VIRTUOS

Virtuelle Unternehmen in Oesterreich und der Schweiz (= virtual companies in Austria and Switzerland)

Researchers:

David Brütsch, Dr. Fabio Frigo-Mosca, Prof. P. Schönsleben

Partners:

HOWAG, Müller AG, HIAG, JIT-Engineering

Financed by:

CTI 3344. 1

Motivation:

Through the realization of a virtual organization along the value creation chain in the international environment, special demands with regard to extra-organizational planning and the necessary organizational forms should be investigated.
Because this new form of collaboration, with greater opportunities at higher risk, has not yet been clearly regulated, the legalities with regard to contracts, patent rights, etc, must be investigated as well. The result is that guidelines, which show and support the creation of virtual organization structures in the SME environment, are to be set up within the framework of the Virtuos project.
The project configuration is built along the value chain of three companies in the wood industry. The sawmill is located in Finland and supplies the European market with Nordic spruce. The Austrian planing factory is a long-standing building supplier with a good name, specializing in the production of high-quality planed and varnished interior products. In Switzerland these products are in part surface-treated and handled by a small company.

Main research questions of the project:

Characteristics of the concept of virtual organization from the point of view of the network trend.
Creation and formation of networks and virtual organizations; Role of trust and legal aspects.
Investigate the factors for success for the creation of a virtual organization.

The following activities have already been completed:

Whereas the original CTI project was terminated during 1998, a generalized model was developed by the Institute for Industrial Engineering and Management (BWI) at ETH Zurich, using the practical application of an international business conglomerate of wood processors. This model will be applicable to other co
mpanies and other industries. A final report on the results was published in 1999.