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

e-Business Strategies for Virtual Organizations
through embracing the opportunities of virtuality is only
feasible if the processes supporting such transformations are
clearly understood.
3.6 Virtual organizational change
52
3.6.1 e-market ecosystem
As observed, virtual organizations operate within a dynamic
environment where ability to change determines survival.
Organizational theorists point out that the ability to change is a
function of many factors. Primarily these include the organization’s
technology; structure and strategy; tasks and management
processes; individual skills; roles and culture; and the business
in which the organization operates, together with and the
degree of uncertainty in the environment. These factors also
determine optimal organizational form for the virtual
organization.
Moore (1997) suggests that businesses are not just members of
certain industries but parts of an ecology that incorporates
different industries. The driving force is not pure competition
but coevolution. The ecosystem is seen as ‘an economic
community supported by a foundation of interacting organizations
and individuals. Over time they coevolve their capabilities
and roles, and tend to align themselves with the direction set by
one or more central companies’ (p. 26). The ecosystems evolve
through four distinct stages:
� birth
� expansion
� authority
� death
And at each of these stages the ecosystem faces different
leadership, cooperative and competitive challenges.
This ecosystem can be viewed as the all-embracing electronic
market culture within which the e-business maintains equilibrium.
This ecosystem concept is further developed in Chapters 5
and 10.
3.6.2 Virtual organization change model
The virtual culture of the organization is the result of interplay
between the virtual strategy, virtual structure and the use of ICT.
However, in order to align these processes and manage change,