Paradigm Shifts
The development of the human society is always accompanied by the so-called paradigm shifts, observed in any sphere of activity. Liu and Hwang (2009) define the paradigm shift as the change in main ideas and views regarding the traditional theory or way of carrying out an activity. The emergence of e-business and e-commerce can be regarded as a paradigm shift in the business environment of the modern world. Organizations that develop in the newly emerged environment according to the shifted paradigm rules are considerably different from those existing in the traditional “non-e environment”.
In more detail, the organizations that emerge and develop within the e-environment are characterized by the major focus of their work being on the e-business development and e-service delivery. Thus, Stroud (2002) argues that the creation of an e-business plan is one of the main factors that an organization is either born in the e-environment or tries to adjust to the conditions of the latter by transferring its main services into the e-plane (p. 146).
Accordingly, the main difference between organizations initially founded in the e-environment, and those trying to enter it, is that the former have competitive advantages as they do not need to restructure their work and reassess their priorities.
Drawing from this, the process of “re-thinking for the net” acquires greater importance nowadays, as the Internet becomes the most widely used resource and the companies that put emphasis in e-business area gain competitive advantages over their “traditional” rivals. Most importantly, this re-thinking concerns all modern organizations that have ambitious plans; not just those organizations whose work is directly connected with online operations.
ICTs in Virtual Organizations
The business environment of today gets more and more influenced by the modern technology and computerization. In this respect, scholars like Peters (2003) and Kangilaski (2008, pp. 1252 – 1253) examine the role of virtual organizations in the business development. Moreover, these scholars emphasize the significance of the idea of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in creation and managing of those virtual organizations. In particular, the idea of ICT is nowadays viewed as a powerful tool of increasing a business’ efficiency, but still ways should be found to adjust those ICTs with the business goals and traditional business methods of organizations.
As Peters (2003) states, the majority of organizations today should freely operate with efficient ICTs: “Entrepreneurs who use ICTs appropriately can run a more efficient business and reach markets that were previously unimaginable” (Peters, 2003). The point here is that virtual organizations are, traditionally, unities of smaller businesses that connect online for the purposes of experience exchange or further cooperation. This means that for a virtual organization to have proper ICTs is the same as to have international business ties and developmental opportunities (Peters, 2003; Kangilaski, 2008, p. 1254).
Conclusion
Finally, ICTs are sure to give their users competitive advantages over those competitors that do not use ICTs at all or have problems with their adjustment. To gain the ICT-based advantages, a virtual organization should ensure the proper development of its infrastructure, affordability, training, relevance, integration, security, legal framework, and culture all related to ICTs (Peters, 2003). In other words, to succeed with ICTs, an organization should make them accessible to all its members, train employees to use ICTs, and monitor the progress of ICTs usage.
Reference List
Kangilaski, T. (2008) ICT and business alignment in Virtual Organization. Industrial Informatics, 6(7), 1251 – 1256.
Liu, G. and Hwang, G. (2009) A key step to understanding paradigm shifts in e-learning: towards context-aware ubiquitous learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2), 1 – 9.
Peters, T. (2003) A Grassroots View: Helping Small Firms Put the “E” in Trade. ITF. International Trade Forum. Web.
Stroud, D. (2002) The impact of the new technologies — Permanent paradigm shift or transitory aberration? Interactive Marketing, 4(2), 144 – 155.