Virtual Organisations - The Creation of Value Networks

Essay from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,7, The University of Sydney (Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies), course: Value Chain Management, language: English, abstract: This paper examines a modern business model referred to as the virtual organisation. Its emergence had a strong impact on the way companies organise in today's dynamic consumer markets by changing both internal and external structures of businesses. Key aspects that initiated the advent of the virtual organisation were changes in customer demand and recent advances in information and communication technologies. In the first section of this paper the virtual organisation is defined and its constituents are explained. It is followed by the description of its main characteristics. In the third part, a comparison between the virtual and the vertical organisation is made outlining major differences and key advantages of both models. Finally, a prominent example of a virtual organisation is given: the Dell Corporation.