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Migrating Processes from Physical to Virtual Environments: Process Virtualization Theory

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Book cover Information Systems Theory

Part of the book series: Integrated Series in Information Systems ((ISIS,volume 28))

Abstract

Increasingly, processes that have relied on physical interaction between people, and between people and objects are being migrated to virtual environments in which physical interaction is not available. For example, medical processes that have traditionally relied on physical interaction between physician and patient are conducted virtually through telemedicine, and shopping processes that have traditionally relied on physical interaction between shoppers and products are conducted virtually via electronic commerce. I refer to this migration as process virtualization. Although the pace of process virtualization is accelerating, some processes have proven more suitable for virtualization than others. Process virtualization theory is a recently proposed theory designed to explain this variance. This chapter describes the theory by defining terms, discussing the constructs and relationships of the theory that explain and predict how suitable a process is to being conducted virtually, and discussing how the theory fits into the Information Systems discipline.

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Abbreviations

IS:

Information Systems

IT:

Information Technology

TAM:

Technology Acceptance Model

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology, 800 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA, 30318, USA

    Eric Overby

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  1. Eric Overby
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Correspondence to Eric Overby .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of Business and Economics, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, United Kingdom

    Yogesh K. Dwivedi

  2. IMD, Ch. de Bellerive 23, Lausanne, 1001, Switzerland

    Michael R. Wade

  3. Principia College, Maybeck Place 1, Elsah, 62028, Illinois, USA

    Scott L. Schneberger

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Overby, E. (2012). Migrating Processes from Physical to Virtual Environments: Process Virtualization Theory. In: Dwivedi, Y., Wade, M., Schneberger, S. (eds) Information Systems Theory. Integrated Series in Information Systems, vol 28. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6108-2_6

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