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This paper presents a research study conducted for evaluating the effectiveness of a conceptual model of a distributed process management environment in the establishment of a collaborative building design. At the highest level, the conceptual model of the distributed process management environment have the following features: (a) enables description of a plan of a design process, (b) enables enactment of a process according to its plan, and (c) enables control and management of the enactment of a design process. The paper also presents the findings of a verification and validation (V & V) study conducted for evaluating the fit between the needs and expectations of collaborating design groups and the solution provided by the conceptual model of the distributed process management environment.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for describing and discovering knowledge resources in distributed environments.

The paper proposes a solution that includes a framework model and a technological infrastructure to achieve distributed knowledge discovery. It provides the solution based on a combination of research from knowledge management and distributed processing areas.

The paper finds a faceted ontology and three discrete models that best achieve distributed processing in terms of knowledge items and knowledge objects. By these mechanisms are provided to: represent knowledge in a generic manner that will unchain knowledge from tight links to specific contexts, purposes and audiences; discover and retrieve knowledge stored in distributed sources; interpret different knowledge representations to enable comprehension of knowledge on the recipient side and tackle the heterogeneity problem; and simplify and accelerate knowledge exchange in distributed environments.

The utilization of knowledge in distributed environments (intra‐ or inter‐organizational) presupposes the existence of a representation of knowledge in a commonly understandable manner. Knowledge resources are distributed in the web and databases in an unstructured manner.

The paper can be used as the basic consensus and infrastructure for the development of a coherent, manageable semantic web. The three models should be addressed in terms of commercial applications.

Knowledge management and distributed processing research fields are combined in order to provide a solution that best addresses the problem of distributed knowledge.

The purpose of this research is to develop a prototype of agent‐based intelligent workflow system for product design collaboration in a distributed network environment.

This research separates the collaborative workflow enactment mechanisms from the collaborative workflow building tools for flexible workflow management. Applying the XML/RDF (resource description framework) ontology schema, workflow logic is described in a standard representation. Lastly, a case study in collaborative system‐on‐chip (SoC) design is depicted to demonstrate the agent‐based workflow system for the design collaboration on the web.

Agent technology can overcome the difficulty of interoperability in cross‐platform, distributed environment with standard RDF data schema. Control and update of workflow functions become flexible and versatile by simply modifying agent reasoning and behaviors.

When business partners want to collaborate, how to integrate agents in different workflows becomes a critical issues.

Agent technology can facilitate design cooperation and teamwork communication in a collaborative, transparent product development environment.

This research establishes generalized flow logic RDF models and an agent‐based intelligent workflow management system, called AWfMS, based on the RDF schema of workflow definition. AWfMS minimizes barriers in the distributed design process and hence increases design cooperations among partners.

Sustainable Accommodation for the New Economy (SANE) is a two‐year EC‐funded research programme considering the combined impact of the new economy on people, process, place and technology to identify new ways of accommodating work. Its focus is on the creation of sustainable, collaborative workplaces for knowledge workers across Europe, encompassing both virtual and physical spaces. The key operational goal of the project is to develop a unified framework for the design of sustainable workplaces in Europe. This multidisciplinary framework will generate designs that will allow distributed organisations to take full advantage of coming advances in location‐independent computing and ubiquitous networking SANE will broaden the range of workplace design parameters to include consideration of degrees of privacy and relations between physical and virtual spaces. By embracing considerations of public and private space, the workspace environment model developed will locate the office environment in the wider context of the sustainable urban development and the regeneration of European cities. This paper describes the work currently being undertaken by the SANE project’s Space Environment Modelling work package, which is led by DEGW. This work package focuses on the architectural aspects of the human environment in organisational settings. Other key theoretical packages are Human Environment Modelling, which examines communications and interaction in physical and virtual environments, and Processes and Tools, which will examine current and likely future technology tools and processes to support the distributed workplace.

It is proposed that future work should move on from existing network and system management methodologies to consider enhancing the management methodology for ATM and other networking technologies to meet existing and future requirements. This paper outlines an area where significant potential for further research exists and proposes a component‐based management architecture. The discussion indentifies the technological limitations and architectural drawbacks of current solutions and proposes the extension of existing services and an enhanced management framework to overcome the current restrictions.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate an action process method including coordination, monitoring, and backup response, to improve collaborative decision making in online library work teams.

The method was tested using a single factor experimental design where some groups used an action process intervention developed by the researcher, while others used team designated ad hoc process. Participants comprised 26 four person teams. The experiment was performed in a distributed environment where teams used Google chat communication, and a shared Google document to organize, clarify, and evaluate information. Decision performance was measured in two ways. Decision accuracy was measured by the selection of a correct choice from four alternatives. Decision quality was measured by shift in suitability ratings from participants’ individual choice to the correct answer after team discussion.

Teams using an action process method based on monitoring, coordination, and backup behaviors had more accurate and higher quality decisions than groups using ad hoc process.

The research demonstrates usefulness of empirically designed, team implemented process methods to improve library decision making. Because the research was conducted in a single context, further research in alternative settings and contexts is suggested.

The research has practical benefits to library work teams and managers performing tasks where effective information sharing and exchange is required to make accurate, high-quality decision.

The paper provides a way to improve decision making using an easy-to-implement, process-driven method.

Business process management has received much attention in the industrial engineering and management literature, and its benefits are well known. Much less has been written in the public sector management literature, and what has been written has been very general. Hence, there is confusion among public managers about how business process management concepts should be implemented. How should public organizations reorganize to accommodate business process management? How are existing or new enterprise systems aligned with business process management methodologies? This paper addresses these issues, and concludes that public organizations will have to change their organizational structures radically as well as their enterprise systems in order to implement business process management concepts successfully. The paper also discusses the benefits of public sector process management, and focuses in some detail on two of the reasons that public organizations have incentive to implement business process management methodologies.

The characteristics of small and medium firms relevant to end‐user computing (EUC) are examined, including organisational structure and managerial style, information systems (IS) functions, computer applications, and end users. It recommends an EUC implementation strategy based on these characteristics and presents an organisational change orientation. Because of the greater role of EUC in those firms, this strategy may expedite the technology transfer process and enable a firm to reach a more mature stage of computer use. A case study of successful EUC implementation using this strategy is discussed. The case study includes the firm′s computing history, the EUC implementation process, successes and the reasons. Since the environments of many small‐to‐medium firms are comparable to the firm in this case study, a similar approach to EUC implementation may be adopted by those firms.

The purpose of this paper is to draw on the experiences of a real company to develop a framework of management processes for an organizational network model that has enabled a network of enterprises to develop new levels of organizational flexibility, particularly with regards to improving the network's capacity to innovate.

A longitudinal case study of an Italian enterprise network forms the basis of the analysis described in this paper.

The key operational and organizational activities of the principal agent in a novel organizational network model known as the Virtual Development Office (VDO) are identified and discussed.

The (VDO) concept is identified as a realistic and practical means of leveraging the competences of an enterprise network to achieve competitive advantage. However, more empirical data are required before the concepts described herein can be generalised more widely.

The small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) is a major contributor to the European economy. However, the constraints that these organizations operate under mean that they are often at a competitive disadvantage. The organizational network model outlined in this paper can assist in leveraging their capacity to innovate.

Research in collaborative networks has become increasingly important given the significant impact it can have on competitiveness. This paper demonstrates a framework of management processes for a novel organizational network model that facilitates collaboration amongst networks of SMEs.