Collaborative networks in the tertiary education industry sector: a case study

Collaborative networks (CNs) are an effective way to tackle the geographical and social aspects of globalisation. They enable their participants to establish in advance trust, common policies, infrastructure and thus improved interoperation - endeavours that typically require time and cannot be rushed. As a result, the CN members can react promptly and decisively when the actual need for cooperation arises - e.g. in order to form a virtual organisation (VO) bidding for a project requiring competencies over and above those of any individual CN partner. This paper presents a case study describing a CN and its formation of a VO in the tertiary education industry sector. The application area provides for some interesting variations on the typical CN and VO models, where the VO persists for a long time and the participating CN members cease to operate independently for the life of the VO. As will be seen, CN and VO principles can still be successfully applied to set up and operate the required VO. The paper will describe the CN setting and history, the principles, frameworks and methodologies applied to create and operate the VO and the short and long term effects of the choices made in regards to design and implementation.