"Computers mediate. They serve as brokers in matching buyers to sellers, employees to employers, resources to work processes, and on it goes. The social significance of computers as mediators and brokers has tremendous political and economic consequences.

For managers, these consequences manifest themselves most clearly in the virtual organization, which is founded on the separation of requirements (e.g., inputs, such as components) from the ways in which requirements are met (e.g., suppliers and distribution networks). Separating these elements allows managers to switch easily from one way of meeting a requirement to another, for example, by laying off higher paid workers in the U.S. and hiring cheaper foreign labor."--BOOK JACKET.