Introduction ………………………………………………………………… .... page 3 The emergence of a “virtual” organization ……………………. …… ……. page 6

1.1. Concept - “virtual” organization ………………………………… p. 6

1.2. Existing prerequisites for the emergence of "virtual"

organizations .. ………………………………………………………………. page 11

Study of a “virtual” organization …………………………… p. 18

2.1. Analysis of the peculiarities of the "virtual" organization ...................... p. 18

2.2. Differences between traditional and "virtual"

organizations ……………………………………………………………… p. 29

2.3. Research of various “virtual” organizations ………………. page 34

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………… .. page 43

List of used literature …………………………………………… p. 44

Application……………………………………………………………………. p. 46

Introduction.

We live in a very interesting time, when stability is replaced by unpredictability, and the reality is constant changes that lead to the prosperity of some and the death of other economic forms. The engine of these changes is information technologies, which make it possible to process the required amount of data in a matter of time and provide optimal solutions, link geographically dispersed production structures, develop a strategy and tactics for world trade and, ultimately, create opportunities for building a global economy. I would like to consider how viable and promising new types of organization emerging in these conditions, called "virtual" ones, are.

At the same time, the Internet has become not just a business tool, a way of cooperation between different organizations, but also a new business environment. The Internet, as a new business environment, has its own patterns of development and rules, a new culture, dynamics of change, which requires organizations to have a new quality for successful work. The name of this new, necessary organizational quality is virtuality.

The preconditions for the emergence of a virtual organization are the unlimited opportunities for business development provided on the Internet and this is not an exaggeration. If the place in the sun and natural resources are limited, then the amount of information resources and space on the Internet practically have no limit.

A characteristic feature of the beginning of the new millennium is the intensive integration of countries into the world information community. And the worldwide Internet (Network) continues to play a large role in this. Therefore, of interest are those positive changes that occur in its evolution.

It is noteworthy that in recent years there has been a new stage in the life of the Web, when it turns into a platform like an ordinary personal computer. A world in which Internet users could only read information is likely to come to an end, as the Web will soon unite many Web sites deployed on a variety of systems, and provide users with the ability to read, publish and annotate information using voice. handwriting recognition programs and other similar systems. The software on this platform will essentially become a "software engine" that will help change the Internet and increase its power.

All these changes have contributed to the emergence of new business structures that, with the help of the Network, can establish partnerships from anywhere in the world. This, in turn, allowed geographically dispersed entrepreneurs or companies to create a single or basic level of competence and, using infocommunication technologies (ICT), develop effective technological processes for the production of goods and services. Depending on the tasks to be solved, this kind of association of business partners was called “virtual”, and the formed structures were called “virtual team”, “virtual enterprise”, “virtual corporation”, etc. It should be emphasized that they are based on a temporary network of independent entrepreneurs or companies who, using ICT, share their experience, costs and successes achieved in the market. Each of the partners contributes to the solution of a common problem only within the limits of their level of competence.
Nowadays, the Internet is increasingly becoming a business environment. This course work examines the differences in the degree of business development of the world wide web, the reasons and the driving forces of this process. For example, some organizations go online in the hope of gaining new opportunities for developing their business and attracting new customers. Others are pushed onto the Internet by competition, the need to fight for a place in the sun, to look for new ideas and forms for their business. At the same time, the Internet has become not just a business tool, a way of cooperation between different organizations, but also a new business environment. Expectations of both are often not met, not only because of a weak competitive position, poor quality of goods, ineffective management, technological lag, but also because of a lack of understanding of the essence of the new business environment, so the topic of this course work is relevant.

The Internet, as a new business environment, has its own patterns of development and rules, a new culture, dynamics of change, which requires organizations to have a new quality for successful work. The name of this new, necessary organizational quality is virtuality. The preconditions for the emergence of a virtual organization are the unlimited opportunities for business development provided on the Internet and this is not an exaggeration. If the place in the sun and natural resources are limited, then the amount of information resources and space on the Internet practically have no limit.
The purpose of the work is to determine the features of managing a virtual organization. For this, the following tasks were identified:

Define a virtual organization,

Determine the benefits of a virtual organization and management features.

The emergence of a virtual organization.

Concept - "Virtual Organization".

In control theory, the definition of “virtual” has become a key one. More and more people are talking about virtual sales, banking, foundations, factories and organizations. In principle, a virtual enterprise has the same capabilities and potential as a traditional one. But at the same time, it lacks such an institutional and structural framework. Such a “quasi-organization” can be defined as follows:

Virtual enterprise- This is a voluntary temporary form of cooperation of several, usually independent partners (enterprises, institutions, individuals), which, thanks to the optimization of the system of production of goods, provides great benefits to clients. On the basis of a consistent understanding of the content of the business process and a clearly expressed culture of trust, cooperation partners share their core competencies in the form of resources and abilities to achieve results better, cheaper, faster, more flexible and with a competitive advantage on an international scale. From the client's point of view, the dynamic network acts as a single enterprise, using the capabilities of the most modern information and communication technologies.

Since at present, “virtual” refers to both business processes and individual firms, let's try to understand what this term actually means.

Virtual organization is an organization that exists as a corporate, non-profit, educational or other association without a geographic center and operates through telecommunications.

Virtual organization formed by legally independent organizations that share resources and skills to achieve assigned objectives, not necessarily related to making a profit. Interaction between members of virtual organizations occurs mainly through computer networks.

In business under virtual organization refers to a firm that employs external contractors to carry out its core functions.

Examples of more concise definitions of a virtual enterprise can be cited. Thus, the German researcher K. Bleicher understands a virtual corporation as an interorganizational flexible enterprise created for a while, the main goal of which is to obtain benefits through the expansion of the range of goods and services.

For a better understanding, let us turn to the standard dictionary definition of "virtuality". According to Webster's Dictionary, it is interpreted as "an actual entity or effect that is not a fact, but actually existing or equivalent to it." In economics, you can find something similar when the “effect without the fact of presence” is stated. An example is the term "company", which in principle means some kind of economic structure, but in reality something else may be taking place.

It is interesting to note that the term "virtual organization" (VO) has a huge range of meanings and definitions. For example, Davidow and Malone used the term "virtual corporation" to refer to any new organizational forms, the life cycle of which is limited to a certain time frame, and the central place is occupied by information technology. In contrast, Byrne proposed to use the same term for a temporary set of electronic telecommunications links between ephemeral entities that sacrifice their level of competence for the glory of effective mutual cooperation. Martin (Martin) coined the term "cyber corporation", which is based on the high-speed communication channels found in the Internet and Intranet. In contrast to this, a number of authors either do not admit the possibility of VO existence without electronic interconnections or completely deny their necessity.

In the literature available to the authors, one can find discrepancies in relation to the novelty of VO. A number of researchers consider the virtual organization as a new organizational form. The parameters common to the structure of VO, in their opinion, are a more flexible structure and a compatible (collaborative) culture of partners. In contrast, Vankatraman and Henderson believe that a virtual organization is not characterized by any new economic parameters, but virtuality, as such, they define "the ability to consistently carry out and coordinate the work of an organization in critical conditions."

Empirical studies of virtual organization are still quite rare, and this is evidenced by the above discrepancies in the very understanding of its essence. If we assume that VO has a classic internal organizational form, for example, the form of a joint venture or a strategic alliance, then the definition of a virtual organization is equivalent for them, since it is not clear how they differ in organizational parameters, areas of activity, or in the presence of interacting networks. communication. Differentiation is also hampered in the case when the conditions necessary for vital activity are not completely clear. Moreover, doubt and ambiguity emerge as there is an increase in the intervention organized by the business press, using the term VO as a tendency to name it for any organization that either calls itself “virtual” (or so many others call it that), or only to an insignificant degree manifests this very virtuality. Even government officials in some countries are trying to name their agency in the long term "virtual government".

In principle, the existence of a virtual organization requires two structural conditions: the geographical dispersion of the organized units and the electronic links of the production process.

The first structural condition is understood as the spatial dispersion of individuals, groups, departments or entire companies involved in VO, with a minimum of two locations. The second structural condition is that the production process in VO cannot be complete without its support by information technologies designed for the interconnection of dispersed structures.

It is equally important to understand that a virtual organization is a different organizational form, and it is not the property of any organization. This just excludes VO from the category of modern universal organizations that intensively use communication means, but are not directly related to the formation of the production process. An example in this regard is multinational corporations with dispersion of components and satellite communications, which are not the basic information component for the formation of production processes.

The above analysis allows us to formulate the following working definition:

A virtual organization is a temporary or permanent set of geographically dispersed individuals, groups, organizational units or integral organizations, the functioning of the production process in which takes place with the obligatory participation of information technologies, including electronic communications.

The formed definition of VO, however, is only theoretical in nature and does not have sufficient persuasiveness for its lawful use in practice. The task was to develop a research model of HE, based on which information technologies would play a central role and would be the basis of this organization. The need to build such a model is also dictated by the fact that the currently existing wide range of concepts in defining the essence of HE in most cases has different interpretations in terms of the conditions necessary for life, the novelty of this form of economic activity, etc. An example is the name itself, which, as mentioned above, is often used as a voiced term. This is how an increasing number of organizations declare themselves as “virtual”. All this creates an uncertain and even ambiguous situation in which VOs appear everywhere, while it is impossible to say with a high degree of certainty which of them is actually a virtual organization.

Virtual organization is an organization that is created to perform any work or to fulfill an emerging need. This avoids constant organizational change while at the same time taking advantage of emerging opportunities. If the bureaucracy has an internal orientation of goals, organic organizations speak more about their purpose, mission, and goals are directed outside, then a virtual organization has no purpose, it is itself a goal. She appears at the right time in the right place for the realization of opportunities and disappears after. Such "super speed" is already possible technologically, the question is for the organization, for people, tasks, methods and techniques of management, and here trust, discipline and mutual understanding, on which relations between people are built, come first.

Existing prerequisites for the emergence of a virtual organization.

For clarity, it is necessary to clarify that an organization is not understood as a legal form, not a drawn organizational chart, not an information system with formalized sets of tasks, but relations that develop between people when they combine efforts towards achieving the desired state.

The complexity of the emergence of a new organization is not at all in coming up with a new scheme that reflects the virtual philosophy of business, and not in formalizing the relations given by information systems, but in finding the basis for the creation and form of manifestation of these relations between people.

The center and source of changes in technology, product, culture, organization is a person, whose desires and abilities carry out transformations and set a certain direction of development.

This was preceded by the development of information technology, which is accompanied by the spread of a new information product, a new culture and a new organizational logic for building relationships between people, that is, the emergence of a virtual organization.

The composition of the organizational environment itself is also changing, the division into “hard” and “soft” is becoming more relevant, not into the distant and near surroundings. Solid is infrastructure, computers, channels, nodes, providers, technical support services, everything that determines the form and structure of the information environment. Soft is the very content of the virtual environment, desires, ideas and perceptions of people about the possibilities of information technology, relationships that are being built and the so-called information culture.

It should be noted that changes in the organization are significantly influenced by changes in technology, but for the most part, organizational changes precede the change in technology and occur independently of it.

A single culture of a virtual organization will not be due to the multiplicity of subjects and the diversity of networks, as well as the idea itself, which is not aimed at a hierarchy of ideas and a single culture, but at equality, complementarity of various participants.

As for the virtual organization, the very concept of a common goal, the basis of any organization, will manifest itself as an intersection of goals, i.e. uniting people, groups, organizations with similar interests to achieve each of their individual goals, since the components of a virtual organization are autonomous and are components, but other organizations.

A virtual organization is an organization that is created to perform any work or to fulfill an emerging need. This avoids constant organizational change while at the same time taking advantage of emerging opportunities. If the bureaucracy has an internal orientation of goals, organic organizations speak more about their purpose, mission, and goals are directed outside, then a virtual organization has no purpose, it is itself a goal. She appears at the right time in the right place for the realization of opportunities and disappears after. Such "super speed" is already possible technologically, the question is for the organization, for people, tasks, methods and techniques of management, and here trust, discipline and mutual understanding, on which relations between people are built, come first.

The novelty of a virtual organization manifests itself at four levels: strategic, structural, organizational and technological.

Strategic level- the virtual organization is more fragmented and fluid, focused on emerging ideas and is formed around opportunities. The main strategic resource will be time, which will accelerate the business cycle “found”, “implemented”, “forgotten”. The needs of the client will be shaped by the virtual organizations themselves, offering new opportunities, since the very philosophy of e-business is not a solution to problems, which would mean investing time and effort in their weaknesses, but the search for opportunities and the development of strengths.

Structural level- connections and elements of a virtual organization represent equal cooperation of "free artists", working groups, departments and entire organizations on the basis of outsourcing, and relations are built in a new way each time and only at the stage of implementation of a specific project.

Organizational level- building relationships is based on the ideas, competence and partnership of the people participating in the virtual organization. The employee will not be required to perform work or even improve the product or the process of its implementation, but the ability to make a choice, i.e. what work to do next, and what to refuse. And the very virtual nature of work, in addition to teamwork and internal motivation, will require constant interaction of employees with employees of other organizations to perform work within the framework of a virtual organization.

Technological level- business processes, as the basis of technology and the process of creating a product or service, will be brought to a closed cycle, including dynamic modeling and continuous improvement in real time.

Based on the working name formulated above, a research model of the VO was built with the aim of its subsequent use in carrying out various types of research. The most important, according to the authors, components that can ensure its survival in modern economic conditions (see Fig. 1) were included in the model as basic ones.

Rice. 1. The research model of the virtual organization

The core of the HE research model is represented by information technologies that support production, link it together and play an important role in all organizational aspects, including both production process management and strategic or external management. This allows the model to be used in any industry, any production that uses any production process that leads to the receipt of a finished product, both in the form of services and in the form of a commercial product. Under this condition, information technology becomes a tool for the formation of the production process.

As a prerequisite for VO life, the research model includes the parameter of the spatial dispersion of production components and the presence of electronic interconnection between them. Electronic communication makes it possible to conduct a workflow (or a critical part of it), while linking structural components located in different regions through information technology. The product produced in this case can be called “virtual”.

The most important parameters of the model include the culture and training of HE personnel. This is motivated by the fact that participants in a virtual organization must take into account the existing social processes in the regions where its structures are located. In this regard, it is necessary to take into account how information technologies were created in each of the regions and under what influence they were, what is the image of information technologies in these localities, as well as how the VO members relate to the problem of trust in each other. Correct attitude to the organization of training is also interconnected with the factor of culture. It is very important for HE staff to have knowledge of how and how information technology should be used. Therefore, such measures as raising the level of technical training, exchanging experience, improving the forms of scientific organization of labor, etc. should be mandatory.

Automated control systems such as automated control systems, automated process control systems, automated control systems, and others, which were included in the model as a single parameter, are very important in terms of effective management.

The importance of electronic databases, expert systems, etc. for the efficient operation of such subsystems as personnel, accounting, planning, etc. there is no doubt, therefore this parameter is also included in the model of the virtual organization proposed by the authors.

R&D was included among the main parameters of the model. This is explained by the fact that the development and implementation of more advanced virtual technologies is a very important aspect of the long-term existence of VO in conditions of the highest competition for the sales market.

Building a model of a virtual organization naturally does not solve the issues of interaction of structural parameters. It is not entirely clear how information technologies, being the core of VO, interact with such a serious parameter as management memory, etc. In essence, the formed working title refers to unknown quantities that require various kinds of research, including empirical ones, on all structural components. It is necessary to conduct research on such elements of virtuality as the organizational age of the HE, the type of business, history, etc. Questions remain in such areas as the intensity of business processes at various stages of HE development, the influence of relationships between people who wish to meet each other halfway to create HE, etc.

I would like to note that, despite the emergence of virtual organizations, other organizational forms will remain relevant due to the existing needs and relationships between people. But it is also necessary today to look for new forms of organizations, to go beyond the well-known stereotypes. If you do not plan today what does not yet exist, then tomorrow it will be impossible to keep up with the changes taking place.

Before embodying the idea of ​​virtualization, it is recommended that you investigate the industry (or market) opportunities for a virtual organization as a first step. The subject of the analysis should be the degree of globalization of the industry, the time frame, the size of costs, the possibility of flexible behavior, the level of product quality and innovative potential. The more clearly the criteria are expressed according to the results of the analysis, the more the industry is suitable for the virtualization of the production of goods.

After making a fundamental decision to create a virtual organization, it is necessary to get answers to a number of questions. In the first place are the needs for additional resources and abilities. To determine them, the company's management must analyze the structure of the production of goods and services from the foundation of the enterprise to its current state, as well as assess the role of its own competencies at each stage of the production process. To make a final decision, it is important to establish the need for cooperation with partners in order to achieve maximum synergies within the new network.

The dilemma "network - partners" involves the definition of the nature of the partnership (individuals, groups of persons, enterprises), the geographical boundaries of the choice of partners, the requirements for them, the list of functions that they must perform in the structure of the virtual organization. It is important to find out to what extent the new network will affect the old boundaries of the enterprise.

Regarding the network architecture , then we are talking about a form that would allow the best to achieve the goals of production of goods in new conditions. This can be a partner pool or an open partnership created to fulfill special orders. Assessment of the capabilities of the existing communication and technological infrastructure raises the question of additional investment and risks associated with the creation of a virtual network.

Partnerships can be built in different ways. Their partial regulation on a contractual basis is possible, but many aspects can exclude a formal approach, and the "trust - contract" dilemma disappears by itself. The company must determine how well it knows its partners, to what extent the business requires personal contacts, whether it is ready to give up power prerogatives. It is also very important to understand the degree of dependence of partners and its impact on the work of the future enterprise.

Network management should be based on your own understanding of the virtual enterprise. It can be guided by a centralized system or autonomous self-government of partners. It is also important to define your own role within the framework of the virtual partnership being created. Global data networks can have a strong influence on the management of the formed network.

The goals of the network are formulated based on the incentives of virtualization itself. This can be time or cost savings, increased flexibility, the need for business internationalization, increased innovation activity, etc. General considerations should form the basis for setting specific goals in the framework of the virtual partnership to be created.

2. Study of the "Virtual Organization".

2.1. Analysis of the features of a virtual organization.

Virtual enterprises are one of the newer organizational forms of enterprises. The development of new forms of organization and enterprise management was largely influenced by such trends in the development of modern markets as the globalization of markets, the growing importance of product quality, its price and the degree of consumer satisfaction, the increasing importance of sustainable relationships with consumers (individual customers), as well as the growing importance of the degree application of new information and communication technologies.

As you know, in the 80s, the main directions for improving the activities of enterprises were total quality management and the use of minimalist strategies aimed at optimal management of various resources. In the 90s, the main slogan was the principles of business process reengineering, aimed at moving from functional units to business processes consisting of autonomous interdisciplinary teams focused on better customer satisfaction. Towards the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 21st century, the transition to virtual and networked principles of organizing enterprises is becoming a key topic.
In some works, virtual enterprise is also denoted by other terms: "networked enterprises", "borderless enterprises", "extended enterprises". As a rule, we are talking about a network of partners (enterprises, organizations, individual teams and people), jointly carrying out activities for the development, production and marketing of certain products.

It should be emphasized that the enterprise virtualization space includes three main categories of phenomena:

Virtual market - a market for goods and services based on the communication and information capabilities of global networks (Internet);

Virtual reality, i.e. display and imitation of real developments and production in cyber space, which is both a tool and an environment;

Virtual (network) organizational forms.

In this course work, it is precisely the features of virtual organizational forms and approaches to managing enterprises using this organizational form that are investigated. Questions regarding the virtual market and virtual reality are practically not touched upon, although in the real activities of enterprises, these three categories may be interrelated.
There are many definitions of the virtual enterprise as a networked organizational form. However, taking into account the peculiarities of the practical functioning of such structures, a virtual enterprise can be defined as a temporary cooperative network of enterprises (organizations, individual teams and people) with key competencies for the best fulfillment of a market order, based on a unified information system.
To identify the “right” structure, a company should first define its goals and what needs to be achieved, and then try to understand which structure will solve these problems. Virtual organizations are not an end in themselves: the transition to virtual forms does not mean “abandoning management” or achieving ultimate goals. From a strategic perspective, virtual organizations should be viewed as a strategic alternative. Moreover, this alternative should be pursued when, and only when, management has analyzed the needs of the business and customers and has concluded that the capabilities of virtual organizations will be much better suited to meet them than traditional forms.

Virtual organizations are largely open to information and communication technologies. It is the Internet that makes virtual organizations simpler and more suitable for various types of businesses. It is now possible to extract information, analyze it and exchange it much faster: in addition, the amount of information has increased significantly.

Every day the Internet is becoming more and more a sphere of doing business. Internet services, online shopping, Internet banking - and the list is growing. Virtual organizations enter our life regardless of our will and consciousness. All of this creates many opportunities, but also many challenges, ranging from additional technology costs to completely new management methods.

From a marketing point of view, the goal of a virtual enterprise is to make a profit by maximizing the satisfaction of the needs and demands of consumers in goods (services) faster and better than potential competitors. Obviously, this goal is inherent in all market-oriented enterprises. But, firstly, virtual enterprises, as a rule, are guided not by meeting the needs and requirements of some "average" market segment, but by fulfilling certain market orders up to meeting certain demands of specific consumers (customers). And, secondly, the virtual enterprise increases the speed and quality of order fulfillment by combining the resources of various partners into a single system.

From a practical point of view, an ordinary ("monolithic") enterprise, for example, requires the attraction of significant resources to develop and bring a new product to the market. In contrast, the virtual enterprise is looking for new partners with the resources, knowledge and capabilities that match the market needs, to jointly organize and implement these activities. Those. enterprises (organizations, individual teams, people) are selected that have key competencies in the form of resources and abilities to achieve a competitive advantage in the market.
As a rule, a partnership is concluded for a certain period or until a certain result is achieved (for example, the fulfillment of an order). In other words, a partnership is temporary, and, for example, at certain stages of the product life cycle or when the market situation changes, new partners may be involved in the network or old ones may be excluded.

Naturally, partner enterprises for the effective functioning of the entire network must be based on an agreed business process. When, for example, in order to best meet market needs, a large number of enterprises, most often geographically remote, are connected into a network, then it is obvious that such enterprises find it difficult to coordinate their actions without operational information and communications. Consequently, to solve information problems, the network must have a unified information system based on the widespread use of new information and communication technologies.

In view of the above, we can highlight the key advantage of virtual forms of organizations: the ability to choose and use the best resources, knowledge and abilities with less time. From this dignity and the network organization itself, such main competitive advantages of virtual enterprises as follows:

Market order execution speed;

Possibility to reduce total costs;

Possibility of more complete satisfaction of the customer's needs;

Possibility of flexible adaptation to environmental changes;

The ability to reduce barriers to entry into new markets.

The analysis of the activities of virtual enterprises showed that the main characteristics of a virtual form of organization are:

Open distributed structure;

Flexibility;

Priority of horizontal links;

Autonomy and narrow specialization of network members;

High status of information and personnel integration tools.
Obviously, planning, organizing and coordinating the activities of virtual enterprises requires appropriate management approaches. It is easy to see that when creating virtual enterprises, there may be enterprises that concentrate their efforts solely on the management of third-party competencies. In this case, such an enterprise must have at least the following capabilities:

Be able to identify and engage the key competencies necessary for the implementation of the project (aspects of knowledge management);

On the basis of the acquired competencies, organize the process of creating and selling products (aspects of the functioning of the network).

Based on this, it is possible to formulate in general terms the main functions of managing a virtual enterprise as a network of partners:

1. Determination of the requirements (tasks) of the project.

2. Search and assessment of potential partners (performers).

3. Allocation of performers who are optimal for the tasks.

4. Attracting and distributing performers.

5. Constant tracking and reallocation (if necessary) of partners and resources for tasks.

Along with the advantages listed above, virtual enterprises also have some disadvantages, more precisely, weak points:

Excessive economic dependence on partners, which is associated with the narrow specialization of network members;

The practical absence of social and material support for their partners due to the abandonment of classical long-term contractual forms and ordinary labor relations;

The danger of overcomplication arising, in particular, from the heterogeneity of the members of the enterprise, the uncertainty about the membership in it, the openness of the networks, the dynamics of self-organization, the uncertainty in planning for the members of the virtual enterprise.

In other words, the principles of virtual organizational forms predetermine the "deficit" of autarchy and motivation of entrepreneurs entering the network. It is obvious that the abandonment of proven organizational and management principles requires certain substitutes. Indeed, within the network approach, the principles of network culture, reciprocity, and a climate of trust are called upon to serve as such substitutes. However, in terms of the level of development, they cannot yet serve as a sufficient basis for compensating for the abolished principles.

The most important condition for the efficiency of VC is the intellectualization of production and management at partner enterprises. To achieve it, it is necessary to systematize corporate knowledge and experience, create distributed and large bases of production knowledge, develop intelligent production systems in which subsystems are capable of autonomous assessments, reasoning and actions. That is, a virtual corporation requires a new thinking of managers, namely: refusal of all-round control, a transition from subordination to informal coordination, mutual trust, the prevalence of efficiency over career aspirations, overcoming the remnants of hierarchical management. An effective solution to these problems requires the development of models and systems of production knowledge management. With their help, a two-pronged task is solved: 1) the acquisition of knowledge that raises the level of the organization's activities; 2) their storage, distribution and transformation into a form convenient for in-house use. This can be achieved through a carefully developed concept of centralization, institutionalization and practical use of accumulated knowledge. In the practice of companies, there are cases of the introduction of the position of a full-time expert (the so-called knowledge broker), who acts as a coordinator between the areas of supply and consumption of knowledge. In the interests of knowledge management, cross-functional project teams are formed, and special computer systems are created.

Virtual organizations should be run at five plus. Management must strictly adhere to the fundamentals of the business and quickly grasp the features of the new environment, be able not only to use the latest technologies, but also to "think virtually", to work in a world where imagination and creativity are very important, but where no one has canceled the hard facts and data. Balance has to be struck, and failure to achieve it often means failure in business.

Before embodying the idea of ​​virtualization, as a first step, it is recommended to research industry opportunities(or market) for the operation of a virtual organization. The subject of the analysis should be the degree of globalization of the industry, the time frame, the size of costs, the possibility of flexible behavior, the level of product quality and innovative potential. The more clearly the criteria are expressed according to the results of the analysis, the more the industry is suitable for the virtualization of the production of goods.

After making a fundamental decision to create a virtual organization, it is necessary to get answers to a number of questions. In the first place are the need for additional resources and capabilities. To determine them, the company's management must analyze the structure of the production of goods and services from the foundation of the enterprise to its current state, as well as assess the role of its own competencies at each stage of the production process. To make a final decision, it is important to establish the need for cooperation with partners in order to achieve maximum synergies within the new network.

Dilemma "Network - partners" involves determining the nature of the partnership (individuals, groups of persons, enterprises), the geographical boundaries of the choice of partners, the requirements for them, the list of functions that they must perform in the structure of the virtual organization. It is important to find out to what extent the new network will affect the old boundaries of the enterprise.

Concerning network architecture, then we are talking about a form that would allow the best to achieve the goals of production of goods in new conditions. This can be a partner pool or an open partnership created to fulfill special orders. Assessment of the capabilities of the existing communication and technological infrastructure raises the question of additional investment and risks associated with the creation of a virtual network.
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the process of development of network and virtual forms of organizations is characterized by the lag of fundamental scientific research behind practical experience. While the success of many functioning virtual enterprises is evident, in the broader context many questions remain open about the organization and operation of virtual enterprises. Some of the problems here can be assessed as a kind of growing pain inherent in any innovative concept.

The determining factor in the formation of the functions of a virtual enterprise will probably be a simple enumeration of business processes. Business processes of a virtual enterprise are in many ways similar to the standard ones used in any enterprise: accounting, marketing, logistics, etc. But new, specific ones will also be added: search for agents-contractors, negotiations of agents of a virtual enterprise, replacement of agents in case of default, etc. business processes of a virtual enterprise, despite the apparent similarity with business processes of traditional enterprises, are still different. They should take into account the tendency of mutual compensation for disadvantages and the strengthening of the advantages of the companies of agents involved in these processes. For example, you can combine the strengths of large enterprises (powerful but slow to respond to project or market changes) and small enterprises that lack resources but are able to quickly respond to changes and rebuild.

The clarification of the functions should be the development of a business model for the functioning of a virtual enterprise, that is, a scheme and sequence of negotiations, actions, information exchange of all persons participating in the virtual production on the implementation of a virtual order. The technologies that implement the functions of the virtual enterprise should be selected based on the latest achievements of business sciences. For the tasks of a virtual enterprise, these will be service-oriented technologies, converged solutions in the field of communications, the implementation of the principles of "business on demand", etc.

The issues of determining the geography ("landscape") of the execution of a virtual order and specific industries are inextricably linked with the choice of agents who, as a rule, represent the interests of geographically fixed companies. The pooling of resources when creating virtual organizations is characterized by territorial independence: the formation of resource requests and restrictions, as well as the solution of production tasks are carried out regardless of the location of the companies.

At the organizational level, they should be linked by modern means of communication, which at present can already be successfully implemented by means of remote and delimited access, teamwork, etc. standards for "understanding" each other when "assembling" individual elements into a product (service). The task is complex, and there are many fundamental problems, sometimes unsolvable within the accepted paradigms of management and production, for example, joint integration during the execution of a virtual order of legacy software systems developed on different bases at different times. And yet the need for such standardization is recognized, and industrialized countries are confidently moving in this direction.

Multi-agent technologies, in which the optimal solution is obtained as a result of the interaction of many independent targeted software modules - the so-called agents representing interests and acting on behalf of individuals or legal entities, are already being actively developed. The greatest difficulty here is the construction of a model for the choice and interaction of agents. In the literature, it is assumed that negotiations will be known to be successful, but this thesis should be questioned. Conflicts during negotiations between intelligent agents have not yet been investigated enough, and they can cause the collapse of a virtual enterprise even in the process of its creation. The success of modern technologies for organizing operational and effective interaction of companies located in time and space is significantly ahead of the results, for example, in the field of determining the psychological compatibility of owners, shareholders, top managers involved in the execution of a virtual order of production. A number of works point to an emerging paradox: today's competitor in one area may tomorrow become the most successful “agent” in a virtual project from another area of ​​knowledge, if his competence prevails. In this case, the very concept of "competition" for the environment of virtual enterprises still needs to be understood; so far, we can only say that there will be competition between the "agents" of future participants seeking to prove their exceptional competence in this area and become one of the partners.

The issues of managing virtual companies are also quite confusing yet. The main functions of managing a virtual enterprise as a network of partners, apparently, consist in defining tasks and clarifying the requirements of a virtual project, selecting and assessing possible partner agents (executors), monitoring the implementation of the project as a whole, redistributing (if necessary) tasks, replacing partners and resources. There are three main types of virtual enterprises:

with a centralized type of management, in which “agents” act on behalf of their organizations, and one of the “agents” manages the process: understands the task, issues tasks to other “agents”, summarizes the results and makes a decision;

with a distributed type of management, where knowledge and resources are distributed among the "agents", but the general body of command control remains, which makes decisions in conflict situations;

with a decentralized type of management, in which all management processes are carried out only through local interactions between "agents".

The elimination of the need for standard administrative governance structures is one of the most important benefits of virtual enterprises. Indeed, the coordination superstructure of the virtual enterprise is primarily responsible for targeted coordination of efforts. Nevertheless, management is always present in the form of one of the dedicated agents, a general body of command management, etc. And here it is very important to develop a management and decision-making model, develop criteria and indicators for strategic management of a virtual enterprise, a balanced scorecard for assessing the quality of a virtual order , form groups dealing with conflict resolution. All these tasks are quite complex.

A virtual company is created by selecting the human, organizational, methodological and technological resources of various enterprises to form a flexible, dynamic organizational system, with the aim of the early release of new products and their prompt delivery to the market. The main issue is the allocation of resources required to fulfill the virtual order, assessing their sufficiency and effectiveness. The performers of the virtual order are forced to act not just jointly, but in a very close informational connection. One of the main functions in this case is the search and delivery to the "agents" of various information of both managerial and technical nature.

2.2. Differences between traditional and virtual organizations.

Obviously, virtual corporations have almost nothing to do with traditional forms of organization. Another question is, which of them is more adapted to the constantly changing economy and the need for constant reorganization and development? To answer this question, it is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis of traditional organizations and VC. The results of this analysis are presented in the appendix (table 1).

So, it is quite clear that virtual corporations have greater dynamism and flexibility, both in changing partners and changing the scope of their activities. Traditional associations are focused on longer-term projects, which makes it impossible for them to adequately respond to changes in the market situation. Bulky, and sometimes just gigantic, structures require huge capital investments (this is primarily due to management costs). In the field of management, VCs have made a significant step forward compared to the traditional hierarchical structure of many associations. The hierarchical management structure, where each new situation is brought to the highest level, where decisions are made, becomes inoperative in the modern rapidly changing world. In contrast to this VC, a network structure is used, where everyone is available to everyone, and the functions of leading managers are limited to organizing joint work, recruiting personnel, and training. Virtual organizations provide a significant competitive advantage by significantly reducing the cost of fixed and operating assets. These are, perhaps, the most significant advantages of VC over traditional forms of organization.

Minor physical structure it is much less developed in virtual organizations than in traditional ones. The tangible assets of virtual organizations, for example, office buildings, warehouses, etc., are not so large, and those that are available are usually distributed geographically. If we consider the situation from the point of view of operation, then small, decentralized objects are preferable to huge and concentrated in one place.

Flexibility and responsiveness: virtual organizations can (at least in theory) be formed from various disparate elements to achieve a specific business goal and dismantled once it has been achieved. In addition, assets can be quickly restructured and redeployed as required by a changed strategy. Since operating costs are low, costs and risks are reduced when implementing radical changes in course. Of all the requirements for virtualized organizations, this probably seems the most controversial. This is where the potential for flexibility in virtual organizations obviously lies; however, it requires flexibility in the work of managers and employees. Innovation requires new approaches to HR strategy.

Modern information and communication technologies play a central role and are considered by many to be the core of the concept of virtual organizations. On some level, this is true. The Internet and other technologies that are being created and developed today are becoming critical. Every organization needs a structure that defines it and gives it shape. Traditional companies use a physical structure such as an office building; in virtual organizations, a communications network serves the same purpose. Technology is a tool that allows you to get work done. They make the work of organizations easier, but they are not organizations themselves - just as we cannot say that an office building is a traditional company or is a company.

Work mobility: the use of communications networks rather than buildings and physical assets means that the physical location of work is less important these days. As a result, there is no need for departments and teams to work in close physical contact with each other. Project teams can be assembled - and in many industries, such as publishing, as they do - from individual employees residing in different countries; they will work together, but they will never see each other. No need to do office work. The rule is becoming more and more true: the office is where they work, and not vice versa.

No boundaries and engagement: By their nature, virtual organizations are deliberately blurred. They are not limited so that we perceive them as separate, legally defined organizations or companies (and here, of course, lies a different level of complexity). They can - and often do - link suppliers and distributors into tight supply chains that can be hard to see where one company ends and another begins.

When we talk about virtual organizations, we mean organizations with virtual elements (or, if you prefer, virtual organizations with tangible elements). The difference may seem insignificant, but it is not. In virtual organizations, tangible elements are still used: firstly, when dealing with a new environment, it requires training in new skills, and secondly, managers also need training and practice in the area of ​​basic management skills.

There are many definitions of the virtual enterprise as a networked organizational form. Taking into account the peculiarities of the practical functioning of such structures, a virtual enterprise can be defined as a voluntary, temporary, flexible form of cooperation of several, as a rule, independent partners (enterprises, institutions, individuals) with key competencies for the best fulfillment of a market order. It is based on a single information system and provides great benefits to customers.

The virtual enterprise has no institutional and structural framework, similar to an ordinary enterprise, which significantly changes the organizational and managerial foundations of its functioning. Virtual enterprises operate on the basis of coordinated ideas about the content of the business process and the culture of mutual trust of cooperation partners. Partners share their core competencies in the form of resources and capabilities to achieve the set goal cheaper, faster and with a competitive advantage.

The purpose of the virtual enterprise- this is making a profit by meeting the needs of consumers in goods and services better than potential competitors. This goal is inherent in all market-oriented enterprises. But, firstly, virtual enterprises, as a rule, are focused not on meeting the needs and requirements of some "average" market segment, but on fulfilling market orders, up to meeting certain requests of specific customers. And, secondly, they increase the speed and quality of order fulfillment by combining the resources of various partners into a single network.

A typical business requires significant resources to develop and bring a new product to market. In contrast, a virtual enterprise does not acquire resources for itself, but seeks new partners with the appropriate resources, knowledge and abilities to jointly organize and implement this activity. In other words, enterprises (organizations, individual teams, people) are selected that have key competencies in the form of resources and abilities to achieve a competitive advantage in the market.

Partnership is concluded for a specific period or until the desired result is obtained (for example, the fulfillment of an order). A partnership is a temporary phenomenon, since at certain stages of the product life cycle or when the market situation changes, new partners may be involved in the network or old ones may be withdrawn. For the effective functioning of the entire network, partner enterprises must be based on an agreed business process.

To best meet market needs, many enterprises, most often geographically distant, are networked. For businesses to coordinate their actions, operational information and communication is necessary. To solve information problems, a unified information system is being created based on the widespread use of new information and communication technologies.

It is possible to highlight the key advantage of virtual forms of organization in comparison with traditional ones: the ability to choose and use the best resources, knowledge and abilities with less time. This advantage and the network organization itself derive such its main competitive advantages as a high speed of fulfilling a market order, the ability to reduce total costs, more complete satisfaction of customer needs, flexible adaptation to environmental changes, the ability to quickly enter and develop new markets.

The main characteristics of a virtual enterprise include:

Ø flexible network structure of the organization with a pronounced priority of horizontal links;

Ø high professionalism of network members;

Ø autonomy of their work and narrow specialization;

Ø availability of developed information integration tools.

Taking into account this specificity, it is possible to formulate non-traditional management functions for a virtual enterprise as a network of partners:

Ø definition of the goal and objectives of the project;

Ø search, assessment and selection of partners corresponding to its tasks;

Ø attraction and distribution of performers;

Ø redistribution of partners and resources according to tasks in the process of their execution.

The networked approach uses the principles of governance inherent in networked culture, reciprocity, and a climate of trust.

Virtual enterprises also have certain disadvantages. These include:

increased economic dependence on partners associated with the narrow specialization of network members;

lack of proper social support for their partners due to the rejection of classic long-term contractual forms and ordinary labor relations;

the danger of excessive complication of relations arising from the heterogeneity of the members of the enterprise;

ambiguity in relation to membership in the enterprise and the dynamics of its self-organization.

Research of various virtual organizations.

Intra-organizational networks encompass a wide range of work from home and telecommuting, as well as work using knowledge banks or knowledge networks. Their common feature is the unification of individual employees into a single network using modern information and communication technologies. The pioneers in this part of the virtual work organization are IBM, Siemens, as well as large consulting companies and banks.

Currently there are many inter-organizational dynamic networks, which go beyond the boundaries of one enterprise:

temporary modular network brings together system partners with a clear focus on key competencies. Such a network is characterized by low interchangeability of partners, limited lifetime, asymmetric dependence of partners in the network. Cooperation between Mercedes and Swatch (Smart Car) shows how system partners manage to distribute investment risks and achieve the intended results;

network for individual orders is designed to mobilize project-oriented, high-quality resources. The interchangeability of partners is provided, the terms of orders are strictly limited, the dependence of partners in the network is symmetrical. In the state of Baden-Württemberg, the waste management consulting agency ABAG organizes for the group for the respective tasks. The work of the network testifies that with the help of a small permanent team, it is possible to achieve efficient execution of orders even in the public sector. There are several other similar virtual entities operating in Germany;

target networks in the field of air and road transport, insurance, as well as in the chemical industry show how, using virtual cooperation, “smart” solutions can be offered to the market. Flexible networks make it possible to optimize customer service. Cooperation in such networks, characterized by a high degree of openness and symmetric dependence of partners, is designed to offer common solutions;

centrally managed network practiced in particular by Nintendo. The experience of such a virtual enterprise demonstrates the ability to survive with a worldwide network of replaceable partners that focuses on its own core competencies. The firm specializes in the coordination and management of production processes. Broker networks with asymmetric partner dependencies can serve as a classic example of the use of such virtual forms. Flexibility in decision-making (like “make or buy”) and one-sided substitution of partners are characteristic;

long term network pools serve to create customized virtual enterprises. The basis of cooperation is trust in partners and common values. Such pools are characterized by symmetric dependence of network partners. An example of this type of enterprise is the German regional organization Euregio. Such virtual education is of greatest interest to small and medium-sized enterprises, which, thanks to such cooperation, provide an opportunity to receive orders and reduce costs;

interdisciplinary knowledge networks are an association of know-how carriers (individuals or organizations). They are characterized by centralized management that goes beyond the execution of individual orders, symmetric dependence of partners. The creation of such a network of knowledge and a consistent focus on manufacturing know-how have enabled the Taiwanese high-tech firm Startek to achieve worldwide recognition;

networks for large projects are open organizations aimed at the rational pooling of resources. To attract key competencies and finance in the world market, they widely use the Internet system;

ad hoc networks are oriented towards the fulfillment of individual orders with digital data transmission. The services of the Internet system are used. With the help of such networks, world-renowned high-class partners are attracted to participate.

Remote communication of VK participants is based on NetWare network tools, and Groupware groupware is used to support the processes of cooperation and collaboration.

The Groupware family can be divided into several classes:

messaging systems;

computer teleconferencing support systems;

support systems for group decision making and electronic meetings;

coordination systems.

By far the simplest and most widely used tools to support group work are messaging systems such as e-mail and text-based electronic conferencing. More advanced systems use multimedia and shared access. Co-authoring and argumentation systems are designed to support group problem solving and negotiation processes.

Knowledge management and resource sharing.
The most important condition for the efficiency of VC is the intellectualization of production and management at partner enterprises. To achieve it, it is necessary to systematize corporate knowledge and experience, create distributed and large bases of production knowledge, develop intelligent production systems in which subsystems are capable of autonomous assessments, reasoning and actions. An effective solution to these problems requires the development of models and systems of production knowledge management. The main role of knowledge management in VC is to share it among the participants so that everyone can perceive and use corporate knowledge in the processes of distributed problem solving.
Knowledge management systems (KMS) are beginning to play an important role. The main requirements for them: flexibility, the ability to search, sensitivity to context, adaptation to use, predictability. Already today on the KMS market there are both simple systems that ensure the performance of individual functions of corporate knowledge management (for example, a Grape-vine collaborative filtration system), and complex integrated systems (for example, Fulcrum, an enterprise-wide knowledge management system).
CORBA and CALS technologies, STEP standard.

One of the key problems in creating a VC is the integration of an object-oriented approach and distributed computing. Many developers are engaged in this, among which the international consortium OMG (Object Management Group) stands out. He proposed the OMA object management architecture, which is the basis of the CORBA standard, which provides interoperability and interoperability of objects in a computer network.
The main idea of ​​this architecture is to represent any task in the form of interaction of objects distributed across different computers. The CORBA object model defines how clients and servers communicate. Clients are applications that request services, and servers are applications that provide those services. The role of CORBA technology for VC is that it defines a system that provides "transparent" interaction between objects in a heterogeneous distributed environment.
Reliance on CALS-technology (CALS - Continuous Acquisition and Life Cycle Support) has become the "calling card" of VK in mechanical engineering. The forerunners of these technologies were the ideas of "paperless informatics" based on electronic data exchange, put forward in the early 70s by Academician V. M. Glushkov. They were embodied in the mainstream of the global CALS strategy, which began to develop in the United States through the Department of Defense and defense industries. The goal was to efficiently organize and integrate data exchange and management in the design, production and logistics support of weapons systems. In the future, CALS technology began to be successfully applied in civilian industries, making it possible to increase the efficiency of using the computer resources of enterprises at all stages of the product life cycle, as well as to significantly reduce paper documentation.
CALS as a global strategy for the exchange and management of data within the VC allows:

reduce the number of paper documents;

improve the consistency of data from different VK participants;

reduce the reaction time of VK to unexpected changes in market conditions;

better integrate design and production;

reduce errors in cooperative design and distributed manufacturing processes.

CALS standards cover a wide range of areas, including the uniform presentation of text and graphic information, complex information structures and design data, manufacturing and maintenance, as well as video, audio and multimedia data transmission, data storage, documentation, etc.

The set of ISO 10303 STEP standards occupies a special position. STEP application covers all types of manufactured and intermediate engineering products at all stages of the life cycle, including all specialties.

The complexity of modern life, the formation of new socio-economic relations in line with the information society put on the agenda the development of a new interdisciplinary learning model. There is a significant conceptual shift towards self-study, where important sources of information, in addition to ordinary lectures and books, are databases and knowledge, multimedia, etc., the teacher is the coordinator of the educational process, and the student himself is the interpreter of knowledge.
The virtual chair is the most advanced unit of an educational institution in the era of the information society, the best in terms of the available economic and technical conditions. It is a kind of networked, computer-oriented organization of people and virtual agents located in different places. Such a department does not exist in real physical space, but is created through informational integration of the required pedagogical, educational, methodological, software and technical and other resources selected from various departments, faculties and universities. An artificial organization is formed electronically, which functions in a virtual space. Creation of virtual departments using real departments of different sizes will reduce or eliminate the disadvantages and enhance the advantages of the latter.
So, for example, it is possible to combine the capabilities of large, long-established monodisciplinary departments with rich pedagogical resources and traditions, but possessing strong inertia and poorly adapting to market requirements, and small new departments, sometimes lacking resources, but capable of quickly responding to changes and promptly receive orders in the field of educational services.
The concept of a virtual chair is an important application of general methods and principles for the development of virtual organizations and enterprises, developed in the context of reengineering based on new information and communication technologies. In addition, it is also closely related to the concepts of J. Kerr's multi-university and virtual university, virtual laboratory and virtual classroom. The concept of virtual chairs is a natural development of the ideas of distance education.
An interesting domestic example of building a virtual classroom is the development carried out at the Department of Information Technologies of the Russian State Technological University named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky - MATI. As a result, a heterogeneous Internet network was created with the possibility of organizing video conferencing. The network includes more than 40 workstations based on various computers. Within the framework of this network, an educational process was organized on a web server, about 10 electronic textbooks and multimedia information systems were developed and installed using QuickTime VR technologies and streaming video and audio data on the network. Experience has been gained in digitizing video images and video films, building virtual panoramas and computer animation tools for educational purposes.

In conclusion, I would like to note that, despite the coming economy and the emergence of a virtual organization, other organizational forms will remain relevant due to the existing needs and relationships between people.

It is necessary today to look for new forms of organization, to go beyond the well-known stereotypes in accordance with the opportunities that the Internet opens up. If you do not plan today what does not yet exist, then tomorrow it will be impossible to keep up with the ongoing changes.

Science today is characterized by growing specialization and communication. In the information society, the process of interaction is of decisive importance. It's not the computers themselves that work, but their connections. Everything connects with everyone, and there is not only a widespread dissemination of information, but also linking into a single whole. This is the reason for the emergence of a market for virtual projects, where it is possible to create a trilateral "information partnership" with your suppliers and customers.

In the context of direct and operational contacts via the Internet, these links can turn into cooperation aimed at collectively finding ways to increase efficiency along the entire chain from demand to consumption, as well as share the benefits obtained. Examples include Cisco System, General Electric, Dell, Ford, Visa, and others.

When a customer can effortlessly evaluate alternative offerings, only a special relationship with the company can keep the customer from going over to the competition. That is, customer loyalty is becoming a key competitive advantage of the company.

The cost of acquiring a new customer is 5 times higher than the cost of retaining an existing one. Accordingly, investments "in relationships" seem to be fully justified and even necessary. But it’s important to remember that the need to create a special relationship only arises when the buyer can see added value in it. Then, due to the establishment of long-term trusting, even friendly, relationships with clients, flexibility and a stable position of the organization in the market are ensured, otherwise the effect will not be achieved.

The modern level of telecommunication and computer technologies allows the virtual organization to interact with each of the consumers individually, taking into account the unique priorities in terms of price, quality of products, services provided, etc.

The consumer himself provides data about himself and his preferences by registering on the site, making purchases. Storing and processing such a huge data flow is impossible without the use of special information systems e-CRM (Electronic Customer Relationship Management), which are fully integrated with the organization's website and record all the information on it.

E-CRM systems register and analyze all contacts between a buyer and a seller made through the organization's website or by e-mail, information about customer preferences, history of previous purchases and contacts is recorded.

At the same time, we can talk about segmentation, when each customer is a separate segment, and the virtual organization is always engaged in individual, personalized interaction with customers.

Accordingly, the development, design, production and sale of a product in the context of "mass customization" become a single process aimed at solving a specific problem of the buyer.

Today, a manager does not have to be in the same building with his employees: technologies of instant messaging, e-mail, web, television and video conferencing allow leading the team from a distance. "All of these technologies, especially instant messaging technology, allow you to quickly find out where your employees are, what they are doing and what part of the work they have already completed," says Sismans. In a world where 20% of employees have never seen their boss in person, such technology is essential.

However, if employees communicate only using e-mail and instant messages, social problems can arise in the team. Text messages are not able to accurately convey the intonation and mood of the author. Misunderstood written comments can cause resentment and even conflict, and the author of such comments may not receive an answer, which will only exacerbate the situation. In short, notes Karen Sobel Logesky, asynchronous communication technology "gives rise to a number of real problems associated with the emotional component of communication."
A person receives at least 70% of information visually, therefore video conferencing creates a more convenient environment for social interaction than audio technologies and texts.

The revolutionary TelePresence communication solution developed by Cisco transmits speech and images of remote employees so realistically that, according to Jan Sismans, “they immediately forget that they are in different rooms and behave absolutely naturally, which allows effective discussion of any issues in the virtual setting ". In this regard, according to Sismans, Cisco TelePresence will not only increase the productivity of virtual workgroups, but also radically change the way you do business. However, he admits that even such a perfect technology is not able to completely replace face-to-face communication.

Conclusion.

We live in a very interesting time, when stability is replaced by unpredictability, and the reality is constant changes that lead to the prosperity of some and the death of other economic forms. The engine of these changes is information technologies, which make it possible to process the required amount of data in a matter of time and provide optimal solutions, link geographically dispersed production structures, develop a strategy and tactics for world trade and, ultimately, create opportunities for building a global economy. In this work, it was considered how viable and promising new types of organization emerging in these conditions, called "virtual" ones, are.

The world that recently surrounded us was more or less stable and predictable. The realities of the modern world are completely different: every now and then unexpected shifts and changes occur in it, giving rise to huge opportunities for the development of some and the quick death of others. Most of these changes occur due to new information technologies, with the help of which it becomes possible to process huge layers of information, which leads to the globalization of the economy and the acceleration of change. Fundamentally new types of organizations are emerging - virtual ones.

They appear at the right time in the right place for the realization of opportunities and disappear after. Such "super speed" is already possible technologically, the question is for the organization, for people, tasks, methods and techniques of management, and here trust, discipline and mutual understanding, on which relations between people are built, come first.

The Internet, as a new business environment, has its own patterns of development and rules, a new culture, dynamics of change, which requires organizations to have a new quality for successful work. The name of this new, necessary organizational quality is virtuality.

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Table No. 1.

Differences between traditional and virtual organizations

Differences between traditional and virtual organizations
Cooperation form	The main goal	Typical signs	Differences from a virtual organization
Group or project organization	Individual projects to solve complex and risky tasks	Temporary organizational structure Collaboration of various departments and hierarchical levels	Restriction to specific areas of tasks dictated by the industry or market environment Lack of strategic management concept
In-house organizational education	Pseudo-independent structures to improve efficiency	Pseudo-independent units Self-organization Intra-firm entrepreneurship	A temporary cooperation network is not Third party competencies are not linked
"Keiretsu"	Cohesion of a merchant, several industrial enterprises and one large bank (or insurance company)	The union is based on cultural ties The closest contacts with politicians and the administration Using synergies to conquer the market	Cooperation for an indefinite period Low flexibility when changing partners Complex financial ties (cross holding)
Strategic alliance or joint venture	Economic cooperation to gain advantages in time, costs, know-how	Long-term cooperation with mutual participation Use of the general process of production of goods	Long-term cooperation with few partners As a rule, mutual participation in capital Usually rigid, strong contractual ties
Submitting work to the side	Isolation and transfer of peculiar tasks to a third party	Concentration on own competencies Contractual, not cultural ties Separate phases of the production of goods	The classic make-or-buy approach Contractual relationships usually with one partner Moving parts of production outside the enterprise
Multinational enterprise	International, sometimes global activities of businesses to benefit from increased scale or product mix Marketing and its application in domestic markets Virtual Enterprise ( organization). 1.1. The concept " virtual enterprises ”and the reasons for its appearance. Virtual ... virtual organization... Most fully in virtual organizations ... Virtual company Abstract >> Management Obviously for planning, organization and coordination of activities virtual companies need and appropriate management ... capabilities of companies are disproportionate. Emerging forms virtual organization businesses have a number of advantages that ...

HANS A. WYUTRICH
Professor
ANDREAS F. PHILIP
Assistant, Project Manager "Virtual Enterprise"
Bundeswehr University, Munich (Germany)

The virtual enterprise as a temporary form of cooperation provides customers with benefits by optimizing the system of production of goods
As a result of pooling the resources and competencies of partners, the virtual organization achieves a synergistic effect
The classic industrial society may be replaced by
not informational, but a society that knows no boundaries

In control theory, the definition of “virtual” has become a key one. More and more people are talking about virtual sales, banking, foundations, factories and organizations. In principle, a virtual enterprise has the same capabilities and potential as a traditional one. But at the same time, it lacks such an institutional and structural framework. Such a “quasi-organization” can be defined as follows:

virtual enterprise- This is a voluntary temporary form of cooperation of several, usually independent partners (enterprises, institutions, individuals), which, thanks to the optimization of the system of production of goods, provides great benefits to clients. On the basis of a consistent understanding of the content of the business process and a clearly expressed culture of trust, cooperation partners share their core competencies in the form of resources and abilities to achieve results better, cheaper, faster, more flexible and with a competitive advantage on an international scale. From the client's point of view, the dynamic network acts as a single enterprise, using the capabilities of the most modern information and communication technologies.

Examples of more concise definitions of a virtual enterprise can be cited. Thus, the German researcher K. Bleicher understands a virtual corporation as an interorganizational flexible enterprise created for a while, the main goal of which is to obtain benefits through the expansion of the range of goods and services.

In the mid-1990s, a group of German and Swiss researchers carried out a project to study virtual pioneer enterprises. Its main idea is to obtain initial information about them and to determine the methodological basis for further research. The project focused on "real" virtualization, i.e. the sources of information were data on the practical activities of virtual pioneer enterprises.

The study covered over 50 virtual organizations in various industries and countries, six of which were particularly closely monitored. The research methodology included personal, semi-standardized interviews with entrepreneurs and senior managers of virtual enterprises in Asia, the United States and Western Europe. The project was supported by the Swiss Society for Organizations, which published the overview “Benefits of Virtualization” in the fall of 1997.

Real virtuality and its types

The virtualization space includes four categories of phenomena - virtual marketplace, virtual reality, and intra- and inter-organizational networking. The latter are covered by one concept - virtual organizational forms. In intraorganizational forms, the degree of expression of virtuality as a correspondence to its specific features is lower than in interorganizational forms (see diagram). In virtual space, boundaries between categories and types of virtualization can overlap.

Under virtual market means communication and information services for commercial purposes offered by the Internet system. The elements of the electronic market are:

Free access to the market and equality of partners;

Voluntary participation and exposure to market events to the influence of participants;

Increasing market transparency while reducing differences in partners' awareness.

Virtual markets operating in real time allow for trade that spans the entire world around the clock, as a result of which space and time-related ideas about the market become meaningless, and the corresponding services help to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of trade in general and distribution in particular, and also improve customer satisfaction. The core words here are virtual shopping, banking, training, virtual fairs, virtual publishing, e-commerce, etc.

A virtual reality Is an imitation of real processes of development and production in cyberspace, which is both an environment and a tool at the same time. As a tool, it allows you to intuitively build complex structures, as a medium, it makes it possible to mentally imagine a product, buildings, workplaces, machines and equipment before they take on a real existence. At the same time, a person is perceived as part of a virtual environment, which, with the help of a combination of spatial, sound and visual signals, forms a qualitatively new understanding of things. Through the study of virtual reality, an attempt is made to establish a connection between the environmental and technical aspects of interactive communication. The main areas of use of the results of these studies are the creation of virtual prototypes, as well as virtual planning of labor and production.

Intra-organizational networks cover a wide range work at home and works using telecommunication means, as well as works using knowledge banks or knowledge networks. Their common feature is the unification of individual employees into a single network using modern information and communication technologies. The pioneers in this part of the virtual work organization are IBM, Siemens, as well as large consulting companies and banks.

Currently there are many inter-organizational dynamic networks, which go beyond the boundaries of one enterprise:

temporary modular network brings together system partners with a clear focus on key competencies. Such a network is characterized by low interchangeability of partners, limited lifetime, asymmetric dependence of partners in the network. Cooperation between Mercedes and Swatch (Smart Car) shows how system partners manage to distribute investment risks and achieve the intended results;

network for individual orders is designed to mobilize project-oriented, high-quality resources. The interchangeability of partners is provided, the terms of orders are strictly limited, the dependence of partners in the network is symmetrical. In the state of Baden-Württemberg, the waste management consulting agency ABAG organizes for the group for the respective tasks. The work of the network testifies that with the help of a small permanent team, it is possible to achieve efficient execution of orders even in the public sector. There are several other similar virtual entities operating in Germany;

target networks in the field of air and road transport, insurance, as well as in the chemical industry show how, using virtual cooperation, “smart” solutions can be offered to the market. Flexible networks make it possible to optimize customer service. Cooperation in such networks, characterized by a high degree of openness and symmetric dependence of partners, is designed to offer common solutions;

centrally managed network practiced in particular by Nintendo. The experience of such a virtual enterprise demonstrates the ability to survive with a worldwide network of replaceable partners that focuses on its own core competencies. The firm specializes in the coordination and management of production processes. Broker networks with asymmetric partner dependencies can serve as a classic example of the use of such virtual forms. Flexibility in decision-making (like “make or buy”) and one-sided substitution of partners are characteristic;

The dominant feature of the development of modern society is the introduction of information technology and computer communications in all areas of activity. The term information age (information age) has become international and characterizes a qualitatively new stage of development, in which information plays a leading role and determines the nature of all economic, social and political processes.

The information revolution has an impact on the nature of the business of any enterprise. The very concept of an enterprise, traditionally defined as a separate production and technological organization that combines labor with the means of production for the production of goods and services, loses its essential characteristics of isolation, spatial and territorial localization. Network or virtual organizations are developing, that is, organizations in which the boundaries between its participants, resources and departments are blurred due to intensive information exchange. One of the prerequisites for the emergence of such enterprises is the rapid growth of television technology and telecommunications, which eliminates the need for spatial concentration of participants in a single labor process. The end result of an enterprise's activities - products and services - is also transforming. In the national product of developed countries, an increasing proportion is taken not by material, but by virtual products and services.

At the same time, in the domestic economic literature, the issue of the classification and practical applicability of the developed methods in the field of virtual (from Latin virtualis - possible) marketing is practically not disclosed.

Hence, my goal is to systematize advanced approaches to information and software for the marketing activities of enterprises.

The functional essence of virtual marketing

Virtual marketing is a system of knowledge about a reasonable offer of goods on the market based on information technologies that integrate marketing activities in the internal and external environment of the enterprise.

The use of computer technology makes it possible to provide the following advantages of virtual marketing compared to marketing based on traditional technologies:

1) lack of spatial localization, the ability to carry out activities outside the context of a specific territory or local market;

2) ensuring the possibility of reducing the time for finding partners, making deals, developing new products, etc .;

3) a decrease in the asymmetry of information (its incompleteness and uneven distribution) and, as a result, a decrease in information transaction costs;

4) reduction of other transaction costs, including overhead costs (travel expenses, losses from failed, illegal or unfair transactions); reducing the risk associated with uncertainty;

5) reduction of transformation costs due to the optimal choice of the structure of the product range, reduction of time for the development and implementation of a new projection, reasonable pricing policy, reduction in the number of intermediaries and sales costs, etc .;

6) rationalization of the management structure, including by compressing it vertically, reducing and combining a number of functions, and solidarizing responsibility.

According to the nature of the functions performed, virtual marketing can be divided into three areas: the study of the external environment, the organization of internal marketing activities, specific areas of activity.

The practical implementation of virtual marketing is possible on the basis of the creation of an enterprise marketing information system, i.e. systems of constant tracking, storage and processing of marketing data necessary for the development of management decisions. An enterprise marketing information system may include:

1. information block (databases);

2. bank of models and methods;

3. software and integrated systems. Let's consider the capabilities of these blocks in more detail.

Database. The marketing information block consists of databases replenished through field and desk research. Field research in virtual marketing is limited by e-polling and teleconferencing methods. The largest share is occupied by desk research, which is carried out by searching for secondary information in electronic and paper form. At the same time, paper media still occupy the largest share among sources of information. For example, according to expert estimates, in the United States, only 12% of information is presented in electronic form and in a structured manner; about 15% - unstructured data in electronic form (text information); about 73% of information is traditionally stored on paper.

In Russia, paper-based information carriers are currently also the most popular. However, the use of these media is greatly facilitated in cases of using various optical image recognition systems, scanners, etc.

Let us consider in more detail the possibilities of obtaining secondary information using information technologies, which make it possible to use the following sources of information.

To study the external environment of marketing, general statistical and demographic data are used to assess the state of the market, the prospects for its development, trends in supply and demand. This sector of information sources covers information from state statistics, economic forecasts, analytical studies carried out by various organizations and specialists. results of public opinion polls and sociological studies. Databases of accounting and statistical information are developed by international organizations (World Bank, UNIDO, etc.), bodies of the State Statistics Committee, the Customs Committee, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, and research institutes. Despite the fact that these organizations are constantly improving statistical accounting systems, methods of collecting and processing information, a large amount of information is out of sight: uncontrolled export-import operations, production withdrawn from the sphere of taxation, "shuttle trade", etc. Therefore, a necessary addition to the data obtained are economic forecasts and analytical studies, which can be obtained from electronic versions of business and specialized journals.

In addition to general statistics, marketing uses a wide range of commercial information. In accordance with the growing needs of entrepreneurs in Russia, there is a fairly intensive growth of commercial information products and firms engaged in marketing research. Currently, there are four types of information databases on the market that can become external sources for the formation of enterprise databases.

1) Databases of the first type are the most numerous. They contain the name of the company, its postal and communication details. They are used to establish contractual relations, as well as to form a mailing list;

2) Databases of the second type, in addition to the specified information, contain information about the supplied and consumed products. The information they contain can be used to find business partners, analyze competition, market segmentation, and position products.

3) Databases of the third type in addition to a more complete presentation; information also provide for the possibility of additions and corrections. Information about firms in similar products contains three blocks: address and telephone information, technical and economic indicators, commercial proposals of the enterprise. The first and third blocks are universal for all industries, the second block takes into account the specifics of each industry. The possibility of additions and corrections is provided by purchasing a special program for working with a database or by using standard programs such as Excel and Access. The most popular products of this class are business directories and programs distributed by the Business Information Agency "Business Card". The "Marketing-Geo" system is also becoming widespread, where the digital computer map of the Russian Federation contains information about the location of enterprises, the volume of production, financial and statistical reporting, demographic data on settlements, etc. This program provides an opportunity to conduct survey studies regional product markets, in particular, it allows you to determine the relative market share, product growth rates and data for market segmentation.

4) Databases of the fourth type contain summary details of legal entities and individuals, data on supplied and consumed products, the ability to supplement and correct databases, the possibility of feedback. These systems are just beginning to appear on the information market. They allow you to keep records of businesses and their relationships. Currently, the only system with feedback is the Kontragent-M system. This system was recommended by the Ministry of Economy to the heads of administration of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as a federal information system for commodity markets. The product description has five sections. The first section is a thematic heading (87 headings). The second and third sections are description and type of products. The fourth section is a more extensive description of the product, brand, OKP code, standards and a short explanation, promotional materials. The fifth section - specification cards, terms of delivery, data on wholesale, retail and estimated prices. Nowadays, many enterprises, especially large ones, create their own databases. The need for this kind of activity arises in connection with the complexity of processing a significant amount of constantly changing information (diversified production, a large number of consumers, a complex structure of supply links). The formation of your own databases allows you to solve a number of specific applied problems that arise in the course of practical activities, as well as serve as information for strategic analysis and planning. The specific nature and content of the databases is determined by the industry, the characteristics of the enterprise and the nature of the products.

In industrial plants, the process of creating a database is as follows:

Initially, the composition of the initial information is determined. The initial sources of information are the following data:

Portfolios of orders (customers and their connected details, the required quantity of products, its brands, dimensions, shipment schedule, type of settlements:

· About shipped products;

· About suppliers, data about which is formed on the basis of both internal and external sources.

Further, using standard Excel and Access programs, based on the use of various information filters in the dialogue mode, at the manager's request, you can solve various types of tasks: determine the structure of needs by types of products, brands, but the geography of consumers, by cost, the dynamics of these indicators. Similar data can be obtained for suppliers. In consumer product marketing, customer databases are also formed, which become not just an affective marketing tool, but one of the main assets of the enterprise. The main information unit of the customer base is the consumer, which is described according to the characteristics: demographic, economic, geographic, social, and behavioral. The specific composition of features depends on the specifics of the product, the scope of its application and the purposes of data generation. The customer database allows you to establish long-term relationships with actual customers, to be more responsive to changing needs, to offer and advertise the latest products, to carry out sales promotion activities, etc. It also opens up opportunities to attract potential customers.

Information models and techniques

The second component of the marketing information system is a bank of models and techniques necessary for the systematization and standardization of the initial data. It is formed jointly by marketing professionals and software specialists. Currently, this component of the marketing information system is the least developed in most enterprises. The main reason for this lies in the lack of specialists in these areas of qualifications in a related field of knowledge (among marketers - in the field of programming, among programmers - in the field of marketing research). From our point of view, the basis for the formation of a bank of models of a marketing information system can be a classification by time factors, subjects of management and objects of marketing activity.

1) Depending on the time factor, static and dynamic models can be distinguished. Static models describe the organization of marketing at the enterprise (structural units, their functions, information flows, etc.). These models (diagrams, graphs, data flow diagrams) allow describing the structure of a company, but do not provide information about its current state, which changes over time. Dynamic models allow you to describe marketing processes in dynamics. In contrast to static information models, dynamic information models allow you to update the values ​​of variables, change models, dynamically calculate various parameters of processes and results of marketing activities.

2) According to the subjects of dispatch, information models and methods used at various levels of enterprise management can be distinguished: the level of top management, the middle level, at the lowest level of management and specialists. The main content of the activities of senior management is the development of strategic goals and areas of activity and the organization of enterprise resources for their implementation. Consequently, the main models used at this level should be considered models of the "firm - external environment" type, including SWOT analysis matrices, simulation models, "product-market" matrices, portfolio and other models of strategic planning (6, 7) ... These models are used to develop a general business model for an enterprise. At the middle level of management, the general business model is transformed into a model of individual business processes (model of new product development, sales organization, etc.). At the lowest level of management and the level of specialists, further detailing of marketing processes takes place horizontally, including diagrams of individual sub-processes and operations.

3) According to the objects of marketing, it is possible to distinguish models of processing information about consumers, products, processes, suppliers and documents. Information about consumers is structured primarily in client databases, the formation of which was discussed above. In addition, here it is necessary to note such standard techniques as segmentation grids, purchasing behavior models, statistical tables on the volume and dynamics of sales in the context of consumers. Product information is also contained in many developed methodologies: models for assessing the market adequacy of a product, models for assessing competitiveness, portfolio analysis matrices mentioned above, and optimization models. The latter solve the problem of optimizing the structure of the production program in terms of the selected criteria (profit, sales), as well as external and internal constraints.

The least developed part today can be considered the models for processing information about processes. The introduction of these models is associated with the development of the theory and practice of reengineering. In reengineering, all business processes are divided into external and internal, which are respectively described using internal and external models. The external model describes the processes that satisfy the interests of customers and interests outside the enterprise. The internal model models the construction of each business process in terms of work tasks and resources used. Since the external process reflects the flow of actions, which is subsequently taken into account in the development of internal business processes, in practice, mixed models are used (for example, in the process of total quality management). Supplier information is handled similarly to customer information.

This classification is not exhaustive. It can be supplemented by the classification of models according to general management functions, marketing functions, etc.

Software tools and integrated systems

The third most important component of the marketing information system is the data processing facilities. They include software tools, expert systems and decision support tools, as well as various integrated management systems that allow you to standardize the process of making decisions in the field of marketing. As a result, if earlier a large range of rather complex tasks could be performed only by specialists qualified in the field of marketing, nowadays the work of a marketer can be performed by specialists from related departments. The distribution of the database also strengthens the internal consistency of business processes, as it allows critical marketing information to appear simultaneously in different parts of the company.

Integration of microprocesses, i.e. the ability to make critical decisions online, is provided by a decision support system (DSS). Based on decision support tools, modeling tools and access to databases, the possibility of hierarchical decision-making appears, while currently most decisions are made by managers. DMS allows you to analyze, plan and control various marketing operations, consider various options for solutions and design them according to the "what if ..." principle.

Currently, data processing systems have not received sufficient distribution in the market, since enterprises prefer to use standard software products. The main factor in increasing the efficiency of the marketing information system is the ability to integrate into the general mechanism of organizational management. Therefore, marketing blocks are provided in most of the integrated enterprise management systems that are widespread on the market ("Galaxy", "Parus", "Etalon +" and others). However, in comparison with other functional blocks, such as finance and accounting, production, personnel, they are poorly developed and insufficiently integrated into the general management system. According to the estimates of the providers of integrated systems, marketing blocks are in the lowest demand and most installations are made without them.

Limitations of virtual marketing implementation

Summarizing the domestic experience in the development of virtual marketing, I would like to highlight the main factors limiting its use in domestic enterprises.

The first group of factors is associated with the characteristics of information, the conditions for its receipt and processing:

· Secondary information obtained from external sources is of a fairly general nature and is designed for the "average" user; additional costs are required to adapt to the conditions of a particular enterprise;

· The reliability and representativeness of the available data is not known;

· Data are updated on average 1-2 times a year and have time to become outdated;

· Obtaining data for most enterprises is associated with certain organizational difficulties: lack of information about provider firms, little experience and difficulties

search for up-to-date data, problems with organizing applications and placing orders.

The second group of factors is associated with the difficulties of forming a marketing information system within the enterprise. First of all, there is a subjective factor associated with underestimating the role of information and information systems in the activities of enterprises. It manifests itself on the one hand in the fact that entrepreneurs do not consider an information resource as a component that has economic value and is subject to monetary valuation. On the other hand, modern information technologies are perceived in the mass consciousness mainly as a means of electronic data processing, contributing to automation and reduction of manual labor. The possibility of creating an integrated management system based on information technologies has not yet been considered as a real prospect. In addition, the creation of a marketing information system at enterprises is associated with the restructuring of the workflow system, which requires a lot of time (for example, it takes more than a year to implement large integrated systems).

These difficulties are largely objective in nature and will be eliminated gradually, following the dynamics of the technological factor. At the same time, it should be remembered that, despite the given objectivity, any firm has the ability of conscious rationality, which consists in the ability to develop solutions, order and change the structure of the organization in order to gain advantages over the objective market mechanism.

e-business commerce cloud

Preconditions of occurrence. An important feature of the economic development of advanced countries at the beginning of the XXI century. is the transition from industrial to post-industrial economy. The formation of a post-industrial (electronic-digital) society is due to the formation of a single world information space based on the Internet, the penetration of the processes of informatization, globalization and virtualization into all spheres of the economy.

The Internet is increasingly becoming a business environment. At the same time, some organizations want to get new opportunities from the Internet for the development of their business and attract new customers, while others see the Internet as a “lifeline”, looking for new ideas and forms in it to save their business.

The Internet presents unlimited opportunities for business development. So, if natural resources are limited, then the amount of information resources and space on the Internet practically has no limit, i.e. The Internet as a business environment is limitless.

Opportunities of the Internet for organizing business:

• 1. Accessibility and democracy.
• 2. Various forms of cooperation on a voluntary basis.
• 3. The Internet is a means of studying consumer preferences and a means of promoting goods and services.
• 4. The Internet is a means of managing technological processes, supply processes and monitoring the state of markets, etc.
• 5. On the Internet you can find the necessary partners (suppliers of products, services, etc.).
• 6. There is an unlimited audience of buyers on the Internet.
• 7. The Internet is a tool for conducting financial transactions.
• 8. Using the Internet, you can get a competitive advantage in terms of production volume, narrow specialization and maximum customer satisfaction.

Nowadays, the Internet has become not only a way of cooperation between different organizations, but also a new environment for doing business. This environment requires a new quality from the organization in order to be successful.

The effectiveness of this or that structure of the organization is always determined by the external environment, the complexity and dynamism of the changes taking place in it. As is known, a mechanistic form of organization corresponded to a stable external environment, repetitive work, and unchanging technology. The organic form of organization has replaced the mechanistic one and has become more effective with a changing external environment, products, organizational changes, etc.

In a new environment, a new form of organization is needed, first of all, in order to keep pace with the ongoing changes, and most importantly, to have time to realize the emerging opportunities.

The purpose of organizational changes is to increase the competitiveness of business, overcome the uncertainty caused by rapid changes in the external environment.

Under the influence of the Internet, the pace of change has increased and new opportunities are emerging, which can only be realized with a new form of organization (virtual) capable of super-fast business restructuring. Time is becoming the main resource in the 21st century market, a critical success factor.

Thus, the current objective conditions dictate the need to create a new organizational form that allows people and organizations to unite for the effective implementation of emerging opportunities, i.e. the organization is new in strategy, structure, business, technology and a new basis for building relationships.

The essence and content of virtual organizations. The concept of "virtual organization" appeared in the literature at the end of the 20th century. For a deeper understanding of the essence of this organizational form, consider several definitions.

In these definitions, virtual refers to an organization that has created a network of business connections around itself. In fact, this is the control core of the network, which gives production, distribution, marketing or any other business function, which, in the opinion of the management of this company, they can perform better or cheaper than the company itself, for execution by external partners. In this case, the "virtual organization" (the management core of the network), as a rule, is a legal entity.

From the definitions of different authors it is clear that there is still no common understanding of such a complex phenomenon as “virtual organization”. If you do not take into account some details, then there is no particular disagreement in the definition of the essence of virtual organizations between different authors. Thus, the first scientists focus on the control core of the network of business ties, and the second ones characterize the entire network of business partners included in this association.

It should be emphasized once again that interaction between members of a virtual organization occurs mainly through computer networks. It was computer networks that provided the formation of virtual organizations, since they make it fundamentally optional for the physical presence of managers in the workplace. Virtual organizations group people as the need arises to create a certain value (product or service). In this case, a physical collective does not arise as an organization, but only business people are united into a system that turns out to be capable of producing the required value. Thus, the virtual organization creates fundamentally new business opportunities.

The novelty of the virtual organization is manifested at four levels: strategic, structural, organizational and technological (Table 19.3).

Table 19.3

Manifesting the novelty of a virtual organization

Novelty level
Strategic	The virtual organization is focused on emerging ideas and is shaped around opportunities. Time is the main strategic resource. The principle of virtual organization is “found”, “implemented”, “forgotten”. Business philosophy is not about solving problems, but about finding opportunities and developing strengths
Structural	The links and elements of the virtual organization represent peer-to-peer collaboration between workgroups, departments and organizations based on outsourcing. Moreover, relations are built at the stage of implementation of a specific project.
Organizational	Relationships are based on the ideas, competence and partnership of the people involved in the virtual organization. The employee is required not to perform a task set by someone, but to be able to make a choice, i.e. what work to do next, and what to refuse
Technological	Business processes as the basis of technology and the process of creating a product or service should be brought to a closed cycle, providing for their continuous improvement in real time

To better understand the essence and content of virtual organizations, consider the features that are characteristic of most of them (Fig. 19.1).

The inconsistent nature of the functioning. Virtual organizations can be formed for a short period. For example, for the implementation of risky research-related projects. When the project is completed, they are disbanded, which ensures a reduction in project implementation costs.

Minor tangible assets. Virtual organizations have a much less advanced physical structure than traditional organizations. Tangible assets of virtual organizations (for example, office buildings, manufacturing facilities and

Rice. 19.1.

others) are not so large, and those that are available are usually distributed geographically. From an operational point of view, decentralized objects are preferable to huge and concentrated in one place. Virtual organizations are not defined by physical location, but by interconnected networks.

Communication technology. In virtual organizations, technology is used to dynamically connect people, assets, ideas. Modern information communication technologies play a central role and are considered by many to be the core of the concept of virtual organizations. Every organization needs a structure that defines it and gives it shape. Traditional organizations use a physical structure, such as an office building, while virtual organizations use a communications network for the same purpose. Technology is a tool that allows work to be done, but it is not organizations themselves - just like an office building is not a traditional company.

Location of work. In virtual organizations, there is no need to do office work. The use of communications networks rather than buildings and physical assets means that the physical location of work is less important nowadays. As a result, there is no need for employees to work in close physical contact with each other. Project teams can be assembled from individual employees residing in different countries. Working together in the same organization, they may never see each other.

Diverse groups of participants. Virtual organizations are mostly collaboration agents that bring together core competencies, resources, and customer experience capabilities. Virtual organization brings companies and businesses together

elements that are not bound by any structural constraints and work together to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

Lack of boundaries. Virtual organizations are not limited so that we perceive them as separate, legally defined companies. They are capable of linking suppliers and distributors into such tight chains that it can be difficult to determine where one company ends and another begins.

Customer engagement. Virtual companies can bring customers together using a market-based service delivery concept in which the customer is part of the manufacturing process. They build systems in which the manufacturer and the buyer are closely related to each other and the sale of a product (product or service) requires the participation of each of them. Online financial services are the most advanced form of this phenomenon. At the same time, the cost of customer service is reduced.

Flexibility and adaptability. Virtual organizations can be formed from various disparate elements to achieve a specific business goal and disbanded once it is achieved. At the same time, assets can be quickly redeployed if the changing situation requires it. At the same time, the costs and risks associated with the implementation of radical changes in the exchange rate increase insignificantly. This is where the flexibility of virtual organizations comes in. However, it requires flexibility in the work of managers and employees.

The above suggests that the XXI century. could be the century of "flourishing" of virtual organizations.

6. Technologies and practice of strategic innovation management of global firms

6.5. Features of the organization and management of virtual enterprises

Virtual enterprises are one of the newer organizational forms of enterprises. The development of new forms of organization and enterprise management was largely influenced by such trends in the development of modern markets as the globalization of markets, the growing importance of product quality, its price and the degree of consumer satisfaction, the increasing importance of sustainable relationships with consumers (individual customers), as well as the growing importance of the degree application of new information and communication technologies.

As you know, in the 80s. the main directions of improving the activities of enterprises were total quality management and the use of minimalist strategies aimed at optimal management of various resources. In the 90s. the main slogan was the principles of business process reengineering aimed at the transition from functional units to business processes consisting of autonomous interdisciplinary teams focused on better customer satisfaction. By the end of the 90s. and the beginning of the 21st century, the key theme is the transition to virtual and networked principles of organizing enterprises.

In some works, virtual enterprises are also denoted by other terms: "networked enterprises", "borderless enterprises", "extended enterprises". As a rule, we are talking about a network of partners (enterprises, organizations, individual teams and people), jointly carrying out activities for the development, production and marketing of certain products.

It should be emphasized that the enterprise virtualization space includes three main categories of phenomena:
- virtual market - a market for goods and services that exists on the basis of the communication and information capabilities of global networks (Internet);
- virtual reality, i.e. display and imitation of real developments and production in cyber space, which is both a tool and an environment;
- virtual (network) organizational forms.

In this subsection, it is precisely the features of virtual organizational forms and approaches to managing enterprises using this organizational form. Questions regarding the virtual market and virtual reality are practically not touched upon, although in the real activities of enterprises, these three categories may be interrelated.

There are many definitions of the virtual enterprise as a networked organizational form. However, taking into account the peculiarities of the practical functioning of such structures, a virtual enterprise can be defined as a temporary cooperative network of enterprises (organizations, individual teams and people) with key competencies for the best fulfillment of a market order, based on a unified information system.

From a marketing point of view, the goal of a virtual enterprise is to make a profit by maximizing the satisfaction of the needs and demands of consumers in goods (services) faster and better than potential competitors. Obviously, this goal is inherent in all market-oriented enterprises. But, firstly, virtual enterprises, as a rule, are focused not on meeting the needs and requirements of some "average" market segment, but on fulfilling certain market orders up to the satisfaction of certain requests of specific consumers (customers). And, secondly, the virtual enterprise increases the speed and quality of order fulfillment by combining the resources of various partners into a single system.

From a practical point of view, an ordinary ("monolithic") enterprise, for example, requires the attraction of significant resources to develop and bring a new product to the market. In contrast, the virtual enterprise is looking for new partners with the resources, knowledge and capabilities that match the market needs, to jointly organize and implement these activities. That is, enterprises (organizations, individual teams, people) are selected that have key competence in the form of resources and capabilities to achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

As a rule, a partnership is concluded for a certain period or until a certain result is achieved (for example, the fulfillment of an order). In other words, the partnership is temporary, and, for example, at certain stages of the product life cycle or when the market situation changes, new partners may be involved in the network or old ones may be excluded.

Naturally, partner enterprises for the effective functioning of the entire network must be based on an agreed business process. When, for example, in order to best meet market needs, many enterprises, most often geographically remote, are networked together, then it is obvious that such enterprises find it difficult to coordinate their actions without a system of operational information and communications. Therefore, in order to solve information problems, the network must have unified information system based on the widespread use of new information and communication technologies.

Given the above, we can highlight the key advantage of virtual forms of organizations: the ability to choose and use the best resources, knowledge and abilities with less time. From this dignity and the network organization itself, such main competitive advantages of virtual enterprises as follows:
- speed of market order execution;
- the possibility of reducing total costs;
- the possibility of a more complete satisfaction of the needs of the customer;
- the possibility of flexible adaptation to environmental changes;
- the ability to reduce barriers to entry into new markets.

A number of projects have been developed to provide information support for such entrepreneurship. The US NIIIP project developed open software protocols for industry that allowed manufacturers and their suppliers to communicate effectively. In Europe, a number of ESPRET projects have been developed to develop the appropriate architecture and supporting infrastructure for virtual entrepreneurship, including for small and medium-sized businesses.

The paper examines the Collaborative design and manufacturing system (CDMS) for virtual organizations, describes the agent architecture for implementing such virtual organizations in CDMS, presents an example of joint planning of several enterprises.

A virtual organization in CDMS has the following characteristics:
- it is different from the "physical" organization;
- she is usually open and dynamic;
- it is rebuilt in configuration and scale;
- it is distributed geographically;
- it consists of heterogeneous components (software, architecture, human resources, etc.);
- coordination mechanisms are required to ensure system stability.

In CDMS, mediator blocks are introduced to combine various production activities and coordinate intelligent agents of various types.

The generic mediator model includes seven levels of activity: entrepreneurship, product specification and design, virtual organization, executive planning and distribution, communication, and training. The hybrid system of agent architecture is shown in Fig. 38. Here the production system is organized as the highest level through a system of special mediators. Each subsystem is connected (integrated) through a special mediator.

The infrastructure of the system of collaboration agents is shown in Fig. 39

Fig. 39. Collaboration agent system infrastructure

The main characteristics of virtual organizations in CDMS are summarized as follows:
1. Agents are software components connected by a network and, therefore, convenient for embedding in a virtual organization, but not physically connected.
2. Openness and agility are the primary features of an agent-based architecture.
3. The modularity and autonomy of agents makes such systems capable of reconfiguration and rescaling.
4. An agent-based system can include agents distributed over all kinds of networks, including the Internet.
5. It is relatively easy to integrate heterogeneous components / systems using common communication languages ​​and protocols.
6. Coordination mechanisms are very useful for CDMS, in particular when developing and manufacturing complex complexes.

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