Publications detailing the review of business processes, technology and people towards competitive advantage attainment in Nigeria.

1. Weekly
Strategy
...advancing business
Virtual Organisation
Nigeria
How to create it,
How to manage
it in

2. 1991 and 1998, AT & T, an American telecoms company,ith the speed and manner at which organisations
saved more than $500m due to restructuring of its officeare embracing technologies for the delivery of
spacealongvirtuallines.needs to consumers or end users in urban centresW Nigerian companies have a great deal of lesson toand at the neighbourhood across the world, remote working
learn from the AT & T considering the annual increase ofsystem is gradually replacing conventional model of
office space rent in business cities such as Lagos, Kano,executing different organisational tasks. Within
Ibadan and Port Harcourt. In Lagos, office space providersorganisation structure analysts' cycle, the concept is known
give out space to companies using square meter at rate ofas virtual organisation structure, virtual teams among
N40, 000 ($127). A company, with 10 employees, needsothers. There is no doubt that the future of businesses,
190sqm within average space category and expected to payparticularly in the countries and continents with improved
over N7 million annually while company which has 50 stafftechnological infrastructure such as Internet penetration
need 743sqm space amounted to over N29 million inand network connectivity, will be either in groups or teams.
business areas such as Lagos Island and Lekki. Average isIn specific terms, employees in a virtual organisation are
the second most sought office space category byspread geographically and interacting using phone, email
businesses.and the Internet. This indicates an absence of shared office
However, businesses with low financial standingspaceformeetingandengagementpurposes.
have opportunity of choosing economy category whichIn today's tasks distribution and implementation,
possesses low cost in relation to its features. Within thisemployees are interested in having say in everything they
category, our study reveals that the least square meter is 144do and meeting the needs of their families and lifestyles. To
and meant for the companies with 10 employees which costresolve this, Igbaria and Tan in 2001 believe that
N 5 . 7 m i l l i o n ( $ 1 8 , 0 9 5 ) w h i l e 5 1 1 s q mintroduction of virtual workplace is imperative so as to
(N20.4million=$64,762) is the highest. Companies within“move work to where people are, rather than people to
financial and manufacturing industries need to go forwherethework is”.
spacious office option in view of the number of squareIn our study of Nigerian companies' readiness of
meter needed for sheltering material resources. Therefore,adopting virtual organisation structure like their
a company with 50 employees must rent a 975sqm officecounterparts in advanced countries, we discovered
spacewhichcostN39 million($123,809).benefits, risks and cultural dimensions capable of making
Overhead cost reduction. In 2016, it was reported thator marring its effectiveness. We specifically sought the
Nestlé Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Lafargeviews of working class professionals within managerial
Africa all recorded combined profit losses to the tune ofand official levels in Lagos of manufacturing, insurance,
N51.86 billion in the first half of the year. Our additionalbanking, and information and communication technologies
study shows that companies with 10, 30 and 50 employeesindustries.
would save N412, 500 ($1,309), N1, 237,500 ($3,929) and
N2, 062,500 ($6,548) respectively on overhead when
virtual organisation is adopted. The reduction is premised
Office space cost saving. The finding that companies on the companies' cost of purchasing telephones and
would save substantial money on office space is supported computers for the employees. We based our analysis on the
by similar ones found in advanced economies. Available average cost of buying functional telephone (N15, 000;
evidence shows that company that embraces VO has the $48) and computer (N150, 000; $476) for individual
propensity of saving 25% on office space, 25% on employee to aid conversation and tasks execution. Flexible
telephones and 25% on computers. For instance, between workspace, tasks execution, information and solutions
provision, and prompt reaction to issues were found as
Mapping benefits across employee
categories
Benefits identified by managers

3. non-financial benefits companies' employees expected to Increase cost of technological equipment. According to
drive from VO adoption. Managers believed that working the managers, increase cost of technological equipment is
from place other than the conventional office setting would the greatest challenge that would impede effective adoption
ease their navigation during tasks execution and of VO in Nigeria. This could be hinged on the fact that many
attainment.. Other three usefulness of VO are more technologies for business automation are still expensive.
pertinent to officers, junior personnel than managers. Workstation is one of such expensive equipment. However,
Typically, prompt reaction to issues could be realised when Nigerian companies would have to explore new
there is technology such as teleconferencing which helps in technologies developed and currently in use in advanced
talkingandgettingimmediateanswers onissues. economiesformakinggroups andteamstrulyvirtual.
Wider labour market to draw from. It is quite explicable Loss of team work benefits. We reasonably agree with
that human resource managers would have wider labour mangers of the industries on the loss of team work benefits.
market to draw personnel from because new technologies Nigeria business environment is structured along the
have also give job seekers opportunity of making principle of team work. Hardly could one perceive
themselves known to companies using wide-ranging individualism whenever a need exists to solve
platforms such as Internet. LinkedIn, a professional social organisational issues or carrying out certain tasks. We
network remains distinctive instance. In 2013, it was observe that workplace in Nigerian business cities
reported that over 7 million professionals from Africa were increasingly requires employee to work in teams and
on the platform with Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt collaborating across companies. Despite the feeling of
accounting for more than 60% users. Though, over 11 declining team work benefits, Hertel and his colleagues in
million Nigerians are unemployed but many have gained earlier study discovered that reliability on coworkers in
various technological skills needed for effectiveness of VO. different functional areas has positive impacts on team
When it is adopted, HR Managers have opportunity of cohesion and the sense of indispensability of personal
recruiting from online talent platforms such as LinkedIn, contributionstotheteam.
Monster.com. As observed earlier, these platforms help Difficulty in controlling and motivating employees.
individuals showcase their skills, availability, and other Lack of face-to-face communication and minimal trust level
traitstoawidersetofpotentialemployers. among managers and officers are the key determinants of
this risk. When situation such as this exists, Radovic-
Markovic in his study published in Annals of the University
of Petroşani, Economics, 2014 suggests that managers
should demonstrate the traits of a leader and the ability to
recruit competent collaborators in forming a virtual team.
There should be a rewarding mechanism through which
hardworking employees would be evaluated fairly androm the benefits identified by managers and officers,
appreciated accordingly. Such mechanism could bewe strongly believe that VO has great potential for
F grounded on teamwork and useful information sharing.effective service or product delivery to consumers or
Wayne Cascio appears to give us concrete solution forclients when it is adopted and harnessed significantly.
mitigating the risk. Wayne, in 2000, notes that “managersNevertheless, there are risks and factors which could make
need to shift from a focus on time to a focus on results.” Hisor mar the adoption. Our samples were asked to rate specific
position is corroborated by a number of organisationrisks and factors (make or mar).The factors were
structure development experts. They want managers to betransformed into make and mar wheel.We resulted to this on
open, having positive attitude that focuses on solutions tothe fact that employees and employers are bound to move
issues and ability to delegate effectively and to follow up tolike a wheel while carrying out business activities. This
ensurethatwork isaccomplishedwithinshortperiod.means managers are expected to take directives from the
business owners, and employees from the managers. We see
this as a concentric ring of cultural dimensions (propounded Difficult relationship building and management.
byHofstede,1980).
Associated Risks and Cultural
Dimensions
Risks identifiedby managers
Risks identifiedby officers
Risks identifiedby managers Risks identifiedby officers

4. Nonexistence of physical interaction would be the critical compare to Hausa and Igbo. One of the key issues for the
risk junior personnel will experience when VO is adopted. difference could be traced to the aftermath of 1966's coup in
This is as a result of the Nigerian working class which many high-level military officers from the Igbo
professionals' unflinching social engagements with people extraction were assassinated. This risk needs substantial
of difference races and countries. To resolve this risk, investment in language and intercultural communication
clustering of employees using geographic proximity to the training, to help lessen potential distrust, and allow
workstation could be a best strategy. It would provide shared employees of the three dominant ethnic groups work
social settings and allow employees to learn others' togetherproficiently.
expectationsandtoidentifywiththeirteam. Minimal trust. This constitutes third most important risk.
Intercultural communication breakdown. Jane Negligible trust is bound to occur, most importantly when
Lockwood in his 2015's article titled “Virtual team there is specific time, day and week to finish certain tasks
management: what is causing communication breakdown?” and concerned staff failed to turn in the output. To minimize
and published in Language and Intercultural the risk, experts have suggested opinion-based and fact-
Communication Journal has made us understand that based trust analysis techniques. Strict adherence to fact-
different kinds of language and cultural misunderstandings, based is more emphasised because it is objective rather than
deeper problems of marginalization and identity confusion subjective, associated with opinion-based approach. Fact-
within global teams cause intercultural communication based approach is essential in establishing trust
breakdown.This view is apt in describing the risk among the relationships among virtual team members particularly in
Nigerian employees. Nigeria is a country of more than 250 medium and large scale businesses. Beyond these two
ethnic groups. In business cities like Lagos, these groups approaches, trust negotiations has also been enunciated as
usually meet to interact on business and personal levels. As best means of determining and verifying with a relatively
expatiated by Carmel in 1999, each one belongs to a number small number of messages the properties, the history and, if
of cultures. These range from national, ethnic, professional, needed,thereputationofVO's employees.
functional, corporate to a team culture. In 1980, Hofstede's More home related stress. Since there would be a lot of
r e s e a r c h r e v e a l s p o w e r d i s t a n c e , activities for workers while working remotely, home related
individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity and stress could not be ruled out. It would be impossible for
uncertainty avoidance as four core cultural dimensions employees to discipline themselves from interfering in
among countries in the world which determine differences home's duties expected to perform or which
while communicating intercultural. For instance, masculinity/femininityculturalelementassignedtothem.
differences in cultural attitudes between Europe and the Technology instability. Officers did not seen high cost of
USA were reported in connection with trust. Cultural purchasing technological equipment as one of the factors
differences between Yoruba and Hausa are minimal capable of impacting effectiveness ofVO like managers did.
Identified Cultural Dimensions Wheel

5. Instead, our study reveals technology instability as risky it. The uncertainty would be enormous because of less or
factor from the officers' perspective. We observed that absence of institutions that could help them to avoid the
officers arrived at this due to poor business related hesitation. Lack of face to face interaction expressed by
technological infrastructure in Nigeria. Collaborative managers is another key uncertainty capable of marring the
technology and infrastructure sharing have been proposed effectiveness of VO. Though majority of sampled officers
as solutions to the challenges by experts and scholars. did not expressed same view but we observed that this is
Matthew Weber and Heewon Kim are among the scholars. possible to be a common factor for the two professional
The duo in 2015 documented that managers need to levels.
actively manage the deployment of new collaborative Masculinity/femininity. We are not surprised that
technology by focusing on specific characteristics of work distraction from home activities and family issues would
groups. mar VO implementation in Nigeria. Our conviction is
premised on the fact that Nigerians do not play with familyand Wheel affairs and home activities. A typical family is structured
ur application of Hofstede's cultural dimensions
along culture which clearly defines sex roles. Both
yielded a number of significant findings. Though
managers and officers we surveyed articulated this
OHofstede researched on cultural differences among
element.
50 countries and three regions in the world nevertheless we
Individualism. The bulk of elements we found for making
found the dimensions useful within the context of
and marring VO effective adoption are within this
understanding virtual organisation adoption in Nigeria
dimension. The dimension indicates the extent to which the
since professionals were the primary samples Hofstede
culture values the welfare of the individual versus that of
drawn his conclusion from. Our total sum of the top make
group. Individualist cultures stress personal enjoyment,
and mar cultural elements, which we called Cultural
excitement, equality and freedom. US, United Kingdom
Dimensions Index (CDI), towards VO acceptance, reveals
and Canada are the top three countries Hofstede discovered
officersashavingthemostelements(53%).
for this dimension. Improved skills and knowledge, less
Power distance. Working remotely would not allow junior
nervous, proper utilization of skills and competencies,
employees to disagree with their line managers on issues.
recognition, good physical working condition and stay up
This is in line with the possibility of the managers making
two to five years with their (managers and officers) are the
assertive decisions when they form interpersonal
make elements. These elements were jointly stated by the
relationship. Surprisingly, we could not found same for the
managers and officers. Decision making in a Nigeria's
managers as expected. This clearly shown that despite
virtual organisation structure adopting company requires
working a far distance junior employees are likely to find it
the use of intuition and striving for consensus, and
difficult in arguing their positions on certain issues with
consultative decision making style. The mar elements
superioremployees.
encompasses ease of using personal time, personalised
Uncertainty avoidance. Both managers and officers
challenge, absolute freedom on resolving work-related
would doubt prompt promotion if their employers promise
Make Mar

6. problems and, decisive and assertive in decision making are executingtasks.
the critical elements that would impede VO's efficacy. Templet establishes that a company can be virtual
Decisive and assertive decision making is mostly expressed when it is capable in terms of technology, information
by the managers. Surprisingly, employees within management, right process and corporate strategies. Thus,
Information and Communication Technologies industry the model aims highlighting areas of competence an
articulated decisive and assertive decision making organisation needs to develop. The Three Dimensional is a
(managers) and total freedom on solving work-related complex move along three axes: core differentiation, soft
problems largely. integration and virtual realisation. Core Differentiation is
Collectivism. In Hofstede's study, Pakistan, Thailand, also known as core competencies. Soft integration is about
Greece, and Turkey were ranked high in this dimension. It executing the task of integration. Virtual realisation is a
suggests that people subordinate their personal goals to technological dimension where information technology is
those of a stable in-group. We equally found commitment the dominant way to accomplish both core differentiation
towards company's goals attainment and, cooperation and and soft integration. Organisational Relational model places
collaboration with other employees as factors for success of VO adoption on four axes: the tools supporting
VO in Nigeria. This shows that, despite the individualism as relationships: inter-personal contacts (periodic meetings,
dominant dimension, employees would work towards their personnel rotation etc.); group management techniques and
companies'strategicandtacticalobjectivesrealization. IT instruments. It is relatively difficult to have absolute or
permanent virtual organisation in Nigeria due to the mar
factors and risks analysed earlier. As a result of this, wewitching principle, business networking, templet,
proposed the six model of virtual organisation calledthree dimensional, organisational relational among
EntHybrid. The model core elements include requirement;Sothers have been formulated as models businesses
technology; organisational capabilities and interpersonalneed to choose from when moving from traditional to virtual
contacts. These were generated through comparison of coreorganisation structure. Switching principle becomes
elementsofthepreviousmodelsexamined.appropriate when a company could benefit from changing
the assignment of a satisfier (client) to a requirement. Such
company stands to have lower cost, better quality and
improved reliability of supply. Business Bus, Business Port, usinesses in sales, marketing, project management,
e-Service and, integrators and aggregators are the core software development and consulting stand to gain
elements of business networking as a model. This model is Bsubstantially from the VO adoption. They are
structured within the context of e-commerce business. serviced and knowledge-oriented businesses. To truly
Information Technologies experts and IT-inclined achieve knowledge-based economy by 2020, which is about
businesses preferred this model because they see VO three years now, Nigerian companies should start carrying
through the implementation of Internet technologies. The out all their activities (production, marketing, finance,
central thrust of the model is that integrators and human resources, research and development, public
aggregators who have robust technological skills and relations) in a virtual environment. Adopting VO remains
knowledge dominate the process of executing assigning and best approach for moving from resource-based economy to
Choosing therightmodels
Where Virtual Organisation is
appropriate
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About Enterprations
We provide a platform for working class professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs to own their business. Our focus
include;
Providing start-up strategy for different SMEs in Nigeria and Africa.
Tactical measuring and evaluation of business at initial, maturity and decline stage.
Reviewing of business's personnel, marketing and training components for greater output and profitability at
different stages.
Helping aspiring entrepreneurs with feasible business ideas and a workable business plan in the areas of
comprehensive business training programmes, networking activities and technology commercialization.