Methods and Algorithms for Creating and Reconfiguring Virtual Organizations Anata-Flavia Ionescu Abstract As organizations tend to specialize in ever narrower and more diverse activities, virtual organizations (VOs) have gradually become a topic of interest among researchers representing numerous fields, ranging from technical domains such as optimization and soft computing to work psychology and organization stud- ies. Due to the ad-hoc, temporary nature of VOs, most of the research attention has been devoted to optimizing the selection of partners for the strategic alliance, and this concern still holds a significant share of the current research agenda in the VO literature. This chapter reviews the most prominent approaches to solving partner selection problems. We present and discuss some of the most documented methods and algorithms for VO creation and reconfiguration, as well as a number of exam- ple implementations in applied research. Gaps and future research directions are identified. Keywords Virtual organization · Virtual enterprise · Partner selection problem · Multi-objective optimization · Heuristics 1 Introduction Virtual Enterprises (VEs) and the more general Virtual Organizations (VOs) are temporary alliances of organizations formed to serve one specific purpose or goal, i.e., develop one specific product (Camarinha-Matos and Afsarmanesh 2001). The common goal serves as the main binder for the VO and, once the goal disappears, the VO dissolves. Examples of VO purposes include event management, large-scale construction projects, media and entertainment projects, and consulting services (Von Danwitz 2017). Generally speaking, most forms of project-based work usually lend themselves to being carried out by VOs. A.-F. Ionescu (B ) Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Ovidius University of Constanta, 124 Mamaia Bd, 900527 Constanta, Romania e-mail: anata.ionescu@univ-ovidius.ro © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 D. Flaut et al. (eds.), Decision Making in Social Sciences: Between Traditions and Innovations, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 247, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30659-5_2 49