Summary/Discussion: What Was Found So Far and What Will Be Done Next?

From the definition of VO above (see also Appendix 1), it is clear that this thesis is using the general meaning of VO, which covers almost all forms of VO. There are some additional points, which are necessary to consider. In the above section of this Chapter, the detailed overview of VO was presented. As can be seen, there is extensive literature providing knowledge of different kinds of VO. This Chapter reviewed the current literature on VO to understand online organisational forms better in order to move on to one of the specific forms, virtual space in the form of OSS communities. The next Chapter will review the current literature on knowledge sharing in OSS communities in detail and most importantly the gaps in the current academic literature will be analysed. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of knowledge sharing in VO and in OSS communities in particular will be given after a detailed overview of managing knowledge in OSS

Chapter 3: Literature Review 2

Virtual Organisations

communities. Before moving to the next section of this Chapter, the issues found so far should be recalled.

Being virtual in the knowledge economy means to be active online in business processes. It gives considerable advantages to companies in that they can improve their competitive abilities. VO can be considered as temporary, flexible, knowledge and trust- based networks that operate in the online medium. VO offers several benefits for companies. Businesses can gain a competitive advantage in the e-medium through collaboration in VO. By successfully entering the market and by collaboration, companies in VO can increase their profits, productivity, and competitive advantage in addition to reducing transaction costs. These days, it is hard to imagine any organisational forms that would not at least try to consider using the Internet for their benefits.

However, companies may face many challenges using the e-medium. In order to gain competitive success, VOs should find ways where they can turn disadvantages into advantages for themselves. Not all businesses or business processes can be simply replaced by online medium. Moreover, VO is not a panacea (Warner & Witzel, 2004), „a drug for all diseases‟. VO is evolution, instead of revolution in business development. It is just an extra way to gain a competitive advantage in the knowledge-based economy. VO should not be considered as a solution for problems. In fact, VO can create even more problems; one of the principal problems can be geographically dispersed staff issues (Browne & Zhang, 1999).

The existence of lots of varieties in the definitions, terms, models, forms, and types of VO has arisen from different understandings of the word “virtual” by different scholars (Franke, 2001). It is important to understand that the creation of VO did not materialise out of nothing. The majority of organisations use the online medium as an addition to their offline “normal” business life. As discussed, examples for virtual face, star alliances, co-alliances and so on can be given for such kind of organisations where the online model is an addition to the offline model of the business. Some companies choose a semi-virtual model whereas other companies select a fully virtual existence. Companies choose the level of “virtuality” according to their needs and the nature of their products/services, for example, hotels with physical services cannot be compared with the virtual world Second Life. Online auctions and banks need different levels and

Chapter 3: Literature Review 2

Virtual Organisations

different approaches in e-business. Hotels and universities have different needs and expectations for their profits from the online media. In fact, those who produce intangible products, such as OSS, may no longer need physical offices. OSS communities are key examples of virtual space.

The Internet offers many varied opportunities, which can be exploited depending on several factors, the nature of the business, the market requirement, profits, etc. Perhaps that is why there are numerous varieties of different types, models, definitions and terms of VO in the literature, which are used under one umbrella of VO to cover a general understanding of the concept of VO. However, as seen in the literature review, although there is plenty of work regarding VO, the majority of it is concentrated on VO structures, rather than on work processes in VO, which can have its own explanation. The “virtuality” of organisations can vary for different levels, having specific characteristics for each particular organisation, and depending on internal as well external factors, work processes vary from one VO to the next.

Therefore it is more suitable to analyse work processes of VO in particular cases. It would be very difficult or even impossible to consider work processes in different forms of VO under one umbrella definition of VO. Different forms of VO require different work processes. Work processes in the online medium of a hotel are clearly different than work processes of an online shop like Amazon.com. Perhaps this is why there is a shortage in the academic literature on work processes on VO. It is useful to analyse work processes in different VOs separately and to then make analogies or comparisons. At this stage, the thesis will analyse the work processes in the most developed form of VO – virtual space. As an example of virtual space, OSS communities will be considered. The reason for choosing OSS communities will be given in the next Chapter, when OSS communities will be analysed in detail.

As previously mentioned managing knowledge has gained a new and even more important role than before, because knowledge is the main driver in the knowledge- based economy. Knowledge can be considered as a key component in VO, where companies/individuals collaborate to gain a competitive advantage through knowledge sharing. Because of the importance of managing knowledge and increasing importance of knowledge sharing in the VOs, the role of knowledge sharing within VO needs to be studied more specifically. Knowledge sharing issues take an important, if not the most

Chapter 3: Literature Review 2

Virtual Organisations

important, role in successful VO. VOs are created on knowledge and an appropriate organisational culture in VO identifies how knowledge sharing and what kind of knowledge is the most used. In VO, knowledge can be considered as the heart of VO (Warner & Witzel, 2004). Therefore it is important to understand knowledge sharing issues in VO.

The main question, which should be analysed later in detail, is how the OSS communities work that allows them successful knowledge sharing inside of these communities? This justifies this thesis, which will carry out empirical studies on OSS communities to find out how and to what extent knowledge is shared in OSS communities. The thesis is intended to shed light on the knowledge sharing processes in the VOs, and thereby constitute to our understanding of the role of knowledge sharing in the VO context. In order to develop a model for successful knowledge sharing processes in the VOs, the thesis will assess how and to what extent knowledge is shared in the OSS communities.

Chapter 3: Literature Review 2

Open Source Software Communities