Measuring virtuality in an organisational context: a quantitative study of Brazilian manufacturing companies Online publication date: Sun, 05-Jul-2015
by Claudia Aparecida De Mattos; Fernando José Barbin Laurindo
International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations (IJNVO), Vol. 15, No. 2/3, 2015
Abstract: The aim of this research is to analyse virtuality as a measurable construct along three dimensions (internal customers, external customers and suppliers), characterising companies according to their virtuality level. Cluster analyses were applied to achieve this aim. The results reveal three major groups differentiated by the type of information technology tools adopted, transactional versus collaborative profile and performance perceived by managers. This study indicated several managerial implications. First, only 31% of the companies analysed are applying tools in different dimensions (internal customer, suppliers and customers) to interact and conduct business in a synchronised and synergistic form aligned with the concept of a virtual organisation. Second, the group of companies that present a higher level of virtuality have a perceived improvement in performance by managers.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations (IJNVO):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook