preface. 1: Introduction. 1.1. Towards Next Business Models. 1.2. Some Basic Concepts. 2: New Collaborative Forms. 2.1. Overview. 2.2. VO In Industry: State Of The Art S. Alexakis, B. Kolmel, T. Heep. 2.3. Virtual Organising Scenarios B.R. Katzy, H. Loeh, Chunyan Zhang. 2.4. Emerging collaborative forms L.M. Camarinha-Matos, E. Banahan, J. Pinho de Sousa, F. Sturm, H. Afsarmanesh, J. Barata, J. Playfoot, V. Tschammer. 3: Global and Regional Research Agendas. 3.1. Overview. 3.2. Targeting major new trends L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh, A. Abreu. 3.3. Challenges of Collaborative Networks in Europe H. Afsarmanesh, V. Marik, L.M. Camarinha-Matos. 3.4. A challenge towards VO in Japanese industry: Industrial Cluster T. Kaihara. 3.5. Collaborative networks in Australia - Challenges and recommendations L. Nemes, J. Mo. 3.6. A Brazilian observatory on global and collaborative networked organizations R.J. Rabelo, A.A. Pereira-Klen. 3.7. Some American research concerns on VO H.T. Goranson. 4: Human, Societal, and Organizational Aspects. 4.1. Overview. 4.2. Socio-organizational challenges in the creative economy E. Banahan, J. Playfoot. 4.3. Towards Strategic Management in Collaborative network structures F. Sturm, J. Kemp, R. van Wendel de Joode. 4.4. Collaborative knowledge networks S. Evans, N. Roth. 4.5. Performance measurement and added value of networks S. Evans, N. Roth, F. Sturm. 4.6. Ethical andmoral issues facing the virtual organization S. Hawkins. 5: Information And Communication Technology Factors. 5.1. Overview. 5.2. Support infrastructures for new collaborative forms L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh. 5.3. Agent technology V. Marik, M. Pechoucek. 5.4. ON emerging technologies for VO L.M. Camarinha-Matos, V. Tschammer, H. Afsarmanesh. 6: Foundations and Modeling. 6.1. Overview. 6.2. Emerging behavior in complex collaborative networks L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh. 6.3. Formal modeling methods for collaborative networks L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh. 6.4. Agent technology for virtual organizations V. Marik, M. Pechoucek. 6.5. Modeling social aspects of collaborative networks A. Lucas Soares, J. Pinho de Sousa. 6.6. The organizational semiotics normative paradigm J. Filipe. 7: An Example Roadmap. 7.1. A roadmapping methodology for strategic research on VO L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh. 7.2. A strategic roadmap for advanced Virtual organizations L.M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh, H. Loh, F. Sturm, M. Ollus. Annexes: A.1. Authors and contributors. A.2. Method of work in thinkcreative project. Subject Index. Author Index.

Methods and Tools for Collaborative Networked Organizations

Collaborative Networked Organizations represent one of the most relevant organizational paradigms in industry and services. A large number of developments in recent years have turned Collaborative Networks into a pervasive phenomenon in all socio-economic sectors. The main aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive set of reference materials derived from the results of the ECOLEAD project in one organized volume. The ECOLEAD project, a large 4-year European initiative, involved 28 organizations (from academia, research and industry), from 14 countries (in Europe and Latin America). Three main types of results from ECOLEAD are presented: (i) Conceptual frameworks and models, (ii) Methods and processes, and (iii) Software tools and systems. Furthermore, the experience and lessons learned with a number of large pilot implementations in real-world running networks of enterprises are also included as an indication of the assessment/validation of the project results. Methods and Tools for Collaborative Networked Organizations provides valuable elements for researchers and practitioners involved in the design, implementation, and management of collaborative forms in industry and services.

Virtual Enterprise Modeling and Support Infrastructures: Applying Multi-agent System Approaches

Virtual enterprises paradigm represents an important application field for multi-agent approaches, both in terms of modeling and infrastructure development This article summarizes the main challenges in this field and describes several current Multi-Agent System application approaches. A particular emphasis is given to the creation and operation phases of the virtual enterprise life cycle. Several open challenges in this area are also introduced.

Ecolead: A Holistic Approach to Creation and Management of Dynamic Virtual Organizations

The wide dissemination and effective materialization of the foreseen benefits of dynamic virtual organizations require a holistic approach to understand, model, and develop the needed infrastructures and tools to support the full life cycle of this organizational paradigm. Under this scope, the ECOLEAD integrated project was launched with the aim of creating the necessary foundations and mechanisms for establishing an advanced network-based industry society. The main underlying concepts, approach and preliminary results of this ongoing initiative are briefly summarized.

A framework for virtual organization creation in a breeding environment

Abstract Effectiveness in the process of creating virtual organizations (VO) is an important pre-condition for having a truly dynamic VOs, in response to collaboration opportunities in fast changing market contexts. A realistic approach to materialize agility in VO creation is defined under the assumption of a VO Breeding Environment (VBE), that guarantees the preparedness of its members to quickly get engaged in collaboration processes. After a survey of past approaches and a characterization of the VBE concept, a discussion of the process and suggested functionalities towards a VO creation framework are presented in this context. Finally a list of supporting tools is described and future research challenges are pointed out.