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CROSSREFERENCES 577Decision objects represent outputs after tasks are com-
pleted. Task effectors enable capturing the temporal
logic underlying the task accomplishments (for instance,
should Tasks A and B be accomplished concurrently or
sequentially?). Figure 8 shows the decomposition of the
functional unit described in Figure 7 (the boxes cor-
responding to influencing criteria and associated per-
forming agents have been omitted for easier reading in
Figure 8). In general, enterprise model building of future
activities will enable the IT team composed of VE team
members to design and build effective Internet-based
systems (based on CORBA or any other architecture),
which will be the backbone of the various distributed VE
activities.CONCLUSION
The Internet is a powerful vehicle for VEs to be created
and deployed. This chapter discussed the major Internet-
based approaches, tools, and technologies available to-
day to establish virtual enterprises. Other supporting tech-
nologies can also be used on the Internet to promote bet-
ter communication among distributed team members in a
VE. An example of such a supporting technology is virtual
reality, which can play a major role in the functioning of
VEs (Banerjee, Banerjee, Ye, & Dech, 1999; Brown, 1999;
Cecil 2002b, 2002c; Goldin, Venneri, & Noor, 1999). Dis-
tributed team members can communicate effectively us-
ing this powerful technology from various locations. With
the development of Internet2, the use of virtual reality
for VE task accomplishments is expected to become more
widespread. A key aspect of collaboration, which must be
embraced in any VE, relates to the notion of “concurrent
engineering” (Mayer, Su, & Cecil, 1997). In such an con-
current approach, the distributed cross-functional teams
must consider both product and process design issues si-
multaneously to ensure reduced costs, shorter develop-
ment lead time, and higher product quality.
Internet2 is under development by a partnership in-
volving U.S. universities, industry, and government; it is
a more advanced network that will link universities, gov-
ernment, and research laboratories for the purposes of
collaboration, distance learning, research, health services,
and other applications that require high bandwidth be-
tween the distributed sites. Internet2 is not intended to
replace the Internet; rather, it will complement the ca-
pabilities of the Internet by providing additional capa-
bilities such as the development and deployment of ad-
vanced network applications and technologies, including
substantial increase in the bandwidth. Logistical network-
ing is a new approach for synthesizing networking and
storage to create a communicative infrastructure for net-
work multimedia and distributed applications. In May
2002, researchers from Logistical Computing and Inter-
networking (LoCI) Laboratory at the University of Ten-
nessee, where research in logistical networking research
is being pursued, demonstrated “Video IBPster,” an ap-
plication that can deliver video at high performance. The
technology used is simpler and less expensive to deploy
than current approaches to streaming video. Additional
information is available at the Internet2 Web site (Inter-
net2, 2002).The adoption of the Internet as the vehicle of com-
munication by industries worldwide will continue to
grow. As both technology and practices mature, the VE
model is expected to become more widespread. There
will be more emphasis on the structured design of VE
approaches (using information modeling methods), de-
velopment of effective virtual team formation/interaction
methods (Hackman, 1990), and seamless exchange of in-
formation. Organizations that adopt a quasi-VE approach
will be forced (by increasing competition) to focus on
unproductive practices relating to data incompatibility
and information exchange. Smaller organizations will be
able to form partnerships with larger enterprises and have
more access to more market opportunities worldwide.
The Internet has provided a more open approach and
increased business opportunities for industrial organiza-
tions worldwide. It has transformed the essential man-
ner in which new products are made, created a more
customer-oriented environment and radically changed
the manner in which people communicate with each
other. The Internet is the cornerstone of the information
technology revolution. It has created new opportunities
and provided groundbreaking avenues to better health,
education, and literacy; it has become the de facto com-
munication vehicle of choice by millions worldwide and
has allowed us to be closer to each other than ever before.
When a group of engineers and programmers began the
creation of the Internet several decades ago, they had lit-
tle idea of its far-reaching impact. Today, thanks to their
vision and dedication, people all over the world feel closer
to each other, even if oceans separate us. The clich ́e is true:
We are but a cyber-click away from each other. Our world
will never be the same again.GLOSSARY
Computer architecture The functional appearance of a
computer to its immediate users or, as in this chapter,
the relationship of the various software elements and
the manner in which they interact with each other and
the processor to accomplish specific tasks. The CORBA
and DCOM models discussed in this chapter are exam-
ples of two different architectures.
Distributed computing A functional task or activity
completed in a collaborative manner by humans and/or
software systems that are not co-located but residing
on several geographically distributed computers linked
via the Internet or any other network.
Flexible manufacturing The ability to manufacture a
wide variety of parts using reconfigurable computer-
controlled manufacturing equipment.
Mobile agents Software entities that migrate from one
computer to another on a network such as the Internet.
Process planning A task or function that identifies the
process steps needed to manufacture a given design.CROSS REFERENCES
SeeClient/Server Computing; E-systems for the Support of
Manufacturing Operations; Intelligent Agents; Virtual Re-
ality on the Internet: Collaborative Virtual Reality; Virtual
Teams.