Towards an Internetworked Enterprise: some issues to be discussed

Abstract

Recent studies have outlined the rise of a new organization: the Internetworked Enterprise (IE), placing network structure, a focus on communities of individuals and the rejection of a centralized mindset at the core of the new frame of reference. A flatter hierarchy and team-based work organization characterizes this new enterprise,enabling it to respond more quickly to changes in the business environment and to customer demands. As a result of its capacity to use ICTs, the IE takes advantage of the resources of its partners to generate distinctive value for its end-user customer, for whom the value proposition has to be relevant. The use of digital networks allows IEs to co-operate and compete with other e-business community partners by exchanging knowledge and information across transnational borders. A strategy fitting this complex context needs to be formalized, evaluated and, in order to be effective, rapidly and effectively implemented on an operational level. To this end, a ”Business Model“ becomes a critical driver of strategic decisions allowing identifying new business opportunities, increasing or creating new value, evaluating the effectiveness of the chosen value model and formalizing requirements for operational decisions [1][2]. Indeed, ICTs play a key role in IE model implementation, but their application requires new managerial and behavioral approaches, capable of integrating strategy, organization and technology both flexibly and holistically. This preliminary chapter, introducing the research themes of the book, aims to explain the relevance of the Business Model conceptualization and to integrate it with the “Enterprise Model”, representing the most effective solution to support IE design, implementation and management.