Defining the virtual organisation

• ‘Fifth generation work: Work or play that takes place anytime, anywhere with anyone with an interest in the outcome. 5GW operates in virtual space with only a few limits in time and space. Virtual organisations can be thought of as a way in which an organisation uses information and communication technologies to replace or augment some aspect of the organisation. People who are virtually organised primarily interact by electronic means’ (www.seanet.com)

• ‘A virtual organisation is where its members are geographically apart working via networked computer applications while appearing to others to a single unified organisation with a real location’ (Nottingham University)

• A new organisational model that uses technology to dynamically link people, assets and ideas. (Goldman et al (1995:205)

• Warner et al suggest that rather than coming up with one single definition of what a virtual organisation is, it is probably better to note the features that nearly all virtual organisations have in common: · Lack of physical infrastructure (fewer tangible assets, geographically dispersed). · Reliance on communication technologies. · Mobile work: the use of communications networks rather than buildings and physical assets means that the physical location of work is now less important. · Boundaryless and inclusive: virtual organisations are deliberately fuzzy in nature. · Flexible and responsive: - virtual organisations can be – in theory at least – be quickly pulled together from a variety of disparate elements, used to achieve a certain business goal and then dismantled again. They can also be quickly restructured and assets redeployed to meet changing strategic needs. Because transaction costs are lower, there are fewer costs and fewer risks involved in making a radical change of direction. · Geographically dispersed giving challenge of communication and coordination across different time zones, different locations, different cultures and different languages.

Defining the virtual university A Virtual Education Institution may be defined as:

• An institution which is involved as a direct provider of learning opportunities to students and is using information and communication technologies to deliver its programmes and courses and provide tuition support.
• An organisation that has been created through alliances / partnerships to facilitate teaching and learning to occur without itself being involved as a direct provider of instruction. Examples of such would be: The Open University of Australia; The Western Governors University in the United States.

Ryan et al

Drivers of the Virtual Organisation

Research leads us to believe there are a number of drivers which lead an organisation / university to work virtually. Some examples are:

• Respond to rapid changes in the marketplace
• The availability of enabling technology
• The impact of the internet
• The need to reduce costs
• The growth of networks
• Increasing emphasis on lifelong learning

The marketplace is changing dramatically and is expected to continue changing rapidly. Huber and Glick (1003, p4) wrote. “The fast changing nature of today’s organisational environments is largely a consequence of two factors: 1) the increasing effectiveness of information technology and 2) the increasing effectiveness of transportation technology. Other specific instances of change affecting organisations include:

• Organisation wide projects and initiatives
• Alliances with different organisations, some of which may be in other countries
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Emerging markets in different geographic locations
• The desire of many people and government organisations for telecommuting (definition: working at the office, from home or another location. Mobile technologies along with communication technology such as the internet make this possible).
• The need to innovate and improve existing products and develop new ones.

The impact of the internet
The impact of the internet offers a university the means to deliver courses to new and different audiences who may be dispersed geographically and who may not have the opportunity to study in a conventional setting. Both students and staff on campus are feeling the impact of new technologies. Here are some of the ways in which this is happening:

• Teaching staff are using the web to find resources to incorporate into their teaching.
• They are guiding their students to use resources on the Web directly.
• Whole courses or substantial courses are being delivered online.
• Students and staff are using e-mail and computer conferencing systems for communication and support both on and off campus.
• Course management systems are supporting registration and course administration as well as providing feedback on assessments and other performance data.

Advantages of Virtual Working

• Increasing the work life balance of staff
• Better sharing of information and knowledge across organisations
• Freedom to allocate projects to people regardless of their location
• Where outsourcing is undertaken benefits include accessing expertise which is not immediately available; freeing up staff time; reduction of admin tasks; reduced legal liability.

Disadvantages of Virtual Working

• Face-to-face communication is limited
• Heavy weight on the technology aspect to support the learning
• The lack of appropriate training and facilitation of virtual working could be a major disadvantage
• Many staff / students may not like the change or want to work virtually

Key Strategic Considerations of establishing a Virtual University

• Be cost effective and affordable to the average family
• Be driven by specific educational needs of participants
• Be designed to accommodate students who cannot currently gain admission to universities in their area
• Be designed to provide demand based, market sensitive training to support the development of marketable skills in Africa
• Recognise bandwidth issues in the country
• Limited use / knowledge of the associated technology
• Limited understanding of flexible working
• Education in Africa
• Cultural issues
• Be capable of providing courses and materials needed to support courses designed to support economic development
• Leverage existing academic resources
• Be expandable to accommodate future educational needs
• Be able to incorporate new technologies as they emerge
• Likely motivation of potential students and how that might influence the construction of the course – why for example are students studying this course on-line, did they have any choice?
• Time, support and facilities – essential that students have the facilities necessary to complete the course and sufficient time to work through the materials. The question of access to facilities applies to online courses delivered on campus as well as remotely. If the course is being delivered on campus, where will the students access it? Will it be from a library or resource centre, and if so will there be sufficient PC’s available at the right time.
• If students are studying from home they may be liable for connection charges while on the internet.
• Adequate technical support must be provided for remote students. What works satisfactory on a fast link within an institution, may prove to be a disaster on a slow modem link at home.
• Subject background. What knowledge, skills and attitudes do the students have regarding the subject of the course?
• Mode of delivery. On-line delivery may not be appropriate or that an approach that mixes face-to-face delivery with the use of the internet works best.
• Understanding the associated costs to the project.
• Understand the team roles and management
• Consider the computer mediated communications for collaborative learning (CMC). CMC defines the way in which telecommunications technologies have converged with computers and digital networks to create a new set of tools for human communication. For example;
  • Real time interactive chat (messenger)
  • Multi-User Dimensions or Dungeons are text-based virtual reality environments on the internet.
  • Time-delayed chat does not require all participants to be present and active at the same time.
  • Email
  • Discussion lists – an extension of electronic mail that may have particular relevance to tele-learning for group conferencing.
  • Audio and video conferencing
  • Second-life virtual training
• Consider using the internet for Computer Aided Assessment. For example;
  • Using a bulletin board
  • Web pages
  • On-line tests
  • Plagiarism

· Consider Integrated systems

• Virtual Learning Environments (encompasses course materials; assessment facilities; conferencing and chat software)
• Web CT
• Consider using other means aside technology to deliver course material. For example; CD Rom, PDA, Paper copies
• Co-ordination
• Accountability
• • Small budget for technical costs £9,325 Africa, £7,576 UK with £2500 for purchase of a file server for the virtual learning software. Expect to be able to identify sponsorship for the necessary hardware to deliver the project (c. £15k).
  
  
  • Limited accessibility to broadband and mobile technologies with 1% of population having access to the internet and 12% computer access The ICT infrastructure has improved greatly in the past few years.
  
  
  • Limited knowledge of using technology Much effort has been made by HEI’s, colleges, secondary and primary schools to use ICT in improving teaching, research and consultancy by; increasing computer access to students, installing LANs and WANs and the use of different ICT facilities amongst others. Train staff to use technology will assist here.
  
  
  • Identity of student (Web cam)
  
  
  • Funding the acquisition of hardware to run a scaleable system following the pilot. Negotiate a web hosting facility which will not require significant funding.

Example of various methods & technologies
The following matrix illustrates some of the information and communications technologies that support virtual teams – working together with anyone, at anytime, from anywhere.

	Same Place	Different Place
Same Time	- Face to face meetings - Open space technology (PC’s, Electronic Whiteboards, Projectors	- Virtual meetings - Distance Learning - Help Desks - Video conferencing - Open space technology - - Instant messanging, PC’s, electronic whiteboards, Cameras, Telephones, Audio
Different Time	Team Rooms	- Electronic Mail - Group Time Management - Distance Learning - Computer Conferencing -- Outlook, Voice mail, Telephone, Groove, Moodle

Case Study Overview In Kenya there is a virtual institution of higher learning complete with a digital library that goes with the virtual institution. The virtual institution is based in Kenyatta University and is called the African Virtual University (AVU). Kenyatta University does not own the AVU. The AVU is a World Bank project and Kenyatta is only one of the participating institutions. Other English speaking Sub-Saharan African countries which participate include Zimbabwe, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia and South Africa. The AVU is the first of its kind, an interactive instructional telecommunications network established to serve countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. The project headquarters are in Washington DC. The AVU was intended to be implemented in three phases;

1. Prototype services phase – to establish partnership with institutions of higher education throughout Sub-Saharan Africa for offering technology based courses.
2. To include complete undergraduate degree programmes from leading universities. However this has not yet started.
3. Development and offering of a Science Curricula from one or more institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The AVU network consists of one channel of high quality compressed digital video uplink to an international satellite. The satellite signals are transmitted from facilities in both the UK and Europe and are received at the campus of partner institutions in Africa. The use of compressed digital technology enables the cost-effective international broadcast of multiple channels of programmes and services to a limited number of earth stations in Africa. This is expected to make the service affordable to an average African family. The AVU digital library is virtual. This is linked to various international libraries that provide a list of journals and articles. Detailed information on the latest publications is accessible both on-line and through the World Wide Web and in CD ROM form. As of November 2000 there were about 300 students registered with the AVU. Major Problems identified by Ezra Ondari-Okemwa There are several challenges facing the AVU in Kenya; 1. Human Resources; McKay and Marshall say there is a need for cost- effective administration of a virtual organisation. There should be an absence of heavy, clumsy, bureaucratic practices. It appears what should be the smooth operation of the AVU is threatened by centralised administration. The AVU is supposed to independent of Kenyatta University, however every decision appears to be made in the Kenyatta University Vice Chancellors office. 2. Acute shortage of staff with useful IT skills. There is a shortage of people with IT skills in Africa. Those who do are enticed by the higher paid private sector. 3. Managerial challenges. Employees of AVU may be seen to work together but they do not work as teams. Team spirit is totally lacking. They do not trust each other. This makes it almost impossible to share common purpose or vision. 4. Technical challenges. Effective Virtual Organisations require good telecommunications infrastructure. In Kenya the state of telecommunications is less than impressive. Lessons CUVBS can learn · Work in partnership with a number of institutions · Implement a phased development plan · Use a combination of IT and CD ROM for subject delivery · Recognise African students are used to the “chalk board” way of learning · Include Certificate courses in Internet Technology to enable the students to understand the technology. · Ensure teaching staff and project teams are able to use the technology and understand the concept of team working. Risks of a Virtual University in Africa

• Difficult to maintain worker motivation
• Need to achieve co-ordination and focus
• Accountability. The virtual organisation need strong codes of ethics that emphasise transparency, accountability and social responsibility.
• Failure to engage students in Africa to engage with the technology and the style of working
• High risk of technology failure
• Bandwidth of broadband not sufficient to support virtual working in Africa
• Inadequate funding to support the project
• Failure to manage the virtual organisation remotely
• Risk of finding that the customer is not ready to join it in virtual space.
• Customer unable to adapt to the new way of working
• Customer unable to cope with self directed study
• Security issues
• Legal and IP

References
Websites www.seanet.com
Books Goldman et al (1995:205)

Huber, G.P., & Glick, W.H (1993) Organisational change and redesign. New York: Oxford. Ryan, Steve., Scott, Bernard., Freeman, Howard., Patel Daxa., The Virtual University. 2001, 1st Edition, Stylus Publishing Inc

Warner, M, Witzel M. (2004). Managing in Virtual Organisations, First Edition. Thomson Learning

Bibliography
Books
Laudon and Laudon, Management Information Systems “New approaches to organisation & Technology”, 5th edition, Prentice Hall, 1998

Journals
D’Antoni, S. “The Virtual University; NetVarsity, India” UNESCO 2003

Guri-Rosenblit, S “Virtual Universities: Current Models and Future Trends” Higher Education in Europe, Vol. XXV1. No 4, 2001

MaST International Group plc, “a guide to Virtual Team Working and Leadership”

Ondari-Okemwa, E. “Challenges of harnessing virtual information resources in Kenya : the case of the African Virtual University”. Journal of information Science, 2002; 28; 321

Simons, G. Dr. Sococo Intercultural – “Meeting the Intercultural Challenges of Virtual Work” Timmers, Paul. “Business Models for Electronic Markets” Electronic Markets, 1998 Turban, E. “Information Technology for Management”, 1999