A Novel Partner Selection Solution Based on the Clonal Selection Algorithm

The impact of Virtual Enterprises designs on their synergistic rent potential is still an issue in research and management. In the paper, partner selection is seen to be an essential strategic aspect because it determines the business network configuration, which is a combinatorial optimization problem essentially. Thereby, running cost, reaction time and failure risk are regarded as key behavioral constructs in business network research and an optimization model is presented. The method focuses on the minimization of fixed and variable costs, in which the optimal partners are regarded as antigens, and a group of partners are regarded as antibodies. The clonal selection algorithm inspired by immune system is employed to evolve antibodies. A typical example is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm, Based on results of this study we draw conclusions and give suggestions for future research.