Virtuality
One specific, commonplace type of organizational change being made in modern organizations throughout the world is the trend toward “virtuality.” Because this trend is significant and is expected to grow in use even more in the future, this section focuses on it by defining a virtual organization, discussing degrees of virtuality in organizations, and describing the virtual office.47
Defining a Virtual Organization
Overall, a virtual organization has the essence of a traditional organization but lacks some aspect of traditional boundaries and structure.48 Virtual organizations are also referred to as network organizations or modular corporations. 49 In essence, managers extend beyond traditional boundaries and structure for the good of the organization by using developments in information technology. Perhaps the most prominent of these developments are the Internet and hardware and software tools that enable managers to go beyond traditional boundaries and structure more easily.50 Both large and small organizations can have virtual aspects.51
Degrees of Virtuality
Organizations can vary drastically in terms of their degrees of virtuality. Perhaps the company exhibiting the most extensive degree is known as the virtual corporation, an organization that extends significantly beyond the boundaries and structure of a traditional organization by comprehensively “tying together” its stakeholders—employees, suppliers, and customers—via an elaborate system of e-mail and other Internet-related vehicles such as videoconferencing. This tying together allows all stakeholders to communicate and participate in helping the organization become more successful.
On the other hand, some organizations have much lesser degrees of virtuality. For example, some organizations limit their virtuality to virtual teams, groups of employees formed by managers that extend beyond the boundaries and structure of traditional teams in that members in geographically dispersed locations “meet” via real-time messaging on an intranet or the Internet to discuss special or unanticipated organizational problems.52 As another example, organizations may limit their virtuality to virtual training, a training process that extends beyond the boundaries and structure of traditional training. Such training does so by, for example, instructing employees via Internet-assisted learning materials.53 The following sections discuss virtual offices, a popular type of virtuality being introduced into many organizations.
The Virtual Office
An exciting component of organization virtuality is the virtual office.54 The following sections discuss the definition of the term, various reasons for establishing a virtual office, and challenges of managing a virtual office.
Defining a Virtual Office
A virtual office is a work arrangement that extends beyond the structure and boundaries of the traditional office arrangement. Specifics of the arrangements vary from organization to organization but can be conceptualized using the alternative work arrangements continuum shown in Figure 11.7. This continuum is based on the degree of worker mobility present within a particular virtual office, ranging from “occasional telecommuting” to “fully mobile.” The definitions of the alternative work arrangements shown on the continuum follow.
Figure 11.7 Continuum of alternative work arrangements
Occasional Telecommuting
Workers have fixed, traditional offices and work schedules but occasionally work at home. In this situation, most are traditional workers in traditional office situations.
Hoteling
Workers come into the traditional office frequently, but because they are not always physically present, they are not allocated permanent office space. Instead, in advance of their arrival, these workers reserve a room or cubicle, sometimes called a “hotel room,” where they can receive and return telephone calls and link into a computer network.
Tethered in Office
“Tethered” workers have some mobility but are expected to report in to the office on a regular basis. As an example, some tethered workers are expected to be at the office in the morning to each receive a cellular phone and a portable computer. Each worker returns the equipment to the office in the afternoon, sometimes accompanied by a meeting or progress report for the workday.
Home-Based, Some Mobility
A home-based worker has no traditional office. The work space of this type of worker could be a kitchen table or a bedroom desk. A home-based worker may visit customers or go outside the home occasionally, but his or her work is mainly done via the telephone or computer inside the home. Some companies support home-based workers by leasing office furniture, providing computers, and procuring high-speed phone lines.
Fully Mobile
A worker who is fully mobile works out of a car. In essence, the car is an office containing equipment such as a cellular phone, portable computer, and fax machine. This type of worker, typically field sales representatives or customer service specialists, is expected to be on the road or at work areas such as customer locations during the entire workday.
Reasons for Establishing a Virtual Office
Managers design and implement virtual offices for many different reasons. Cost reduction, usually in the areas of real estate or rental costs, is the most commonly cited reason. Traditional office space needed for an organization can be reduced by more than 50 percent by using virtual offices. Managers also use virtual offices to increase productivity. The history of some organizations shows that people work faster and are interrupted less when working at home. Third, firms establish virtual offices as part of redesigning jobs to make employees more effective and efficient. For example, some organizations need to reduce the amount of time taken to address customer problems. Some managers meet this need by establishing fully mobile customer service employees. According to this rationale, fully mobile customer service employees have a better chance of quickly arriving at customer locations than do customer service employees in traditional offices and thereby have a better chance of solving problems quickly.
Challenges of Managing a Virtual Office
Undoubtedly, managers face many new and different challenges when using the virtual office concept. For example, virtual offices make it more difficult to create a desired corporate culture. For employees, traditional offices represent a place for familiarity to develop among fellow workers and allow socialization in a purposefully designed corporate culture. Due simply to their lack of proximity, employees working in virtual offices are more difficult for managers to integrate into the fabric of the organizational culture. Another management challenge to using virtual offices is that such offices make it more difficult for managers to supervise these workers. An individual’s presence in a traditional office can give a manager constant feedback throughout the day concerning the worker’s commitment and performance, whereas doing so in a virtual office situation is nearly impossible. Last, virtual offices make communication more difficult. Planned or unplanned face-to-face communication that takes place in a traditional office is essentially nonexistent in a virtual office. As a result, management may experience more difficulty gathering information that is relevant to employee attitudes and work concerns.