State of the art of Virtual Enterprise research: literature review and empirical evidence

Purpose - Despite the increasing academic interest in the virtual enterprise (VE), knowledge in this field presents two gaps particularly with reference to VE models conceptualisation and empirical research investigating real VE cases. The main objective of this paper is to contribute to fill these two gaps. Design/methodology/approach - In order to achieve the above objective, a research design based on two steps has been used. Firstly, a detailed and comprehensive literature review was carried out to trace the evolution of VE thinking over the last two decades. Secondly, a questionnaire survey has been conducted in order to explore the virtualisation process in 18 Italian companies participating in a network of firms. Originality/value - The studies on the VE have seldom been conducted through the simultaneous use of a systematic literature review and an empirical survey. The value of this approach allowed to provide both the conceptual and the empirical perspective on the VE phenomenon. Practical implications - The paper allows to understand features and differences of VE models identified and may helps the management in exploiting the virtualisation potential of the network in which the company operates.