JMGT_V3_N3_RP3 Heli Helaakoski Paivi Iskanius Irina Peltomaa Tom Page Journal on Management 2230 – 715X 3 3 44 52 Steel Product Industry, E-business, Virtual Enterprise (VE), Inter-Organizational System (IOS) This paper studies the importance of agility in today's business environment. We propose a new business model "a virtual enterprise" (VE) and since the success of VE depends of intensive information sharing we propose a supporting software solution for business network. The research work is conducted via case study in real life business network, which consist of several small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and one focal company. The case study describes the design and implementation of agent-based inter-organisational system (IOS), which enables maximum effectiveness, efficiency and productivity of supply chain network. December 2008 - February 2009 Copyright © 2009 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=241