Recognising the limits of virtual organizations

The preceding chapters in this section have examined the notion of virtual organization in a number of respects. However, the predominant view is that of support for this concept. It therefore also seems appropriate to step back and take a critical perspective. Is the virtual organization the model for future corporate life or is it merely another management fad? This must be a substantive question in need of articulation and debate; there is so much at stake for those firms that choose to embark on this road. Hence, the purpose of this chapter is to develop a critique of the virtual organization. It is then up to the reader to draw from both the thesis and the antithesis a set of ideas that will develop into a sensible judgement about the validity or not of the now all too pregnant concept of a virtual organization. The critique will draw mainly on the phenomenological and critical schools of thought.