Role and functions of virtual organizations in context of COVID-19 pandemic

As a result of the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the global economy and the Russian economy experienced significant shocks. The trend of growth of the production market through information technologies has increased. In the process of developing information technologies and increasing the cost of economic resources, it became possible to operate new forms of enterprises and organizations-virtual organizations and virtual enterprises. The purpose of creating virtual forms of economic entities is the high rate of change in the external environment and the inability to adapt to these processes in the classical form of the enterprise. To enter new markets with high-quality products there are needed the modern forms of organization of inter-company interaction that allow reducing costs and increasing the speed of production and product quality, which becomes possible with network interaction between high-level professionals. The study describes the approaches of well-known scientists in the classification of the virtuality of the enterprise, in terms of the network form of interaction. There are described the characteristics of a virtual organization, which is a complex vertically integrated structure of many participants-companies operating with the support of a virtual network platform. Participants of a virtual organization have a wide range of key competencies, which allows them to participate in the creation of virtual enterprises by customer enterprises, to perform tasks for a single project. The article describes the features of a virtual enterprise organized to perform specific tasks for the project being implemented. There are described the organizational structure of the virtual organization management and the function of the manager, depending on the stage of the organization's life cycle. The structure of the virtual organization (virtual network platform, virtual enterprise, network broker) is illustrated, the functions of the manager are listed. The conclusion is made about the attractiveness of the virtual organization model for small and medium-sized businesses. The significant growth of the online market and strengthening of the positions of virtual organizations in the near future are predicted, due to changes in the economy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Virtual organizations

Trends in the development of modern markets, such as the globalization, the growing importance of product quality, price and customer satisfaction, the increasing importance of sustainable relationships with consumers, the growing importance of the degree of application of new information and communication technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly influenced the development of new organizational forms of enterprise management. In this regard, the question of the impact of telecommuting on relationships and interpersonal networks within organizations has become relevant. The aim of the article is to analyze the factors influencing to the creation and development of virtual organizations, as well as to identify types of virtual organizations. The research also covers a review of the main foreign and domestic virtual organizations. The article considers the theoretical foundations, factors and they influencing on the formation of virtual organizations. The article analyzes the existing approaches to the definition of a virtual organization, highlights the main types of virtual structures, the main characteristics and advantages of a virtual organization, and also highlights the features characteristic of all types of virtual organizations. The features and main problems of managing virtual organizations are identified. Virtual organization is the newest and potentially promising form of network structures, appeared and became widespread in the last decade. A virtual organization can flexibly change its configuration, where the strategic advantage of such a system provides sustainability and survival in a market economy, the ability of participants to provide flexibility and integration of resources, and the ability to quickly create virtual teams and virtual environments. However, the virtual organization has the same capabilities and potential as a traditional organization, but the virtual organization has not such institutional and structural boundaries.

TRANSFORMATION LEADERSHIP IN VIRTUAL TEAMS

The article is devoted to a new model for organizing production activities that is adequate to the challenges of digitalization – virtual organizations. The authors show that the widespread adoption of virtual organizations that have no clear boundaries in space and time over the past decade gives rise to new management problems. Old management models based on hierarchy, authoritarian approach, and punishment / reward as the main motivators are not effective in virtual teams. Traditional transactional leadership should be replaced by transformational leadership, which involves an individual approach, intellectual stimulation, idealized influence and inspiring motivation. The authors indicate the social and psychological difficulties of the spread of transformational leadership. The paper emphasizes the need for the formation of leadership, managerial and digital competencies for effective leadership in project virtual teams.

Management of virtual organizations based on multi-agent systems

The emergence of new forms of business organization due to the development of the latest information technologies leads to the need to find adequate ways to manage virtual structures. This article discusses the features of multi-agent artificial intelligence systems and the possibilities of their application in virtual organizations. The concept of a multi-agent system is proposed, which will improve the management processes of a virtual organization. The developed algorithm is adaptive and can be used in various virtual organizations for self-development of their management systems and achieving their goals.