Management and organizational topics in virtual enterprises: Business drivers, characteristics and issues in collaborative environments

A large number of research initiatives and industry cases focusing on virtual enterprises (VE) or enterprise networks have been developed world-wide during the last years. This paper presents a synopsis of results from various research projects. Although the use of appropriate information and communication technology (ICT) is a prerequisite for and a critical element in efficient collaborations, human factors, organizational and management issues are still under development and further research on business drivers and success factors of virtual enterprises is required