A contribution to a virtual enterprise taxonomy

This paper presents a taxonomy able to contribute to building a framework within the domain of Virtual Enterprises (VE). A VE taxonomy currently does not exist, and this lack is felt in the ambiguous way that some concepts are addressed, leading to a fragment understanding that hinders the development of the science of VE integration and management. The structure of the taxonomy developed is based on the view of the system as a 5-tuple consisting of Input, Control, Output, Mechanism, and Process, which is the underlying system-view in the well-know IDEF0 diagramming technique. In particular, this taxonomy addresses the VE extended lifecycle that implies the use of a meta-organization called Market of Resources, as an original contribution to the VE theory and practice. The taxonomy presented is constructed in a way to be easily complemented with other VE partial taxonomies that may be found in literature.

Market of resources for virtual enterprise integration

Most definitions of virtual enterprise (VE) incorporate the idea of extended and collaborative outsourcing to suppliers and subcontractors in order to achieve a competitive response to market demands (Webster, Sugden, & Tayles, 2004). As suggested by several authors (Browne & Zhang, 1999; Byrne, 1993; Camarinha-Matos & Afsarmanesh, 1999; Cunha, Putnik, & Ávila, 2000; Davidow & Malone, 1992; Preiss, Goldman, & Nagel, 1996), a VE consists of a network of independent enterprises (resources providers) with reconfiguration capability in useful time, permanently aligned with the market requirements, created to take profit from a specific market opportunity, and where each participant contributes with its best practices and core competencies to the success and competitiveness of the structure as a whole. Even during the operation phase of the VE, the configuration can change, to assure business alignment with the market demands, traduced by the identification of reconfiguration opportunities and continuous readjustment or reconfiguration of the VE network, to meet unexpected situations or to keep permanent competitiveness and maximum performance (Cunha & Putnik, 2002, 2005a, 2005b).

Lean enterprise resource planning

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia e Gestão Industrial

The Role of an Enterprise Portal in Knowledge Management Strategy, Case: Private Equity Investor

Työ tutkii yritysportaalin roolia organisaation tietojohtamisessa. Tutkimusongelman ratkaisemiseksi luodaan viitekehys, jossa yritysportaalin ja tietojohtamisen teoriat linkittyvät. Työn empiirisessä osassa viitekehys on pohjana case-yritykselle rakennettavalle yritysportaalille. Laadullinen tutkimus käsittää teoriaosuuden sekä osallistuvaan case-tutkimukseen perustuvan empiriaosuuden. Työn runko muodostuu kahden vastakkaisen tietojohtamisajattelun vuoropuhelusta, jotka ovat informaatioteknologiaan- ja strategiseen johtamiseen perustuvat näkökulmat. Toimivan tietojohtamismallin täytyy sisältää molemmat aspektit. Jokainen organisaatio tarvitsee informaation hallintaan liittyviä toiminnallisuuksia ja täten eksplisiittisen tiedon hallinta tietojärjestelmien avulla on onnistuneen tietojohtamisen kulmakiviä. Tätä perusinfrastruktuuria on mahdollista laajentaa hiljaisen tiedon hallintaan perustuvilla tietojohtamismenetelmillä. Työn ratkaisu näiden kahden näkemyksen, 'kovan' informaatioteknogiaan painottuvan sekä 'pehmeän' ihmisnäkökulman integrointiin, on yritysportaali. Työssä käytettävä yritysportaalin viitekehys rakentuu kolmeen päätoiminnallisuuteen; sisällönhallintaan, yhteistyöominaisuuksiin ja liiketoimintatiedon hallintaan. Työ todistaa yhteyden viitekehyksen sekä tietojohtamisen perusmallien, kuten tietojohtamisen prosessimallin sekä tietoympäristöjen välillä. Yritysportaali voi täten toimia, ei ainoastaan yksittäisten tietojohtamistyökalujen implementoinnissa, vaan tietojohtamisstrategian luomisen apuna tarjoten alustan tai 'katalyytin' kokonaisvaltaiselle tietojohtamiselle.

A Proposal for Enterprise Value Phase of the Lean Aerospace Initiative

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) submits this proposal for the Enterprise Value Phase of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) in response to the October 9, 2002 Request for Proposal (RFP) F33615-02-2-5501 from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/MLKT), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. This proposal addresses the conduct of the LAI as set forth in the Enterprise Value Phase Concept of Operations (final draft dated 5 June 2002. The creation of this Enterprise Value Phase Concept of Operations (ConOps) was the result of extensive interaction among all stakeholders in the LAI consortium. The proposed products and research topics have been developed by the MIT LAI team based on this extended interaction with the Lean Aerospace Initiative consortium members during the concept of operations development. This proposal is in consonance with the Enterprise Value Phase vision, and mission as set forth in the concept of operations so as to meet stakeholder needs to achieve the goals and deliverables desired, prioritized to fit available funding.

Harinera La Montserrat (1898-1936). Aproximación a la historia empresial de los Ensesa de Girona (c. 1880-c. 1989)

Després d'esbossar la trajectòria del grup empresarial dels Ensesa (la farinera, la metal·lúrgica Batlle, Solés i Cia, el Garatge Callicó, Indústries Químiques Tartàriques, la ciutat-jardí de S'Agaró, Suberolita, etc), la recerca s'orienta especialment cap a l'estudi del sistema d'informació comptable de "La Montserrat", que posa en relleu les característiques econòmiques, financeres i patrimonials de l'empresa. Des del principi, les activitats empresarials dels Ensesa tenen dimensions catalanes, espanyoles i internacionals, que s'amplien i diversifiquen molt ràpidament durant el primer terç del segle XX, en especial amb "els Químics" i la zona residencial de S'Agaró, on conflueixen la burgesia de Girona, Barcelona i el turisme de luxe. La seva adscripció a la burgesia catalanista sembla ser precisament el motiu de l'expedient de Responsabilitats Polítiques que els varen incoar al 1939-1940, però, absolts, recuperen les propietats que els havien estat col·lectivitzades durant la guerra civil, fins que a principis dels anys vuitanta procedeixen a la liquidació i venda de les indústries del grup empresarial.

Extended local labor markets due to high speed trains : Visualization of estimations in the Swedish national travel demand forecasting tool, SAMPERS

Wider economic benefits resulting from extended geographical mobility is one argument for investments in high-speed rail. More specifically, the argument for high-speed trains in Sweden has been that they can help to further spatially extend labor market regions which in turn has a positive effect on growth and development. In this paper the aim is to cartographically visualize the potential size of the labor markets in areas that could be affected by possible future high-speed trains. The visualization is based on the forecasts of labor mobility with public transport made by the Swedish national mobility transport forecasting tool, SAMPERS, for two alternative high-speed rail scenarios. The analysis, not surprisingly, suggests that the largest impact of high-speed trains results in the area where the future high speed rail tracks are planned to be built. This expected effect on local labor market regions of high-speed trains could mean that possible regional economic development effects also are to be expected in this area. However, the results, in general, from the SAMPERS forecasts indicaterelatively small increases in local labor market potentials.

The Politics of Purchasing Power: Feminist Tourism and Women's Development in Nepal

My purpose in this essay is to explore how ideas about women and development are created and circulated at the moment of consumption of wares produced at a women's development project in Nepal. I analyze the project as an example of the ways that women's development is an object of material and discursive consumption. Artifacts produced and sold by Nepali women, and purchased by tourists from the "first world," become part of an international exchange of power, money, and meaning. Based on a survey of consumers and ethnographic observations, I conclude that feminist tourists forge relations with disempowered "Others" through the pleasurable activity of an alienated market transaction. Consumers of crafts produced at a women's development project assume a position of empowerment and enlightenment, ready to help out their "women" counterparts through their support of an enterprise with circular logic: within the industry of development (although not necessarily for feminist tourists themselves), at least one of the central projects of development is the development project itself. At the same time, feminist tourists locate themselves outside the oppressive structures and ideologies affecting their "third-world sisters." This is a relation of sympathy and imagined empathy, with no sense of differential location within systems of oppression. They fail to examine or articulate the global link between their own purchasing power and local living conditions of Maithil women; the connection is effectively built out of the discourse.

Capability of E-Bike Tourism in Switzerland

AIM OF PAPER AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS The primary aim of this investigation was to examine, if tourism in Switzerland can be stimulated by focusing on e-bike offers. Switzerland is an attractive and manifold country for bike tourism. However, there are plenty of hilly and steep areas, where the topography is quite demanding and cycling is predestined to ambitious sportsperson. Less performance-oriented bike tourists are possibly discouraged by the challenges of the landscape. E-bikes seem to be a reasonable alterna-tive to enable less trained person to attend bike tours in steeper regions as well as to keep heterogeneous groups together. E-bikes are already popular in Switzerland for daily routes as the journey to work, but they are not very common in the tour-istic context. The presented investigation evaluates the current standing of supply and demand for e-bike tourism and asks for opportunities and threats in the future development. LITERTURE REVIEW The existing frameworks to analyse capability in the field of sport tourism are limited, because of the broad variation of sports and tourism types. Still several conceptions are valuable to evaluate the opportunities of e-bike tourism in Switzer-land. According to Higham and Hinch (2009) the potential of touristic products and destinations always depends on the interaction among the factors place, people and activity. Standeven and de Knop (1999) support this position by identify-ing the experience of place as a key component of the sport tourism experience. Bull (2005) assumes that place not only affects experience. In his opinion, the specific spatially located resources are even crucial for the existence of nature sports. He identifies four factors determining the attraction of touristic products or destination, as physical characteristics, accessibility and infrastructural arrangements, political and economic resources as well as cultural and perceptual aspects. Concerning the demand side (people) the contemporary research is guided by an individual psychological focus delivering mainly results about motives and the decision making process (e.g. Görtz & Hürten, 2011). RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA ANALYSIS The presented study is based on a between method triangulation, consisting of qualitative interviews with important stake-holders on the supply side and a cross sectional survey on the demand side. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the first provider of touristic e-bike routes and with the manager of the leading e-bike rental company in Switzerland. The interviews were evaluated by qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2008). The survey covered a randomized sample of 748 adult persons and focused on interests and needs of potential consumers. The concluding potentials analy-sis combined the results of the interviews and the survey with the findings of literature research. As central outcome the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were evaluated and presented by SWOT-analysis. RESULTS Results showed that the development of e-bike tourism in Switzerland was not initiated by tourism promoter, but by an innovative e-bike producer. However, also for the manufacturer the fit between landscape (place), product (activity) and visitors (people) was the crucial criterion. The first e-bike tours were offered in a demanding and rural region, in order that the experience of place was able to promote a positive overall experience. Due to the success of the first touristic e-bike products, several tourism regions started to extend their portfolio with e-bike offers. To date a nationwide network for signalised e-bike tours, rental stations and changing stations for rechargeable batteries is established. Despite the attractive offer, the demand is only moderate. The obtained results of the consumer survey pointed at a certain barrier to use e-bikes for tourism activities. The most substantial barrier is the missing affinity for bike tourism in general. Another notable group considering themselves as “fit enough for normal bike tourism”. Nevertheless 55% of the respondent are interested in tour-istic e-bike products. Looking only at people with e-bike tourism experience, even 92% are interested in further activities. DISCUSSION AN CONCLUSION The current study findings are encouraging because they suggest a superior suitability and an attractive level of e-bike tourism products in Switzerland. The results of the consumer survey indicate an increasing demand for e-bike tourism. The investigation also points at some risks, as the rivalry for bike tourism or the raised safety hazard because of the increased driving speed. Summing up, the results support the conclusion, that e-bike tourism will become more important in the com-ing years. However, to reach the goal relevant trends as the requirement for customised offers must be considered and marketing activities are supposed to be extended. REFERENCES Bull, C. (2005). Sport tourism resource analysis. In J. Higham (Ed.), Sport tourism destination: Issues, opportunities and analysis (pp. 25-38). Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Görtz, M., & D. Hürten (2011). Motive der Radurlauber, psychografische Merkmale und Reiseverhalten. In A. Dreyer, E. Miglbauer & R. Mühlnickel (Hrsg.), Radtourismus. Entwicklungen, Potenziale, Perspektiven (S. 36-43). München: Olden-bourg. Higham, J., & Hinch, T. (2009). Sport and Tourism. Globalization, Mobility and Identity. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Mayring, P. (2008). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken (10. Aufl.). Weinheim: Beltz Verlag. Standeven, J., & De Knop, P. (1999). Sport Tourism. Campaign: Human Kinetics.

Is FTA/EPA effective for a developing country to attract FDI? : simulation analysis based on an extended knowledge-capital model

To prepare an answer to the question of how a developing country can attract FDI, this paper explored the factors and policies that may help bring FDI into a developing country by utilizing an extended version of the knowledge-capital model. With a special focus on the effects of FTAs/EPAs between market countries and developing countries, simulations with the model revealed the following: (1) Although FTA/EPA generally ends to increase FDI to a developing country, the possibility of improving welfare through increased demand for skilled and unskilled labor becomes higher as the size of the country declines; (2) Because the additional implementation of cost-saving policies to reduce firm-type/trade-link specific fixed costs ends to depreciate the price of skilled labor by saving its input, a developing country, which is extremely scarce in skilled labor, is better off avoiding the additional option; (3) If a country hopes to enjoy larger welfare gains with EPA, efforts to increase skilled labor in the country, such as investing in education, may be beneficial.

A conceptual framework for enterprise management

This paper reports on the theoretical foundations and the practical reasons for the increasing popularity of the enterprise management perspective. Theoretical foundations are given that discuss vertically integrated, virtual and extended enterprises in terms of endogenous and exogenous factors, and the tensions that these create. An exploratory study in the German automotive industry using inductive grounded theory was conducted, involving data collection via 28 semi-structured interviews with 16 companies and data validation via a questionnaire survey receiving 110 responses from 52 companies. The research delivers a conceptual framework to show how enterprise structures emerge, depending on the prevailing type of core competencies that they use. Furthermore, it proposes contingency-planning recommendations to facilitate managing the change from one structure to another as the demands placed upon the enterprise change.

Információs paradoxon a vállalkozások hitelezésében nem fizető vevő esetén (An innovation paradox in enterprise financing where buyers fail to pay)

Cikkünkben a vállalkozók külső finanszírozásának modelljét terjesztjük ki arra az - irodalom által eddig nem tárgyalt - esetre, amikor a vállalkozónak van nem fizető vevője. Szerződéselméleti megközelítésünkben a vállalkozó hitelképességére vonatkozó információ aszimmetrikus a tranzakcióban részt vevő felek között, s ez morális kockázatnak ad teret. Megfigyelhető, hogy ilyenkor a pontosan fizető vevők számára is hitelszűke lép fel. A vállalkozó és a finanszírozó közötti optimális szerződés nem fizető vevő hatására további hitelszűkösséget generál. Két esetet vizsgálunk: az egyikben a vállalkozó információs előnyben van a vevő nemfizetésére vonatkozóan, a másikban nincs ilyen előny. A két modellváltozat alapján információs paradoxon jellemzi a kialakuló finanszírozási helyzetet: a vállalkozó kisebb összegű hitelhez jut az említett információs előnye esetén, mint amikor közte és a finanszírozó között szimmetrikus az információ. A modell azt a - magyar kis- és középvállalkozóknál látott - jelenséget írja le, amikor nem transzparens a szállító-vevő viszonya, és a finanszírozó bank e miatt az információs hátrány miatt kevesebb hitelt nyújt kis- és középvállalati ügyfeleinek. _____ The model of external financing of the firm is extended here to cases where there may be defaults on account receivables. Information asymmetry between entrepreneur and lender on a firm's creditworthiness leads to moral hazard and credit rationing, even in the absence of default risk. The authors show an optimal debt contract that formulates the situation, and focus on two cases: where the entrepreneur has an information advantage on defaults on receivables, and where the information is symmetric. A comparison of these cases revealed a paradoxical knowledge issue in external financing: a better informed entrepreneur may be able to afford a smaller financing ability. The model describes a frequent phenomenon in small businesses, when the relationship between buyer and seller lacks transparency, and lenders offer lower amount of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises.