Organizing the Extended Enterprise

For many years production management has no longer been confined to individual production facilities. Intensive co-operation with suppliers has become an integral part of production management. In the 1990s two further developments gained ground. On one hand enterprises have been specializing and concentrating on their core competencies with outsourcing as a consequence, on the other side globalization has intensified the range of choice among suppliers. Increased dependence on suppliers meant new forms of co-operative ventures were needed. Strategic and legal issues have to be considered and production management has to include sophisticated logistic chain management. These developments have lead to the concept of "Extended Enterprise". Among many other topics, this book discusses: co-operation between companies; supply chain management; integration of the logistic chain; and production and logistical strategies. The book comprises the proceedings of the Working Conference on Organizing the Extended Enterprise, sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), and was held in Ascona, Switzerland in September 1997. It should be of use to researchers, managers and consultants in production, logistics and information and other areas of organizational development.