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An Attribute Space for Organizational Communication Channels

Author

Listed:
  • Robert W. Zmud

    (College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306)

  • Mary R. Lind

    (School of Business and Economics, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina 27408-6215)

  • Forrest W. Young

    (Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514)

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to identify the perceptual dimensions used by 158 managers and their professional staff at a single large manufacturing firm in differentiating fourteen distinct communication channels available in the firm. Six candidate criteria for differentiating these channels were examined (channel accessibility, information quality, immediate feedback, cue variety, personalization, and receiver accessibility) using multidimensional scaling. A secondary objective involved assessing whether communication direction influenced perceptions. Responses were obtained for two intraorganizational communication directions: lateral and downward. Results indicated that these individuals applied a perceptual framework involving three dimensions: information feedback, accessibility, and quality. Further, a perspective shift from the “message sender” to the “message receiver” was observed in moving from lateral to downward communication. The observations of directional differences demonstrate the inappropriateness of either ignoring communication direction in research designs and of directly transferring research models and instruments that pertain to one communication direction to another direction. Taken together, these results may prove helpful in developing a richer theoretical basis for exploring task/media relationships, which in turn may lead to future research findings providing recommendations for improving individual and organizational performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert W. Zmud & Mary R. Lind & Forrest W. Young, 1990. "An Attribute Space for Organizational Communication Channels," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 1(4), pages 440-457, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:1:y:1990:i:4:p:440-457
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1.4.440
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    Cited by:

    1. Gefen, David & Straub, Detmar W., 2004. "Consumer trust in B2C e-Commerce and the importance of social presence: experiments in e-Products and e-Services," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 407-424, December.
    2. Wee-Kek Tan & Chuan-Hoo Tan & Hock-Hai Teo, 2012. "Conveying information effectively in a virtual world: Insights from synthesized task closure and media richness," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(6), pages 1198-1212, June.
    3. Hoegl, Martin & Proserpio, Luigi, 2004. "Team member proximity and teamwork in innovative projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1153-1165, October.
    4. Orlikowski, Wanda J. (Wanda Janina). & Gash, Debra Carol, 1959-., 1992. "Changing frames : understanding technological change in organizations," Working papers 3368-92., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    5. Brian E. Mennecke & Joseph S. Valacich & Bradley C. Wheeler, 2000. "The Effects of Media and Task on User Performance: A Test of the Task-Media Fit Hypothesis," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 9(6), pages 507-529, November.
    6. Masahide Horita, 2000. "Folding Arguments: A Method for Representing Conflicting Views of a Conflict," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 63-83, January.
    7. Gerardine DeSanctis & Peter Monge, 1999. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Communication Processes for Virtual Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(6), pages 693-703, December.
    8. Nicolai j. Foss & Lars Frederiksen & Francesco Rullani, 2016. "Problem‐formulation and problem‐solving in self‐organized communities: How modes of communication shape project behaviors in the free open‐source software community," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(13), pages 2589-2610, December.

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