Networks of SMEs as Virtual Web Organizations: An Experimental Program Aimed at Supporting SMEs in Depressed Areas of Italy

Abstract

ENEA, the Italian public institution for research on energy, new technologies and environment, is conducting a program aimed at supporting networks of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in depressed regions of Italy. The program focuses on the experimentation of a business model for these networks and on the introduction of advanced tools and methods, mostly of concurrent engineering. The business model, developed within the program, has the basic features of a virtual Web organization. This chapter illustrates the organizational and functional model that has been defined in the framework of a cooperation between ENEA and the SMEs involved in the research program.