Causal cross-impact analysis as strategic planning aid for virtual Organisation Breeding Environments

Abstract

Virtual Organisation Breeding Environments (VBEs) are known as an enterprise network creating virtual organisations (VOs) on occurring business opportunities. Whereas a VO is created dynamically with a limited time horizon, such a VBE is created for medium or long-term existence. Thus, a VBE needs besides operational also strategic planning. Strategic planning for organisations is a topic since the 50ies of last century, but research in the application to networked organisations is very limited. This paper analyses strategic issues, which might occur for VBEs in difference to not-networked organisations followed by the description of an approach, how strategic planning in a VBE could be supported. This approach is based on causal cross-impact analysis and provides a modelling framework for strategic objectives and a simulation component to generate strategic scenarios. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.