Going virtual in the e-world an environment-adaptation perspective on organisational virtuality

  • Authors:

  • Yulin Fang;Linying Dong

  • Affiliations:

  • City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong.;350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada

  • Venue:
  • International Journal of Information Technology and Management
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

Widespread applications of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their advancements have led to a flourishing e-world, where organisations are profoundly changing their ways of doing business to take advantage of the electronic environment. An increasing number of organisations are going 'virtual', as part of the prevailing e-phenomenon, using ICTs to connect to geographically dispersed and functionally diverse units. Despite the sweeping trend of going virtual, the existing literature lacks a clear understanding of what makes an organisation virtual, and how environmental factors may affect the extent of organisational virtuality. To rectify this omission, this paper offers a definition of organisational virtuality. Based on the technical environment-adaptation theory, the authors investigate environmental influences on organisational form, and conclude the study with a discussion of the implications of going virtual for researchers and practitioners.