Additional tools are under negotiation. The workshop marked the endpoint of a one-month research period at Rotterdam with participants from the US and Europe. 24 participants from 7 countries at-tended and contributed to the results of the workshop. Co-operation among these isolated activities could give real leverage to this spreading new paradigm. There is a need to develop the dynamic business models as well as the theoretical foundations of the virtual enterprise and metrics of change.
Virtual enterprises are contingent on their structural and cultural environment.
This resulted from the intense discussions between participants from the US, Latin America and Europe on their experiences. As the discussions showed, these networks face the challenge to generate sustainable commitment among the companies to continue the en-gagement after funding has expired. A second trajectory towards the development of networks is the strategic intent of a focal company to create the network and to intensify co-operation in the supplier network. Agility requires the competency of Introspection, which is the capability of the virtual en-terprise to reflect on its dynamic change processes in order to manage change. A preliminary list of future research topics will be refined by the European work-shop on virtual organisation.