The Networked Enterprise : Competing for the Future Through Virtual Enterprise Networks

Future winning enterprises will excel at inter-organizational collaboration as they evolve successful joint strategies and drive the development of whole industries. This book shows you how to become a master of such collaboration.
--Denis Murphy, Co-Chairman of the SDP Alliance of leading telecoms software companies
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This book is for two audiences: huge multinational corporations (Big Fish) and small innovative companies (small fish). Sounds paradoxical? Not really. When you consider that innovation is the key to success in the 21st century, and that huge corporations like Proctor and Gamble and IBM are going to the ends of the earth seeking innovation, the picture comes into focus.

Here's what's going on. In most economies, smaller enterprises are much greater in number than large firms. For example, in the EU, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs or small fish) comprise approximately 99% of all firms and employ among them about 65 million people. Interestingly, in many sectors, SMEs are also responsible for driving innovation and competition.

This book provides strategic insight, specific guidelines and real-world case studies for small fish and Big Fish alike. Big Fish and small fish simply don't get along in the real world, because Big Fish constantly swallow and consume small fish without even noticing it. The Virtual Enterprise Network creates a symbiosis, a living, mutually beneficial relationship among dissimilar organisms, where the participants, big and small, can thrive together in the 21st century world of extreme competition.

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This book represents an important milestone in helping executives understand the power of virtual enterprise networks as a means of achieving competitive advantage. It has great examples, powerful logic and a keen sense of what's achievable through collaboration.
--Bob Barbour, Director & Chief Executive, The Centre for Competitiveness

This very welcome book is an insightful distillation of the first-hand experiences of a leading practitioner on how to guide ambitious businesses through new forms of collaboration to enhanced performance.
--Ken O'Neill, Professor of Entrepreneurship and SME Development and former President of the International Council for Small Business and the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Mobilizing and organizing people so that their endeavors are maximized is key to success in any organization or grouping. In this book, Ken Thompson looks outside the traditional business model and sets out thought-provoking ideas and drills on how to achieve this using networks on both a local and worldwide scale.
--Ronnie Kells, Chairman United Drug PLC