Title: Measuring virtuality in an organisational context: a quantitative study of Brazilian manufacturing companies

Authors: Claudia Aparecida De Mattos; Fernando José Barbin Laurindo

Addresses: Production Engineering Department, FEI University, Av. Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, 3972, 09850-901-São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil ' Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, Almeida Prado, travessa 2, 128, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, 05508-070, Brazil

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.

Keywords: virtuality levels; managerial performance; manufacturing industry; Brazil; internal customers; external customers; suppliers; cluster analysis; information technology tools; virtual organisations; perceived improvement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2015.070428

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2015 Vol.15 No.2/3, pp.256 - 276

Received: 17 Nov 2014
Accepted: 10 Feb 2015
Published online: 05 Jul 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article