Abstract
(1) Background: In this study on Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the feasibility of sustainable RPA implementation was investigated, considering user requirements in the context of this technology's stakeholders, with a strong emphasis on sustainability. (2) Methods: A multi-objective mathematical model was developed and the Weighted Sum and Tchebycheff methods were used to evaluate the efficiency of the implementation. An enterprise case study was utilized for data collection, employing investigation hypotheses, questionnaires, and brainstorming sessions with company stakeholders. (3) Results: The results underscore the significance of user requirements within the RPA landscape and demonstrate that integrating these requirements into the multi-objective model enhances the implementation assessment. Practical guidelines for RPA planning and management with a sustainability focus are provided. The analysis reveals a solution that reduces initial costs by 21.10% and allows for an efficient and equitable allocation of available resources. (4) Conclusion: This study advances our understanding of the interplay between user requirements and RPA feasibility, offering viable guidelines for the sustainable implementation of this technology.

Abstract
In today's competing business market, companies are constantly challenged to dynamically adapt to customer expectations by diminishing the time response that goes from the beginning of the business opportunity to the satisfaction of the customer need. Simultaneously, there is increased recognition of the advantages that companies obtain in focusing on their core business and seeking other competencies through partnerships with other partners by forming collaborative networks. These new collaborative organizational structures require a new set of methods and tools to support the management of manufacturing processes across the entire supply chain. The present paper addresses the collaborative production planning problem in networks of non-hierarchical, decentralized, and independent companies. By proposing a collaborative planning intelligent framework composed of a web-based set of methods, tools, and technologies, the present study intends to provide network stakeholders with the necessary means to responsively and efficiently address each one of the market business opportunities. Through this new holistic framework, the managers of the networked companies can address the challenges posed during collaborative network formation and supply chain production planning.

Abstract
BM_virtual enterprise (BM_VE) is a virtual enterprise (VE) in a total or partial conformance with the BM_virtual enterprise architecture reference model (BM_VEARM). BM_VE is a kind of VE characterized as a dynamically reconfigurable network integrated over the global domain, satisfying the requirements for integrability, distributivity, agility, and virtuality as competitiveness factors. BM_VE uses three main mechanisms, or tools: market of resources, broker, and virtuality. This chapter presents the three fundamental mechanisms for the VE reconfiguration dynamics and virtuality; introduces the basic concept of the BM_VEARM, which serves as the conceptual and formal base for building BM_VE instances; shows the formal specification and theory of the structural aspects of the BM_VE as well as some aspects of the BM_VE reconfiguration dynamics; presents the BM_VE as an agile/virtual enterprise (A/VE); and finally, describes some important consequences of virtuality in BM_VE, i.e., that the BM_VE structure is hierarchical, a new definition of the VE (in which the network as the VE characteristic is irrelevant from the operational unit's point of view), and the process of a "traditional" enterprise virtualization. © 2005, Idea Group Inc.

Abstract
The implementation of the virtual enterprise (VE) model requires an agent, called a broker, who undertakes several functions and whose increased performance contributes to the searched agility of this organisational model. From the set of functions that the broker can provide to the VE, there are some that may explicitly contribute to the process of VE integration. One of the processes that contributes to VE integration, either in the project phase, during the resources system configuration, or in the operation phase, when the system reconfiguration is required, is the resources system selection process. We will approach, in this work, the importance of the broker in the resources system selection through the comparison of his performance in that process to the performance expected of the VE itself, if the person for whom it is responsible (or principal) performs the same process. This comparison is made based on the simulation results obtained from a numeric demonstrator specifically constructed to quantify the time and cost of the selection process for both the selectors (the broker and the principal). We demonstrate that the domain of advantage for the broker, i.e., where the broker's performance exceeds the principal's, grows with the dimension of the tasks plan and with the number of preselected resources, and also with the complexity of the selection method. © 2005, Idea Group Inc.

Abstract
The search for increased competitiveness and efficiency during the last decade resulted in several organizational approaches that presented flexibility as a main characteristic. Some of these approaches rely on dynamically reconfigurable partnerships in permanent alignment with the market and strongly supported by information and communication technology, with the agile/virtual enterprise (A/VE) organizational model as a leading example. Several technologies and valuable applications have been developed to support some of these emerging models, however, the full potential of the A/VE model requires an environment coping with its requirements, and the Market of Resources concept is defended as a solution for virtual enterprise (VE) integration. The chapter discusses the requirements for the A/VE model and introduces the global structure and functionalities of the Market of Resources. © 2005, Idea Group Inc.

Abstract
Virtual enterprise integration (VEI) is virtually the most critical success factor for making virtual enterprise (VE) a real, competitive, and widely implemented organizational and management concept. However, according to many authors, the present solutions for VEI are either insufficient or inexistent. One of the reasons for the situation is the failure of the approach of "traditional" information systems and organizations to dealing with the nowadays turbulent market and organizations' requirements, where actual VEI solutions are mainly sought. This chapter presents a discussion on the VEI issue as a contribution to a better understanding of the VEI phenomenon, and it could be seen as a contribution to an eventual framework for VEI science, engineering, development, and implementation. Also, two metatheoretical structures for VEI research and development are proposed: VEI abstractions hierarchy and VEI semiotics. © 2005, Idea Group Inc.