Abstract
This chapter presents an innovative collaborative planning (CP) approach for non-hierarchical production networks that enhances collaboration between partners in two different lifecycle phases of the virtual organizations (VOs). The first phase concerns the first planning iteration for the customer, and it basically defines the operations plan and a quotation for the customer, supported by a negotiation process between partners. The second phase concerns a detailed specification of the manufacturing operation and its planning. The chapter first presents a summary of the main trends and previous work concerning collaborative network (CN), governance models and approaches for CP. Next, it provides the requirements for the CP. The chapter ends with the methodology proposed for CP, considering two planning schemes and the evaluation of the quality of the solutions. © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Abstract
Purpose - Hospital centres (HCs) are the result of a horizontal integration of two or more hospital units. The benefits of this integration have been presented in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to define the hospital performance dimensions most valued by HC internal stakeholders, and to evaluate if the importance given to each dimension is different when comparing professional groups. Design/methodology/approach - An in-depth HC case study using a quantitative survey based on the Parsons' social system action theory to achieve this goal was conducted which embraces the four major models of organizational performance. In the final version of the survey, 37 items were retained for analysis. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted for a final sample of 365 participants, through principal component analysis, with oblique rotation and the Kaiser criterion. Findings - Four factors were retained: "Human resources development and Internal Processes", "Attractiveness/Openness", "Public service mission" and "Interpersonal relationships". The means factor scores only reveal statistical differences between the attractiveness/openness factor and the remaining three factors. A shared view was found in this study among the three groups of internal stakeholders: physicians, caregivers and administrative staff. Originality/value - The results of this study suggest that the HC performance concept should be expanded and performance measurement frameworks with a greater scope should be used. Interpersonal relationships, the human resources development and the public service are considered important dimensions for the performance measurement of the HC. Additionally, a consensual view regarding the most valued performance dimension could contribute to a beneficial and healthy working environment and improvements in HC performance.

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Abstract
Increasingly, consumer demand of fashionable products is arising as significant challenge for company managers. In order to respond to this demand, companies are asked to supply small series of innovative and fashionable goods of high quality, affordable price and eco-compatibility in short periods of time and with high service levels. As a result of these rapidly evolving challenges, companies are forming collaborative networks in order to design, develop, produce and distribute such products and services in a collaboratively way. These highly integrated and dynamic supply networks depend intensively in new set of tools, methods and related services in which rely the collaborative networking operation. This paper presents a specific case study implementation of these collaborative supporting services, through the realization of a collaborative portal.

Abstract
The focus of this paper is to elaborate collaborative business process monitoring within virtual factory (VF) environment in a smarter way. This process monitoring is tracked through visualisation over a user interface such as 'dashboard'. This research briefly provides all aspects of implementing process monitoring through the dashboard user interface and explains technical aspects of monitoring. The dashboard features state-of-the art business intelligence and provides data visualisation, user interfaces and means to support VF partners to execute collaborative processes. With advanced visualisations that produce quality graphics it offers a variety of information visualisations that brings the process data to life with clarity. This data visualisation provides critical operational matrices (e.g. KPIs) required to manage virtual factories. Key reporting outputs such as KPIs and day-to-day operational data can be used to monitor and empower partners' processes that help to drive collaborative decisions e VF broker or partners' also retain full flexibility to create, deploy and maintain their own dashboards using an easy to understand wizard-driven widget and an extensive array of data visualisation components such as gauges, charts, maps, etc. Various technical aspects of this dashboard user interface portal are elaborated within the scope of this research such as installation instructions, technical requirements for the users and developers, execution and usage aspects, limitations and future works. In addition to the dashboard user interface portal this research also investigates the VF life cycle and provides architectural framework for VF. The research work highlighted in this paper is conceptualised, developed, and validated within the scope of the European Commission NMP priority of the Seventh RTD Framework Programme for the ADVENTURE (ADaptive Virtual ENterprise ManufacTURing Environment) project.

Abstract
Today, manufacturing is moving towards customer-driven and knowledge-based proactive production. Shorter product life cycles lead to increased complexity in areas such as product and process design, factory deployment and production operations. To handle this complexity, new knowledge-based methods and technologies are needed to model, simulate, optimize and monitor manufacturing systems. Existing large Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) impose structured and predictable workflow, while processes "on the ground" are often unpredictable and involve a large number of human based decisions and collaboration. This is leading to a major shift on EIS paradigm and leading to development of a set of specialized small applications, each one with fewer features, but highly specialized, flexible, cross linked and easy to use. This paper presents a hybrid management solution intended to support collaboration and decision in the scope of automotive engineering and planning. The solution, labelled as HPM - Hybrid Process Manager, encompasses a set of tools for work, information and communication management fully integrated with knowledge based engineering processes. Its overall aim is to ease the flow of information between all the partners, making it more reliable and actual, allowing a closer control and faster reaction to upcoming events. The adoption of HPM approach proves to be quite effective and efficient, leading to significant results in terms of cost and time saving. When using the solution, managers no longer need to constantly ask for reporting, leading to a significant reduction on email and paperwork. It is relevant to underline that the proposed approach allowed planners to concentrate in important issues improving the product and avoid non-value added efforts and time on collateral activities. Another main advantage stays on the experience retrieval module built in top of the solution, allowing easy access to expertise, knowledge and best practices generated by previous projects, so that they can be readily incorporated in the design of new processes as a factor of knowledge sustainability. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.