Abstract

The paper looks at the virtual organization in an electronic market environment and the different models of communication and management that may be required. The authors begin by providing some clear definitions of virtual cultures and different models of virtuality that can exist within the electronic market. Degrees of virtuality can be seriously constrained by the extent to which organizations have predefined communication linkages in the marketplace and the extent to which these can be substituted by virtual ones, but also by the intensity of virtual linkages which support the virtual model. Six virtual organizational models are proposed within a dynamic framework of change. In order to realize strategic advantage, virtual organizations must align their management models and communication processes with their virtual culture.