The Influence of Outsourcing and Information
and Communication Technology on
Virtualization of the Company
Massimo Manzin
Borut Kodric
In the article we investigate the field of virtual organizations, which in
the definition of many authors consists of two components: outsourc-
ing and information and communication technology. In the study we
have tried to determine which of the two, in the opinion of employees
working in the area of Slovene tourism, contributes to a greater degree
to virtualization of the company. We determine that outsourcing influ-
ences the virtualization of the company more strongly than does infor-
mation and communication technology, since it enables the company
to acquire new knowledge and know-how and increase its competitive-
ness in the marketplace.
Key Words: virtual organization, outsourcing, information
and communication technology
jEL Classification: L22, D23
Introduction
The development of information technology and telecommunications is
changing the modern economic and social system. Economic subjects
are particularly confronted with an external environment that is con-
stantly changing, one which is characterized by an increasing complex-
ity. The clear and structured economic scenario of the 1980s has been cast
off in a context in uncertainty, constant changes and, consequently, dif-
ficulties in general are forcing companies to adapt their competitive ap-
proach and to develop new capabilities. The globalization of the market-
place and the rapid spread of new technologies linked with the world of
information science and telecommunications have profoundly marked
the operating of the economic systems in every country. Rapid and sig-
nificant technological changes have led to decisive shifts in production
Massimo Manzin is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Management
Koper, University of Primorska, Slovenia.
Borut Kodric is an Assistant at the Faculty of Management Koper,
University of Primorska, Slovenia.
Managing Global Transitions 7 (1): 45-60
techniques and the administering of technological, financial and human
resources, which has reinforced the high speed of transfer of innova-
tive processes, and has reformed consumption as well as the channels
through which information flows and is transmitted. Collectively, these
elements have profound economic implications for everyone involved
in the production and broader societal system (Ye, Xu, and Chen 2002;
Bavec 2002; Bauer and Köszgi 2003; Cooper and Rousseau 1999; Jansen,
Steenbakkers, and Jägers 1999).
As a response to such changes there has been a change in the organiza-
tion of processes within companies, and this had led to the phenomenon
of the virtual organization. Such an organization is characterized by the
use of both information and computer technology and outsourcing.23
The degree to which one or the other is used varies. Companies use one
or the other, or even both simultaneously. As the research shows, the
use of both outsourcing and computer and information technology has
increased greatly (Sigala 2003; Sourenkova and Louvieris 2005; Lammin-
maki 2005). This study focuses on the tourist sector of the economy, and
aims to determine which of the two factor has a greater influence on the
degree of virtualization of a company. Directors of selected companies
from the area of tourism participated in the study. They were asked to
indicate the degree to which each factor contributes to the virtualization
of the company. Our conclusions are derived from a number of perspec-
tives related to each factor, including: competitiveness and competitive
advantage of a company, focussing on key competencies, knowledge and
know-how, more efficient use of sources, improved service and greater
customer satisfaction, and also fear of unemployment.
The article is structured into four main sections. In the introduction,
we present the area of research, the research problem, the purpose and
aims of the study. This is followed by the theoretical and empirical parts,
and then the conclusion. In the theoretical part we provide an overview
of the various definitions of virtual organization within the literature, as
well as a synthesis of various researchers' viewpoints on the phenomenon
of virtual organization. The empirical section begins by providing a de-
scription of the methodology and the sample, before moving to an anal-
ysis of the study results. In the conclusion we summarize the most im-
portant outcomes of the study.
Definition of Virtual Organization
The term virtual organization was coined in the late 1990's to denote a
new way of aligning business practices, core competencies, and product
and service delivery such that they would allow for a more effective way
to satisfy consumer demands (Southard 1998).
There are three generic types of accounts regarding virtual organi-
zations in the literature (Burn, Marshall, and Barnett 2002; Shao, Lee,
and Liao 2000; Shao and Liao 1996). The first regards organizations that
outsource some of their business activities, forming virtual alliances to
achieve organizational objectives. Virtual organizations may be formed
by integrating several companies' core competencies and resources. A
virtual company, thus, is a collection of several companies organized
to behave as if it were a larger, multifaceted organization. Research re-
veals that there exist various definitions of this type of virtual orga-
nization.
Donlon (Southard 1998) defines a virtual organization as '... one that
focuses on its core competencies and engages in strategic sourcing and
partnership development to support its non-core activities.'
Strausak (1998) defines a virtual organization as a form of cooperation
involving legally autonomous companies, institutions and/or individu-
als delivering a product or service on the basis of a common business
understanding. The cooperating units participate in the collaboration
primarily with their core competencies and present themselves to third
parties as a unified organization when delivering the product or service.
Robbins (2005) defines a virtual organization as, typically, a small, core
organization that outsources one or more of its primary business func-
tions. In structural terms, the virtual organization is highly centralized,
with little or no departmentalization.
The most resounding view of virtualization that remains completely
neutral in terms of technology has been developed by Mowshowitz (1999;
2002), who introduced the concept of the 'switching principle.'
He describes a virtually organized task as a goal-oriented activity that
is implemented by an appropriate assignment or reassignment of con-
crete satisfiers to the abstract requirement of the task. Switching de-
pends on the categorical separation of requirements from satisfiers. At
any given moment there is an allocation of satisfiers to requirements,
though the particular allocation can change over time.
The second type of descriptions pertains to organizations that are built
up by means of virtual links with information technology. Earlier work
in the area of ict and organizations points in the general direction that
ict contributes to organizational structures and provides an increasingly
virtual mechanism for realizing organizational objectives.
Chaffey (2002) defines a virtual organization as an organization which
uses icT to allow it to operate without clearly defined physical bound-
aries between different functions. Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) de-
fine a virtual organization as an organization where a large number of
the organization members use electronic channels as their main (or even
only) medium of contact with each other, as well as with the rest of the
organization.
According to Collins (2003), a virtual organization can be broadly
defined as an organization that forms, and/or maintains, some or all
of its internal or external relationships electronically. Its work products
are of an electronic rather than a paper nature. This broad definition
of virtual organization includes organizations whose relationships with
clients, customers, vendors, consultants, or joint venture partners are
maintained virtually.
Fulop and Rifkin (2004) define a virtual organization as an organiza-
tion that is usually highly flexible and often relies on internet businesses
or the use of technology in order to limit the importance of physical
space and location in favour of cyberspace.
The third approach to virtual organization is perhaps the most com-
plicated. This approach is an amalgam of the two approaches previously
mentioned, in which authors move almost interchangeably between the
virtual organization as an electronic or online organization, and the vir-
tual organization as a somewhat transient network ofpeople, ideas, com-
petencies and resources which come together for a particular purpose.
The framework of understanding virtual organization is, in this case, of-
ten subjective and open to myriad interpretations. These interpretations
hinge on the particular manner in which the individual perceives orga-
nization.
An overview of the literature shows that there are three fundamental
standpoints on the concept of virtual organization. Two have a relatively
uniform view of virtual companies, whereas the third allows for vari-
ous viewpoints. Characteristic of this last viewpoint is that the authors
consider it to be a melange of the other two viewpoints. They are not
in accord about which of the two factors, outsourcing or icT, is more
typical of virtual organization; they are open to various views and inter-
pretations. The authors of this article also believe that both factors are
necessary to the virtual company, and it is for this reason that we chose
to examine the influence of both factors on the virtualization of a com-
pany. We are convinced that both are of paramount importance for the
transition from classical to virtual organization.
The Methodology
In accordance with the third approach, we defined the virtual organiza-
tion as an organization that outsources its non-core competence activi-
ties and maintains some or all of its internal and external relationships
electronically. The main purpose of our study was to discern whether or
not the two components - outsourcing and ict - are equally important
for the virtualization of companies in the tourism industry.
To do this, we developed a three-part questionnaire. The first part per-
tained to the general characteristics of the respondents (sex, type of or-
ganization, level and field of education...). The central part of the ques-
tionnaire contained 47 items that, on a five-point Likert-type scale, mea-
sured the degree to which the respondents agreed with several features of
outsourcing or ict and their importance for the (virtual) organization.
The items were defined according to various aspects of outsourcing and
ict found in past theoretical discussions and empirical research (Ben-
son and Ieronimo 1996; Buhalis 1998; Gautreau 2005; Lynch 2004; Lank-
ford and Parsa 1999; Ellram and Billington 2001, Wilding and Rein 2004;
Lewis, Semein and Talalayevsky 1998), which can be summarized as:
•	Outsourcing/icT can contribute to the competitiveness and com-
petitive advantage of a company.
•	Outsourcing/icT can help a company to focus on its core-compe-
tencies.
•	Outsourcing/icT can help in the acquisition of new knowledge and
know-how.
•	Business process re-engineering experienced due to implemen-
tation of outsourcing/icT can result in more efficient and cost-
effective use of resources.
•	Outsourcing/icT improves the quality of service and contributes to
greater customer satisfaction.
•	Implementation of outsourcing/icT is usually accompanied by em-
ployees' fear of being made redundant.
The last part of the questionnaire contained our definition of virtual
organization, which was based on the two components already described
(outsourcing and ict). The respondents had to weight the degree to
which each component is important for the virtualization of the com-
pany - that is to say, they had to assign a value from one to five denoting
the level of importance of the given component.
table 1 Respondents by field of education
Field of education	Number	Percentage
Education	1	1.4
Humanities	1	1.4
Social sciences, business and law	36	50.0
Science	9	12.5
Engineering, manufacturing and construction	8	11.1
Agriculture	1	1.4
Health and welfare	3	4.2
Tourism	13	18.1
Total	72	100.0
The Sample
Four firms in the tourism industry, selected on the basis of their position
in the marketplace and on the basis of their profiles, were involved in
the study - namely 1 hotel and 1 spa (H55.100 according to the National
Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities), 1 casino
(o92.712 according to the National Standard Industrial Classification of
all Economic Activities) and 1 travel agent (163.300 according to the Na-
tional Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities). The
subsequent state of the survey included all executives, managers, consul-
tants and skilled employees from these firms.
Altogether, 72 questionnaires were returned, making for a response
rate of around 40%. There were 64% men and 36% women included
in the study. The majority of respondents (90.3%) had finished the first
stage of tertiary education (level 5 according to isced97), 6 of them
(8.3%) had finished the second stage of tertiary education (isced97 level
6) and 1 of them had finished only lower secondary education.
Most of them (50%) had finished a study program in the field of social
sciences, business or law (field 4 according to isced97).
They were, on average, 36.6 years old with an average work experience
of 12.8 years.
Results
We began the analysis of the data compiled with the final survey ques-
tion, which asked respondents to indicate the importance of outsourcing
versus ict for virtualization of the company. The average weight for out-
table 2 Three categories of respondents
Category	Number	Percentage
Group 1: Outsourcing contributes more to virtualization	41	66.1
Group 2: ict contributes more to virtualization	7	11.3
Group 3: Both components are equally important	14	22.6
Total	62	100.0
sourcing was 61.8% and 38.2% for ict, which indicates that, on average,
outsourcing contributes more to virtualization of a firm than does ict.
However, we can see rather large discrepancies among respondents. The
lowest identified weight for outsourcing was 30% (70% for ict) and the
highest 90% (10% for ict). The idea was to categorize all respondents
into three groups: those who think outsourcing contributes more to vir-
tualization (weight for outsourcing is larger than 50%), those who think
ict contributes more (weight for outsourcing is lower than 50%) and
the group which thinks both components are equally important (both
weights are equal to 50%). We can see that the majority of them consid-
ered that outsourcing contributes more to virtualization of a firm (see
table 2), as just 7 of them thought that ict is more important for virtu-
alization. Ten of them did not answer the question. In the next stage, we
tried to find significant characteristics for each category of respondents.
First, we tested whether education, age, work experience and job-type
had a significant impact on how respondents regarded the relative im-
portance of outsourcing versus ict for the virtualization. We performed
the contingency analysis24 and found that the education level, age, work
experience and type of job were not significantly correlated with the cat-
egory of each respondent. On the other hand, the estimated contingency
coefficient 0.58 and the value of Chi-square test statistics equal to 31.8 in-
dicated a significant correlation between the three categories of respon-
dents and their field of education (see table 3).
Most of the respondents who considered outsourcing to be more im-
portant for virtualization had finished studies in social sciences, business
and law or tourism. For the most part, those educated in the fields of
science or engineering, manufacturing, or construction fell within the
group of respondents who considered ict more important for the virtu-
alization. In the group of those surveyed that does not give preference to
either outsourcing or information and communication technology, the
representation in terms of the area of education is more or less uniform:
table 3 Categories of respondents by field of education
Field of education	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Humanities	0	0	1	1
Social sciences, business and law	27	0	4	31
Science	1	3	5	9
Engineering, manufacturing and construction	2	3	2	7
Health and welfare	2	0	0	2
Tourism	9	1	2	12
Total	41	7	14	62
notes Column headings are as follows: (1) group 1 (outsourcing > 50%), (2) group 2
(ict > 50%), (3) group 3 (50%-50%), (4) total. 14 cells (77.8%) have an expected count
of less than 5. The minimum expected count is 0.11.
Contingency analysis	Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Approx. Sig.
Pearson Chi-Square	31.830(a) 10	.000
Contingency Coefficient	.582	.000
half come from the area of sociology, business, law and tourism, and half
from the area of science or engineering.
Second, we attempted to analyze how the respondents' attitude to out-
sourcing and ict determines the three categories of respondents. Since
the central part of the questionnaire contained 47 specific items that,
on a five-point Likert-type scale, measured the degree to which the re-
spondents agreed with several features of outsourcing or ict and their
importance for the (virtual) organization, it would be quite difficult to
evaluate all of them separately. Instead, we attempted to describe their
attitude by means of more general evaluative dimensions. We performed
two separate factor analyses, one based on items related to outsourcing
features and the other based on items related to ict features.
The estimation of factor matrices commenced with all items included
in the analysis. However, some items were omitted, based on a low mea-
sure of sampling adequacy value and low communalities.25 After several
steps of respecification and evaluation, we agreed on the models shown
in tables 4 and 5. The final step was the computation of coefficient Alpha
(Cronbach 1951) for each of the dimensions to ascertain internal consis-
tency for each dimension. As we can see, almost all coefficients exceed
the value of 0.7 - the generally agreed lower limit of coefficient Alpha
(Robinson, Shaver, and Wrightman 1991).
table 4 Employees' attitude to outsourcing
Questionnaire item	(1) (2) (3)
24.	Outsourcing is a consequence of demands for higher share profitability.	0.67	
4.	Outsourcing allows a company to control expenses.	0.63	
6.	Outsourcing allows a company to be more flexible.	0.62	
20.	Outsourcing reduces business risks.	0.57	
10.	Outsourcing allows a company to thoroughly transform itself.	0.56	
23.	Outsourcing is a consequence of globalization.	0.55	
27.	Outsourcing allows a company to become more productive.	0.51	
3.	Outsourcing allows a company to save on expenses.	0.49	
1.	Outsourcing allows a company to achieve a competitive advantage.	0.47	
15.	Outsourcing means fragmenting a company.		0.75
25.	It is important for a company that all its activities are carried out in-house.		0.74
16.	Outsourcing means losing a company's identity.		0.73
22.	Outsourcing is unnecessary.		0.62
21.	All activities of a company can be successfully carried out in-house.		0.57
19.	Outsourcing means redundancies.		0.53
11.	Outsourcing allows a company to concentrate on key activities.		-0.50
26.	Outsourcing grants a company access to specialists.		-0.45
28.	Higher standards of quality can be guaranteed for the activities carried out within a company.		0.42
18.	Contractors cannot be trusted.		0.39
Continued on the following page
According to the factor matrix in table 4, the attitude of employees to
outsourcing can be explained through 3 general dimensions or aspects
(factors):
•	A competitional aspect - how can outsourcing contribute to the
competitiveness of a firm?
•	An organizational aspect - what consequences does outsourcing
have for the organizational structure?
•	A knowledge aspect - how can outsourcing help a firm to acquire
new knowledge and ideas for promoting development?
54 Massimo Manzin and Borut Kodric
table 5 Continued from the previous page
Questionnaire item	(1) (2) (3)
13.	Outsourcing allows a company to acquire new ideas.	0.86
17.	Outsourcing allows an increase in the quality of products/services.	0.79
12.	Outsourcing allows a company to acquire new knowledge.	0.73
7.	Outsourcing allows a company to be more effective.	0.53
9.	Outsourcing is required when a company has a low level of in- novation.	0.46
2.	Outsourcing allows a company to survive in the market.	0.40
CronbachAlfa	0.82 0.68 0.79
notes Column headings are as follows: (1) competitional aspect, (2) organizational
aspect, (3) knowledge aspect. Factors were extracted by means of the principal axis fac-
toring method. The 'Direct Oblimin' factor rotation (oblique rotation) was used to sim-
plify the factor solution. Only factor loadings higher than 0.4 (lower than -0.4) are
shown in the factor matrix.
When discussing their attitude toward ict, two aspects are evident
from the factor matrix in table 5:
•	An economic aspect - how can ict contribute to the overall effi-
ciency and cost-effectiveness of a firm?
•	A communicational aspect - how important it is to implement ict
in most parts of business activities?
In the last stage, factor scores were estimated for each of the five fac-
tors, and analysis of variance was used to test whether identified factors
(several aspects of outsourcing and ict) differ among different groups of
employees. The average scores for each factor and category of employees
are shown in table 6. The competitional and knowledge aspects referring
to outsourcing were the only dimensions showing significant differences
between categories. Interestingly, the aspect referring to ict did not dif-
ferentiate significantly between categories.
Competitional and knowledge aspect, both referring to outsourcing,
are most clearly present in the group of employees that considered out-
sourcing contributes relatively more to virtualization of the company,
and least present in the group of employees that considered ict to be
a major determinant of virtualization. Thus, the employees who agreed
with the statement that outsourcing contributes to a firm's competitive-
ness - and helps it to acquire new knowledge and ideas to promote de-
velopment - considered outsourcing to be relatively more important for
table 6 Employees'attitude to ict
Questionnaire item	(1) (2)
4.	ict allows a company to save on time.	0.88
5.	ict allows a company to be more flexible.	0.80
3. ict allows a company to save on expenses.	0.80
8. ict is a great advantage in everyday tasks.	0.78
7. ict is unnecessary.	-0.78
1.	ict allows a company to achieve a competitive advantage.	0.75
6.	The introduction of ict leads to a higher level of efficiency.	0.68
15.	The appearance of a webpage reflects the organization and reputation	0.66
of a company.
12. A well-designed webpage can contribute to achieving better business	0.60
results.
2.	ict allows a company to survive in the market.	0.59
18. Personal contact is very important in an industry such as tourism,	0.43
which limits the use of ict in the guest-institution relationship.
10.	It is recommendable that all communication be carried out with the	0.83
help of information technology.
17. In order to avoid mistakes, any communication between a company	0.75
and a guest should be carried out through ict until the guest arrives.
16.	It is important that all guests use the on-line reservations system.	0.51
11.	It is important that all orders be carried out with the help of informa-	0.50
tion technology.
Cronbach Alpha	0.81 0.73
notes Column headings are as follows: (1) economical aspect, (2) communicational
aspect. Factors were extracted by means of the principal axis factoring method. The 'Di-
rect Oblimin' factor rotation (oblique rotation) was used to simplify the factor solution.
Only factor loadings higher than 0.4 (lower than -0.4) are shown in the factor matrix.
virtualization, whereas those who disagreed with these statements con-
sidered ict to be relatively more important.
We can actually confirm on the basis of the results that in the group
which places more noticeable emphasis on information and communi-
cation technology as a factor of virtualization, there is no perceptible
presence of views showing their agreement with the positive contribu-
tion of information and communication technology on the virtualiza-
tion of the company. The results show that in this group there is not a
statistically significant difference between the individual viewpoints. In
effect, it is more a matter of this group not agreeing with the positive
table 7 A average factor scores by category of employees
Category	Outsourcing	ict
_(i) (2) (3)	(4) (5)
Group 1: Outsourcing contributes	0.20 -0.11 0.22 0.07 -0.02
more to virtualization
Group 2: ict contributes more	-1.03 0.02 -0.75 -0.05 0.10
to virtualization
Group 3: Both components are	-0.23 0.08 -0.03 0.13 -0.20
equally important
notes Column headings are as follows: (1) competitional aspect, (2) organizational
aspect, (3) knowledge aspect, (4) economical aspect, (5) communicational aspect.
contribution of outsourcing. We can thus conclude that those who do
not accept outsourcing as a beneficial factor believe that information and
communication technology is a more important factor of virtualization
than is outsourcing.
The study focused solely on companies from the area of the Slovene
tourist industry, which, of course, somewhat limits the research. There is
room for further studies to expand the focus to other business areas. For
example, it would surely be valuable to carry out a comparative analysis
among companies from various economic sectors, as that would deter-
mine the various degrees of virtualization within individual sectors. On
the basis of our study, it would also be possible for future researchers
to examine the role that various types of education play in understand-
ing the influence of outsourcing and information and communications
technology on the degree of virtualization. In any case, there are a num-
ber of possibilities for further study, especially since studies of virtual
organizations are a relatively new phenomenon.
Conclusions
The onset of the new millennium has given rise to many changes in busi-
ness operations, and these operations are indicating their responses to
the ever-greater demands of the marketplace. One of the changes is surely
the rapid implementing of information and communication technology
into work processes in order to accelerate their execution. Companies
have also recognized that they lack the requisite knowledge to be able
to compete successfully. In such cases, the decision to use outsourcing
therefore seems to be the most suitable option. The outsourcing market
is also developing in Slovenia, such that companies now have an increas-
ing number of options for finding a partner with whom to cooperate, or
outsourcing partners to carry out work on their behalf. We can confirm
that companies - also within the area of Slovene tourism - are becoming
all the more virtual.
Employees' responses to virtualization of their company vary. In the
study we determined that the majority of employees believes that out-
sourcing can contribute more to virtualization of the company, whereas
information and communication technology does not have such a strong
influence. Employees who give preference to outsourcing are, in terms
of their area of education, primarily from the field of sociology. On the
other hand, those who prefer to emphasize information and communi-
cation technology are from the fields of the technical sciences.
When we tried to discern factors that would most noticeably char-
acterize respondents from each group, we determined that the inclina-
tion of employees to outsourcing is marked by three aspects, namely:
those of competition, organization, and, lastly, of knowledge. The incli-
nation of employees towards information and communication technol-
ogy is marked by the economic as well as the communicative aspect. On
the basis of factor analysis we also determined which of the viewpoints
is more present in the individual groups of employees. The results show
that employees who believe that outsourcing is more conducive to virtu-
alization of the company are convinced that the use of outsourcing leads
to greater competitiveness of the company and helps the company attain
a higher level of knowledge. In the group that places greater emphasis on
information and communication technology we found no statistically
significant differences, which leads us to conclude that they do not agree
with the positive contribution of outsourcing.
On the basis of the findings we can conclude that outsourcing is an
activity that more strongly influences the virtualization of the company
than does information and communication technology. Through the use
of outsourcing, the company attains knowledge that it otherwise would
not have, thereby increasing its range; all new knowledge contributes to
the competitiveness of the company.
Notes
1 Outsourcing has been viewed as a form of predetermined external provi-
sion with another enterprise for the delivery of goods and/or services that
would previously have been offered in-house (Kakabadse and Kakabadse
2000).
2	Age and work experience were not real metric variables, since the respon-
dents were categorized into groups by age and work experience.
3	Variables with a measure of sampling adequacy values of less than 0.5 and
variables with communalities of less than 0.5 should be omitted from the
factor analysis one at a time (Hair et al. 2006).
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