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

Kent Wickstrøm Jensen (), Dorthe Døjbak Håkonsson, Richard M. Burton () and Børge Obel ()
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Kent Wickstrøm Jensen: University of Southern Denmark
Dorthe Døjbak Håkonsson: Aarhus University
Richard M. Burton: Duke University
Børge Obel: Aarhus University

Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, 2010, vol. 16, issue 2, No 2, 144-170

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

Keywords: Virtual organization; Centralization; Information processing; Organizational design; Virtuality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10588-010-9069-z

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