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A Morphological Framework for Virtual Organisations

Volume 19, Number 4 Article by Sandhya Shekhar and L S Ganesh December, 2007

A Morphological Framework for Virtual Organisations :

The virtual organisation (VO) is an emergent phenomenon that has proliferated with the global dispersion of organisations. There are multiple manifestations of the VO, including virtual linkages with supply chain partners, outsourcing, virtual malls or electronic market places and telework. While there is a significant amount of literature on the topic, two major lacunae emerge while attempting to build on the existing body of work. First, there are numerous interpretations of the term influenced significantly by the context of the organisations in which it has been studied. A holistic definition that is inclusive and yet can be instantiated to represent the multiple manifestations of a VO is necessary for any meaningful study of the same. Second, there is no common framework that can accommodate and facilitate the study of various aspects of the VO through multiple perspectives.

This paper uses an extensive literature survey to understand some of the prevailing views on VOs. It proposes an inclusive definition, based on the Resource Based View of firms, then examines the relevance of a morphological approach to understanding VOs, and proposes the Five-F Framework. A representation of the VO using the Five-F Framework would allow multiple views of the VO to be accommodated. By inter-connecting different instances across the five dimensions of the framework, one can come up with a large number of possible perspectives to a VO. The paper elucidates how this framework can be used as a tool to encapsulate and understand different views of the virtual organisation. This is perhaps the first such attempt to use a morphology-based approach in any organisational context and specifically with respect to VOs. The approach not only provides a holistic view of the VO but also a framework to depict and analyse different aspects of this phenomenon for existing and future work.

Reprint No 07401