Virtual offices: understanding and managing what you cannot see Marilyn M. Helms and Farhad M.E. Raiszadeh Structural revolution The old industrial model of organization with big groups of people doing specialized tasks with centralized coordination in one location made economic sense for most of the twentieth century Carr, 1999). However, both the costs of providing office space, and the opportunities for change afforded by technology make this model less obviously sensible today. Large, previously inflexible companies such as like IBM, Hewlett Packard, AT&T, and even GM have realized the need to become more agile and flexible to compete with their nimble, entrepreneurial rivals. It is important that all organizations recognize the fact that there are rapid shifts in the economy, in demand, and in customers and employees, and ensure that they are agile enough to adapt. One approach is to adapt to use of ``virtual structures''. Degrees of virtualness One hundred per cent virtual There are varying degrees of virtualness. At one end of the spectrum, some Internet-based companies are 100 per cent virtual, existing as a simple as a set of Web pages ± all other functions are outsourced to appropriate agencies. Amazon.com the largest Internet retailer) has used structure to define its strategy. It too is a mass of Web pages and a series of computer servers but it does have a distribution network and carries some inventory. This semi-) virtual structure is one source of Amazon's competitive advantage as it externalizes or outsources all non-core activities, allowing management to focus on key strategic issues. Given the Internet's turbulent environment, Amazon's virtual structure allows the organization to be more responsive and it possesses the ability to adjust competencies to the shifting sands of competition Werther, 1999). Hollow firms A less extreme degree of virtual structure is the hollow organization. Owing to ongoing commercial and competitive pressures, firms have downsized, reengineered and carried out other forms of permanent restructuring ± ending up simply doing more with less. These hollow companies have also turned to outsourcing for a range of non-core functions The authors Marilyn M. Helms is Professor and Sesquicentennial Endowed Chair, Division of Business and Technology, Dalton State College, Dalton, Georgia, USA. Farhad M.E. Raiszadeh is Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. Keywords Work, Telecommuting, Technology, Teamwork Abstract Toachievetheirbusinessobjectives,manycompaniesare exploring varying degrees of virtuality or remote working away from the office location), facilitated by technology. Managers have to decide when, where, and for whom such virtuality is appropriate to ensure that rewards are maximized for the staff and for the organization. This paper explores the challenges for managers in establishing virtual offices or teams. It suggests that successful virtual offices require more than just technology. They require radical new approaches to evaluating, educating, organizing and informing workers. The real challenge in maximizing the virtual experience lies in designing the organization structure and processes to achieve agreed goals. Electronic access The research register for this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0043-8022.htm 240 Work Study Volume 51 . Number 5 . 2002 . pp. 240±247 # MCB UP Limited . ISSN 0043-8022 DOI 10.1108/00438020210437259