Emerging Technologies in Virtual Organizations: An IS Overview
This paper examines five emerging computer and internet technologies shaping information systems within today's virtual organizations. Beginning with the concept of co-opetition — the development of complementary rather than competing technologies — the paper traces how this idea underlies integrated contact center applications, client management tools, identity management systems, and anti-phishing services. Drawing on examples from organizations such as CIBC, Microsoft, Cisco, and Yahoo, the paper argues that modern information systems are simultaneously consumer-centric and integrative, functioning not merely as new tools but as platforms for efficient data and information management in an increasingly technology-dependent society.
- Introduction: Virtual Organizations and Emerging Technologies: Context for consumer-centric, integrated IS technologies
- Co-opetition: The Foundation of Integrated Technology: Co-opetition as the conceptual basis for integration
- Contact Center Applications and IT Intelligence: CIBC case study of contact center management
- Client Management Tools and Integrated Systems: Microsoft's use of client management software
- Identity Management and Anti-Phishing Services: NAC tools and Yahoo's anti-phishing service
- Conclusion: Consumer-Centric and Integrative Information Systems: Technologies as platforms for data management
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper organizes five distinct technologies under a single unifying framework — co-opetition and consumer-centricity — giving the survey coherence rather than reading as a disconnected list.
- Real-world examples (CIBC, Microsoft, Cisco, Yahoo) ground abstract technology concepts in observable organizational practice, strengthening credibility.
- The conclusion synthesizes the technologies thematically, connecting them to a broader social observation about information-laden, technology-centric society.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates framework-driven survey writing: rather than simply describing each technology in isolation, the author establishes evaluative criteria upfront (consumer-centric and integrative) and then applies those criteria consistently across all five technologies. This technique allows the reader to understand why each technology was selected and how the technologies relate to one another.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad context-setting introduction, then introduces co-opetition as a conceptual anchor. It proceeds through four applied technologies — contact centers, client management, identity management, and anti-phishing — each treated as a concrete embodiment of co-opetition principles. The final section synthesizes findings and advances a forward-looking claim about the future direction of internet and computer technologies.
Introduction: Virtual Organizations and Emerging Technologies
Today's leading business organizations are characterized primarily by their flexibility to provide products and services through both brick-and-mortar and virtual stores and offices. A business's survival depends mainly on the accessibility of the products or services it offers, and this only becomes possible when the business can reach its consumers through traditional media and the Internet. Indeed, Internet and computer-mediated technologies have become so pervasive and necessary that the creation and development of further technologies is actively encouraged, in order to widen the scope of accessibility and reach to a business's target market.
Because of the increased use of Internet- and computer-mediated technologies, information systems in business organizations are now developed to center on two important requirements: technologies must be consumer-oriented, and technologies must be integrative — that is, they must complement each other to make the information system more efficient.
This paper discusses recent technologies that demonstrate the consumer-centric and integrated systems approach adopted by virtual organizations today. Five emerging technologies and technological ideas are examined based on two criteria — consumer-centricity and integration with other technologies: (1) the technological idea of co-opetition; (2) IT intelligence correlative to customer service; (3) integrated client management systems; (4) identity management; and (5) anti-phishing services.
Co-opetition: The Foundation of Integrated Technology
The first technology discussed is actually a technological idea — one that has profoundly influenced the integrative nature of emergent technologies developed today. Termed co-opetition, this concept was coined by Adam Brandenburger and Barry Nalebuff to refer to the creation and development of technologies that, rather than competing with each other, are actually complements of each other. Using the simple hardware-software relationship as an example, Brandenburger and Nalebuff explained that co-opetition occurs when "a complement to one product or service is any other product or service that makes the first one more attractive" (Nalebuff & Brandenburger, 1996).
Discussing co-opetition first is essential, since the remaining four technologies examined in this paper embody the thought expressed by this idea. Co-opetition is more than a relational description between products or services; it extends beyond one-to-one relationships to include many-to-one relations among products or services, until these products or services create an integrated system that makes work and operations easier, faster, more productive, and more efficient.
Despite being a technological idea rather than a technology per se, co-opetition is considered one of the most important developments in virtual organizations, business or otherwise. Its further development has primarily resulted in integrated systems technology, benefiting both the organization and its end-users — usually the consumers.
Contact Center Applications and IT Intelligence
Tracing its development from the concept of co-opetition, the growth of contact center applications and management is the result of the increasing complexity that organizations encounter as they seek to improve and provide excellent 24-hour customer service. Contact or call centers have become a requirement for virtual organizations, since they help organizations maintain services and troubleshoot any problems in the product or service provided to clients or consumers.
An example of contact center management as an imperative tool among virtual organizations is demonstrated by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). CIBC felt the need to adopt contact center applications and management after encountering problems with its automatic call distribution (ACD) and interactive voice response (IVR) systems (Dubie, 2005). Contact center applications and management are used not only in banking, but by technology companies as well, driven by their need to identify and address problems with the software or hardware they manufacture for their clients and consumers.
Conclusion: Consumer-Centric and Integrative Information Systems
One apparent characteristic shared among these technologies is their integrative nature — each technology is, in fact, a system of improved tools in which customers or clients can take advantage of the system's multi-functionality and flexibility. Beyond functionality and flexibility as computer system tools, contact center management, client management, and identity management all illustrate how computer systems are developed to function as "organizers": tools that enable users to manage data and information in a more efficient, time-saving manner. Technologies have reached a point at which hardware is developed not because of its originality as a new product, but because of its function — primarily to allow users to organize their data and information more efficiently.
These technologies are developed to do more than provide consumers and clients with new computer tools; more importantly, these emergent technologies promote better management of data and information. The integrative and consumer-centric nature of these systems is not merely a marketing characteristic designed to attract customers, but also an encouragement of sound data and information management practices — an already important task for customers and clients who accumulate large volumes of unmanaged electronic data. These systems reflect the kind of society humanity now inhabits: information-laden and technology-centric. They point toward a future of Internet and computer technologies grounded in data, information, and their electronic management.
Bibliography
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Nalebuff, B., & Brandenburger, A. (1996). "Co-opetition." Co-opetition Interactive Web Site. Available at
Perez, J. (2006). "Yahoo tests antiphishing service." IDG News Service. Available at
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