The virtual corporation: The organization of the 21st century?

The power of information technology has influenced how many companies are structured today. In some companies, information technology is allowing the traditional corporate organization to "disappear," with replacement by a more flexible and responsive virtual entity. By definition, the virtual company is a temporary network of independent business partners--employees, customers, suppliers--linked by information technology to share management skills, research and development expertise, manufacturing capability, marketing, and costs. To be successful, a virtual company requires a non-hierarchial management model. This paper presents a conceptual model for the virtual corporation. The model is based on systems theory and uses the business diamond as a basic framework for implementation of the virtual organization.