BUSN630 -Week 2 - Proposal for Research Paper Topic: Virtual Organizations

Instructions

• Examine the advantages and disadvantages of virtual organizational design

• Explore and discuss the importance of the technology in business operation and functioning

• In Week 2, submit a brief proposal (cover page, one page body, references page) describing the research topic due in Week 8. Your topic should be well researched, clearly written, well organized, and generally reflective of graduate level academic work.

Virtual Organizations

Virtual organizations develop when teams, groups, or the units of the organization are dispersed in different geographical areas but heavily rely on electronic connections to complete their production process. They were not actively utilized over the past years until during the pandemic when people understood the value of the virtual workplace. With a limited physical contact policy to curb the spread of the pandemic, most organizations turned to the virtual workplace as employees worked from home. This popularized the idea of the virtual organization set up in the world as people learned it was easier to operate together from different locations. This setup brought both challenges and opportunities in the business world to both employees and the organization (Garro-Abarca et al., 2021).

Virtual organizations bring opportunities to the organization as a whole. This includes globalization where the organization can operate around the world with control at one central point. Organizations can hire and manage employees from any part of the world and enjoy diversification. Employees enjoy career development without geographical limitations. It also enhances technological advancement (Snellman, , 2014).

Virtual organizations face challenges in embracing diversification in their workplace. Communication and common interest especially with an approach to problems is also a challenge. Besides, legal, security, and ethical issues become a threat to the operation of virtual organizations. Organization structure and culture pose a challenge for such organizations too. Vitality experienced in the technological industry is another challenge (Morrison-Smith & Ruiz, 2020).

In conclusion, embracing virtual organizations is not easy for most businesses around the world. It needs a desire for change and the ability to embrace the change. The pandemic has helped organizations get a glimpse of the virtual workplace which has encouraged a lot of shift to virtual organizations around the world. All challenges and opportunities faced will help the organization operate successfully in the new domain

References

Garro-Abarca V., Palos-Sanchez P., & Aguayo-Camacho M. (2021). Virtual Teams in Times of Pandemic: Factors That Influence Performance. Frontiers in Psychology. Vol.12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624637.

Morrison-Smith, S. & Ruiz, J. (2020). Challenges and barriers in virtual teams: a literature review. SN Appl. Sci. 2, 1096. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-2801-5

Snellman, L. (2014). Virtual Teams: Opportunities and Challenges for e-Leaders. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences. 110. 1251-1261. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.972.

Zhang A. (2022). The application of virtual teams in the improvement of enterprise management capability from the perspective of knowledge transfer. PLoS ONE 17(3): e0264367. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264367