No abstract

Evolving e-commerce technologies increasingly enable organisations to participate in different types of network forms or in electronic markets with previously unidentified trading partners. Virtual organisations (VO) take different forms, have varying lifecycles and involve different scope and depth of relationships. This paper examines the literature in terms of the terminology of virtual organisations, the business drivers, the common theoretical concepts and models as well as the enabling technologies. A specific form of VO, Request Based Virtual Organisation (RB VO), is then considered in relation tothese VO variants, particularly as realised through the practical work done within the framework of the EU sponsored LA URA project that facilitates interregional zones of adaptive electronic commerce.

Purpose-To examine the status and strategies of the broadband cable TV industry on a worldwide basis. Design/methodology/approach-Data were gathered through a review of the literature and a series of one-on-one interviews with key industry executives, and with consultant analysts dedicated to the industry. The SWOT technique proved useful in analyzing the organizational environment; value chain analysis was used to understand the value-generating components of the core activities; a Boston Consulting Group product portfolio matrix identified the nature of the products offered by the industry. Findings-Four forces were identified which had impacted significantly on the industry. These were the rise of the internet, the experience of competition for telephony services, the arrival of satellite TV, and a persistent image of poor customer service. The paper observes that recent trading results have revealed very little evidence that modified strategies are making a significant improvement in the industry's overall competitive position. Research limitations/implications-Limitations relate to scope of companies chosen for the research and by the dependence on the mainly qualitative nature of the data. Further research is required to review innovation in the light of continuing technology developments and mergers within the industry. Practical implications-More radical innovation is required so that the industry can successfully address its current difficulties whilst simultaneously preparing itself for future competition. Originality/value-The interview data when submitted to a strategy framework formulation exercise enabled the environmental situation of the industry to be understood and the identification of the critical success factors to achieve strategic objectives.

Virtual Enterprises or Organisations (VO) have been the focus of research for over a decade 1. Although proprietary implementations of VO management tools exist, secure tools based on interoperating open standards are not yet available. The open standards on which to build them are just being released as reliable implementations. The requirements of VOs for trust and security are presented, which lead to an architecture for a secure VO management framework. The design of such a framework is analysed to show how the current open Web Service specifications could be used to implement it in practice. The need for the reliable and interoperable implementation of these essential Web Services specifications is advocated.