IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v24y2013i2p352-371.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multicommunicating: Juggling Multiple Conversations in the Workplace

Author

Listed:
  • Ann-Frances Cameron

    (HEC Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3T 2A7, Canada)

  • Jane Webster

    (Queen's School of Business, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada)

Abstract

As a result of newer communication technologies and an increase in virtual communication, employees often find themselves multicommunicating, or participating in multiple conversations at the same time. This research seeks to explore multicommunicating from the perspective of the person juggling multiple conversations at the same time---the focal individual. To better understand this phenomenon, we extend previous theorizing by including the concepts of the episode initiator (whether the second conversation was focal or partner initiated), the fit of the set of media used in the episode, one process gain (conversation leveraging), and process losses. Employing a series of pilot studies and a main study, the resulting model was analyzed using structural equation modeling, finding overall support for the model. Findings suggest that experienced intensity is an important factor influencing process losses experienced during multicommunicating, whereas episode initiator influences process losses and the process gain. Further, media fit moderates the relationship between intensity and process losses. The importance of multicommunicating in the workplace is discussed, the theoretical and practical contributions of this research are described, and limitations and suggestions for future research are outlined.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann-Frances Cameron & Jane Webster, 2013. "Multicommunicating: Juggling Multiple Conversations in the Workplace," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 352-371, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:24:y:2013:i:2:p:352-371
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1120.0446
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.1120.0446
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.1120.0446?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Burton-Jones & Detmar W. Straub, 2006. "Reconceptualizing System Usage: An Approach and Empirical Test," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 228-246, September.
    2. Paul A. Pavlou & Omar A. El Sawy, 2006. "From IT Leveraging Competence to Competitive Advantage in Turbulent Environments: The Case of New Product Development," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 198-227, September.
    3. Alain Pinsonneault & Henri Barki & R. Brent Gallupe & Norberto Hoppen, 1999. "Electronic Brainstorming: The Illusion of Productivity," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 110-133, June.
    4. Henri Barki & Ryad Titah & Céline Boffo, 2007. "Information system use-related activity : An expanded behavioral conceptualization of individual-level information system use," Post-Print hal-02311855, HAL.
    5. Craig W. Fisher & InduShobha Chengalur-Smith & Donald P. Ballou, 2003. "The Impact of Experience and Time on the Use of Data Quality Information in Decision Making," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 170-188, June.
    6. Jarvis, Cheryl Burke & MacKenzie, Scott B & Podsakoff, Philip M, 2003. "A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 199-218, September.
    7. Ryad Titah & Henri Barki & Céline Boffo, 2007. "Information system use-related activity : An expanded behavioral conceptualization of individual-level information system use," Post-Print hal-02312468, HAL.
    8. Mun Y. Yi & Fred D. Davis, 2003. "Developing and Validating an Observational Learning Model of Computer Software Training and Skill Acquisition," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 146-169, June.
    9. Gary C. Moore & Izak Benbasat, 1991. "Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 2(3), pages 192-222, September.
    10. Henri Barki & Ryad Titah & Céline Boffo, 2007. "Information System Use--Related Activity: An Expanded Behavioral Conceptualization of Individual-Level Information System Use," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 173-192, June.
    11. Wynne W. Chin & Barbara L. Marcolin & Peter R. Newsted, 2003. "A Partial Least Squares Latent Variable Modeling Approach for Measuring Interaction Effects: Results from a Monte Carlo Simulation Study and an Electronic-Mail Emotion/Adoption Study," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 189-217, June.
    12. Shirley Taylor & Peter A. Todd, 1995. "Understanding Information Technology Usage: A Test of Competing Models," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 6(2), pages 144-176, June.
    13. Campbell, Donald J. & Gingrich, Karl F., 1986. "The interactive effects of task complexity and participation on task performance: A field experiment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 162-180, October.
    14. Peter H. Gray & Darren B. Meister, 2004. "Knowledge Sourcing Effectiveness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(6), pages 821-834, June.
    15. Ann-Frances Cameron & Jane Webster, 2011. "Relational Outcomes of Multicommunicating: Integrating Incivility and Social Exchange Perspectives," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 754-771, June.
    16. Detmar Straub & Elena Karahanna, 1998. "Knowledge Worker Communications and Recipient Availability: Toward a Task Closure Explanation of Media Choice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 160-175, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luqman, Adeel & Talwar, Shalini & Masood, Ayesha & Dhir, Amandeep, 2021. "Does enterprise social media use promote employee creativity and well-being?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 40-54.
    2. Christian Maier & Sven Laumer & Tim Weitzel, 2022. "A Dark Side of Telework: A Social Comparison-Based Study from the Perspective of Office Workers," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 64(6), pages 793-811, December.
    3. Paulo B. Goes & Noyan Ilk & Mingfeng Lin & J. Leon Zhao, 2018. "When More Is Less: Field Evidence on Unintended Consequences of Multitasking," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3033-3054, July.
    4. Jeffrey L. Jenkins & Bonnie Brinton Anderson & Anthony Vance & C. Brock Kirwan & David Eargle, 2016. "More Harm Than Good? How Messages That Interrupt Can Make Us Vulnerable," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 880-896, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sun, Jonghak & Teng, James T.C., 2017. "The construct of information systems use benefits: Theoretical explication of its underlying dimensions and the development of a measurement scale," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 400-416.
    2. Jean-Charles Pillet & Kevin Carillo & Claudio Vitari & Federico Pigni, 2020. "What Does It Do? Theorizing Functional Ambiguity As A Factor Influencing User Perceptions Of Information Technology," Post-Print hal-03026903, HAL.
    3. John D'Ambra & Concepción S. Wilson & Shahriar Akter, 2013. "Application of the task-technology fit model to structure and evaluate the adoption of E-books by Academics," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 64(1), pages 48-64, January.
    4. Suoniemi, Samppa & Terho, Harri & Zablah, Alex & Olkkonen, Rami & Straub, Detmar W., 2021. "The impact of firm-level and project-level it capabilities on CRM system quality and organizational productivity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 108-122.
    5. Jean-Charles Pillet & Kevin Carillo & Claudio Vitari & Federico Pigni, 2020. "What Does It Do? Theorizing Functional Ambiguity As A Factor Influencing User Perceptions Of Information Technology," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-03026903, HAL.
    6. Andrew Burton-Jones & Camille Grange, 2013. "From Use to Effective Use: A Representation Theory Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 632-658, September.
    7. Kwahk, Kee-Young & Ahn, Hyunchul & Ryu, Young U., 2018. "Understanding mandatory IS use behavior: How outcome expectations affect conative IS use," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 64-76.
    8. Kwan Soo Hong & DonHee Lee, 2018. "Impact of operational innovations on customer loyalty in the healthcare sector," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 12(3), pages 575-600, September.
    9. Yu Tong & Sharon Swee-Lin Tan & Hock-Hai Teo, 2015. "The Road to Early Success: Impact of System Use in the Swift Response Phase," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 418-436, June.
    10. Jani Merikivi & Antti Salovaara & Matti Mäntymäki & Lilong Zhang, 2018. "On the way to understanding binge watching behavior: the over-estimated role of involvement," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 28(1), pages 111-122, February.
    11. Do Giang Nguyen & Minh-Tri Ha, 2022. "What Makes Users Continue to Want to Use the Digital Platform? Evidence From the Ride-Hailing Service Platform in Vietnam," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440211, January.
    12. Sven Dittes & Stefan Smolnik, 2019. "Towards a digital work environment: the influence of collaboration and networking on employee performance within an enterprise social media platform," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(8), pages 1215-1243, December.
    13. Wen-Lung Shiau & Yogesh K. Dwivedi, 2013. "Citation and co-citation analysis to identify core and emerging knowledge in electronic commerce research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(3), pages 1317-1337, March.
    14. Shaw, Norman, 2014. "The role of the professional association: A grounded theory study of Electronic Medical Records usage in Ontario, Canada," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 200-209.
    15. Efpraxia D. Zamani & Nancy Pouloudi & George M. Giaglis & Jonathan Wareham, 2022. "Appropriating Information Technology Artefacts through Trial and Error: The Case of the Tablet," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 97-119, February.
    16. Hillol Bala & Viswanath Venkatesh, 2016. "Adaptation to Information Technology: A Holistic Nomological Network from Implementation to Job Outcomes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(1), pages 156-179, January.
    17. Riffat Ara Zannat Tama & Md Mahmudul Hoque & Ying Liu & Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Mark Yu, 2023. "An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, February.
    18. Rogier van de Wetering & Sherah Kurnia & Svyatoslav Kotusev, 2020. "The Effect of Enterprise Architecture Deployment Practices on Organizational Benefits: A Dynamic Capability Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, October.
    19. Jie Lou & Nianlong Han & Dong Wang & Xi Pei, 2022. "Effects of Mobile Identity on Smartphone Symbolic Use: An Attachment Theory Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-20, October.
    20. Wasfi Al-Rawabdah & Adel A. Salloum & Serene Zakaria Tarawneh, 2021. "The Moderating Role Of Factors That Influence User Adoption Of Mobile Health Applications: Evidence From Jordan," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:24:y:2013:i:2:p:352-371. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.