Virtual Organization Breeding Environments Research Articles

An incentive mechanism for partner selection from a collaborative network with private information

Partner selection is critical to the success of a Virtual Enterprise. This paper studies the partner selection problem under the virtual organization breeding environment where candidates have private information about their cost to undertake the tasks. A systematic solution is provided to reveal the true value of the private information and then select the optimal partners. This solution mainly comprises two steps: (1) For each possible cost combination, a multi-objective integer nonlinear programming model and an algorithm are designed to obtain the optimal partners. Then, a social choice correspondence, which indicates the optimal partners for any cost combination, is formulated. (2) An incentive mechanism is constructed to implement the social choice correspondence and ensure that candidates will announce their values of cost truthfully. Furthermore, a numerical study is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the solution and to investigate the relationship between the construction of the collaborative network and the utility to partners. We find that the number of candidates in each period affects the utility of partners as well as the expected surplus of the leading company significantly.

An integrated Fuzzy ANP-MOP approach for partner selection problem and order allocation optimization: The case of virtual enterprise configuration

Virtual networked enterprises have become a necessity for organizations to integrate better with the highly competitive markets in the 21st century. Virtual Enterprise (VE) depends on the performance of its members. Hence, the development of an effective methodology for the evaluation and selection of the suitable partners is a crucial issue toward forming a successful VE. The aim of this paper is to address the partner selection problem and order allocation optimization for the VE creation from Virtual organizations Breeding Environments (VBE) to respond to a specific Business Opportunity (BO). In this context, an exhaustive list of evaluation criteria is identified. A two-stage methodic approach is also proposed to make an objective evaluation for selecting the suitable partners of a VE with considering the BO requirements. In the first stage, a fuzzy analytical network process is used to determine the weights of the partner evaluation criteria. In the second stage, the obtained criteria weights are incorporated into a multi-objective programming model, which is solved using Weighted Sum Method to identify the appropriate VE configuration. Two illustrative examples artificially designed as well as a real case study from a network in textile sector are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed approach.

A Simulation Approach to Assess Partners Selected for a Collaborative Network

Manufacturing enterprises are increasingly more aware of the importance of establishing collaborative relationships with their network partners, due to the advantages associated to collaboration. Nevertheless, the participation in a collaborative network (CN) comes with associated challenges, namely the need to reduce the potential for conflicts among partners. A CN consists of heterogeneous partners, each one defining its own objectives and activating its own strategies. In this context, the ability to quickly identify partners with aligned strategies is crucial for smooth operation of the CN. The main aim of this paper is to address the partners’ selection problem in the context of Virtual organizations Breeding Environments (VBE) that facilitate and enable the creation of Virtual Organisations (VO), as one type of CN. In a first stage, the sets of enterprises, characterised by having the required competencies to create the VO, are identified among different potential candidates within the VBE. In a second stage, the strategies alignment approach, based on the system dynamics simulation method, is used for the partners’ selection process, identifying the best set of enterprises. In this paper, the final stage of partners’ selection process is addressed by obtaining the degree of alignment of the business strategies formulated by each set of enterprises. In the light of this, a system dynamics-simulation model, in AnyLogic, is presented to obtain the set of enterprises that have higher levels of alignment in its strategies. The proposed system dynamics-simulation model is applied to a case in the building industry, to deal with the partners’ selection problem in a VBE with the aim of forming a stable and sustainable VO.

Collaborative networks as incubators of dynamic virtual organisations: a case study of the emerging MAP sector

This research explores development requirements and policy arguments in the emerging medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) sector. Supported by a reference model adapted from the European Collaborative networked Organisations LEADership (ECOLEAD) project, the creation of a virtual organisation (VO) breeding environment (VBE) is also assessed using a qualitative exploratory case study involving an EPAM (Entrepreneurship-in-MAP project) IT-platform, where data was collected from the EPAM website and from multiple secondary sources. Contributions to practice include the setting of critical success factors, the assessment of management roles and the discussion of the MAP-VBE positioned within the scope of EPAM. While the introduction of a 'neutral mediator' role constitutes a contribution to theory, innovative insights into MAP structuring promotes operations management research on VO incubation/formation in nascent and emerging industry contexts.

Building trust in virtual organisations: a case study of trust and gender in a scientific virtual organisation breeding environment

This paper examines an online life science virtual organisation breeding environment (VBE), an incubator of temporary or more permanent virtual organisations (VOs). In the VBE studied, scientists could connect and collaborate with one another using various social media technologies such as profiles, messaging, blogs, and forums. This article is particularly focused on the ways in which social media technologies facilitate interactions between participants in the 'WomenScientists1' group. This study employs content analysis of all textual discourse on the group and social network analysis to understand the relationship of users in this network. This paper seeks to address three core questions. First, we explore what types of interactions facilitate trust formations. We find that interactions that share personal information positively elicit trust from other users. Second, we examine which demographic attributes contribute to the growth of trust interactions. We find that a user's gender and their membership of the group are correlated with trust interactions. Third, we find that if users are unilaterally trusted (via a 'leap of faith'), they are likely to reciprocate, forming bilateral or multilateral trust relationships.

Models, Methodologies, and Tools Supporting Establishment and Management of Second-Generation VBEs

Both research and practice have shown that preexistence of long-term associations/clusters of active and competitive organizations, the so-called virtual organizations breeding environments (VBEs), can greatly enhance dynamic creation of virtual organizations (VOs). During the past decade, a number of VBEs are formed worldwide, mostly among organizations located in a common region that, in principle, have common business culture and other similarities, and primarily focus on static lines of activities. The second-generation VBEs addressed in this paper; however, aim to focus on associations/clusters that are not bound to geographical regions or static lines of activities, and wish to act as well recognized and competitive entities in the society/market, facilitating time/cost effective and fluid configuration, and establishment of dynamic VOs. The proposed VBEs apply supporting information and communication technology infrastructures, tools, and services that provide common grounds for the interaction and cooperation among their member organizations. Furthermore, these multiregional VBEs assist with the needed evolution of VOs, introducing new approaches and mechanisms to build trust, define the needed collaboration business culture, and establish the common value systems and working/sharing principles among their independent organizations, among others. The paper introduces a number of models, methodologies, and tools that are designed and developed supporting both the management as well as successful operation of the second-generation VBEs.

Investigating an autonomous system in nursing

The term E-nursing has been used to refer to the incorporation of ICT into nursing. Point-to-point connections using private networks are used by hospitals and clinics that deliver services directly or contract out specialty services to independent nursing service providers at ambulatory care sites. Radiology, mental health and even intensive care services are being provided under contract using Tele-nursing and telemedicine to deliver the services. An autonomous system manages complexity and improves the system complexity without interfering expert humans. The purpose of this paper is to present an autonomous virtual organization for e-nursing describing their characteristics, effects on quality factors, their building blocks architecture, and challenges. Key words: E-Nursing, collaborative networks, information and communication technology (ICT), virtual organization breeding environment (VBE), autonomic computing, self-managing systems

A framework to create a virtual organisation breeding environment for small and medium enterprises

This paper describes a framework to create and support the life cycle of Virtual Enterprises (VEs) relying on a Virtual Organisation Breeding Environment (VBE). The proposed framework is the outcome of a five-year research project in the field of collaborative network organisations. Such a framework was developed to be applied to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and was validated in a Brazilian work group called VIRFEBRAS. A peculiar characteristic of VIRFEBRAS is that its members are competitors and work in the mould and die sector. This work proposes the creation of an environment where social capital, competence and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are developed to facilitate the preparedness of candidate companies aiming to become members of future VEs. This paper is structured as follows: an introduction, the description of the framework to create the VBE, the validation of the framework, the key findings and business impacts and the conclusions.

On management of 2nd generation Virtual Organizations Breeding Environments

Nowadays, in a wide variety of sectors from production-based to service-oriented, temporary collaboration among organizations in the so-called Virtual Organizations (VOs), is the trend adopted by most, and in particular by small and medium enterprises. Pre-existence of long-term associations/clusters of active and competitive organizations, the so-called Virtual Organizations Breeding Environments (VBEs), is shown to greatly enhance dynamic creation of VOs. A number of VBEs have been formed world-wide during the last decade, mostly among organizations located in a common region, with common business culture, and primarily focus on specific lines of activities. This paper however addresses the 2nd generation VBEs that are not bound to geographical regions or specific activities. These VBEs shall play an active role in the society/market as competitive entities, and need to effectively support agile configuration and establishment of dynamic VOs. Furthermore, the 2nd generation VBEs require enabling ICT infrastructure and tools, to facilitate their daily management activities as well as supporting the collaboration among their member organizations. The paper introduces a number of models, methodologies and tools designed and developed to support 2nd generation VBEs.

A framework for computer-assisted creation of dynamic virtual organisations

Being able to rapidly react to a collaboration opportunity (CO) in the fast changing market conditions is a key requirement for dynamic virtual organisations (VOs). One way to make the process of VO creation agile is assuming a context of a virtual organisation breeding environment (VBE), which operates like an alliance of organisations, guaranteeing the preparedness of its members to engage in dynamic virtual organisations to rapidly respond to a collaboration opportunity. The process for VO creation discussed here consists of a computer assisted framework to aid organisations namely in finding suitable collaboration opportunities and characterise them; making a plan for the VO that fulfils the CO requirements; and finding the right partners to accomplish the necessary actions. All these tasks are accompanied by a negotiation process either in terms of selecting the best partners or in reaching agreements on the details of the VO.

VO breeding environments & virtual organizations integral business process management framework

This paper presents a set of guidelines in terms of business process for VO Breeding Environments (VBEs) and Virtual Organizations (VOs) management based-on ECOLEAD Project Results. A detail description of an Integral Business Process Management (I-BPM) Framework, using Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is presented. The I-BPM framework describes a set of process models that depict what happens during each VBE and VO management processes, taking the point of view of an external observer, to provide rationale of activities that should be carried out by a set of VBE actors to achieve the expected business process results.

FETR: a framework to establish trust relationships among organizations in VBEs

Organizations compete in acquiring competitive resources, knowledge, and competencies. In the past, organizations applied the acquired resources, knowledge and competencies to gain superiority and thus outperform others in getting customers and brokering opportunities. In this manner the superior organizations forced the inferior organizations outside the market. However, in the current market, when an opportunity is brokered, organizations need to collaborate, more than competing, by sharing the acquired resources, knowledge, and competencies to respond to the opportunity which none of them could handle otherwise. This means organizational strategies must now adapt to the notion of collaboration with others. One important organizational strategy necessary in virtual organizations breeding environments (VBE) is focused on the organizational preparedness that is required to enhance chances of participating in virtual organizations (VOs). A crucial aspect of preparedness is the establishment of trust relationships with other member organizations to smoothen the sharing of resources, knowledge, and competence, and in turn facilitate the organizations’ collaboration. In this paper we present the FETR: A Framework to Establish Trust Relationships among organizations in VBEs. We also present and analyze risks that can emerge and thus hamper the established relationships among organizations. We also present the promotion of trust relationships among organizations.

Trust analysis and assessment in virtual organization breeding environments

Establishing trust relationships among the member organizations in a virtual organization breeding environment (VBE) is a pre-condition for their smooth cooperation. Furthermore, considering that effective creation of virtual organizations (VOs) is the main aim of the VBEs, the measurement of an organization's trust level facilitates the selection of partners for configuration and establishment of VOs. While in a small-size VBE e.g. with 20 to 40 members, organizations may have a good chance to get to know each other, and can therefore have a subjective (opinion-based) judgment of the trust level of others, in medium and large-size VBEs, trust analysis of other organizations is a main obstacle for VO creation and a big challenge. Design and development of an objective (fact-based) approach for assessing the trust level and establishing trust relationships among organizations is of particular importance for large and very large VBEs, where usually their member organizations may not even be totally known to each other. This paper addresses an objective trust analysis approach for the VBEs. It identifies and describes trust elements that are necessary for measuring and assessing the trust level of different organizations. The paper addresses trust in VBEs through defining: the hierarchy of trust elements, the impacts of various values of trust criteria on the trust levels, and the causal influences among different trust criteria. It also identifies and addresses three main VBE trust objectives, namely for creating the trust: (1) among VBE member organizations, (2) between the member organizations and the VBE administration, and (3) between the external stakeholders (e.g. the customer) and the VBE establishment. It then presents an approach to assess the trust level of member organizations. For the paper, the perishable product market is used to exemplify different aspects of trust. Besides the VBE environments, the approaches for modelling, analysis, and assessment of trust that are discussed in this paper are entirely, or at least for the most part, directly applicable to other forms of collaborative networked organizations, such as the VOs.

On the role of value systems to promote the sustainability of collaborative environments

The establishment of a common value system is an important element for the sustainability of collaborative networks. However, since the networks are typically formed by heterogeneous and autonomous entities, it is natural that each member has its own set of values and effort to align the various value systems is therefore necessary. In this context, the role of value systems in the virtual organization breeding environment is discussed under the assumption that the promotion of cooperation is based on the reciprocity mechanism. Example scenarios are included in the discussion and illustrations are given based on data from real networks.

On Architectural Design of TrustMan System Applying HICI Analysis Results - The Case of Technological Perspective in VBEs

Organizations need to trust each other for smoothing their collaboration to both acquire and respond to more and better business opportunities that none of them could do otherwise. However, in Virtual organization Breeding Environments (VBEs) there are several difficulties related to the processes that must be performed to facilitate organizations create trust to each other. The main cause of these difficulties is the way these processes are currently performed which in most cases are ad hoc and manual. Among others the processes include: assessing trust level of organizations, creating trust among organizations, establishing trust relationships, and managing trust related data. As a result, configuring virtual organizations (VOs) within the VBE environment is becoming challenging and difficult. To match the pace in the market these processes must be quickly performed and must produce very accurate results. Thus they must now be supported with semiautomatic systems. In order to properly assess trust level of organizations in VBEs, trust elements and trust relationships must be thoroughly characterized. This paper addresses the characterization of trust elements and automation of processes related to the management of trust among organizations. It presents a three-stage approach for identifying and analyzing trust elements. The identified trust elements and their related analysis results are then applied in the design of mechanisms and architectures for Trust Management (TrustMan) system. The design of two architectures (operational and componential) for TrustMan system is also presented in this paper.

An Ontology for Virtual Organization Breeding Environments

Companies and individuals connect into networks to share their resources with the purpose of achieving a common goal. The field of collaborative network organizations covers various types of organizational structures. Knowledge, which is stored in such networks, can be separated into two different levels. First, there is a common knowledge about the organizational structure itself that can be used and reused in any of such networks. The second level represents the domain-specific knowledge, which such networks cover and use to function. In this paper, we address both levels, first, by proposing an ontology representing the common vocabulary and identifying the actors and relationships in a specific type of network, namely virtual organization breeding environment (VBE), and second, by proposing a methodology for extracting network-specific knowledge related to competencies. The instantiation of the proposed VBE ontology and the developed approach to semiautomated construction of competencies have been applied to real problem scenarios of Virtuelle Fabrik, a Swiss-German cluster of companies in mechanical engineering.

Performance indicators for collaborative networks based on collaboration benefits

Collaborative networks are typically assumed to bring clear benefits and competitive advantage to the participating members. However, the identification and characterisation of objective and measurable collaboration benefits is an important element for the wide adoption of this paradigm. Departing from a brief categorisation of the intuitive advantages of collaboration, this paper introduces an approach for the analysis of benefits in collaborative processes, introducing a number of performance indicators. The potential application of the indicators derived from this analysis is then discussed in the context of a virtual organisation's breeding environment. Finally, experimental results based on data from two existing collaborative networks are presented and discussed.

Modeling and management of profiles and competencies in VBEs

Virtual organization Breeding Environments (VBEs) are long-term clusters/associations of autonomous and geographically dispersed organizations in the market and society. The VBE aims to prepare its member organizations and enhance their readiness for potential involvement in opportunity-based Virtual Organizations (VOs). Organizing/management of profiles is a key activity in VBEs. The need for management of profiles is even larger in medium-size and large-size VBEs (e.g. with more then 50 members), where typically the member organizations do not have the chance of getting to know all others directly. Furthermore, uniform structuring/modeling of the mostly textual content of profiles enables their processing by the software that supports variety of VBE functionality. An important element of the profiles in VBEs is the competency. There is no consensus on the definition of competency and the existing literature associate it with a range of tangible characteristics such as resources and products, as well as intangible characteristics such as knowledge and motivation. This paper introduces and details a unified/generic model for VBE profiles and VBE competencies. It further addresses the design of an adaptable, replicable and sustainable Profile and Competency Management System (PCMS), which is being developed supported by the ontology for profiles and competencies. An approach and mechanism for semi-automated derivation/discovery of elements for organization’s profile and competency from on-line text corpora is also introduced.

Towards the development of a framework to create a virtual organisation breeding environment in the mould and die sector

The effective creation of Virtual Enterprises emerges after the development of: (i) a new working culture and (ii) a computer-enabled infrastructure supporting inter-operation of companies. These developments are facilitated if the potential partners belong to a Virtual Organisation Breeding Environment (VBE). This paper describes a framework to create and support the life cycle of Virtual Enterprises operating (relying on a VBE) in the mould and die sector. The proposed framework is called AmbianCE and it is the result of a 5-year research project in the field of Collaborative Network Organisations. The AmbianCE framework has been validated in a Brazilian VBE called Virfebras. A peculiar characteristic of Virfebras is that many of its members are competitors.

TOWARDS A SEMI-TYPOLOGY FOR VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION BREEDING ENVIRONMENTS

The need for collaboration among heterogeneous and autonomous organizations has manifested in a wide variety of domains and application areas. Many of these cases represent collaboration among organizations from different disciplines and sectors. Unlike earlier approaches, today both research and practice have concluded that the most efficient manner to dynamically create VOs, is through the pre-existence of long term strategic alliances of organizations that act as the breeding environment for VOs. Virtual organization Breeding Environments (VBEs) are strategic alliances that provide necessary conditions and supporting mechanisms for fluid cost/time effective brokerage of VOs. This paper identifies the main distinguishing characteristics of the VBEs, and addresses the challenges involved in defining a VBE typology.