Organizing and managing virtual enterprises: The ECB framework

Abstract

This paper introduces a discourse about the organizational requirements of virtual enterprises (VEs). The growing economic globalization is threatening the competitiveness of traditional industrial districts that represent one of the building blocks of modern economy. VEs are efficient solutions to deal with uncertainty and complexity of the present competitive environment; in addition, they are suitable for reinforcing the global competitiveness of small and medium enterprise. To enable the incubation and creation of temporary networks of enterprises, a VE organizational framework is introduced. This framework is based on the role of three entities: Enabler, Catalyst and Broker (ECB). Main perceived benefits of the ECB approach are: effective management of horizontal and vertical inter-relationships, efficient set-up of the VE, effective management of its operational phase. © 2004 by Springer Science+Business Media New York.