Virtual Corporations Research Articles

Manufacturing Information Integration Using a Reference Model

Virtual corporations, enterprise re‐engineering, and adaptive/agile manufacturing are all new concepts based on the accomplishments of integrated manufacturing of the past decade. The new manufacturing enterprises are characterized by an ability to effect flexible reconfiguration of resources, shorter cycle times and quick response to customer demands. Information is a key factor in transcending physical barriers and imparting the enterprise‐oriented agility and adaptiveness to organizations. To this end, a theory‐based reference model for information integration is needed in manufacturing enterprises. Employs the paradigm of parallel formulation as the reference model and demonstrates how it is used to guide the planning for information integration. The model provides both a detailed data and task analysis of manufacturing functions and their interactions, and guidelines for regrouping tasks into parallel processes and thereby achieving a high level of global integration. Describes a case study of the model, conducted on the existing CIM model at Rensselaer to evaluate and reformulate the previous processes. The results show a better design featuring concurrent execution of functions which in turn support agility and adaptiveness.

Agility: The ultimate requirement for world‐class manufacturing performance

AbstractIt is becoming increasingly clear that the future success of U.S. industry depends on world‐class quality in its products and services. The achievement of this goal requires steps that go beyond the mere improvement of manufacturing. The leading organizations of the next century mill be those that integrate quality‐improvement efforts with agile manufacturing, which requires the utmost in customer responsiveness and a willingness to create virtual corporations that agree to pool their resources toward the achievement of common objectives. If United States industry takes up the agility challenge, the prize will be renewed U.S. quality and competitiveness.

The Latest Word from Thoughtful Executives

This is the first of what we hope will be a continuing dialogue between management practitioners and scholars. Beyond encouraging dialogue, we hope this section of AME will provide practitioners with a forum to communicate with the research community about problems or issues they are facing which are most in need of immediate attention. AME is grateful to John Montgomery and Tony Clancy, members of its Executive Advisory Panel, for suggesting and helping to prepare this first “Executive Voice.” John begins by giving his perspective on the need for a bridge between researchers and practitioners around research topic identification. Tony then tosses out the first topic for consideration: the virtual corporation, telecommuting and the concept of team. We invite researchers and practitioners who have investigated these topics to send the results of their work to AME for publication consideration. We also invite practitioners to send us their ideas for consideration in a future “Executive Voice” column. Editor

Impact of Communication Medium and Computer Support on Group Perceptions and Performance: A Comparison of Face-to-Face and Dispersed Meetings

Economic, social, and political institutions worldwide are relying increasingly on communication technology to perform a variety of functions: holding electronic town meetings where hundreds of people in numerous cities participate simultaneously; forging strategic links with business partners, thereby forming virtual corporations that can be instantly disbanded; redefining the conventional notion of a college campus by offering classes via interactive media to non-traditional students; and enabling consumers with personal digital assistants to remain connected with their children and families at all times. In this environment, where geographic and temporal boundaries are shrinking rapidly, electronic meeting systems (EMS) are playing an important role. This study examines the impact of teams on using EMS in dispersed and face-to-face settings. The results suggest that EMS can be effective in augmenting traditional audio-conferencing by strengthening the medium and allowing additional communication use to be exchanged among participants. They also indicate that EMS can improve decision-making performance, given proper task-technology fit and adequate facilitation. As businesses expand globally, such systems will provide instant communication capabilities and help coordinate dispersed decision-making activities.

The Rise of the Trading State: Commerce and Conquest in the Modern World

What will power look like in the century to come? Imperial Great Britain may have been the model for the nineteenth century, Richard Rosecrance writes, but Hong Kong will be the model for the twenty-first. We are entering the Age of the Virtual State -- when land and its products are no longer the primary source of power, when managing flows is more important than maintaining stockpiles, when service industries are the greatest source of wealth and expertise and creativity are the greatest natural resources. Rosecrance's brilliant new book combines international relations theory with economics and the business model of the virtual corporation to describe how virtual states arise and operate, and how traditional powers will relate to them. In specific detail, he shows why Japan's kereitsu system, which brought it industrial dominance, is doomed; why Hong Kong and Taiwan will influence China more than vice-versa; and why the European Union will command the most international prestige even though the U.S. may produce more wealth.