The Dynamics In Contemporary International Virtual Organisations

For the purposes of this paper, we will focus exclusively on the virtual international or global organization where members rarely if ever meet face to face, except for video communication over the internet. Many claim that these Virtual Organizations or VOs present psychosocial dynamics that differ from the traditional organizations we consult to, study and write about. The question to be explored is, do VOs present a set of psychosocial dynamics that differ from the traditional organizations we consult to, study and write about? Virtual organizations or VOs, like face to face or F2F organizations, vary tremendously in their purpose, scope, size, duration, structure, culture and psychodynamics. VOs vary over the nature of their work, how shared resources are used, including delegation of tasks and the application of technology, file sharing, local and global policies and socio-cultural-religious issues. Most of the attention given to VOs are in the areas of what one needs to run a VO, or how to manage employees geographically dispersed or what local and global policies to be aware of, and what cost sensitive technologies to use, to name a few. Little concern is given to the understanding the psycho-social climate that is established among virtual workers who, like many in the social media world, constantly engage in communication without ever meeting or spending time together in physical proximity. Our virtual world is growing fast and yet we have little knowledge of the impact this world is having psychologically on employees and their organizations and if it is changing the nature of the relationship or attachment between the employee's self-system and the organization one works in.