Network Organisation to Improve Virtual Campus Management: Key Factors from a French Experience

Background

Like other examples of network structures, the CANEGE project goes beyond the notion of organisation borders. It resorts to approaches in terms of resource pooling, process management, partnerships and more widely of “extended firms” (Capraro & Baglin, 2003). Indeed, the participating universities and the CNED are mobilised with the aim of organising and coordinating the assets and competences necessary to carry out their common project of a virtual campus, offering on-line qualifying education in Economics and Management. If this digital campus has been subjected to research in Education Science from a socio-economic point of view (Grevet, 2005), it has not been studied as a network structure using the theoretical frameworks of Management Science. From an analytical point of view, it is undeniable that the research in Economics, (Aoki, 1991; Piore & Sabel, 1989; Williamson, 1975) as well as in Sociology (Granovetter, 1985; Lazega, 1998; Thuderoz et al., 1999), contributes greatly to describing network structures. However, it does not provide much help with analysing their functioning in a much more operational context (Fréry, 1998; Fulconis & Paché, 2008; Paché & Paraponaris, 2006; Voisin et al., 2004). It is for this reason that the research into network structures carried out in the field of Management Science is used to understand the CANEGE project better.