Business Networking

The rapid evolution of information and communication technologies, the changing client’s demands, and market conditions impelled enterprises to adapt their way of undertaking business, from traditional practices to e-business, and to participate in new forms of collaboration, such as networked organizations. In this context, standards, frameworks, technologies, and infrastructures supporting collaborative business, in a networked environment, become key factors in achieving environments with a desired high level of collaboration and inter- and intra-organization business processes alignment. The aim of this chapter is to underline the main issues, trends, and opportunities related to business integration from a technological perspective, analyzing and discussing the most relevant (existing and still under development) business integration reference models, frameworks, standards, technologies, and supporting infrastructures, and to briefly present relevant research projects in the area of business networking. A special emphasis is made on frameworks such as ebXML and RosettaNet, and the importance of papiNet, BPLE4WS, and freebXML is underlined. Challenges regarding self-forming networked organizations are also advanced.

Software Agent Technology for Supporting Ad Hoc Virtual Enterprises

This chapter introduces a new idea of using software agents for supporting ad hoc virtual enterprises and similar forms of temporal business-to-business collaboration. It seems that current information and telecommunication technologies, based on information interchange and local data processing, are not flexible enough to deal with modern business requirements, especially dynamic and temporal business relations, heterogeneity of hardware, software and communication means, and data complexity. The proposed approach differs in the distribution of both data and programs for data treatment at-the-place and just-in-time. The distributed and remotely executed programs, software agents, are autonomous entities, targeted on obtaining preprogrammed goals, and working in the name and under the authority of their owners. The authors hope that the proposed techniques for agent preparation, distribution, and execution make the whole system safe and secure, providing an efficient environment for a wide spectrum of temporal and ad hoc business collaboration.

I-Accounting

This chapter introduces the core aspects of an approach facilitating the valuation of intangible assets created by virtual organisations. The approach we present relies on established simple unified procedures which can drastically reduce problems caused by handling each situation individually, especially if there is no previous experience of similar cases. At the same time, the volume, value, and visibility of transactions between the various stakeholders and involved parties is increased. We conclude with an example case analysis related to the reality faced in collaborative research projects; these are carried out by diverse partners operating as a virtual organisation whose different intellectual assets (IAs) and the value thereof need to be recognised in order to prepare the ground for successful project completion.

Offshoring

This chapter describes the emergence of offshoring. It defines relevant concepts, and documents its rapid growth. The factors differentiating offshoring from outsourcing are discussed, especially access to markedly lower costs, extra risks, and cultural differences. A methodology for deciding what processes to offshore, and establishing, maintaining, and renewing offshoring projects is proposed. Offshoring is no longer the preserve of organizations; individuals can obtain an increasing variety of services from overseas. Offshoring is contentious because it threatens to replace high-paid jobs in First World countries with less well-paid Third World jobs. Most outsourcing depends on organizations’ ability to transfer data instantly, accurately, and at nearly zero marginal cost. This chapter suggests that the ramifications for individuals, organizations, and societies of this technical advance are underestimated. Further research, especially on the ramifications, is suggested. The difficulty of researching offshoring, a sensitive topic for many organizations, is noted.

Environments for Virtual Enterprise Integration

The virtual enterprise model is an emerging approach in answer to the new requirements of the business environment, relying on dynamically-reconfigurable partnerships, with extremely high performances, strongly time-oriented while being highly focused on cost and quality, in permanent alignment with the market, and strongly supported by information and communication technology, dictating a paradigm face shift to the traditional organizational models. Networking and reconfiguration dynamics are the main characteristics of this model,requiring enabling and supporting environments, at bearable costs. Some existing technologies and Internet-based environments can partially support this organizational model, but the reconfiguration dynamics can only be assured by environments able to manage, control, and enable networking and dynamics in virtual enterprise creation/reconfiguration. Several environments are introduced in the chapter, and particular focus is given to the market of resources, an environment coping with the requirements of the virtual enterprise model.

Knowledge Creation and Adaptive Collaboration Based on XML Web Services

This chapter introduces the adaptive collaboration (AC) and its potentials in the new paradigm of the 21st century networked society. It is an innovative information technology system for knowledge creation based on the XML Web services, which is essential to promptly meet the increasingly diverse needs and kaleidoscopic changes in economy. The AC is critical in the ubiquitous society, where constant improvement of business processes and cooperation and collaboration with both existing and new systems are required. Today’s knowledge is considered ecological and organic in a way that it is flexible enough to swiftly sense numeral shifts in the environment. The new method that integrates a number of different systems and applications into one system to enable the AC has been generating much attention as it may meet the diverse and growing demands in the future of the ubiquitous society.

Enabling the Virtual Organization with Agent Technology

Emerging agent-based systems offer new means of effectively addressing complex decision processes and enabling solutions to business requirements associated with virtual organizations. Intelligent agents can provide more flexible intelligence/expertise and help the smooth integration of a variety of system types (i.e., Internet applications, customer relationship management, supplier network management, enterprise resources management, expert systems). This chapter presents an overview of expert systems as the most widely-used approach for domain knowledge management today as well as agent technology, and shows the latter as a superior systems development vehicle providing flexible intelligence/expertise and the integration of a variety of system types. To illustrate, a system developed first by using an expert system approach and then by an agent-based approach is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the agent-based approach. Last, the practical implications of a company adoption of agent-based technology for systems development are addressed.

A Generation of Moderators from Single Product to Global E-Supply

This chapter presents the concepts and history of moderator research, covering the long journey from the first engineering moderator to recent proposals for an e-supply chains moderator. The main function of a moderator is to support a design group or team by raising individual members’ awareness of the needs and experiences of other team members. Moderators are specialist intelligent software systems which support each individual to perform his particular role from a position of strength, using his preferred methods of working while still understanding the needs of other individuals and the total team. This research addresses demanding and complex business requirements by exploiting the increasingly powerful technologies and infrastructures available for business integration.

Service Engineering and Extended Artefact Delivery

Recently, the manufacturing business is moving from an economy of scale to an economy of scope, under global competition for customers’ satisfaction. Under those conditions, for companies around the world, surviving in business means to satisfy at least three challenges: granting the on-duty performance, at the point-of-service; addressing value-added intangibles; and lowering life-cycle eco impact. These changes in industry reflect on the human society; they are driven both through economical and political measures, as well as being increasingly affected by ecological constraints. Servicing and recovering become challenging demands. Besides technical aspects, the emphasis is in enabling economic profits on the supply chain (by new businesses in maintenance, remanufacturing, etc.), with account of legal acts (suppliers responsibility, landfill regulation, etc.), ruled by voluntary agreements or by compulsory targets frames. Our emphasis is on the following new paradigms: extended virtual enterprise and extended product, service engineering, life-cycle engineering, product life-cycle management, proactive maintenance, recovery, reuse, recycling, ubiquitous computing and communication, and so forth.

The Organisation of Performance Measurement in an Extended Enterprise

This chapter discusses the administrative requirements for business integration between partnering companies in the extended enterprise who operate a performance measurement (PM) system. It argues that, while on the one hand, interorganisational performance measurement is expected to become increasingly significant in the research literature, it is currently difficult to legislate and coordinate the various PM activities that must be taken into account so as to overcome the disparity in geographical location and culture of extended enterprise nodes. Furthermore, while Extended enterprise performance measurement concepts are increasingly being promulgated, the complex nature of these models has made business integration of the firms involved a difficult task: There are problems with regulating the policies and behaviour of those who participate in the system, as well as assessing their understanding of the process itself. These problems are tackled here by the development of a series of questionnaires and assessment checklists, and by their application in an empirical study in an extended enterprise of the automotive industry.