Virtual Organization: Toward a Theory of Societal Transformation Stimulated by Information Technology [Hardcover]

Abbe Mowshowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2002 | ISBN-10: 1567205011 | ISBN-13: 978-1567205015

Computers mediate between individuals by providing channels of communication in the form of messaging sytems. They act as brokers in matching buyers and sellers, employees and employers, resources and work processes, and so on. The explosive growth of electronic commerce on the Internet has made such functions commonplace. Computer-based mediation and brokerage, along with the expanding role of information technology in the continuing globalization of the economy, has tremendous political, social, managerial, and economic consequences. For managers, and for the concept of organization in general, these consequences manifest themselves most clearly in the virtual organization, a new paradigm that has been evolving for decades and that is swiftly gathering steam and overtaking traditional organization. Virtual organization is founded on the separation of requirements (for example, inputs such as components) from the ways in which requirements are met, or satisfiers (for example, suppliers and distribution networks). Separating these elements allows managers to switch easily from one way of meeting a requirement to another, by, for example, laying off higher-paid workers in the United States and hiring cheaper labor overseas or south of the border. Used systematically, switching brings huge increases in productivity, provided that transaction costs are held in check. The price of this increased inefficiency is that, practiced regularly, switching weakens personal, political, and business loyalties. Absent a sense of loyalty to persons or places, virtual organizations distance themselves--both geographically and psychologically--from the regions and countries in which they operate. This process is undermining the nation-state, which cannot continue indefinitely to control virtual organizations. A new feudal system is in the making, in which power and authority are vested in private hands but which is based on globally distributed resources rather than on possession of land. The evolution of this new political economy will determine how we do business in the future. Management scholars, political scientists, policy analysts, sociologists, economists, legal scholars, computer scientists, managers, government professionals, information technology professionals, and even students of philosophy will find Mowshowitz's valuable insights useful in their respective efforts to determine the highly variegated meanings of virtual organization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“...is a meditative and thought-provoking discourse on how modern information technology molds and trasforms society itself...Virtual Organization is highly recommended reading which delves deeply into serious and complex forces driving the growth and change of our modern society.”–Library Bookwatch

“Does what few, if any, works on information technology and its impact on society do--it goes beyond mere descriptives to offer a carefully argued theory of how it is that this technology has so dramatically and permanently reshaped social institutions the world over. Like Karl Marx and Adam Smith before him, Mowshowitz turns to the forces of production as the key to understanding the essence of this technology. The neo-feudalistic picture of society that emerges is surprising and provocative. This book is a "must read" for anyone interested in technological innovation and the future of society.”–Dorothy McKissick President, Jacquard Corporation

“With historical analogy, and interdisciplinary acumen, Abbe Mowshowitz dissects the global virtual organization which, if not checked, is likely to usher in what he calls virtual feudalism. With concepts borrowed from mathematics, computer science, and international business, Mowshowitz shows that the new virtual organization has the hallmark of displacing the nation-state as the main wielder of authority and appropriator of social services and basic needs of the citizenry....An intriguing book which puts it into a class by itself.”–Elia Zureik Professor of Sociology, Queen's University

“Mowshowitz has an enviable knack for bringing social and historical factors to bear on our understanding of the consequences of technological change....Some of his views of potential outcomes may be shocking and disturbing, but they cannot be ignored. In other writings he has pointed out the need for "radical criticism" as a necessary perspective on understanding technology and guiding society. In this book he has clearly taken his own advice. The result is a very refreshing and stimulating view of the future and the issues we must face.”–Murray Turoff, Distinguished Professor Information Systems Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology

About the Author

ABBE MOWSHOWITZ is Professor of Computer Science at the City College of the City University of New York and Visiting Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management. He has been thinking and writing about social and organizational issues in computing since the early 1970s. His book The Conquest of Will: Information Processing in Human Affairs (1976) was one of the first systematic studies of computers and society. Mowshowitz became interested in virtual organization (and arguably coined the term) in the late 1970s, and has been delving into its nature and consequences ever since.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Quorum Books (March 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567205011
• ISBN-13: 978-1567205015
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,572,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Virtuality Beyond Hip and Hype, July 18, 2002

By 

Jeremy J. Shapiro (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virtual Organization: Toward a Theory of Societal Transformation Stimulated by Information Technology (Hardcover)

The word "virtual" has probably surpassed the word "postmodern" in being used so vaguely and so generally that it has become, in many hands or mouths, almost meaningless, a kind of universal solvent to hype anybody's idea about anything, and, when applied to social phenomena, a way of being hip. How fortunate and refreshing, then, to have Abbe Mowshowitz's VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION, which is a conceptually clear and precise, intellectually and socially critical, and historically grounded as well as imaginative analysis of virtuality as a social phenomenon. Using the core of the computer-science understanding of virtuality as a model for organization, Mowshowitz shows how and why, in our particular economic, social, and political context, virtual organization is destined to be not only the predominant organizational form but also one that has and will increasingly have vast impacts on our entire social structure, for example in redrawing the boundaries between public and private in a way that can lead to a refeudalization of our society. And he does this in an amazingly comprehensive, detailed, and informed account of both the details of virtual enterprises and surrounding factors, such as information commodities, in today's political economy. He goes into substantive examination of the impact of virtual organization as a socio-historical phenomenon on many other aspects of social life, including not only the public sphere and the role of the nation-state but the family, community, and private life as well. Mowshowitz, who has had a disinguished research, teaching, and consulting career in the area of the social context and impact of information technology, is in the unusual position of being based both in computer-science and in political, economic, and social analysis and history, so that he can draw together the interwoven threads of technology and society in a convincing and thorough analysis. This gives his work a thorough and grounded character that makes it surpass, in quality and import, much of what passes for analysis of the impact of information technology on society. Because his work is not only analytical but, in the best sense, predictive and prognosticative -- in ways that are bound to be controversial -- his book is not only a scholarly contribution to, as the subtitle says, "a theory of societal transformation stimulated by information technology" but also a contribution to many of the vital public policy issues of the present. Hence this book will be of great interest and value not only to those who work in or manage virtual organizations, and to those interested in understanding contemporary social and technological trends and their interaction, but also to those concerned with what kind of society we and our descendants live in. A must read for all in any of these groups.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A meditative and thought-provoking discourse, March 8, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virtual Organization: Toward a Theory of Societal Transformation Stimulated by Information Technology (Hardcover)

Virtual Organization: Toward A Theory Of Societal Transformation Stimulated By Information Technology by Abbe Mowshowitz (Professor of Computer Science, City College of the City University of New York) is a meditative and thought-provoking discourse on how modern information technology molds and transforms society itself. Presenting diverse theories about how an increase in computer productivity can often lead to lost jobs and a weakening of traditional employer-employee loyalty, and offering visions for how societal evolution will match scientific advancements of the future, Virtual Organization is highly recommended reading which delves deeply into serious and complex forces driving the growth and change of our modern society.