Performance measurement based co-ordination of enterprise resource planning systems in a virtual enterprise

As the backbone of e-business, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system plays an important role in today's competitive business environment. Few publications discuss the application of ERP systems in a virtual enterprise (VE). A VE is defined as a dynamic partnership among enterprises that can bring together complementary core competencies needed to achieve a business task. Since VE strongly emphasises partner cooperation, specific issues exist relative to the implementation of ERP systems in a VE. This paper discusses the use of VE Performance Measurement System (VEPMS) to coordinate ERP systems of VE partners. It also defines the framework of a 'Virtual Enterprise Resource Planning (VERP) system', and identifies research avenues in this field.