Virtual organizations develop their competitive capabilities. Everything about virtual reality: current state, markets and prospects. Research of various virtual organizations

By now, the virtual space has firmly entered our life, or rather, we have firmly become part of the virtual space. We make virtual banking transactions, pay for railway and air tickets, buy clothes, watches, household appliances and cars, etc.

As a rule, the goods supplied in this way are of excellent quality and have no analogues in the Russian or regional markets (foreign assembly, new technologies, etc.). The lack of an official website for the company with which we are going to cooperate, in one way or another, may lead to refusal to work with it. We are not afraid of the risks associated with the return of goods, which increase the time for refund when returning electronic tickets, we "keep pace with the times."

And how do virtual producers (sellers) themselves work? The existing economy has already begun to be called the network economy, and in the theory of management, the definition of “virtual” has become key. They are increasingly talking about virtual organizations and the virtual market.

In principle, a virtual enterprise has all the capabilities and potential that an "ordinary market" one has, but it does not have a rigid framework and binding to a specific place (region).

A virtual enterprise is an enterprise of the network economy - "quasi-organization" - "a voluntary temporary form of cooperation of several, usually independent partners (enterprises, institutions, individuals), which, due to the optimization of the system of production of goods, provides great benefits to customers."

On the basis of a consistent understanding of the content of the business process and a clearly expressed culture of trust, cooperation partners share their core competencies in the form of resources and abilities to achieve results better, cheaper, faster, more flexible and with a competitive advantage on an international scale. From the client's point of view, the information economy acts as a single enterprise using the capabilities of the most modern information technologies(IT).

The virtual market, which has arisen with the help of IT, does not despair much from the classical market: the same free flow of capital, freedom of choice for both sellers and consumers, free access to information.

However, cost reduction, flexibility, shorter delivery times for products (services) and equality of all market participants make it more and more attractive. In addition, Russian customers, tired of counterfeits, poor-quality assembly and inadequate service, are increasingly eager to contact foreign manufacturers (sellers).

At the same time, a virtual enterprise, while reducing some costs, inevitably increases others: the need for advanced sales growth, the creation of a new product, etc.

Virtual enterprises can be represented in virtual markets, both in the form of an enterprise and a virtual company that fully takes over all information and communication capabilities of IT.

On Russian market the creation and functioning of virtual enterprises occurs both independently and through the activities of the branches of acquaintances trade marks, in industrial entrepreneurship, educational and other institutions, the presence of IT is an indicator of the level of development of the organization, and electronic document management- an indicator of the level of organizational and corporate culture.

Russian companies with foreign economic activity, were the first to start using IT, which by now has determined their scope both domestically and abroad. The problem is that Russian companies blindly adopt the experience of foreign companies, without taking into account national and regional specifics.

The IT market in Russia is seen as promising. It can be characterized as growing, innovative, infrastructural, promising, if only because its growth in recent years has exceeded the growth of the country's economy.

The capacity of the IT market, which is currently represented by a large corporate and financial segment, is estimated at 10 billion rubles. per year and can grow by 2010 by 10 times. The capacity of the world market is 1650.7 billion dollars. USA. However, if the structure of the domestic market is represented by 70% of equipment, 10% software, 20% of services, then in Western Europe the ratio is 20, 20 and 40%, respectively.

According to the concept of development of the IT market, the following problems are hindering the innovative direction of development: weak capitalization of the industry, difficulty in accessing capital and entering the stock markets, lack of opportunities for venture financing.

It is planned to ensure the growth of the industry by:

1) increasing the annual growth rate to 26%;

2) achieving an annual investment in projects of up to 100 million dollars. USA (including placement of shares of enterprises on international stock markets);

3) Achievement of software export not less than USD 5 billion. USA per year.

Virtual enterprises can benefit from:

savings on rent (the most expensive of all cost items);
improving the work of enterprises in the information space;
joint formation and use of information resources of production activities;
coordination of efforts, which can lead to the emergence of synergies.

Thus, network economy and the emerging virtual marketplace and virtual enterprises are gradually changing the image of the market economy. In the future, the situation will deepen.

List of cited literature

HANS A. WYUTRICH ANDREAS F. PHILIP Virtualization as possible way development of management [Electronic resource]. - URL: http://vasilievaa.narod.ru (request date: 12/08/2012)
P.A. Levchaev Features of the organization's functioning in the virtual space. - [Electronic resource]. -URL: http: // www. money-rus.ru (date accessed: 03.02.2012)

The new opportunities we talked about above have radically changed the configuration of the markets. The digital economy presupposes the existence of markets of two types - real and virtual. Driven by the Internet and digital technology, banks, insurance companies, travel agencies, and nearly every other entrepreneurial activity have added a presence in virtual markets to their presence in real markets.

Markets (continued) massive 11, 18 stock 147 Virtual market 9, 15, 23-24, 28-29, 71, 100, 141 study 9 study 22 update 156, 161 personalized 67 intelligence 120-121 real 23-24, 28- 29, 71, 141 segmentation 32

Real-time scale means that you get information about trades from opposite sides - supply and demand - instantly, within a few seconds after they are concluded or announced. You observe the markets virtually at the same time as those who shape them. In contrast, the data at the end of the day reflects the total for the day (open, close, high and low prices). Much of investor analysis can be successfully done based on this data.

Thus, in just a few years, a completely new market has emerged - the domain name market or the virtual real estate market.

The last decades of the XX century. characterized by a departure from a centrally coordinated, multi-level hierarchy in organizations and a transition to a variety of more flexible structures based on horizontal links. The transfer of market relations to intercompany relations (internal markets) has brought to life new type structures - network and virtual organizations.

Describe the reasons for the appearance and the organizational mechanism for the functioning of organizations with internal markets, network and virtual companies.

Virtual commerce via the Internet with the help of the latest technologies means for a company, first of all, an improvement in its competitive position. In any case, in this market, you can feel, without exaggeration, on an equal footing with the world's largest corporations, since you have a real opportunity to create an electronic store, at least not worse than others. An essential point in this is the fact that the territory of the entire globe will fall into the sphere of your activity. These trends determine the high importance of this market.

Methods of development and implementation of a marketing strategy when introducing products and technologies to the newest and most rapidly developing market - the worldwide computer network Internet - are considered. Shows the possibilities of entrepreneurs presenting information about business, products or technologies to millions of prospective buyers, as well as using electronic resources to obtain the necessary data about consumers and competitors, identify specific groups of potential consumers of products or technologies and come into contact with them, open virtual electronic stores around the world and compete on an equal footing even with large companies... The ways of conducting marketing research on the Internet are considered. Information about the development of the Russian-language part of the Internet is given and some recommendations are given on its use for penetrating Russian and foreign markets. The chapter ends with a glossary of commonly used English terms related to computer technology and the Internet.

It is believed that the 90s are the era of limitless virtual corporations, consisting of a network of independent companies and connected using advanced information technology. There is a mutual exchange of skills and efforts, as well as gaining access to technologies and markets of partners. These partnerships were meant to be temporary and sensitive to rapid changes in the global marketplace. The communications superhighway should allow remote branches of various companies to quickly find suppliers, developers, and manufacturers through an information exchange. Once connected, these virtual corporations will sign "electronic contracts" to speed up communications without the hassle of legal issues. The development of advanced technology was a key factor for this. Years of "lessons learned" have shown even the most ardent adherents of technology that there are a number of important organizational challenges to establishing and maintaining such "technological" collaboration. Advanced technology has not made organizations, communities, and strategic regions more interconnected. It is an important tool that can make this task easier. Real change must occur in the area of behavior and management.

Where real money appears, real emotions appear. Of course, you can worry about virtual reality, but this in no way compares with real work... While trading, you experience a wide variety of emotions - fear, greed, pride, joy, excitement, anticipation of the jackpot ... The list goes on and on. Using "virtual" money, you can learn how to fight the market - you will be like a boxer working with a punching bag, but who has never seen a live opponent, whose fists are the size of an Astrakhan watermelon. So on a demo account, you will never learn how to master yourself. And the ability to control and manage your emotions is no less important skill than knowing the properties of one or another indicator.

According to classical views, the main function of the secondary stock market is the redistribution of investment flows to the most promising and dynamically developing sectors of the economy. However, at present, on the scale of all national secondary stock markets, only an insignificant part of the money goes from the secondary market to the primary, and from there to real production... If this were not the case, and a sufficiently large amount of money would go from the secondary market to the primary, then the volume of TFR would fall. Together with it, the stock quotes would also fall. But this is not happening. The inflow of money into the market significantly exceeds the outflow (the most typical example is the growth of the US stock market in the 90s of the XX century). The lion's share of the players' funds is deposited on the market, forming stationary capital (TFR). The secondary market is thus reborn, isolated from the real economy. It turns into a theater of speculative games. The tendency for the secondary market to become a kind of virtual world started a long time ago. Let us recall, for example, France in the 1930s. XIX century - the speculative empire of Louis Philippe, the prosperity of the class of rentiers and stock players. In addition, a powerful layer of professional market participants is formed (trade organizers, brokers, dealers, managers, depositories, etc.), which lives at the expense of the players, lives at the expense of the market. People working in these organizations do not produce any material wealth. They just provide a certain kind of service to traders. In fact, they are dependent on society. Thus, the modern secondary stock market is for the most part not a tool for redistributing investment flows, but simply a place where large players do their business.

Government regulators and antitrust authorities should regularly monitor competitive energy markets. The experience of foreign countries shows that often the results of competition between energy companies are their mergers and acquisitions in various forms of horizontal and vertical integration. Just one threat of new energy producers entering the market can provoke the merger of private energy companies. Large multifunctional companies are also being created, whose activities include electricity, heat and gas supply, water supply, communications and even retail trade in various consumer goods. Ultimately, this may lead to the establishment of "virtual monopolies" with corresponding monopoly prices, which means that the very idea of a liberalized market will be discredited in front of energy consumers, who are most interested in effective competition among energy producers.

In a virtual marketplace, a company must make a large upfront investment to create supply and build networks, but variable costs will be relatively small in the future. Certain goods and services (e.g. information, music software) may be digitally reproduced and delivered to in electronic format with practically zero pre-

Work in both real and virtual markets

More and more companies are gradually moving their activities from real markets with a physical value chain to virtual ones, and they should definitely think seriously about their business.

Companies also recognize the power of direct marketing when communicating their messages by telephone, mail and the Internet. They use PR tools - newsletters, press releases, events, and sponsorships - to gain attention and spread word of mouth in real and virtual markets, and they use databases, data analytics, automatic Internet connectivity, and email to build their own relationships with their target audience. consumers.

Virtual (shell) firms Organizations in which some of the business functions, primarily manufacturing, are outsourced on a contract basis. A shell company, for a fee, assumes the relationship of the manufacturer of products with the market (surrounds it with a shell) and ensures its adaptation to the market, promotion of the product to the market, market research, finding a buyer, negotiating, concluding all necessary contracts, etc., thereby reducing the transaction costs of the manufacturer

All of the above circumstances can be significantly expanded. They clearly demonstrate the limitations of the old accounting system for full functioning in the system. modern governance an economy based on private property, competition and consumer domination. New system virtual or analytical accounting allows you to fill the gaps of the old system and adapt it to modern conditions market.

VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE is a network of legally independent, but economically dependent enterprises, which, on the basis of common goals, present certain services to the market.

The virtualization space includes four categories of phenomena - virtual marketplace, virtual reality, and intra- and inter-organizational networking. The latter are covered by one concept - virtual infrastructures.

Firms that have mastered the Internet earlier than others have shown more than a quick learning curve. They are also leading the way in redefining the boundaries of their business. The company Atagop.sot, which was created to trade books on the Internet, began to sell CDs as well, and there is no visible reason that could prevent it from selling other goods. The initial incentive for your company to go online can only be a desire to reduce costs and attract new customers - but once you connect with customers over the Internet, it opens up incredible opportunities for offering a wider range of products. Let's say Waloo and other Internet portals have already opened their own online travel agencies. Starting an online business is not like opening a new branch of a bank, whose employees you can train to provide services from a limited set. The virtual nature of the Internet allows you to open a trade with anything, it would only be the desire of your customers. We will see more and more cases like Atagop, where a company that has established a strong position in a particular area of online services expands its range of products to cover new areas. This trend serves as a formidable warning for organizations in any business sector - even if your market sector has not yet emerged specialized Internet companies, it can be invaded by powerful online firms from other areas, seeking to occupy all vacant commercial niches.

Small firms should clearly understand from the fact that they can produce a good product, nothing will change on the market The level of technology development in the world is so high that for a long time there has been a practice of virtual companies that do only development, to find worthy customers for the actual production of ML f eii / it is much easier to produce anything than to sell at least something.

Preconditions of occurrence. An important feature of the economic development of advanced countries at the beginning of the XXI century. is the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial economy. The formation of a post-industrial (electronic-digital) society is due to the formation of a single world information space based on the Internet, the penetration of the processes of informatization, globalization and virtualization into all spheres of the economy.

The Internet is increasingly becoming a business environment. At the same time, some organizations want to get new opportunities from the Internet for the development of their business and attract new customers, while others see the Internet as a “lifeline”, looking for new ideas and forms in it to save their business.

The Internet presents unlimited opportunities for business development. So, if natural resources are limited, then the amount of information resources and space on the Internet practically has no limit, i.e. The Internet as a business environment is limitless.

Opportunities of the Internet for organizing business:

1. Accessibility and democracy.
2. Various forms of cooperation on a voluntary basis.
3. The Internet is a means of studying consumer preferences and a means of promoting goods and services.
4. The Internet is a means of governance technological processes, processes of supply and control over the state of markets, etc.
5. On the Internet you can find the necessary partners (suppliers of products, services, etc.).
6. There is an unlimited audience of buyers on the Internet.
7. The Internet is a tool for conducting financial transactions.
8.On the Internet, you can get competitive advantages on the volume of production, narrow specialization and maximum customer satisfaction.

Nowadays, the Internet has become not only a way of cooperation between different organizations, but also a new environment for doing business. This environment requires a new quality from the organization in order to be successful.

The effectiveness of this or that structure of the organization is always determined by the external environment, the complexity and dynamism of the changes taking place in it. As is known, a mechanistic form of organization corresponded to a stable external environment, repetitive work, and unchanging technology. The organic form of organization has replaced the mechanistic one and has become more effective with a changing external environment, manufactured products, organizational changes, etc.

In a new environment, a new form of organization is needed, first of all, in order to keep pace with the ongoing changes, and most importantly, to have time to realize the emerging opportunities.

Target organizational changes- increasing the competitiveness of business, overcoming the uncertainty caused by rapid changes in the external environment.

Under the influence of the Internet, the pace of change has increased and new opportunities appear that can only be realized with new form an organization (virtual) capable of super-fast business restructuring. Time is becoming the main resource in the 21st century market, a critical success factor.

Thus, the current objective conditions dictate the need to create a new organizational form that allows people and organizations to unite for the effective implementation of emerging opportunities, i.e. the organization is new in strategy, structure, business, technology and a new basis for building relationships.

The essence and content of virtual organizations. The concept of "virtual organization" appeared in the literature at the end of the 20th century. For a deeper understanding of the essence of this organizational form, consider several definitions.

In these definitions, virtual refers to an organization that has created a network of business connections around itself. In fact, this is the control core of the network, which gives production, distribution, marketing or any other business function, which, in the opinion of the management of this company, they can perform better or cheaper than the company itself, for execution by external partners. In this case, the "virtual organization" (the governing core of the network), as a rule, is a legal entity.

From the definitions of different authors it is clear that there is still no common understanding of such a complex phenomenon as “virtual organization”. If we do not take into account some details, then there is no particular disagreement in the definition of the essence of virtual organizations between different authors. So, the first scientists focus on the control core of the network of business ties, and the second ones characterize the entire network. business partners included in this association.

It should be emphasized once again that interaction between members of a virtual organization occurs mainly through computer networks. It was computer networks that provided the formation of virtual organizations, since they make it fundamentally optional for managers to have physical presence in their workplaces. Virtual organizations group people as the need arises to create a certain value (product or service). In this case, a physical collective does not arise as an organization, but only a union takes place business people into a system that is capable of producing the required value. Thus, the virtual organization creates fundamentally new business opportunities.

The novelty of the virtual organization is manifested at four levels: strategic, structural, organizational and technological (Table 19.3).

Table 19.3

Manifesting the novelty of a virtual organization

Novelty level
Strategic	The virtual organization is focused on emerging ideas and is shaped around opportunities. Time is the main strategic resource. The principle of virtual organization is “found”, “implemented”, “forgotten”. Business philosophy is not about solving problems, but about finding opportunities and developing strengths
Structural	The links and elements of the virtual organization represent peer-to-peer collaboration between workgroups, departments and organizations on a outsourced basis. Moreover, relations are built at the stage of implementation of a specific project.
Organizational	Relationships are based on the ideas, competence and partnership of the people involved in the virtual organization. The employee is required not to perform a task set by someone, but to be able to make a choice, i.e. what work to do next, and what to refuse
Technological	Business processes as the basis of technology and the process of creating a product or service should be brought to a closed cycle, providing for their continuous improvement in real time

To gain a deeper understanding of the essence and content of virtual organizations, consider the features that are characteristic of most of them (Fig. 19.1).

The inconsistent nature of the functioning. Virtual organizations can be formed for a short period. For example, for the implementation of risky research-related projects. When the project is completed, they are disbanded, which ensures a reduction in project implementation costs.

Minor tangible assets. Virtual organizations have a much less advanced physical structure than traditional organizations. Tangible assets of virtual organizations (for example, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, and

Rice. 19.1.

others) are not so large, and those that are available are usually distributed geographically. From an operational point of view, decentralized objects are preferable to huge and concentrated in one place. Virtual organizations are not defined by physical location, but by interconnected networks.

Communication technology. In virtual organizations, technologies are used to dynamically connect people, assets, ideas. Modern information communication technologies play a central role and are considered by many to be the core of the concept of virtual organizations. Every organization needs a structure that defines it and gives it shape. Traditional organizations use a physical structure, such as an office building, while virtual organizations use a communications network for the same purpose. Technology is a tool that allows work to be done, but it is not organizations themselves - just like an office building is not a traditional company.

Location of work. In virtual organizations, there is no need to do office work. The use of communications networks rather than buildings and physical assets means that the physical location of work is less important nowadays. As a result, there is no need for employees to work in close physical contact with each other. Project teams can be assembled from individual employees residing in different countries. Working together in the same organization, they may never see each other.

Diverse groups of participants. Virtual organizations are mostly collaboration agents that bring together core competencies, resources, and customer experience. Virtual organization brings companies and businesses together

elements that are not bound by any structural constraints and work together to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

Lack of boundaries. Virtual organizations are not limited so that we perceive them as separate, legally defined companies. They are capable of linking suppliers and distributors into such tight chains that it can be difficult to determine where one company ends and another begins.

Customer engagement. Virtual companies can bring customers together using a market-based service delivery concept whereby the customer is part of the production process... They build systems in which the manufacturer and the buyer are closely related to each other and the sale of a product (product or service) requires the participation of each of them. Online financial services are the most advanced form of this phenomenon. At the same time, the cost of customer service is reduced.

Flexibility and adaptability. Virtual organizations can be formed from various disparate elements to achieve a specific business goal and disbanded once it has been achieved. At the same time, assets can be quickly redeployed if the changing situation requires it. At the same time, the costs and risks of the implementation of radical changes in the exchange rate increase insignificantly. This is where the flexibility of virtual organizations is manifested. However, it requires flexibility in the work of managers and employees.

The above suggests that the XXI century. could be the century of "flourishing" of virtual organizations.

Virtual enterprises are one of the newer organizational forms of enterprises. The development of new forms of organization and enterprise management was largely influenced by such trends in the development of modern markets as the globalization of markets, the growing importance of product quality, its price and the degree of consumer satisfaction, the increasing importance of sustainable relationships with consumers (individual customers), as well as the growing importance of the degree application of new information and communication technologies.

As you know, in the 80s, the main directions for improving the activities of enterprises were total control quality and application of minimalist strategies aimed at optimal control various resources. In the 90s, the main slogan was the principles of business process reengineering, aimed at moving from functional units to business processes consisting of autonomous interdisciplinary teams focused on better customer satisfaction. Towards the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 21st century, the transition to virtual and networked principles of organizing enterprises is becoming a key topic.

In some works, virtual enterprises are also denoted by other terms: "networked enterprises", "borderless enterprises", "extended enterprises". As a rule, we are talking about a network of partners (enterprises, organizations, individual teams and people), jointly carrying out activities for the development, production and marketing of certain products.

It should be emphasized that the enterprise virtualization space includes three main categories of phenomena:

1. virtual market - a market for goods and services that exists on the basis of the communication and information capabilities of global networks (Internet);
2. virtual reality, i.e. display and imitation of real developments and production in cyberspace, which is both a tool and an environment;
3. virtual (network) organizational forms.

To identify the “right” structure, a company should first define its goals and what needs to be achieved, and then try to understand which structure will solve these problems. Virtual organizations are not an end in themselves: the transition to virtual forms does not mean “abandoning management” or achieving ultimate goals. From a strategic perspective, virtual organizations should be viewed as a strategic alternative. Moreover, this alternative should be pursued when and only when management has analyzed the needs of the business and customers and has concluded that the capabilities of virtual organizations will allow them to be much better served than in the case of traditional forms.

It is the Internet that makes virtual organizations easier and more suitable for different types business. It is now possible to extract information, analyze it and exchange it much faster: in addition, the amount of information has increased significantly. Every day the Internet is becoming more and more a sphere of doing business. Virtual organizations enter our life regardless of our will and consciousness. All this creates many opportunities, but also many challenges, ranging from additional technology costs to completely new management methods.

First, virtual enterprises, as a rule, focus not on meeting the needs and requirements of some "average" market segment, but on fulfilling certain market orders up to meeting certain needs of specific consumers (customers). Second, the virtual enterprise increases the speed and quality of order fulfillment by combining the resources of various partners into a single system.

From a practical point of view, an ordinary ("monolithic") enterprise, for example, requires the attraction of significant resources to develop and bring a new product to the market. In contrast, the virtual enterprise is looking for new partners with the resources, knowledge and abilities that correspond to market needs, for joint organization and the implementation of this activity. A partnership is concluded for a certain period or until a certain result is achieved, it is temporary, and at certain stages life cycle products or when the market situation changes, new partners may be involved in the network or old ones may be excluded.

Naturally, partner enterprises for the effective functioning of the entire network must be based on an agreed business process. When, for example, in order to best meet market needs, a large number of enterprises, most often geographically remote, are networked together, then it is obvious that such enterprises find it difficult to coordinate their actions without operational information and communications. Consequently, in order to solve information problems, the network must have a unified information system based on the widespread use of new information and communication technologies.

In view of the above, we can highlight the key advantage of virtual forms of organizations: the ability to choose and use the best resources, knowledge and abilities with less time. From this dignity and the most network organization The main competitive advantages of virtual enterprises follow, such as:

1. speed of market order fulfillment;
2. the possibility of reducing total costs;
3. the possibility of a more complete satisfaction of the needs of the customer;
4. the ability to flexibly adapt to environmental changes;
5. the ability to reduce barriers to entry into new markets.

The analysis of the activities of virtual enterprises showed that the main characteristics of a virtual form of organization are:

1- open distributed structure;
2- flexibility;
3- priority of horizontal links;
4- autonomy and narrow specialization of network members;
5- high status of information and personnel integration tools.

Obviously, planning, organizing and coordinating the activities of virtual enterprises requires appropriate management approaches... It is easy to see that when creating virtual enterprises, there may be enterprises that concentrate their efforts solely on the management of third-party competencies. In this case, such an enterprise must have at least the following capabilities:

1.be able to identify and involve the key competencies necessary for the implementation of the project (aspects of knowledge management);
2. on the basis of the acquired competencies, organize the process of creating and selling products (aspects of the functioning of the network).

Based on this, you can general view formulate the main functions of managing a virtual enterprise as a network of partners:

1.determination of the requirements (tasks) of the project.
2. search and assessment of potential partners (performers).
3. selection of performers who optimally correspond to the tasks.
4. attracting and distributing performers.
5. constant tracking and reallocation (if necessary) of partners and resources for tasks.

Along with the advantages listed above, virtual enterprises also have some disadvantages, more precisely, weaknesses:

1.excessive economic dependence on partners, which is associated with the narrow specialization of network members;
2. the actual lack of social and material support for their partners due to the rejection of classic long-term contractual forms and ordinary labor relations;
3. the danger of over-complication, arising, in particular, from the heterogeneity of the members of the enterprise, the uncertainty about membership in it, the openness of networks, the dynamics of self-organization, and the uncertainty in planning for the members of the virtual enterprise.

In other words, the principles of virtual organizational forms predetermine the "deficit" of autarky and motivation of entrepreneurs entering the network. It is obvious that the abandonment of proven organizational and management principles requires certain substitutes. Indeed, within the network approach, the principles of network culture, reciprocity, and a climate of trust are called upon to serve as such substitutes. However, in terms of the level of development, they cannot yet serve as a sufficient basis for compensating for the abolished principles.

Virtual organizations should be run at a five-plus point. Management must strictly comply with the fundamentals of the business and quickly grasp the features of the new environment, be able to not only use state-of-the-art technology but also "think virtually", to work in a world where imagination and creativity are very important, but where no one has canceled the hard facts and data. Balance has to be struck, and failure to achieve it often means failure in business.

Before embodying the idea of virtualization, as a first step, it is recommended to investigate the industry (or market) possibilities for operating a virtual organization. The subject of the analysis should be the degree of globalization of the industry, the timing, the size of costs, the possibility of flexible behavior, the level of product quality and innovative potential. The more clearly the criteria are expressed according to the results of the analysis, the more the industry is suitable for the virtualization of the production of goods.

After making a fundamental decision to create a virtual organization, it is necessary to get answers to a number of questions. In the first place are the needs for additional resources and abilities. To determine them, the company's management must analyze the structure of the production of goods and services from the foundation of the enterprise to its current state, as well as assess the role of its own competencies at each stage of the production process. To make a final decision, it is important to establish the need for cooperation with partners in order to achieve maximum synergies within the new network.

The “network - partners” dilemma involves defining the nature of the partnership (individuals, groups of persons, enterprises), the geographical boundaries of the choice of partners, the requirements for them, the list of functions that they must perform in the structure of the virtual organization. It is important to find out to what extent the new network will affect the old boundaries of the enterprise.

As for the architecture of the network, we are talking about the form that would allow the best achievement of the goals of production of goods in the new conditions. This can be a partner pool or an open partnership created to fulfill special orders. Assessment of the capabilities of the existing communication and technological infrastructure raises the question of additional capital investments and risks associated with the creation of a virtual network.

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the process of development of network and virtual forms of organizations is characterized by the lag of fundamental scientific research behind practical experience... While the success of many functioning virtual enterprises is evident, in the broader context many questions remain open about the organization and operation of virtual enterprises. Some of the problems here can be assessed as a kind of growing pain inherent in any innovative concept.

The issues of managing virtual companies are also quite confusing yet.

The main functions of managing a virtual enterprise as a network of partners, apparently, consist in defining tasks and clarifying the requirements of a virtual project, selecting and evaluating possible partner agents (executors), monitoring the implementation of the project as a whole, redistributing (if necessary) tasks, replacing partners and resources. There are three main types of virtual enterprises:

1. with a centralized type of management, in which the “agents” act on behalf of their organizations, and one of the “agents” manages the process: understands the task, issues tasks to other “agents”, summarizes the results and makes a decision;
2. with a distributed type of management, where knowledge and resources are distributed among the "agents", but the general body of command control remains, which makes decisions in conflict situations;
3.with a decentralized type of management, in which everything management processes are carried out only due to local interactions between "agents".

The elimination of the need for standard administrative governance structures is one of the most important benefits of virtual enterprises. Indeed, the coordination superstructure of the virtual enterprise is primarily responsible for targeted coordination of efforts.

Nevertheless, management is always present in the form of one of the dedicated agents, a general body of command management, etc. And here it is very important to develop a model of management and decision-making, to develop criteria and indicators strategic management a virtual enterprise, a balanced scorecard for assessing the quality of a virtual order being executed, form groups to resolve conflicts.

Dominant development modern society is the introduction of information technology and computer communications in all areas of activity. The term information age (information age) has become international and characterizes qualitatively new stage development, in which information plays a leading role and determines the nature of all economic, social and political processes.

The information revolution has an impact on the nature of any enterprise. The very concept of an enterprise, traditionally defined as a separate production and technological organization that combines labor with the means of production for the production of goods and services, loses its essential characteristics of isolation, spatial and territorial localization. Network or virtual organizations are developing, that is, organizations in which the boundaries between its participants, resources and departments are blurred due to intensive information exchange. One of the prerequisites for the emergence of such enterprises is the rapid growth of television technology and telecommunications, which eliminates the need for spatial concentration of participants in a single labor process. The end result of an enterprise's activities - products and services - is also transforming. In the national product of developed countries, an increasing proportion is occupied not by material, but by virtual products and services.

At the same time, in the domestic economic literature, the question of the classification and practical applicability of the developed methods in the field of virtual (from Latin virtualis - possible) marketing is practically not disclosed.

Hence, my goal is to systematize advanced approaches to information and software marketing activities enterprises.

The functional essence of virtual marketing

Virtual marketing is a system of knowledge about a reasonable offer of goods on the market based on information technologies that integrate marketing activities in the internal and external environment of the enterprise.

The use of computer technology makes it possible to provide the following advantages of virtual marketing compared to marketing based on traditional technologies:

1) lack of spatial localization, the ability to carry out activities outside the context of a specific territory or local market;

2) ensuring the possibility of reducing the time for finding partners, executing transactions, developing new products etc.;

3) a decrease in the asymmetry of information (its incompleteness and uneven distribution) and, as a result, a decrease in information transaction costs;

4) reduction of other transaction costs, including overhead costs (travel expenses, losses from failed, illegal or unfair transactions); reducing the risk associated with uncertainty;

5) reduction of transformation costs due to optimal choice the structure of the product range, reducing the time for the development and implementation of a new projection, a sound pricing policy, reducing the number of intermediaries and sales costs, etc .;

6) rationalization of the management structure, including by compressing it vertically, reducing and combining a number of functions, and solidarizing responsibility.

According to the nature of the functions performed, virtual marketing can be divided into three areas: the study of the external environment, the organization of internal marketing activities, specific areas of activity.

The practical implementation of virtual marketing is possible on the basis of the creation of a marketing information system enterprises, i.e. systems for continuous tracking, storage and processing of marketing data necessary to generate management decisions... An enterprise marketing information system may include:

1. information block (databases);

2. bank of models and methods;

3. software and integrated systems. Let's consider the capabilities of these blocks in more detail.

Database. The marketing information block consists of databases, replenished through field and desk research. Field studies in virtual marketing are implemented to a limited extent based on the methods of electronic surveys and teleconferences. The largest share is occupied by desk research, which is carried out by searching for secondary information in electronic and paper form. At the same time, paper media still occupy the largest share among sources of information. For example, according to expert estimates, in the United States, only 12% of information is presented in electronic form and structured; about 15% - unstructured data in electronic form ( text information); about 73% of information is traditionally stored on paper.

In Russia, paper-based information carriers are currently also the most popular. However, the use of these media is greatly facilitated in cases of using various optical image recognition systems, scanners, etc.

Let us consider in more detail the possibilities of obtaining secondary information using information technologies, which make it possible to use the following sources of information.

To study the external environment of marketing, general statistical and demographic data are used to assess the state of the market, the prospects for its development, trends in supply and demand. This sector of information sources covers information from state statistics, economic forecasts, analytical studies carried out by various organizations and specialists. survey results public opinion and sociological research... Databases of accounting and statistical information are developed by international organizations (World Bank, UNIDO, etc.), bodies of the State Statistics Committee, the Customs Committee, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, and research institutes. Despite the fact that these organizations are constantly improving systems statistical accounting, methods of collecting and processing information, a large amount of information is out of sight: uncontrolled export-import operations, production withdrawn from the sphere of taxation, "shuttle trade", etc. Therefore, economic forecasts and analytical studies are a necessary addition to the data obtained, which can be obtained from electronic versions of business and trade journals.

In addition to general statistics, a wide range of commercial information is used in marketing activities. In accordance with the growing needs of entrepreneurs in Russia, there is a fairly intensive growth of commercial information products and firms engaged in marketing research. Currently, there are four types of information databases on the market, which can become external sources for the formation of enterprise databases.

1) Databases of the first type are the most numerous. They contain the name of the company, its postal and communication details. They are used to establish contractual relations, as well as to form a mailing list;

2) Databases of the second type, in addition to the specified information, contain information about the supplied and consumed products. The information they contain can be used to find business partners, analyze competition, market segmentation, and position products.

3) Databases of the third type in addition to a more complete presentation; information also provide for the possibility of additions and corrections. Information about companies in similar products contains three blocks: address and telephone information, technical and economic indicators, commercial offers enterprises. The first and third blocks are universal for all industries, the second block takes into account the specifics of each industry. The possibility of additions and corrections is provided by purchasing a special program for working with a database or by using standard programs such as Excel and Access. The most popular products of this class are business directories and programs distributed by the Agency. business information"Business card". The "Marketing-Geo" system is also becoming widespread, where on a digital computer map Russian Federation contains information about the location of enterprises, the volume of production, financial and statistical reporting, demographic data on settlements, etc. This program provides the ability to conduct survey studies of regional product markets, in particular, it allows you to determine the relative market share, product growth rates and data for market segmentation.

4) Databases of the fourth type contain summary details of legal and individuals, data on the supplied and consumed products, the ability to supplement and correct databases, the possibility of feedback. These systems are just beginning to appear on the information market. They allow you to keep records commercial enterprises and their connections. At present, the only system with feedback is the Kontragent-M system. This system was recommended by the Ministry of Economy to the heads of administration of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as a federal information system for commodity markets. The product description has five sections. The first section is a thematic heading (87 headings). The second and third sections are description and type of products. The fourth section is a more extensive description of the product, brand, OKP code, standards and a short explanation, promotional materials. The fifth section - specification cards, terms of delivery, data on wholesale, retail and estimated prices. Nowadays, many enterprises, especially large ones, create their own databases. The need for this kind of activity arises in connection with the complexity of processing a significant amount of constantly changing information (diversified production, a large number of consumers, a complex structure of supply links). The formation of your own databases allows you to solve a number of specific applied problems arising in the course of practical activities, as well as serve as information for strategic analysis and planning. The specific nature and content of the databases is determined by the industry, the characteristics of the enterprise and the nature of the products.

On industrial enterprises the process of creating a database is as follows:

Initially, the composition of the initial information is determined. The initial sources of information are the following data:

Portfolios of orders (customers and their connected details, the required quantity of products, its brands, dimensions, shipment schedule, type of settlements:

· About shipped products;

· About suppliers, data about which is formed on the basis of both internal and external sources.

Further, using standard Excel programs and Access, based on the application of various information filters in the dialogue mode, at the request of the manager, you can solve various types of tasks: to determine the structure of needs by types of products, brands, but the geography of consumers, by cost, the dynamics of these indicators. Similar data can be obtained for suppliers. In consumer product marketing, customer databases are also formed, which become not just an affective marketing tool, but one of the main assets of the enterprise. The main information unit of the customer base is the consumer, which is described according to the characteristics: demographic, economic, geographic, social, and behavioral. The specific composition of features depends on the specifics of the product, the scope of its application and the purposes of data generation. The client database allows you to establish long-term relationships with real consumers, more "responsive" to changing their needs, offer and advertise newest products, conduct sales promotion activities, etc. It also opens up opportunities for attracting potential consumers.

Information models and techniques

The second component of the marketing information system is a bank of models and techniques required to systematize and standardize the initial data. It is formed jointly by marketing professionals and software specialists. Currently, this component of the marketing information system is the least developed in most enterprises. The main reason for this lies in the lack of specialists in these areas of qualifications in a related field of knowledge (among marketers - in the field of programming, among programmers - in the field of marketing research). From our point of view, the basis for the formation of a bank of models of a marketing information system can be a classification by time factors, subjects of management and objects of marketing activity.

1) Depending on the time factor, static and dynamic models can be distinguished. Static models describe the organization of marketing at the enterprise (structural units, their functions, information flows, etc.). These models (diagrams, graphs, data flow diagrams) allow you to describe the structure of the company, but do not provide information about its current state that changes over time. Dynamic models allow you to describe marketing processes in dynamics. Unlike static information models, dynamic information models allow you to update the values of variables, change models, dynamically calculate various parameters of processes and results of marketing activities.

2) By the subjects of dispatch, it is possible to identify information models and methods used on different levels enterprise management: top management level, middle level, at the lowest level of management and specialists. The main content of the activities of senior management is the development of strategic goals and areas of activity and the organization of enterprise resources for their implementation. Consequently, the main models used at this level should be considered models of the "firm - external environment" type, including SWOT analysis matrices, simulation models, product-market matrices, portfolio and other models. strategic planning(6, 7). These models are used to develop a general business model for an enterprise. At the middle level of management, the general business model is transformed into a model of individual business processes (model of new product development, sales organization, etc.). At the lowest level of management and the level of specialists, further detailing of marketing processes takes place horizontally, including diagrams of individual sub-processes and operations.

3) According to the objects of marketing, it is possible to distinguish models of processing information about consumers, products, processes, suppliers and documents. Consumer information is structured primarily in client bases data, the formation of which was discussed above. In addition, it is necessary to note here such standard techniques as segmentation grids, purchasing behavior models, statistical tables on the volume and dynamics of sales in the context of consumers. Product information is also contained in many developed methodologies: models for assessing the market adequacy of a product, models for assessing competitiveness, portfolio analysis matrices mentioned above, and optimization models. The latter solve the problem of optimizing the structure of the production program in terms of the selected criteria (profit, sales), as well as external and internal constraints.

The least developed part today can be considered the models for processing information about processes. The introduction of these models is associated with the development of the theory and practice of reengineering. In reengineering, all business processes are divided into external and internal, which are respectively described using internal and external models. The external model describes the processes that satisfy the interests of customers and interests outside the enterprise. The internal model models the construction of each business process in terms of work tasks and resources used. Since the external process reflects the flow of actions, which is subsequently taken into account when developing internal business processes, in practice, mixed models are used (for example, in the process of total quality management). Supplier information is handled similarly to customer information.

This classification is not exhaustive. It can be supplemented by the classification of models by common functions management, marketing functions, etc.

Software tools and integrated systems

The third most important component of the marketing information system is the data processing facilities. They include software tools expert systems and decision support tools, as well as various integrated management systems that standardize the process of making decisions in the field of marketing. As a result, if earlier a large range of rather complex tasks could be performed only by specialists qualified in the field of marketing, now the work of a marketer can be performed by specialists from related departments. Database distribution also strengthens the internal consistency of business processes, as it allows critical marketing information to appear simultaneously in different parts of the company.

Integration of microprocesses, i.e. the ability to make critical decisions online, is provided by a decision support system (DSS). Based on decision support tools, modeling tools and access to databases, the possibility of hierarchical decision-making appears, while currently most decisions are made by managers. SPR allows you to analyze, plan and control various marketing operations, consider various options solutions and design them according to the "what if ..." principle.

Currently, data processing systems have not received sufficient distribution in the market, as enterprises prefer to use standard software products... The main factor in increasing the effectiveness of the marketing information system is the ability to integrate into the overall mechanism organizational management... Therefore, marketing blocks are provided in most of the integrated enterprise management systems that are common on the market (Galaktika, Parus, Etalon + and others). However, in comparison with other functional blocks, such as finance and accounting, production, personnel, they are poorly developed and insufficiently integrated into the overall management system. According to the estimates of the providers of integrated systems, marketing blocks are in the lowest demand and most installations are made without them.

Limitations of virtual marketing implementation

Summarizing the domestic experience in the development of virtual marketing, I would like to highlight the main factors limiting its use in domestic enterprises.

The first group of factors is associated with the characteristics of information, the conditions for its receipt and processing:

· Secondary information obtained from external sources is of a fairly general nature and is designed for the "average" user; to adapt to the conditions of a particular enterprise, additional expenses;

· The reliability and representativeness of the available data is not known;

· Data are updated on average 1-2 times a year and have time to become outdated;

· Obtaining data for most enterprises is associated with certain organizational difficulties: lack of information about providers, little experience and difficulties

search for up-to-date data, problems with organizing applications and placing orders.

The second group of factors is associated with the difficulties of forming a marketing information system within the enterprise. First of all, there is a subjective factor associated with the underestimation of the role of information and information systems in the activities of enterprises. It manifests itself on the one hand in the fact that entrepreneurs do not consider information resource as a component that has economic value and is subject to monetary value. On the other hand, modern information technologies are perceived in the mass consciousness mainly as a means of electronic processing data, contributing to automation and reduction manual labor... The possibility of creating an integrated management system based on information technology has not yet been considered as a real prospect. In addition, the creation of a marketing information system at enterprises is associated with the restructuring of the workflow system, which requires a lot of time (for example, it takes more than a year to implement large integrated systems).

These difficulties are largely objective in nature and will be eliminated gradually, following the dynamics of the technological factor. At the same time, it should be remembered that, despite the given objectivity, any firm has the ability of conscious rationality, which consists in the ability to develop solutions, order and change the structure of the organization in order to gain advantages over the objective market mechanism.

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