CAN VIRTUAL REALITIES REDUCE THE GAP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS? INSIGHTS FROM A CASE STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL OF VR-SUPPORTED PERSPECTIVE TAKING

Authors

Andreas Weigel, University of SiegenFollow
Jenny Hoffmann, University of SiegenFollow
Michael Klesel, University of SiegenFollow

Abstract

Despite the advancement of information technologies (IT) in organizations, there is still an immediate risk of misaligned processes between them. An important reason for this relates to the fact that entities are primarily aligned within organizations and not across organizational boundaries. Since organizations increasingly integrate their processes, this issue becomes more relevant. A fundamental aspect to better align processes is the mutual understanding of both parties, which is oftentimes not sufficient. Here, virtual reality offers the possibility to interactively connect and align perspectives in a virtual context. To better understand the role of perspective taking in terms of better social and cultural ITBusiness Alignment between organizations, we conducted a case study with eleven employees from two organizations that are connected in a value chain (manufacturer/service partner). The findings provide insights on how to design virtual realities to reduce the gap between organizations. We discuss our findings in light of their impact on organizations and for future research.

Recommended Citation

Weigel, Andreas; Hoffmann, Jenny; and Klesel, Michael, "CAN VIRTUAL REALITIES REDUCE THE GAP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS? INSIGHTS FROM A CASE STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL OF VR-SUPPORTED PERSPECTIVE TAKING" (2020). In Proceedings of the 28th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), An Online AIS Conference, June 15-17, 2020.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2020_rp/62