From Virtual Organization to E-Business

This article shows how the technical hype of 1990s has been transformed into the e-business organizations at the beginning of the 21st century. The authors took an interpretive stance in this study, grounded theory, and investigated the ontology of virtual organization by the metaphorical analysis. The metaphorical analysis adopted in this study provides the analytical power to conceptualize the social structure of virtual organization in the context of structuration theory with the process of grounded theory. As the e-business structuration indicates in this study, virtualization, the metaphor of virtual organization is interpreted as flexible domination, where the rational relationships in power distribution with other e-business characterized temporal (virtual) bond with low switching costs. Copyright © 2010, IGI Global

The effects of industry 4.0 on labor force attributes and new challenges

Unmanned factories became a topic of discussion after the concept of Industry 4.0 was first introduced in the Hannover Fair in 2001, and increasing the computerization level in business life and supporting the production processes with advanced technology were determined as targets. In this regard, artificial intelligence and increased automation are expected to create new kinds of jobs in the coming years; however, a significant problem is predicted considering that these changes will invalidate a high number of job types exist today. Thus, the workforce will face a severe unemployment threat. As a result of all of this, radical changes in the work methods, along with means of seeking employment, are now considered. The qualities of the work and the workforce are being transformed along with the organization methods of the production. While on the other hand, it becomes evident that education also has to adapt to this transformation. In this study, the issues the labor might have to face during this period will be discussed, along with what could be done to solve these problems

Does the Playing Field Determine the Game?: An Impact Analysis of Structural Virtual Network Characteristics on Political Actions

Virtual networks are often characterized as having less formal and hierarchical structures compared to traditional intra-organizational contexts. Instead, informal actions and so-called political behaviour of individual members play an important role regarding power and decision-making. In the present paper the authors investigate the relation between structural characteristics of virtual networks and informal influence tactics of network members. Results show that there are indeed numerous relations between the ‘playing field’ provided by the network structure and the behaviour of individual network players. Surprisingly, an increase of formalization, e.g. through the use of agreements, fixed principles and rules or even contracts, did not constrain informal political behavior. On the contrary, higher formalization was comprehensively associated with higher use of micro-political tactics. In addition, the use of all tested influence tactics showed to be positively related to network outcomes in terms of product, process and service innovation on a moderate level. Overall, these first insights into the interplay between network structures and informal influence behavior suggest that the approach to restrict micro-politics through stronger structuring might not only be ineffective but possibly misconceives the potential of micro-politics for collective goals in virtual collaborations. Despite the fact that this was an exploratory study, the results strongly argue for a deeper investigation on how virtual networks could benefit from micro-political actions