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

R.V. Vallejos, C. Lima and G. Varvakis

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2010, vol. 6, issue 3, 335-351

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: virtual enterprises; virtual organisations breeding environment; life cycles; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; Brazil; VIRFEBRAS; Brazilian Virtual Organization of Tooling Companies; machine tools; mould and die industry; benchmarking; social capital; ICT; information technology; communications technology; competence; candidate companies; business impacts; services management; operations management; knowledge management; KM; collaborative networks. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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