Strategic Use of Virtual Organization

Abstract

This chapter investigates strategic use of virtual organizations in the context of the new premise, desocialization. Desocialization refers to the alternative way of socialization because traditional interaction with other human players become less frequent in virtual space and re-illuminates the meaning of ontological and epistemological existence of virtual organizations. Drawn from the literature review, the three-stage model of virtual organizations (lifecycle) is proposed to entail the ontological and epistemological meaning to virtual organization. Dynamic interactions between stages (dynamic view) are also described to intensify the importance of each stage for virtual organizations to mature as meaningful organizations. Then, the dynamic view of virtual organization is examined in terms of resource heterogeneity and immobility (VRIO analysis) to gain insight into how virtual organizations are developed to sustain competitive advantages. Implication and conclusion of our endeavor are discussed at the end.