The Virtual Organization: Evidence of Academic Structuration in Business Programs and Implications for Information Science

Abstract

Virtual forms of organization, including outsourcing, are expected to bring broad, structural transformations to American business. Yet, little is known about the formal response of U.S. Business Schools to the boundary-spanning challenges that virtual organization presents. In this study, key elements of Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) are utilized as a means to investigate the effects of virtual organization on academic disciplines. Results of a survey of 471 Business School faculty members, including 63 Information Systems faculty, on the role of virtual organization in academic curricula are analyzed in the terms defined by the AST framework. Results indicate significant variation by discipline, concept area, and appropriation of the concepts related to virtual organization. Implications for Information Science include the need for establishing academic leadership as well as attending to perceived limitations in virtual organization tools and technologies. In addition, the results have implications for the ongoing dialogue on the role of Information Science and related academic disciplines.