IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/comaot/v16y2010i2d10.1007_s10588-010-9069-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of virtuality on the functioning of centralized versus decentralized structures—an information processing perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Kent Wickstrøm Jensen

    (University of Southern Denmark)

  • Dorthe Døjbak Håkonsson

    (Aarhus University)

  • Richard M. Burton

    (Duke University)

  • Børge Obel

    (Aarhus University)

Abstract

Does virtuality in organizations require centralization or decentralization? We specify the coordination and information processing requirements for virtual organizing in order to examine how these requirements are met by centralized and decentralized structural designs, respectively. We use the agent based SimVision computational discrete event simulation model as our experimental platform to develop concise and comparable measures of the information processing needs of virtual organizing, and how these are met by the information processing capabilities of the centralized and decentralized structures. Contrary to conventional wisdom, that the centralized form is more effective in virtual settings than the decentralized form.

Suggested Citation

  • Kent Wickstrøm Jensen & Dorthe Døjbak Håkonsson & Richard M. Burton & Børge Obel, 2010. "The effect of virtuality on the functioning of centralized versus decentralized structures—an information processing perspective," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 144-170, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:comaot:v:16:y:2010:i:2:d:10.1007_s10588-010-9069-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10588-010-9069-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10588-010-9069-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10588-010-9069-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raymond E. Levitt, 2004. "Computational Modeling of Organizations Comes of Age," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 127-145, July.
    2. Herbert A. Simon, 1991. "Bounded Rationality and Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 125-134, February.
    3. Nicolaj Siggelkow & Jan W. Rivkin, 2005. "Speed and Search: Designing Organizations for Turbulence and Complexity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 101-122, April.
    4. Richard M. Burton, 2003. "Computational Laboratories for Organization Science: Questions, Validity and Docking," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 91-108, July.
    5. Jay R. Galbraith, 1974. "Organization Design: An Information Processing View," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 28-36, May.
    6. Mark E. Nissen, 2007. "Computational experimentation on new organizational forms: Exploring behavior and performance of Edge organizations," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 203-240, September.
    7. Tamaki Horii & Yan Jin & Raymond E. Levitt, 2005. "Modeling and Analyzing Cultural Influences on Project Team Performance," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 305-321, January.
    8. Jisung Kim & Richard M. Burton, 2002. "The Effect of Task Uncertainty and Decentralization on Project Team Performance," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 365-384, December.
    9. Tim Carroll & Richard M. Burton, 2000. "Organizations and Complexity: Searching for the Edge of Chaos," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 319-337, December.
    10. Manju K. Ahuja & Kathleen M. Carley, 1999. "Network Structure in Virtual Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(6), pages 741-757, December.
    11. Harold Guetzkow & Herbert A. Simon, 1955. "The Impact of Certain Communication Nets Upon Organization and Performance in Task-Oriented Groups," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3-4), pages 233-250, 04-07.
    12. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    13. Gerardine DeSanctis & Peter Monge, 1999. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Communication Processes for Virtual Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(6), pages 693-703, December.
    14. Pamela J. Hinds & Mark Mortensen, 2005. "Understanding Conflict in Geographically Distributed Teams: The Moderating Effects of Shared Identity, Shared Context, and Spontaneous Communication," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 290-307, June.
    15. Catherine Durnell Cramton, 2001. "The Mutual Knowledge Problem and Its Consequences for Dispersed Collaboration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(3), pages 346-371, June.
    16. Nancy B. Kurland & Terri D. Egan, 1999. "Telecommuting: Justice and Control in the Virtual Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 500-513, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hyoung-Goo Kang & Richard M. Burton & Will Mitchell, 2021. "How firm boundaries and relatedness jointly affect diversification value: trade-offs between governance and flexibility," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-34, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ward van Zoonen & Anu Sivunen & Kirsimarja Blomqvist & Thomas Olsson & Annina Ropponen & Kaisa Henttonen & Matti Vartiainen, 2021. "Factors Influencing Adjustment to Remote Work: Employees’ Initial Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Friederike Wall, 2015. "Beneficial Effects Of Randomized Organizational Change On Performance," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(05n06), pages 1-23, August.
    3. Anne-Laure Fayard & Anca Metiu, 2014. "The Role of Writing in Distributed Collaboration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 1391-1413, October.
    4. Michael Boyer O'Leary & Mark Mortensen, 2010. "Go (Con)figure: Subgroups, Imbalance, and Isolates in Geographically Dispersed Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 115-131, February.
    5. Friederike Wall, 2016. "Agent-based modeling in managerial science: an illustrative survey and study," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 135-193, January.
    6. Raab, Katharina J. & Ambos, Björn & Tallman, Stephen, 2014. "Strong or invisible hands? – Managerial involvement in the knowledge sharing process of globally dispersed knowledge groups," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 32-41.
    7. Richard M. Burton & Børge Obel, 2011. "Computational Modeling for What-Is, What-Might-Be, and What-Should-Be Studies---And Triangulation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1195-1202, October.
    8. Prithwiraj Choudhury, 2017. "Innovation Outcomes in a Distributed Organization: Intrafirm Mobility and Access to Resources," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 339-354, April.
    9. Georg Schreyögg & Jörg Sydow, 2010. "CROSSROADS---Organizing for Fluidity? Dilemmas of New Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 1251-1262, December.
    10. Stephan Leitner & Friederike Wall, 2015. "Simulation-based research in management accounting and control: an illustrative overview," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 105-129, August.
    11. Jiatong Yu & Jiajue Wang & Taesoo Moon, 2022. "Influence of Digital Transformation Capability on Operational Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Ofir Turel & Catherine E. Connelly, 2012. "Team Spirit: The Influence of Psychological Collectivism on the Usage of E-Collaboration Tools," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 703-725, September.
    13. Jesse Shore & Ethan Bernstein & David Lazer, 2014. "Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces," Harvard Business School Working Papers 14-075, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2014.
    14. Pamela J. Hinds & Diane E. Bailey, 2003. "Out of Sight, Out of Sync: Understanding Conflict in Distributed Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(6), pages 615-632, December.
    15. Azusa Ebisuya & Tomoki Sekiguchi & Gayan Prasad Hettiarachchi, 2023. "Narrowing the communication gap in internationally distributed teams: the case of software-development teams in Sri Lanka and Japan," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 354-378, February.
    16. Regine Pei Tze Oh & Susan M. Sanchez & Thomas W. Lucas & Hong Wan & Mark E. Nissen, 2009. "Efficient experimental design tools for exploring large simulation models," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 237-257, September.
    17. Catherine Durnell Cramton & Tine Köhler & Raymond E. Levitt, 0. "Using scripts to address cultural and institutional challenges of global project coordination," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-22.
    18. Daniel Tzabbar & Alex Vestal, 2015. "Bridging the Social Chasm in Geographically Distributed R&D Teams: The Moderating Effects of Relational Strength and Status Asymmetry on the Novelty of Team Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 811-829, June.
    19. Giannoccaro, Ilaria, 2015. "Adaptive supply chains in industrial districts: A complexity science approach focused on learning," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(PB), pages 576-589.
    20. Niina Nurmi & Pamela J Hinds, 2016. "Job complexity and learning opportunities: A silver lining in the design of global virtual work," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(6), pages 631-654, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:comaot:v:16:y:2010:i:2:d:10.1007_s10588-010-9069-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.