 Collaboration mechanisms in SME context: a case study in the footwear sectorRosanna Fornasiero and Andrea Zangiacomi International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2006, vol. 3, issue 2, 172-184 Abstract: This paper describes a case study and proposes two different services implemented in an Italian footwear district to support shoe producers in managing automatically their temporary partnerships with suppliers and customers through ICT applications. The approach used here is a roadmap, developed in an EU-funded project related to European SMEs, guiding different types of Virtual Enterprise (VE) through the process of improving network management, especially through designing cooperation process and implementing ICT tools. Even if the initial focus was on strengthening the relationships of the existing VE, the most important result was the creation of a set of tools to support and promote the extension of the VE to other partners both from suppliers and customers side stressing flexibility aspects. Keywords: virtual enterprise; VE; collaboration platforms; collaborative networks; enterprise modelling; SMEs; small and medium enterprises; Italy; footwear industry; shoe production; collaborative design; network management; cooperation; ICT; information technology; communications; customer-supplier relationship. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijnvor:v:3:y:2006:i:2:p:172-184 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
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