[8] 2002 e-business-strategies-for-virtual-organizations

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Creating virtual cultures for global online communities corporation to be prepared for the unthinkable. There is a need for the organization to shift design and culture from one that suppresses unpalatable news to ones that actively seek different viewpoints, opinions, and contradictory information. Nevertheless, culture has become a concept thrown around by consultants as if it can be changed as easily as donning a new set of clothes or a radical hair restyle! Culture is not easy to change and in times of change people will cling to culture for their stability. The organization must consider whether gradual change is an acceptable solution or whether a complete culture change is the only route and possibly accompanied by a complete change of personnel. Certainly the development of a one-company culture needs to be closely tied to reward systems aligned with learning-driven goals and objectives. Frequently the real target group should be the middle management level who can effectively act as a sink to prevent upwards and downwards flows of information. 11.3 Culture and the virtual organization 11.3.1 Virtual culture alliances In conventional organizations, shared assumptions typically form around the functional units of the organization, and are often based on members’ similar educational backgrounds or experiences. This assumes, however, that we define the boundaries of the organization as the population of employees – what if we also include suppliers and customers? Developing a single culture of reliability in virtual organizations is very much more difficult because of such extended boundaries (including subcontractors and other alliance members along the supply and demand chains) often encompassing several cultures. The existence of shared deep tacit assumptions and values across all members of the alliance, or of similar educational backgrounds or experience, is unlikely in such organizations, particularly if crossing cultural lines. The various cultures represented in the different members of the network will almost surely introduce dysfunctionalities and miscommunications, as communication and functionality take place across organizations that do not share common values, assumptions, or perceptions. Japanese firms, for example, typically exhibit cultures that extend well beyond the normal legal boundaries of an organization. Virtual organizational strategies need to meld the varied cultures that comprise the system into a cohesive whole in 229
e-Business Strategies for Virtual Organizations 230 which the deep assumptions and espoused values of each of the member organizations can be built around the need for reliability. This is extremely difficult in distributed, multicultural systems aligned by temporary linkages that may dissolve as business opportunities and requirements change. Virtual organizations may also be plagued by vulnerabilities that make the development of a melded culture of reliability very difficult: a proliferation of different languages and cultures; different power structures and organizational politics; communication between units and members of comparable stature, but noncomparable experience and training; rivalry between alliance members; a reluctance to listen and ask questions; an eagerness to ‘get the job done’; and ethnocentrism, a tendency to discredit members or individuals not of the same background or experience. These characteristics are present in traditional multinational corporations, but are exacerbated in virtual alliances because of the distributed interdependence and amorphous nature of such networks. As Schein (1996) emphasizes, too often behaviour is unwittingly in place that is dysfunctional to the system. For example, many organizations – virtual and otherwise – espouse teamwork and cooperation, but the behaviour that the incentive and control systems of the organization reward and encourage is based more on a shared tacit assumption that only individuals can be accountable and that the best results come from a system of individual competition and rewards. If the external situation truly demands teamwork, the group will develop some behaviour that looks, on the surface, like teamwork by conducting meetings and seeking consensus, but members will continue to share the belief that they can get ahead by individual effort and will act accordingly when rewards are given out. Attention to incentive and control systems can help prevent situations where shared cultures of deep and espoused values are required for success, but are undermined by the individual members’ reward and control systems, or by competing business opportunities. 11.3.2 Impact of culture on virtuality One of the many challenges in virtual organizations is deciding where a unified culture is essential and where ‘one thousand flowers’ may be allowed to grow. Some of the questions that need answering in relation to culture are:
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e-Business Strategies for Virtual O
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e-Business Strategies for Virtual O
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Contents Computer Weekly Profession
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Contents 6 Globalization and e-busi
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Contents 11.6 The increasing power
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Computer Weekly Professional Series
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Authors’ Preface There are dozens
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Authors’ Preface model will there
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Authors’ Preface alliances, bette
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1 e-business and the virtual organi
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e-business and the virtual organiza
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Figure 1.2 e-business and the virtu
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1.5 e-business e-business and the v
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Figure 1.3 e-business and the virtu
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Figure 1.4 Virtual objects, Scholz
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Characteristics of the virtual orga
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Figure 2.1 Formation of business al
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� empowerment of staff; Character
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e-business models for virtual organ
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3.4 Models of efficient response e-
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Figure 3.4 Star alliance model e-bu
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Figure 3.6 Market alliance model Fi
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Figure 3.10 Virtual alliance framew
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Figure 3.11 Virtual organizational
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References e-business models for vi
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IS planning strategies for emerging
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Figure 4.1 The evolution of IS/IT p
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Figure 4.3 A framework for SISP (Wa
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Figure 4.4 Planning adopts a busine
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Figure 4.5 Interconnected ecologies
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Figure 4.6 The interrelationships b
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4.8 Conclusion IS planning strategi
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References IS planning strategies f
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Moving from e-business to i-busines
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Globalization and e-business strate
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Adoption and deployment of online i
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Table 6.1 Online business models On
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Figure 6.2 VIM strategy Globalizati
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7 Developing knowledge-based strate
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Developing knowledge-based strategi
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8 Evaluating strategies for e-busin
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Figure 8.2 Fitness landscapes Evalu
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Evaluating strategies for e-busines
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Table 8.1 Information economics - v
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Customer view Whatisour image? Eval
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Evaluating strategies for e-busines
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Page 220 and 221: 9.9 Summary Outsourcing, partnering
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Page 224 and 225: e-business strategies in the virtua
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Page 266 and 267: References Creating virtual culture
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[8] 2002 e-business-strategies-for-virtual-organizations

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