Virtual organizations, that use email to communicate and coordinate their work toward a common goal are becoming ubiquitous. However, little is known about how these organizations work. In this paper, we examine the behavior of one such group and in particular the relationship among task routineness, organizational structure, and performance3 within this group. Much prior research suggests that virtual organizations, largely due to the fact that they use information technology to communicate, will be decentralized and hierarchical. In contrast, we find empirical evidence that suggests that the nature of the task being done, and in particular the degree of task routineness, is a major determinant of the structure of the virtual organization. Our analysis is based on a case study of the communication structure and content of communications among members of a virtual organization during the summers of 1989 and 1993. Results indicate that the fit between structure and task routineness affects the perception of performance, but may not affect the actual performance of the group.

Considerable evidence of considerable network hierarchy and centralization was found in the virtual organization studies. Further, these structural properties were found to be stable over time. The findings of this study imply that the structure of virtual organizations is similar to traditional organizations in some ways and dissimilar in other ways. To the extent that they are similar to traditional organizations, we can build on existing theories to study the structure of virtual organizations. new theories must be developed to the extent that the structure of virtual organizations is revolutionary.