Virtual Organizations Research Articles

Employee Satisfaction and Competitive Advantage of Virtual Organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria

This study examined the impact of employee satisfaction on the competitive advantage of selected virtual organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed the relationship between individual virtual competencies, motivation, organisational identity, autonomy, the nature of the work and the competitive advantage of virtual organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study covered all staff in selected virtual organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 400 copies of questionnaire were distributed and retrieved. Stratified random sampling procedure was used in administering the copies of questionnaire to selected virtual organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria. The data collected through questionnaire administration was analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the null hypotheses and estimate the research model using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique through the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 24. The study found out that there is a significant positive relationship between individual virtual competencies, motivation, organisational identity, the nature of the work and competitive advantage while revealing that there is a positive and non-significant relationship between autonomy and the competitive advantage of virtual organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study recommended that virtual organisations employ individuals that have the required skills and competencies needed to perform the various organisational tasks, motivate their employees intrinsically and extrinsically, possess a strong brand image, allow employees experience freedom to do their tasks and duties at their own pace and take cognisance of employees that work in dispersed locations with peculiar difficulties in those varied locations so that they will contribute more to the competitive advantage of the virtual organisation.

Understanding virtual organizational identity through the intersection of information technology and narratives

PurposeVirtual organizations present numerous challenges for managers, especially in regards to organizational identity formation. This paper aims to address this gap in the extant literature by exploring how organizational narratives can foster identification with the virtual organization. Moreover, information technology can further catalyze the positive effects of narratives on identity formation.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data from in-depth interviews with 18 members of a nonprofit, virtual organization – DiverseCS – were collected. Participants were asked about their roles in the organization, challenges and collaborative efforts. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze the data.FindingsEfforts to instill a sense of identity and community through the adoption of information technology was met with resistance. Rather, senior leaders encouraged and institutionalized the creation of organizational narratives. Novel use of information technology – social media and hyperlinks – became a means to amplify the positive effects of narrative creation and sharing by organizational members.Originality/valueThis study investigates how some members of a virtual organization use information technology in novel ways to further spread organizational narratives to other organizational members and also to external collaboration partners. This research contributes to the extant literature on virtual organizational identity and also proposes a research agenda.

641-P: Behavioral Health Needs of a Commercially Insured Adult Population with Type 2 Diabetes

Background: There is an increasing appreciation of the interconnection between chronic illnesses such as type-2 diabetes and behavioral health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as more serious behavioral health conditions. The separation of practice and payment for medical and behavioral conditions is ripe for disruption. This is of particular importance for risk-bearing entities. Methods: Level2 is a virtual accountable care organization taking total cost-of-care risk for a commercially insured population. Using a de-identified administrative claims research database, we estimated the behavioral health profile of our enrolled population by examining the prescribing of common behavioral health medications. Results: In our enrolled population of 7,361 members, the average age was 54.4 years, and the M:F ratio was 53:47. Prescriptions for behavioral health medications were demonstrated in 26.2% of the population. Medications for depression and anxiety were most common (20.0% and 8.0% respectively) , while antipsychotics were prescribed in 0.1% of attributed members. Twenty-four months of enrollment (November 2019- November 2021) showed stable prescribing patterns. Conclusion: The movement towards provider risk bearing, and a more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between physical and behavioral health, necessitate a more comprehensive and integrated approach to care for patients. While this intersection may be evident to providers in their daily activities, the analysis of a population of nearly 7,400 members gives a broader insight into this challenge and calls for clinical service redesign, the application of new methodologies and measurements, and over time, new payment models. Of note, the prescribing data spans the COVID and pre-COVID periods and was stable over time, so the high use of behavioral health medications is not COVID-attributable. Disclosure D.J.Cook: None. A.Defail: Employee; Level2. C.Livesey: Advisory Panel; Compass Pathways, Employee; UnitedHealth Group. D.Pederson: Employee; Level2.

900-P: Patterns of Drug Utilization for Cardio- and Renal-Protective Antihyperglycemic Agents in a Commercially Insured Population

Background: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) and sodium glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have cardioprotective and kidney-protective effects in select patients with type-2 diabetes (T2D) . Appropriate use, and cost-effectiveness, is essential to realize these benefits as well as to manage total healthcare spending. Methods: For a commercially insured population (≥18 years old) enrolled in a virtual accountable care organization (Level2) , we examined de-identified administrative claims in a research database for Type-2 diabetes medications from 12/01/20to 11/30/2021. We determined the TCoC for this population, as well as changes in spending and utilization by medication class. Results: Among 7,361 individuals attributed to Level2, 1,735 members (23.6%) had a cardiovascular or renal indication for an GLP-1RA or SGLT2i. In this population, 447 were prescribed a GLP-1RA and 385 were prescribed a SGLT2i, representing 25.8% and 22.2% of those with comorbidity indications for each drug, respectively. Additionally, 1,214 individuals were prescribed a GLP-1RA and 1,214 were prescribed a SGLT2i without cardiovascular or renal indications, representing 35% of these prescriptions combined. Conclusion: In 2019-21, use of GLP-1RA and SGLT2i remained limited to approximately 1 in 4 commercially insured patients with T2D and a cardiovascular or renal indication for their selection. Further, they were commonly used in the absence of cardiovascular or renal indication for these classes of agents. While nondiabetes indications for these drugs (weight-loss and renal disease) have expanded recently (April-June 2021) , those broader indications were not in place for the majority of the study period. In a time of limited resources, guideline-concordant therapy is critical to improving the health of those with indications as well as reducing less-than-appropriate use. Disclosure D.J.Cook: None. A.Defail: Employee; Level2. E.Macfarlane: Employee; Level2. D.Pederson: Employee; Level2.

899-P: Current Patterns of Change in Medication Spending and Use for People with Type 2 Diabetes in a Commercially Insured Population

Background: Understanding the total cost of care (TCoC) specific to type-2 diabetes (T2D) is challenging. Diabetes is a driver of multiple chronic medical conditions, each with a constellation of costs. As such, medication trends specific to T2D may help inform assessment of population health and care management. Methods: For a population of 7,361 commercially insured persons (≥18 years old) enrolled in a virtual care accountable care organization (Level2) , we examined de-identified administrative claims in a research database for T2D medications from 12/1/2019-11/30/2021. We determined the TCoC for this population, as well as changes in spending and utilization by medication class. Results: Among individuals enrolled in Level2, spending for T2D medications constituted 31.2% of the total spend over the period studied. Spending and utilization changes are summarized in Table 1. Conclusion: T2D care is rapidly evolving; ongoing changes in cost and utilization are dramatic. For organizations in risk arrangements, following and projecting medication spend in T2D is a critical exercise, as is driving the guideline-directed use of these agents. There is a need for greater specificity in T2D medication guidelines that considers cost-effectiveness and tailors treatment choice to the specific patient risk. Disclosure D.J.Cook: None. A.Defail: Employee; Level2. N.Thompson: Employee; Level2. D.Pederson: Employee; Level2.

IKeyCriteria: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis Method to Infer Key Criteria since a Systematic Literature Review for the Computing Domain

A systematic literature review is a synthesis of the available evidence, in which a review of quantitative and qualitative aspects of primary studies is carried out, to summarize the existing information regarding a particular topic. The researchers extract key criteria from papers collected about their study area, answering research questions and conducting document analysis. Nonetheless, in some cases, these criteria are improperly justified, unknowing their true level of importance in the study subject. Hence, an additional study is necessary to explain the criteria relevance in the papers studied using qualitative and quantitative premises. The correct identification of these key criteria is a critical factor in prioritizing and achieving appropriate results in any scientific research work. In our paper, a new method to determine key criteria from a literature review is proposed, composed of three components: input-process-output. First, the inputs are a set of criteria to evaluate and a set of documents to analyze. Next, the process component examines the document set to indicate whether the criteria to be analyzed are found. The process component produces a Boolean matrix, which is the input of the mathematical logic process that will get the key criteria considered necessary and sufficient as the output component. The iKeyCriteria method has been applied in different computing domains, particularly for serious games design and virtual organizations, giving positive results in each context. Finally, we developed an online tool that provides global support to the execution of our method.

Dimensions and Factors that Determine Integration of Small-Scale Sources in the Structures of Virtual Power Plants

Abstract In the paper the author has attempted to achieve two convergent objectives: cognitive and empirical ones. The cognitive goal constituted an analysis of the definitions of virtual organi-sations and their adaptation while defining Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). When discussing the discourse in the area of virtual organisations, the author has attempted to justify the fact that the terminology pertaining to virtual organisations should constitute the foundations for defining Virtual Power Plants. With such an assumption, a vital importance has been assigned to co-sharing of “soft” resources – key competencies, and also organisational (managerial) integration. In the context of the adopted definitions, the distributed structure of virtual power plant has been em-bedded into four layers of Smart Grid: Customer Technology, Operational Technology, Smart Metering, Energy Management System. A measurable value of the conducted discourse has been aggregation of management functions of VPP, carried out in the four-layer structure of Smart Grid. In turn, the empirical objective was to determine and distinguish, based on the conducted expert research, the factors that determine the development of small-scale energy sector, including re-newable energy sources and prosumer installations – simultaneously determining the inclination of distributed electricity producers to mutual integration in the structures of virtual power plants. Assuming, in accordance with the definitions and discourse included in the first part of the paper, that the determined factors, among others, creating virtual power plants are not only of techno-logical nature, the author has developed four portfolios of these factors. They include the following ones: technological, economic (including micro- and macro-economic), environmental, and social. The experts participating in the research could select 5 factors from each of the developed portfolio which in their opinion determined the inclination of distributed electricity producers to integrate their sources in the structures of virtual power plants. A measurable value of the empirical part has been aggregating the determinants generated and distinguished in the research process.

Research on the Adjustment Time of Benefit Distribution Scheme in the Dynamic Benefit Distribution Mechanism of Virtual e-Commerce Entrepreneurial Organization

In the field of rapid development of e-commerce, in order to quickly respond to the market to seize the fleeting market opportunities, multi-market players or individuals using modern information technology to constitude trans-regional, cross-industry, benefit sharing, risk sharing virtual e-commerce entrepreneurial organizations. In different stages of entrepreneurship, members play different roles, bear costs and face different risks. Therefore, fixed profit distribution is not enough to stimulate the continuous investment of each member, and the profit distribution scheme should be adjusted timely. This paper mainly analyzed the factors that affect the benefit distribution of virtual e-commerce entrepreneurial organizations, and four time points for adjusting the benefit distribution scheme Have been proposed: when the operating cost of a certain business process changes substantially, when the sales volume changes substantially, when any key members of the organization quit, and when the development direction changes greatly.

Resilient and Intelligent NextG Systems—Virtual Organization (NSF)

Federal Grants & ContractsVolume 46, Issue 12 p. 2-2 Grants Alerts Resilient and Intelligent NextG Systems—Virtual Organization (NSF) First published: 17 May 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/fgc.32372Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume46, Issue1219 May 2022Pages 2-2 RelatedInformation

Resource Profiling and Performance Modeling for Distributed Scientific Computing Environments

Scientific applications often require substantial amount of computing resources for running challenging jobs potentially consisting of many tasks from hundreds of thousands to even millions. As a result, many institutions collaborate to solve large-scale problems by creating virtual organizations (VOs), and integrate hundreds of thousands of geographically distributed heterogeneous computing resources. Over the past decade, VOs have been proven to be a powerful research testbed for accessing massive amount of computing resources shared by several organizations at almost no cost. However, VOs often suffer from providing exact dynamic resource information due to their scale and autonomous resource management policies. Furthermore, shared resources are inconsistent, making it difficult to accurately forecast resource capacity. An effective VO’s resource profiling and modeling system can address these problems by forecasting resource characteristics and availability. This paper presents effective resource profiling and performance prediction models including Adaptive Filter-based Online Linear Regression (AFOLR) and Adaptive Filter-based Moving Average (AFMV) based on the linear difference equation combining past predicted values and recent profiled information, which aim to support large-scale applications in distributed scientific computing environments. We performed quantitative analysis and conducted microbenchmark experiments on a real multinational shared computing platform. Our evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed prediction schemes outperform well-known common approaches in terms of accuracy, and actually can help users in a shared resource environment to run their large-scale applications by effectively forecasting various computing resource capacity and performance.

Research on the establishment and operation mode of virtual e-commerce entrepreneurial organization under the background of innovation and entrepreneurship

With the development of E-commerce in China, in order to quickly seize the fleeting market opportunities, many market entities using modern information technology to form trans-regional, cross-industry, benefit sharing, risk sharing Virtual E-commerce Entrepreneurial Organizations. However, many virtual e-commerce entrepreneurial organizations have not successfully completed their entrepreneurial projects and failed due to various reasons. In this paper, the characteristics and operation process of Virtual E-commerce Entrepreneurial Organizations were analyzed, and the operation mode of Giants Alliance Inside with Non-core Members Outside (GAI-NMO) was proposed, which is the members engaged in core business constitute the core of virtual entrepreneurial organization which can maintain competitive advantage, and members engaged in non-core business form a flexible network structure around the kernel.

Virtual Organization Designs as Panacea for Covid-19 Workplace Adjustments

The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on business organisations across the globe have been dramatic and unprecedented. While some organisations have collapsed, others have managed to survive and maintained stability; whereas some others have flourished tremendously. The determinant of what happens to any organisation is predominantly a function of her response to the covid-19 imposed challenges. In this paper, we present a broad review of literature rooted in work and organizational psychology, and related fields, for making sense of the implications for employees, teams, and work organizations. In so doing, virtual organisation is projected as the panacea for corporate adjustments. The use of virtual platforms, telematics, and computer procedures enable working without physical presence was observed to have received a boost especially as governments across the world adopted lockdown measures in a bid to stem the tide of the spread of the pandemic. The paper concludes that the future of business belongs to those organisations that have developed or are willing to develop capacity for virtual operation. Keywords: Virtual Organizations, Virtual Teams, Collaboration, Communication, COVID-19 DOI: 10.7176/NCS/13-01 Publication date: May 31 st 2022

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) Based Virtual Organization Model for the Coordination of Sustainable Textile Supply Chain

The lack of attention on the forward and backward supply chain issues, i.e., the transparency between supply chain agents, information sharing, resource deployment, workforce knowledge, waste reduction, cost efficiency, and resource management are the major problems of textile supply chain. The coordination of forward and backward supply chain becomes difficult due to the players' self-interest and firmographics. It becomes much complicated when we consider the triple bottom line of sustainability (TBLS) in the supply chain. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an Industry 4.0 (I4.0) based virtual organization model for the coordination of the forward and backward supply chain. The results obtained through virtual organization model are also compared with the centralized supply chain and traditional cost-sharing contract. The results reveal that virtual organization model can perform better than the price only contract and it will be help firms in achieving greater sustainability with respect to traditional contract mechanisms.

Virtual Power Plant Optimization in Smart Grids: A Narrative Review

Virtual power plants (VPPs) are promising solutions to address the decarbonization and energy efficiency goals in the smart energy grid. They assume the coordination of local energy resources such as energy generation, storage, and consumption. They are used to tackle problems brought by the stochastic nature of renewable energy, lack of energy storage devices, or insufficient local energy flexibility on the demand side. VPP modeling, management, and optimization are open to research problems that should consider, on one side, the local constraints in the operation of the energy resources and power flows and the energy grid’s sustainability objectives on the other side. There are multiple goals to create a VPP, such as to deliver energy services on a market or to the grid operator, to operate a microgrid in autonomy decoupled from the main grid, or to sustain local energy communities. In this paper, we present the results of a narrative review carried out on the domain of VPP optimization for the local energy grid integration. We have defined a search strategy that considers highly rated international databases (i.e., Elsevier, IEEE, and MDPI) in a six-year timeframe and applied objective inclusion/exclusion criteria for selecting articles and publications for the review; 95 articles have been analyzed and classified according to their objectives and solutions proposed for optimizing VPP integration in smart grids. The results of the study show that VPP concepts and applications are well addressed in the research literature, however, there is still work to be done on: engaging prosumers and citizens in such a virtual organization, developing heuristics to consider a wider range of local and global constraints and non-energy vectors, and to decentralize and make transparent the services delivery and financial settlement towards community members. This study can help researchers to understand the current directions for VPP integration in smart grids. As a next step we plan to further analyze the open research directions related to this problem and target the development of innovative solutions to allow the integration of multi-energy assets and management of cross energy sector services in energy communities.

Critical Assessment of Issues and Benefits of Digital Asset Management

Digital asset management (DAM) now encompasses business and other diversified services such as new media, proliferates, virtual organization as reality, web content management, horizontal enterprise focus, and acquisitions and partnerships. Indeed, DAM has become essential in the commercial sector. An efficient system, that manages digital assets finds DAM is crucial for increasing efficiency and productivity, which provides access to approach, distribution and sharing of assets, a system that saves a significant amount of time and, potentially, money. Without a system that collects data in one area and then finds it quickly, when needed, a loss of both time and money results.In sum, the evolution of companies always entails a search to find the optimum mode of management methods and tools. A better understanding of the client and the development of the workplace are crucial too. These factors lead us to conclude that a contemporary system, such as DAM, might be the appropriate solution.An agile system which can assist businesses to organize and manage their digital assets to optimize their operations and improve the performance of the company across all departments is of use.

ВІРТУАЛЬНА ОРГАНІЗАЦІЙНА СТРУКТУРА ІТ-КОМПАНІЇ: МАРКЕТИНГОВИЙ ТА УПРАВЛІНСЬКИЙ АСПЕКТИ

The article attracts attention to a fairly common type of organizational structure of management, which is a virtual organization, due to the digitalization of the economy and the functioning of a significant number of enterprises in virtual space. The implementation of a virtual organizational structure promotes better interaction of structural units of IT company, as well as provides prompt management decisions both within the organization and outside. This allows the organization to respond in a timely manner to changes in a dynamic market environment and, thus, better interact with counterparties in communication channels and marketing channels in general. The article highlights the issue of building a virtual organizational management structure in IT company, given that the organization can be considered as a set of hardware and software and technological, marketing and management components that are interconnected. The importance of the company’s interaction virtualization with other elements of its internal and external environment has been updated. In this regard, the virtual structure of the organization is considered as a complex concept that combines marketing, including communication, and management aspects, and HR-management is considered as a component of management. The article presents a comparative description of marketing communication tools for real and virtual organization, as well as focuses on the importance and place of HR-marketing in the system of virtual organization, taking into account its marketing and management aspects. In particular, the difference between Internet marketing as a tool of marketing communications and marketing in Internet has been determined, which reveals the essence of the organization’s use of traditional marketing tools using the Internet. The role of HR-marketing as an activity aimed at improving the company’s position in the labor market has been highlighted and the relationship of this category as an activity with the management and marketing elements of a virtual organization has been identified.

Organizing a Virtual Radiography Conference during Covid-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The Covid -19 pandemic has affected planned physical healthcare conferences around the globe. To ensure adequate continuing professional development, virtual conference organization is the solution for healthcare professionals and the radiography community. This review article aims to document strategies for converting a physical conference to a virtual conference. Methods: The Singapore Society of Radiographers had to convert the annual conference to a virtual platform. The pre- during and post- conference activities were addressed within the paper, while emphasizing several key strategies and recommendations to improve the virtual experience for participants. Results: The post conference feedback showed favourable results where 93.1% participants agreed that the conference met their expectations. Additionally, we highlighted the challenges faced in organization of a virtual conference amidst the pandemic such as manpower and interactivity. There was increased cost-effectiveness in conducting a virtual conference. Conclusion: Conferences are still an integral component for continuing professional development. We believe that healthcare professionals require adequate continuing professional education and attending effective conferences would ultimately improve their clinical services and work with confidence.

Performance of Academic Staff during COVID-19 Pandemic-Induced Work Transformations: An IPO Model for Stress Management

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected all spheres of services-related business, including the higher education sector. As a pre-emptive measure, almost all traditional educational institutions have been transformed into virtual organizations. This pandemic-induced work transition has created stress among academic staff and has hampered their performance. The present study aims to examine the impact of leadership behaviors, e-training, and employment security on the stress management process, consequently improving employee performance during and after the pandemic. Based on the IPO (input–process–output) model, this study examines the effect of leadership behavior, e-training, and employment security on teaching staff’s tasks and adaptive and contextual performance, mediated by stress management. To test the conceptual model, data were collected from the teaching staff of Malaysian universities. The structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis, while bootstrapping with the maximum likelihood estimator was used to confirm the mediational role of stress management. The study revealed that task- and relation-oriented leadership behavior, e-training, and employment security positively influence stress management and employee performance in virtual organizations. Moreover, stress management acts as a full mediator in the relationship between leadership behavior and employee performance, while partial mediation occurs between e-training, employment security, and employee performance. This study offers valuable insights into the literature by proposing leadership behavior, e-training, and employment security as input in the stress management process to attain the performance output of teaching staff. Higher education institutions should come forward to assist their teaching employees in managing their stress levels for better outcomes.

Aspect of Improved Scalability and Growth Potential in Virtual Organisation

The researcher has discussed the aspect of scalability and growth potential improvement for the virtual organisation. The organisation has used various types of technology such as information and communication technology, artificial intelligence and others to show how the technologies have affected scalability and growth potential for the virtual organisation. The researcher has also shown factors such as communication skills, work ethics differences, usage of various technology through the market's demand and others that are highly effective in the virtual organisation. The findings and discussion emphasises on corporate entrepreneurship along with innovation incurred through ICT where many managers have agreed that scalability and organisational performance can be improved through ICT innovation. Keyword : Scalability and growth potential, Technology, virtual organisation. Information and communication technology

Delivering the National Diabetes Prevention Program: Assessment of Enrollment in In-Person and Virtual Organizations.

The aim of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) is to make an evidence-based lifestyle change program widely available to the more than 88 million American adults at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The National DPP allows for program delivery using four delivery modes: in person, online, distance learning, and combination. The objective of this study was to analyze cumulative enrollment in the National DPP by delivery mode. We included all participants who enrolled in CDC-recognized organizations delivering the lifestyle change program between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019, and whose data were submitted to CDC's Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program. During this time, the number of participants who enrolled was 455,954. Enrollment, by delivery mode, was 166,691 for in-person; 269,004 for online; 4,786 for distance-learning; and 15,473 for combination. In-person organizations enrolled the lowest proportion of men (19.4%) and the highest proportions of non-Hispanic Black/African American (16.1%) and older (65+ years) participants (28.2%). Online organizations enrolled the highest proportions of men (27.1%), younger (18-44 years) participants (41.5%), and non-Hispanic White participants (70.3%). Distance-learning organizations enrolled the lowest proportion of Hispanic/Latino participants (9.0%). Combination organizations enrolled the highest proportions of Hispanic/Latino participants (37.3%) and participants who had obesity (84.1%). Most in-person participants enrolled in organizations classified as community-centered entities (41.4%) or medical providers (31.2%). Online and distance-learning participants were primarily enrolled (93.3% and 70.2%, respectively) in organizations classified as for-profit businesses or insurers. Participants in combination programs were enrolled almost exclusively in organizations classified as medical providers (89%). The National DPP has reached nearly half a million participants since its inception in 2012, but continued expansion is critical to stem the tide of type 2 diabetes among the many Americans at high risk.