VOSS: Toward a Context Adaptive Theory of the Relationship Between Structural Fluidity and Virtual Organization Performance

虚拟组织（VO）的一个主要优势是灵活的成员和参与。在许多虚拟组织中，成员可以随意加入和离开，并可以随时改变与他们合作的人。 这种灵活性可以成为提高效率的一个来源，因为志愿组织的结构更容易适应突发事件，志愿组织的领导能力可以在志愿组织的生命周期中不断发展。 本研究旨在探讨组织结构流动性、志愿组织领导力与志愿组织绩效之间的关系。 调查人员将检查用于协调和信息共享的技术系统在四种不同类型的VO（软件工程，救灾，在线学习和公共话语社区）中生成的日志数据，将采访VO参与者，并将以特定的方式测量VO性能。 该项目将：（1）开发测量组织流动性的工具，并使虚拟组织参与者能够看到这种流动性;（2）研究虚拟组织中组织绩效、群体成员流动性和领导流动性之间的关系。 该提案中开创的技术将增加对如何使用技术系统日志数据的理解，以更快地识别VO中最有效的社会结构和领导策略。在项目过程中开发的成果和工具将具有实用价值，为那些寻求提高虚拟组织的科学，工业和政府组织，越来越多地依赖虚拟组织的成功表现。一些本科生和研究生将参与该项目，进一步加强他们在跨学科研究方面的培训和教育。

A major advantage of virtual organizations (VOs) is flexible membership and participation. In many VOs, members are able to join and leave at will, and can change whom they collaborate with at any point in time. This flexibility can be a source of increased effectiveness as VO structures are more readily able to adapt to contingencies and VO leadership can evolve over the course of a VO's lifecycle. This project examines the relationship between structural fluidity, VO leadership, and VO performance. The investigators will examine the log data generated by the technical systems used for coordination and information sharing in four different types of VOs (software engineering, disaster relief, online learning, and public discourse communities), will interview VO participants, and will measure VO performance in context-specific ways. The project will: (1) develop tools to measure organizational fluidity and make that fluidity visible to VO participants; (2) examine the relationship between organizational performance, the fluidity of group membership and fluidity of leadership in virtual organizations. The techniques pioneered in this proposal will increase understanding of how to use technical system log data to more quickly identify the most effective social structures and leadership strategies in VOs. The results and tools developed in the course of the project will have practical value for those seeking to improve VO performance for science, industry and government organizations that increasingly rely on virtual organizations for their success. A number of undergraduate and graduate students will participate in the project, furthering their training and education in interdisciplinary research.