Conversely, opportunistic human behavior, in the sense of pursuing self-interests at another person's expense, causes risks. Several limitations, however, can be recognized, including the technical infrastructure, as well as human behavioral patterns imposed on institutions. Broadly speaking, this decade is regarded as a transition period from an analog to a digital world. Since the way to conduct business has changed dramatically with rapid technological development, new types of organization structures and forms are required to meet the needs of this new business environment. Such network or virtual organizations have surfaced in a wide range of industries, from airlines to computer chips and aircraft manufacturing.
Virtual enterprises manifest themselves as dynamic networks of organizational units.
Single network nodes can be set up either by authorized individuals, by organization units or by entire organizations. Connections among single nodes are established dynamically and in a problem-oriented fashion. Therefore, task-oriented assignments determine the structure of a virtual enterprise at any point in time. In spite of its transitory nature, this organizational structure is not shapeless, as performance increases by means of virtuality within systems are only attainable, if fundamental components are able to meet the demands of specific basic tasks. The demarcation of organizational characteristics of virtual enterprises enables the scope of their applications.