VIRTUAL ORGANIZATIONS

Virtual Organizations

Virtual Organizations

The impact of globalization

As the twenty-first century unfolds before us, all systems and institutions are in the process of transition. The shift is away from the old ways of operating in the past decades of the Industrial Age to the new approaches of the post-industrial or Information Age. Thus, a profound transformation is under way not only in societies worldwide, but also in the cultures of corporations, associations, and agencies. Although Europe has long been the home of some world organizations, such as UNESCO, the process of globalization is already forcing regional cooperation, as seen in the European Union, and will cause many national corporations on the continent to go global in their structures and operations. The author has observed in another volume that organizational leaders are in the process of creating a new work culture (NWC). Executives and managers, especially those with human resource responsibilities, are challenged to provide leadership in these changes that will transform their organizations. This implies not only reframing or altering the organization's culture, but developing new awareness and mindsets, innovative procedures and products, and synergistic relationships with personnel, customers, suppliers, public officials and industry allies.

The phenomenon of globalization has been described as the movement of business, industrial, and professional activities into a global marketplace. The primary means for this development are the spectacular advances in information technology (IT) and mass transportation. Some of these breakthroughs are direct spin-offs of rapid progress made in the fields of space, defense, and bio-technology.

In the twentieth century, more and more corporations began to move beyond national business activities by going international, often establishing special divisions for this purpose. Among the forerunners in this movement were the petroleum (i.e. Shell Oil) and the soft drink (i.e. CocaCola) industries This was followed by the development of the multinational corporation. With the establishment of subsidiaries in many countries, or by acquisitions, these enterprises became transcultural in operations and workforce. From this context, the world corporation emerged. Back in 1979 when the book, Managing Cultural Differences (Harris and Moran, 2000), was first published, this seminal development was recognized. Walter Wriston, 30 years ago, when chairman of First National City Corporation, forecast the spread of world corporations marked by these features:

is truly multinational in scope and personnel, whose multicultural managers of many nationalities possess viewpoints that know no boundaries, while seeking to serve the needs and wants of the human race everywhere;

recognizes no distinction because of color, race, sex, or religion while seeking and promoting talent wherever it may be found;

maintains a pragmatic planetary perspective, opposed to partitioning of the world and furthering poverty that constricts profitable markets;

promotes freer economies and work environments that encourage exchange of ideas and means of production, so the world's peoples may one day enjoy the fruits of a truly global economy.

As a result of these historical developments, the twenty-first century is witnessing the formation of organizations in both the private and public sector that are really global enterprises in every ...