History

The virtual office idea came from a combination of technological innovation and the Information
Age. The concept has roots in life before (and even during) the Industrial Revolution, where
parallels to current work styles, specifically working from home, have been drawn. [2] The virtual
office concept is an evolution of the executive suite industry. However, the inflexibility of an
executive suite lease doesn't work for many business models and helped spur the virtual office
concept.[3] The first commercial application of a virtual office occurred in 1994, when Ralph
Gregory founded "The Virtual Office, Inc" & later "Intelligent Office", in Boulder, Colorado.
[4]

Since then & over the years, the industry has grown further with industry leaders like Davinci

Virtual, Regus & Synergy, among others, who now offer worldwide access to offices in almost
every country in the world.[5]

What is a 'Virtual Office'

A virtual office is a business location that exists only in cyberspace. A virtual office setup
allows business owners and employees to work from any location by using technology such
as laptop computers, cell phones and internet access. A virtual office can provide significant
savings and flexibility compared to renting a traditional office space. Meetings can be
conducted via teleconferencing and video conferencing, and documents can be transmitted
electronically. Some companies even provide virtual office services to give virtual offices the
prestige associated with physical offices, such as an important-sounding address, a
professional phone-answering service and even occasional rental of office space and
conference rooms.
Features of a virtual corporate culture
Can we still speak about corporate culture if employees mainly work together in a virtual office?
The critical issue of corporate culture is at the core of each web company, but employees find it
very difficult to identify what it is.

Trust

Most managers would like to see their employees physically at their workplace and may ask
`How can I manage them if I cant see them? On the other hand, web companies monitor every
single activity of their employees. Employees may complain about being spied and feel stressed
about that.

Leadership

The most critical factor in building a successful corporate culture is the behaviour of corporate
leaders, who acts as a role model for everyone else. In the case of Netpowerhouse the role of

the CEO in the web company will be illustrated. What kind of leadership qualities do web
companies require? And how to relate to employees on a distance? There is a new kind of
leadership, focussing on speed, flexibility and risk-taking, which encourages new
communication lines in and outside the company.

Salaries and rewards

Often web companies have young employees. The six founders of SmartHaven, producer of
mobile intelligent agents in Amsterdam, decided that they should all have the same salary level.
They appointed a few experts from abroad with a higher salary. In the virtual workplace, a new
kind of underclass may occur: the low paid employees doing very boring work. Thus, for
example, in call centres, the employee is monitored all the time.

Connectedness of employees

There is a cultural pitfall in telecommunication; in Italy, for example, the working culture is rather
affective. Expressive communication isnt possible when working at a distance or video
conferencing. Working at a distance may cause anxieties in terms of performance and
evaluation. To improve the connectedness of employees, some web companies introduced the
old Japanese management concept Keiretsu. Keiretsu reflects strong collaborative networks in
Japanese industry and government agencies with mutual shares, overlapping board positions,
exchange of employees and information, and a central position of the bank. In the virtual world
the Keiretsu concept refers to the strong connectedness of the various market players, e.g.
business architects, banking institutions, and technology providers. The modern equivalent of
Keiretsu or a Chaebol (Korean conglomerate) is the `Incubator represented in e.g. CMGI and
Newconomy. See also the new article of Alexis Laurent

Shared values

It is remarkable to see that web companies are starting the same kind of employee-empowering
measures as real companies. The core problem faced by most web companies is not a lack of
culture; its too much culture. According to Kleiner (2000), young web companies already have
two significant and strong cultures, one of hype and one of craft. As companies mature into
mainstream corporations, other cultures those of finance, labour relations, marketing, and
bureaucracy overwhelmed the cultures of hype and craft. In the following case of Arthur
Andersen, we will see that the culture of hype and craft is at work in the dress code of an ebusiness team.

Flexible offices

New office structures occur in web companies, such as the `hoteling strategy of Ernst &
Young in Washington D.C. where workstations and meeting rooms in nearby hotels are being
used. By using this strategy, managers focus less on the office and more on the customer. Or
the `hot desking strategy of IBM where about 20.000 sales and services managers share offices
with four other colleagues. Cisco Systems has several thousand employees sharing a variety of
office spaces around the world. Or `telework centres in residential areas, offering more
technology than a manager has at home, with a minimum of commuting time, while maximising
productivity time.

Self-employment

Three years in the same job is like eternity in the ICT world. Due to the scarce labour
market, potential managers are willing to take high risks. Managers would rather start
their own company and work on their self-expression, than have the security of a big
company. In fact, any individual with a mobile phone and Internet connection can start a
global company, at any place on earth. The modern employee `works where his mind is.

Advantages of Virtual Office Workers:

1. It can make environment smile: Imagine if half of the world population workers were Virtual
Office workers. There would be lesser need for commuting and that will mean lesser vehicles on
the road which means lesser pollution and a purer environment. Less fuel consumption means
lesser burden on the economy and fewer expenses for the Virtual Office Worker.
2. Enhanced productivity: Since the time and stress spent on commuting is eliminated, there
is more time for work. This leads to more productivity and enhanced job skills. It will also mean
that extra time is devoted to work.
3. Work-Life Balance: In modern times, a major factor for the growing stress among working
population is attributed to the imbalance in work-life pattern. People are forever busy with work,
they do not get much time to spend with family or for themselves. Virtual office workers get to
spend time with their family and can have a great work-life balance, the result of which is
greater enthusiasm and cheer in working.

4.

Improved

retention

rate

in

the

number

of

employees:

Virtual office workers tend to stick to the job and have a lesser chance of leaving the job for
greener pastures than a traditional employee. This improves the retention rate of the office or
organization.
5. Decrease in the number of leaves: Virtual office workers no longer have to stick to a regular
monotonous routine and neither do they have to spend much time commuting to and fro from
work, which means they remain stress free and thus do not fall or report sick often. This means
a decrease in leave applications and increase in work output.

6. Saves office space: An organization that has a considerable number of virtual office
workers, can save a good part of their office space which they can put into better use or even
better, rent it, thus earn extra income.
7. A variety of candidates to choose from: The Company can now hire more efficient and
capable candidates from even faraway locations. Thus they get a wider resource pool to choose
from.

8.

Saves

time:

Considerable amount of time is saved in the form of constant meetings since there are only
urgent or weekly or once in a day meetings with a virtual office worker, a lot of time is saved in
mundane matters such as these, which can be effectively put into productive output.
9. Virtual office workers are a boon for small and upcoming firms: Small firms and startups often do not have resources to rent a place as their office. If they work with a team of virtual
office workers, then this problem is solved and can lead to a proper functioning of the firm, that
can lead to its success.
10. Relocation issues do not exist: Relocation is a major issue with regular employees but
with virtual office workers, this issue does not arise at all and the office can be located or shifted
anywhere, the employees do not change.

11. Helps scale up the business: When a firm plans to increase its employee number, the next
question arises as to where to accommodate them. It often means hiring a bigger place which
may not be always feasible. In such a case having virtual office workers work great as they do
not occupy office space. That money can be utilised for scaling up the business.
12.

Cost

cutting

in

many

Virtual

areas:

Office

Workers

amount to cost cutting in many areas such as office space and equipment, electricity and
internet charges and more, thus helping the organization save quite a big amount.
13. A Virtual office worker means a dedicated professional: Those who succeed as virtual
office workers are the ones who can independently handle work and can work smartly to meet
deadlines.
14. Efficient but physically handicapped people can be hired: In cases of certain jobs such
as accounting or writing work, if a person is found to have special talents but is physically
handicapped, the organization can appoint them as virtual office workers. Hence this system
helps in maintaining diversity.

15. Virtual office workers are better at time management: Since they work balancing family
and work and have to meet deadlines most of the time, they are better at managing time and
even understand the value of time better.
Disadvantages of Virtual office Workers:
1.

greater

chance

of

jobs

being

outsourced:

Now that the organization

do not have to worry about the location of the employees, chances are that they may outsource
jobs to countries where they would not have to pay much. This will mean lesser job
opportunities.
2. A chance of losing out on promotions: A disadvantage with Virtual Office Workers can be
that since they are not anywhere in the proximity of the office bosses, where their social skills
and communication expertise can be tested, virtual office workers may get a lesser chance of
being promoted.
3. They may not be accessible that promptly: Though bosses can be in touch with virtual
office workers through modern technology such as video conferencing or through internet, there
can be occasions when a sudden meeting with the virtual workers might not be possible in case
of any emergency.

4. The danger of being labelled as unprofessional: Even though virtual offices are a reality
now, if an organization works only with virtual office workers, there is a chance that some clients
might consider the organization not too reliable.
5.

Lack

of

social

interaction:

When people spend time with each other in a conventional office, there is camaraderie between
them which leads to better working relationship among them. With virtual office workers, this
camaraderie does not exist and this can lead to a sense of aloofness among the employees.
6. Security related concerns: In a traditional office, data and confidential information are
secured but with virtual office workers, the office not being in a secured or permanent space,
there is a risk of data being in a vulnerable state.
7. Lesser productivity: The issue of productivity is often seen both as an advantage and
disadvantage factor. Since there is no constant supervision on virtual office workers, and hence
no motivation, it can happen that their work output may be reduced.

8. Less professionalism: Since virtual office workers work without any boundaries of space,
time or rules, there is fear that they may be less professional than regular employees.
9.

Chances

of

miscommunication

are

higher:

Since there are no face-to-face interaction with the virtual office workers, there can be instances
wherein a message can be mis-communicated or a chance that the message has not even
reached the person which can lead to work related issues.
10. Too much dependence on technology: Virtual office workers tend to depend too much on
technology for their daily work and any disruption in the services of the gadgets or internet
facility can mean stopping of work and this can cost a loss to the organization.
11. Being isolated: Virtual office workers work in an isolated environment and hence they may
feel alone or isolated and may tend to remain out of sync with regular counterparts. This factor
may not work well for an organization.

12. Many do not get the recognition and respect they deserve: Even today, those who work
in conventional offices are considered as professionals and get enough recognition and respect
while virtual office workers do not seem to be getting that recognition.
13. Not all can become virtual office workers: Only those who can work with minimum
supervision, and are honest and who can deliver work on time can be virtual office workers.
Those who need constant motivation and a proper office environment should work in a
conventional office only.
14.

Team

work

takes

backseat

with

virtual

office

Virtual

workers:

office

workers work remotely and hence they do not take part much in team meetings or brainstorming
sessions. This means the spirit of team work is lesser in virtual office workers.
Any kind of process will have its own pros and cons. Similarly virtual office workers also come
with their own advantages and disadvantages but it is up to the bosses and the organization to
create a leverage and work on the cons and try to enhance the pros, so that the resultant
workforce remains satisfied, stress free and the working environment is transformed into a
fruitful one.

Suggestions to the Company for maintaining date security

1. Company should hire one external agency for tracing the calls or e-mails of their
employees on weekly basis.
2. Company come up with a strict security policy at your virtual office that will be followed
by all your employees and clients. There should be guidelines put in place to make your
business data unavailable to unauthorized persons. It is good to also limit your business
data to users for which it is meant for only. Your website should also be upgraded to take
the identity of every computer that is used to view it such as the unique IP address. With
this, you will be able to record the user who prompted every action on the site and trace
them.
3. If you want to step up security at your virtual office, you should also use internet security
software programs that are certificated and credited. Having a good privacy policy will go
a long way in boosting your security. It is all about taking the necessary steps to make
sure that you do not have problems with security. However, it is much easier to keep a
higher level of security at a virtual office than it is a traditional one. Virtual data can be
better protected than physical files and can be accessed with a lot of flexibility and ease.
In addition, always back up your files in a few portable hard drives that can be kept at a
few trusted locations and you wont ever be afraid of losing your work files for your virtual
office.
electronic Security

4.

Firewalls, virus protection and anti-spam software keep our servers free from DoS (Denial of Service) attacks and
allow you to be confident of 99.9% utilisation 365 days pa.

Privacy

5.

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