Business Associations as Hubs of Inter-Organizational Information Systems for SMEs - The 2Cities Portal

Abstract

This chapter is a first contribution to the study of the role of a business association (BA) in managing inter-organizational (IO) relationships among its members. The authors describe a model (the Virtual Association Platform, VAP) of an ICT-based platform supporting BA activities and interactions with members. The design of a VAP requires performing a detailed analysis of information flows between the BA and the agents related to its activities. The authors propose a general framework (the IOR4VAP framework) for the design of a VAP, where they identify seven categories of agents, describe the potential information flows exchanged among the parties, and indicate opportunities for the BA to provide innovative services. Finally, the IOR4VAP framework is applied to the case of a VAP established in Western Australia: 2Cities.com.